Struggling
 

I am making a quilt for a friend that she is giving to her niece for her wedding. This is the first "requested" quilt I am making. She picked the colors and the pattern but was willing to go with my suggestions. I was cautious to not lead her in a direction she didn't want to go. However this friend has a very different style than I do.

That being said - the quilt I am working on is ....ok. But not something I am excited about. This really keeps me from being excited to work on it. I am sure it will look good and I will be proud once it is done - I just really don't have the umph I wish I had.

Any suggestions on how to pull through? Other than not making "requested" quilts :)

1. Be proud that your friend values your craft and asked for you to make a quilt for a special occasion.
2. Keep reminding yourself that this is not a quilt you will keep. Therefore, it doesn't matter if YOU like it or not. It matters that your friend (and her niece) like it.
3. Find something about it that you appreciate. (Color, pattern, your perfect 1/4" seam, the seams pressed correctly.....)
4. Set yourself mini-goals and work at one goal at a time. That way you don't think of "HAVING to finish a quilt" but finishing step X. It will be done before you know it.
Hope that helps. Yes, I have worked on quilts I don't like, so I had to suspend my emotions. I was always surprised by the end of the project how much I had grown to like it.

Having completed a quilt this summer for someone else, using colors that were not my palette, I'd agree with setting mini goals. I broke my pattern up into small, doable sections, and set time goals for each so I'd complete it in time. I also took pictures of my workmanship. Heck yeah my corners met up correctly! :)

when working on non complex sections listen to books on tape. that makes the time go fast for me

Let a kitchen timer be your best friend. You can endure almost anything in small doses.

Just consider it a new venture like a road you've not gone down. Maybe add a little bit of you into it. Just a little. Are you good at camo or where's waldo? Just try to enjoy the ride. You don't have to go down the road again when you get to your destination.

Hire someone else to make the top. I've done that when I had obligated myself to making a quilt and I just couldn't go through with it. Just my little secret and no one cared anyway as the quilt was a gift to someone I didn't know. The label read given to ____ from_________. No pattern or maker info.

Make it fun for yourself by laughing at the differences between you and your friend. My good friend and I are polar opposites when it comes to our tastes in most things, and often when one tells the other about something she did or liked, the other will respond with a head shake and a "I don't know why we're friends." We enjoy the differences. (Ok, sometimes we enjoy making fun of them!). At her request, I made her some mug rugs for her birthday. I hate pink. But it was so much fun choosing pink fabric to use in the mug rugs because I knew it would surprise her and make her laugh that I had to work with it.

Reading this, it sounds like we're really dysfunctional and maybe shouldn't be friends, but I love her with all my heart. Even if she likes pink.

Just dig in and get it done. Try to stop telling yourself how uninspired you are. Put on some music you love or a favorite old movie and just go to work. It will be done before you know it. Unfortunately, if you are going to make 'requested' quilts you are occasionally going to be making quilts that do not inspire you.