Too many projects and no desire to sew
 

Am I the only one who has several projects in the works and deadlines to meet and just don't feel like working on any of them? I need to sew 4 wall hangings, a baby quilt, jar openers, and several BOMs (of which I'm behind) and today I just have no desire to cut, iron or sew. Please tell me I'm not the only one to have this happen.

Wow, that's a lot of projects to have going with deadlines. I find that I'm much happier and feel more like I enjoy sewing/quilting when I don't have deadlines to meet and can just do it for pleasure.

i agree with wendy. but when i get into a crunch, i make myself work on one project until i can't anymore. then i go to another and come back to the first when i feel a little better.

Jen,
Sometimes I just sit and don't think about all your projects just think about how much you love the person you are sewing for and how much you appreciate them in your life. You will pick up that needle and three again very quickly. Have a lovely day, Therese

I have days like that and quite a few of them. I seem to work better under pressure, some how I seem to get them done. Hang in there.

Try working on one thing for 15 minutes. I think you have so much on your plate that you are overwelmed. You will be surprised at what you can accomplish in 15 minutes. I would suggest starting with the project closest to completion. Once you get on a roll you'll be fine. We are all pulling for you!!!

Thanks! I've also been traveling and doing a lot of lectures and workshops and I'm just worn out. I keep thinking of the old TV commercial 'Calgon, take me away!' lol

I get that way a lot. Due to a job that doesn't have a clear ending -- 24 hour call, etc, I really only have Friday and part of Saturday to immerse myself in projects. Sometimes, those days roll around and I have no interest. I don't fight it anymore. If the motivation is not there, it will be on another day.

I had to put my quilting "up" for the time being. I have a new granddaughter and am enjoying her. I had a baby quilt almost finished, only needed binding and I am disappointed that I didn't get that finished first. After I finish helping out with new granddaughter I will get it out.

Trust my, you are not the only one. Been there lots of times. I try not to work with deadlines. That makes it hard.
Maybe take some time for that bath in Calgon then organize your stuff by priority. So often, all it takes is one little seam to get me going again. On the other hand, if your schedule has been that full, maybe you are burnt out. That happened to me once after I'd just published my 5th book. It took me almost a year to recover! So be careful not to take on too much.

Don't be too hard on yourself. Was in a quilting funk for over two months. Was home Saturday for the first snow storm of the season and completed a quilt I've done nothing but suffer through, hating every minute of it. But, it's done and ready to give away and the very next day, I started cutting out a new small project and it actually felt "right". This too will pass. I once went a full 10 years without quilting.

Yes, I too felt like you as well. I think it's just too much pressure to have too many things with deadlines at one time. I agree, just try to work for short periods of times on the project closest to be finished. Before you know it, you will have finished at least one project. And maybe on to the next. Do you have a friend that sews or quilts? Maybe they can come help or inspire you to keep working.

I lost my motivation soooo bad. I had joined swaps that I really wanted to do. On top of everything else. I enlisted my moms help.(which she didn't mind.) And, it really helped me to find my motivation and before I knew it, I was having fun again.

I don't sew to deadlines because of this problem. Give yourself a break today. Then pick ONE THING to work on until it's done. Then stop hacking out deadlines. Make a few baby quilts and gifts in advance of needing them.

I am now making Thursdays as my BOM day. While I have no problem keeping up with my Block-of-the-week (another board), I fall behind on all the others because I can't get my act together. By assigning one day, I can at least do that month's BOM. If I have time left over, I will do the month previous until I am caught up. If I don't FEEL like working on something, well, I make myself work an hour anyway.

I am sort of in the same boat right now...I have to get my tax info to the accountant, I just had a house full of company for 2 weeks...all here to celebrate my mother's 94th birthday...I am her caregiver though she lives in assisted living....everyone thinks my home is Hotel Central when they come to the area..pick-ups and deliveries to the airport, etc, etc. Oh well, it has been fun but I am exhausted right now. My house is upside down from all of the guests but I started cleaning today after a yoga class which made me feel a lot better. It will all get done and then I can sit and sew again. I forgot about Calgon in the tub(Gayle Bong's suggestion!) but I do use Epsom Salts for great soaks. I think I will do one tonight! Feel better and take a few deep breaths. My Yoga teacher says Americans do not know how to relax...

