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!!

Maybe make something for somebody in a nursing home - like a lap robe (small quilt for the lap) - that might help use up some scraps and get you back into the sewing mood. HTH

This might help!

Ecclesiastes 3:1

I definetely relate to what you are going through! Very different circumstances, we are in the process of preparing for a move back to Oregon; I want to be sewing, yet not knowing when I will be boxing the sewing room up has put me into a slump. I finally began making some new coasters and that has really helped. Finding a small project has definetely helped my slump. Just remember to have fun with whatever project you choose!

Oh dear. I too buy fab cuz I like it or the price is too good to pass up.I've run out of friends/family to give quilts to so now sewing for Quilts of Valor and Quilts for Kids. So much fun to sew and pass on to someone who will love it.

I was collecting fabric for over a year now to make a quilt for my son. Thanks to a wonderful QB member I got the last piece that I was looking for. For months I couldn't start his quilt and I justified it by missing that one little piece of fabric. Oh no, I was in an inspirational black hole. Today I started working on a Bargello that frustrated me to no end (because I was not in mood for quilting) and all of a sudden I packed up darn Bargello and started working on my son's quilt. It went so well that I was amazed. Not a glitch whatsoever. It is my design, looks like a whole bunch of framed pictures hanging on a wall. I am planning to make a part of the wall look like exposed bricks and I will graffiti his name on it. This is a complete change of my original plan. I guess frustration brings out my creativity. I don't know if this is helping at all but I felt that sharing my "stuck in a rut" feeling may help you in some way. Good luck!

Thank you, everyone! Each bit of advice has been so wonderful! I truly appreciate it. @ snipforfun, that did help more than you know. I have been collecting fabrics for QOV quilts for the last few months. I am determined to get a few done and take them to Landstuhl hospital for some soldiers there. No one in particular because they are all so special! Perhaps I should get started on one of those after work tonight?! I know that will make me feel so great! I'm just nervous about making one that is good enough to give to one of our wonderful soldiers.

I'm sorry to hear the Heidleberg base is closing....it is a memory from my time in Germany associated with the military decades ago.

But in reference to your "problem", you will be so happy you have all that fabric when you PCS elsewhere, even stateside! Sometimes just dreaming about making quilts is enough for the time being. If you do go on with valor quilts, Landstuhl is a great place for them (that's where we used to shop when we lived near Kaiserlautern). You might google "images of modern quilts" for some wonderful looking quilts that will be easier to make but still graphic and appealing for wounded warriors, male or female.

Bless you for your service!!

Jan in VA

Small projects you can quilt yourself w/o sending them to a LAer may be the ticket. Go to Craftsy.com and sign up for the FREE Block of the Month class. Sometimes having that "class" feel can be motivating and you can "attend class" any time it's convenient for you, dressed any way you feel like it! Blocks can be used for pillows, totes, a couple together can be a table runner, one can be a candle mat or add borders for a table topper, a few together can be a bed runner etc, etc focus on little bits of time just doing a little at a time. Rediscover the relaxation of it, we all have dry spells, or over pressure ourselves which can be paralyzing.

It is sad to see everything coming to a close here. There has been so much history that has taken place here.


I have been gathering fabric for the exact reason you said. I am hoping to have fabric when we get back Stateside in case I am not close to a fabric or quilt shop. I do a ton of dreaming about quilts, especially during my lunch break at work. It really doesn't help that I am just 2 bldgs down from the craft store on base!! I get easy access to when the sales happen since they open 20 minutes before my break!! A few valor quilts before we leave in July is my goal. I was hoping to have 1 or 2 done for Christmas, but I'd have to shake off my rut to accomplish this!! But with determined focus I think it can be done. Thanks for the push!
God bless!!
Tanya

I did get myself signed up at Craftsy and searched the Internet early this morning. I have a few ideas that I think would be just the ticket. Thanks so much for the advice, Cybrarian and everyone else! That is why I love this site. It also reminds me that I need to update my photo album, too!God bless,
Tanya

I did that trying to get birthday quilts done for 3 grandchildren. Now I am taking a private digitizing for quilt patterns and find there is little time to sew and I can't seem to motivate myself to sit down and sew a little also. I leave something out that I want to work on so I keep seeing it. Out of sight, out of mind is true for me.

The virtual quilting days here on the weekend really hopes to modivate me...the encouragement from others. Posting progress and also seeing others work in progress. I love seeing what others are doing. The board of course is wonderful and full of encouraging quilters!

