Why are we always in a hurry?
 

I just read another post where someone was talking about how quickly they finished a quilt top. What's the hurry? I enjoy the process - the planning, shopping cutting, and sewing. I find making a quilt like reading a good book. I love for it all to come together, but there is something a little sad about it being over.

I feel the same way. It may be why I have so many tops waiting to be quilted. I love to keep revisiting them.
peace

Some of us are just classic overachievers. Most of the quilts I make are for Linus. They are simple and rarely pieced. I have set a quota for myself of 21 a month. Our Linus Chapter usually produces at least 600 quilts a month so I am not the only one keeping busy. I need an excuse to keep purchasing fabric. I feel guilty if I don't make use of it.

I completely agree with you. I know people who just do one quilt after another and as fast as possible. I used to think there was something wrong with me because I worked so slowly. I didn't retire to keep working on a speeded-up treadmill. One of the reasons I retired was to slow things down. It is enjoyment for me. It is not a speed contest.

I am definitely in the tortoise camp as opposed to the hare, slow and sure. I gravitate to more complex patterns with numerous intersecting seams like mariner's compass, NYB, etc. I also enjoy working with small pieces (patchwork that finishes to as little as 1/2" by 1"). The complexity requires a certain amount of precision that can't be rushed. Don't get me wrong, I love shortcut methods like strip piecing, rotary cutting and making numerous HST at once using a grid sewing method but I still have no desire to work at breakneck speed. Like you, I enjoy the process and I always have numerous projects going that require different techniques including handwork. I too can't understand what the big rush is. Even for charity quilts I don't see the point on trying to produce so many. It isn't like there is a huge shortage or overwhelming need, especially with so many charity quilters out there.

I too enjoy the process, and don't measure myself in terms of how fast I completed a project. I don't like to feel rushed wen this is something I do to relax.

Just because someone completes a lot of quilts, doesn't mean they are rushing the process. Maybe they love it so much, they just can't stop. I used to make 2-3 quilts as month. Never rushed, but I'd come home from work and quilt for 4 hours. Or quilt all day (12-14 hours) on a weekend, just because I love it so much and it's my relaxation time. Certainly gave me a rep for being Speedy Gonzales, but as I said, I never rushed a single step.

Now, I hardly get any quilts done - maybe 3-4 quilts in a year - because I've started longarming for others. That takes up all my quilting time now.

It's an addiction. The quicker one is done, the quicker the next one starts. Thanks for the reminder to slow it down. It's the process not the product.

I enjoy the process but also get bored when I'm on the same project and looking at the same fabric for too long. That's why I love the Jenny Doan-type projects. I can take pleasure in cutting precisely, lining up seams and points exactly and dealing with bias edges, and trying to get a consistent scant quarter inch seam. With the "quick and easy" techniques I can have an attractive, complex-looking finished project in a few weeks and improve my skills while doing it.

Usually people have deadlines to get the quilt done such as a birthday or a wedding or a holiday. That is what happens to me. When I was in competition with my quilts, I was literally sewing the binding to the back as my friend drove me to where I was to drop off the quilt. Never enough time in the day for me. :)