I get days and sometimes weeks like that. Can't seem to get myself motivated or in the "mood" to sew. I don't handle it well when I have more than one project going at a time. I have a quilt on the hand quilting frame now and another that I am piecing. Too much stress for me anymore. Think it has something to do with years of working and having to meet deadlines. It used to be my motto to finish one project before I start another but in a weak moment here recently I got two different full size quilts going. Told hubby tonight that I am going to take the quilt off of the frame and put it away for a while. Out of sight is out of mind. Right now I feel like sitting behind the Singer and stitching pretty tops. Another thing I do when I get overwhelmed or just not in the mood, is get out my pattern books and spend a few days just looking at pretty quilts. Seems to help and before too long I have my momentum back. Relax for a few days, you will get back in the groove again!

We can always blame it on the weather. It is dark and gloomy, waiting for snow here in western metro Portland, OR. I just want to curl up in a quilt and watch an old movie.

I HATE working under pressure. I've been in a "slump" since before Christmas. I just don't feel like sewing much. I look at my magazines and spend time on here, but just haven't felt like sewing. I think I just got burned out with trying to do things for people and haven't gotten over it yet. I'm sure I'll come back soon though...

I had all kinds of projects to finish by the end of last year. I did complete them, (all but one that I am finishing this week) but was so burnt out that I wasn't having any fun. I even posted that I was in a funk after the first of the year. Trust me, if you're not having fun, you are just going through the motions. I got a lot of good advice like these ladies are giving you. I finally started again around the 1st of February. I am now having a blast & am back in the groove. Just relax, take all the time you need to get your "desire" back, and soon you'll be back to producing beautiful things. Start small, but try not to stress out about it. I think there are a whole bunch of us in the same boat as you.

It's good to know I'm not the only one to feel like this.

I get like that and don't sew for months.

it sounds like a case of Obligation Overload.
"Have to" sucks all the fun out of a project for me.

taking a day (or more) off is no cause for alarm, though.
quilters need holidays and vacations just like anybody else. :)

Welcome to the club. Chocolate always seems to be the answer for anything and if it does not help to get you going, it will at least make you feel very sweet and content for a while. Tomorrow is another day! Hang in there and listen to your body which seems to need a bit of rest to build up energy for the next flurry of activity.

I've felt that way, and I read this saying that sums it up for me:

"Nothing is as fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of uncompleted tasks."

I try to eliminate some of the tasks.

Yes, this. Maybe you feel overwhelmed and ar blocking yourself by not sewing. Maybe one project on a timeline and the rest for fun.

yup i know what you meen im going through the same thing. 2 lap quilts for a swap, a baby quilt and a queen size for shop samples and quilt and bumper pads for my babys bed who is due next month oh and another charity queen size bargelow and i have to quilt a top for my sisterinlaw. just have to sew for a short bit and then take a break.

I like that quote!

I became overwhelmed and depressed by the number of unfinished projects and didn't do any sewing for ages. In the end I put them all out of sight under the bed, just keeping one out to work on. Then I started following Leah Day's Quilt Along, which is helping me to stay motivated. I'm dipping in and out of several projects now, depending on what's needed for Leah's weekly tutorial. Still none completely finished, but a lot of progress and I'm enjoying myself again. Maybe you need to just focus on one item, andjust for short sessions until your energy and enthusiasm come back.

Like many of you, I also have those days. Right now I think it is the weather. I'm tired of gloomy days and I'm ready for sunshine and open windows. I have many projects in the works and I'm always planning on others. When I'm not motivated or inspired to quilt or sew I spend my time straightening and cleaning my sewing room or looking at other quilters ideas and completed projects. I might even get the house cleaned, laundry done or other sometimes neglected chores. Then, when I do get back my mojo I'm really inspired.

sometimes i get that way when i start thinking about all of the different projects i (should) be working on- it gets overwhelming and causes (non-function)
if you stop thinking about them as a whole and simply pick up one- and decide i am going to do THIS project- it seems to get a person back into it- and when you get that one done you feel (empowered) to do the next one---and before you know it they are done :)

I totally agree with ckcowl. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by how much there is to do. Try to just focus on one project at a time.