I feel a great sense of accomplishment to see a guilt done. It makes me want to start another, but like you there are so many to choose from. I want to get that good feeling of a done quilt again, right away! Try to find a pattern you like, and break the project into steps. Then you will feel that good feeling of accomplishment by finishing one step at a time. If you are really sick of it, put what you have away, then when you want a new project, take it down again. I just took down a quilt that I had put away for later, and I found all I needed to finish it were the borders!

I get this "burn-out" at times, so what I do is look at my stash all nice and neat and in it's place...the more I look at it, the more I hunger (yes, I said hunger) to create another work of art....

Hopefully I can use all of these tips soon! I have most of my stash out where it can be seen so I don't have that "hunger" from not seeing it. Just the hunger to do everything I see to where it zips out the ability to do anything! Maybe I can get the kinks out by the weekend.

Oh boy - do you ever sound like me. I have two tall bookcases just full of fabric and no enthusiasm whatsoever now. Maybe it's because we have had two funerals and our son was layed off work - are those excuses that are legitimate? However, they can't be 'cause this started several years ago and gradually got worse.

When my girls were little, I rarely had time to sew, but I loved buying fabric and dreaming about projects. Now they're a little older and loving the fact that I can find just about anything in my stash. I still shop, but I am using up fabric I've had for a while...my quilts look "vintage"!

It's hard to find time when working, so try going to quilterscatche.com and just making one block at a time of blocks that catch your eye. Put them away until you have enough for a quilt. One a week and by the end of the yr you would have plenty. I made my brother a stash quilt like that and he just loves it. If you take your time like that your not pushing yourself. It took me two yrs to make my dd quilt. lol

Do you have a quilting friend in close proximity? When I get in a 'slump', I find piecing quilts with a friend very motivational.

Thank you for your service to our country and God Bless!!

Tanya, You are officially a quilter---That's what quilters do! lol

Consider joining a "Virtual Quilting Bee". I did yesterday and almost have one top finished. It does help inspire and motivate.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...a-t203151.html

Or how about a Mystery Quilt? They are always fun. This one started on Saturday.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/blocks-...e-t203100.html

Just try to relax and maybe set aside 1 hour a day to do some sewing? I need to take my own advise....lol. I am a LAQ so my time is limited too so I know how you feel. Best wishes! :)

I love the 10 min. quilt blocks and use them for lots of different projects and it uses up stass very well!

More tips, I love it! I do a have a great friend that I quilt with. We try to do at least 1 Saturday a month at the shop to try to work on stuff. Plus, right now we are taking a 4 part MQ down in Stuttgart. We just worked on clue 3 yesterday. I always have that to work on, but we meet once a month so I work on that bit by bit to have something to do. The quilters cache idea is a great one! I have found blocks that I really love already! That could be used to make a dream quilt for myself for later. You all are wonderful and so full of ideas!! Now I can't contain my excitement!!!

I hear you sister!! I have a huge amount of fabric calling my name right now. LOL. I think my problem is that there is too many projects and too little time to make what I want. My sewing has been for other people and charity for far too long now. I am backing out slowly from my time gobblers so that I can concentrate on using the dedicated fabric "kits" I have made up. I only buy for projects that are planned now and replacing the neutrals as needed.

It is such a relief to see that I'm not the only one who gets OVERWHELMED! I too buy fabric for a project then the project never gets started. I think the fear of making a mistake is what stops me, or if it's to be a gift for someone I'm afraid they won't like it so I never get anything done except buy fabric. I'm trying to work through it by working on individual quilt blocks which I downloaded from the internet. When I get enough done to put together, I think that will boost my confidence.

I bought 60 yards of fabric at a going out of business sale....top line quilting cotton for 2.00 per yard...all of it seems to be focal fabric and no two go together....I'm making crib sheets, pillowcases, bags, I'm saving some for when my only grandchild gets a bit bigger. My interest has ebbed and flowed...you'll get your mojo back and will be glad you bought it.

It's great to see that I am not alone in my fabric hoarding!! With all of the ideas going in my head it's no wonder I can't get anything done. Plus family and work obligations are keeping me busy. I am just going to try the making blocks thing and see how that goes for a while.

The best way for me to climb out of a slump is to do something simple and get back to basics. From there, I seem to get interested in sewing and quilting again.

Boy there must be something wrong with me. I just can't seem to quilt enough. I sew all day long, all week long, all month long, all year long, as long as I can get away with it. I just can't seem to get enough of it. I let everything else go just to sew. I do live on a farm, we have a grass business, I have 8 grandchildren, I have flower and vegetable garden, and I have my grandchildren on ocassion. I love to sew and just wish I could get all the projects done I want to get done. I'd rather quilt than take care of other things. I'm bad.