Too much stash and too little motivation!
 

I am a fairly new quilter. I've only been doing this wonderful work for about 18 months now. I have a simple Singer and a Brother sewing machines. In the beginning before I started working full time, I was so engrossed in my new found love. I was gathering fabric for my stash from the shop on post here, on the Internet and whenever I got back to the States. It didn't help that now with the base closing the shop has a lot of fabric @ 70% off!

I do have a few projects in the queue to get finished before off to my LAQ, but otherwise I can't get motivated to get them done or start anything new. I have fabric coming out of my ears because I was buying in fear of needing it and not finding it, plus I couldn't pass up a fabric I loved at such a great sale price!! Does anybody ever get this way? I'm sure we all do, but I've been like this for a few months now. Maybe I should just find some quick patterns that I can bang out in a day or weekend to curb my stash and lack of motivation! Plus the admission to my peers might just push me on! Thanks for letting me vent. Any advice on what you do when you get it a rut is greatly appreciated.
Happy quilting!
Tanya

Oh yeah...sometimes i think the chase for fabric is why i love quilting. When i get in a rut i just do something simple...pinwheels. They bore me so much that i'm motivated to do something more complex. Reverse psychology!

Take a look at www.quiltville.com. Bonnie Hunter has free patterns for beautiful scrap quilts. You might find ideas and inspiration there- I sometimes pick just one pretty block and stich that when I want to do s-g but am too much in a rut for anything bigger. Save the blocks to make pot holders, trivets, bags and maybe finally a sampler quilt. Her patterns are easy to adjust if you want different size blocks.

When I was in school, I had an over abundance of free time to quilt. Now that I am doing my externship which is 40+ hours a week, I struggle to find the time to do it. I get antsy and will just go into my sewing room and fondle my fabrics and sometimes I will just whip up a quick block just so I can a smidgen of quilting. I find when I am overwhelmed by life and everything else, I can't concentrate on making anything larger like a quilt. This is when I find a small project like a potholder, small table runner or just some blocks that I haven't done before. It helps satisfy my need to quilt without overwhelming me with a big project.

Think Christmas presents....small projects should get your juices flowing....Table runners, placemats, Gift Totes, a Christmas banner for the front door. How about a lovely bed runner for the guest room. Patchwork Christmas stockings...pot holders....go to www.e-patternscentral.com for perhaps some inspiration....and get instant dowload of patterns....

I think you are correct in your last words... pick out a project that you can make quickly using some of your favorite fabrics in your stash. Just getting started helps so much! This is coming from someone who is just getting back into quilting after a long hiatus... and so glad to be back.

In my case I started with a table topper kit pieced with charms and two borders. All I had to do was cut the background fabric and I was off and sewing. Still going strong after 3 weeks :).

It seems we all have slumps at times. Paruse the fabric manufactures sites for free patterns . .. that always brings me inspiration. Hoffman, Kaufman, RJR, Moda just to name a few have some amazing free patterns for everything from tablerunners to full size quilts.

Thank you all for your wonderful advice. I have been checking through the photos on this site, hoping for a jolt of inspiration. I think that you are all right about starting out small. I even tried to go through and make up kits for myself for later use. I think I overwhelmed myself wanting to get a quilt done for everyone for Christmas and then my brain shorted out to make me slow down. It's hard having to speed up your quilt making because I have to send them to the States to get LAed as the Euro cost has skyrocketed!! I think I will take your advice and maybe make up blocks, potholders, etc. Thank you each for the support!

I so know what you are talking about. I get overly excited (I think) about fabric and doing projects; then when it gets down to actually doing the project, I just fizzle out!! I recently went to the new Joanne's store and got very excited about doing some covers for my machines...bought my fav red quilted fabric...guess where it is???? Still in sack on my bed!!! And I have an embroidery project due Tuesday!! Gotta get my hiney up and get busy!!