For me personally, I don't do well with deadlines anymore. Too much corporate push over the years for one thing. The other thing I have realized is that for many quilters, myself included, this has somehow become more like a job than a hobby. I read in a book a year or so ago that historically it took most quilters one to two years to finish a bed sized quilt regardless if it was being hand or machine stitched or quilted. The other day I read a post from someone here who said she had made 52 quilts last year!! Why do we push ourselves to levels that aren't even realistic? The action that I am taking to relieve myself from the overload burden is to finish ALL of my UFO's and obligations this year. Next year I am going to start anew with a promise to myself to only do what is comfortable for me, taking my time and enjoying the process. Never again will I commit myself to "obligatory" sewing or quilting. Life is too short, we should enjoy it as much as possible.

I love this comment! How wise and how true. Many of us, often trained into it by our jobs, are so used to pushing ourselves as hard as we can, looking for achievement through speed and productivity - I get caught up into that, fretting about how slowly I'm progressing, and have watched other quilter friends who just drive themselves till their hobby becomes another task, another goal to be achieved. It's a bit of a balance, isn't it - I find that setting myself some goals or targets helps keep me on track, but I have to watch that they don't begin to suck the enjoyment out of what I'm doing. And I tend to rush at things as though there's not enough time to do them - and pay the consequences in terms of mistakes. At the moment I'm consciously trying to slow down, to take the time that's needed for preparation, both practical and reflecting on what I want to do, and to enjoy the actual process of quilting rather than looking ahead to the results all the time. That's why I've stowed all the UFOs out of sight - it takes the pressure off.

I think we all get that way sometimes. Like the other ladies here have said pick one and try working on it for a while. Once you get started, you'll probably get the inspiration you can't seem to find.

As cmrenno said, try working for just 15 minutes. It may inspire you to keep going. If not, don't put so much pressure on yourself that you do not enjoy the process instead of just the end result.

I too used to have that happen, then I started working part-time at Hancock Fabrics. That keeps me in the mood to sew all of the time. I have never sewed so much - have never bought so much fabric as well. haha Your urge to sew will come back - it might be a while though unless you get that part-time job!

I'm right there with ya. Now all I want to do is knit scarves and I have cut out a mock cathedral, dragon wall hanging and whatsername's bloomquilt. All are for birthdays coming up and I'm just not feeling them. I'm hope I'll get back in the mood soon. Worse is I have a designer diamond and have never done embroidery on it. I'm too intimidated. Maybe there is something over the counter we can take.

Yea, I get like that, too. Sometimes I'll make something that only takes a little bit of time like a little potholder or mug rug. That makes me feel like at least something is finished and it generally gets me moving on the stuff that I'm stuck on.

I went for about 9 months like that, mostly due to my husband's illness. I am back sewing now. In fact I bought your shamrock pattern and am working on it now. I love it. Got it at Bits and Pieces in Pelham. I will post a picture when I finish.

Seeing the lovely finished quilts posted on this Board is inspiring, but I know that I have to do things my way. Now that I'm retired, I can do that. I bookmark a lot of good ideas, and may get to them. Or not. No more deadllines or competitions for me!

I can go for 2=3months without desire to quilt except for little things to practice handquiting. I still enjoy looking at the mags and get excited if I see something I want to try. I used to get upset over not quilting as I have a beautiful machine & table to use. Now I think it will come back as it has before & try to remember I'm in this for pleasure only. My quilting desire has just ret'd about a wk ago & now am having fun trying a SBS for the first time. It feels so good. I also decided not to go for the biggies anymore, instead nothing more than a lapquilt cause it's easier to manage.