Old 07-07-2013, 05:54 PM
  #8  
littlebitoheaven
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Illinois/Wisconsin
Posts: 878
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I happen to have a DDL who you sound very much like. She is working part time (away from home). She is a quilter, a crocheter and a new knitter. Her discipline is unbelievable and I am envious of her ability to juggle all her "balls". What I have noticed about her is that she keeps her quilt quite organized. By this I mean that after picking out the pattern and fabric, she takes whatever extra time she has and she starts pressing her fabric. Oh! She reads the directions thoroughly and then has a keen sense of what she will need to do. Then she cuts all of her pieces and organizes them. Then she starts sewing and does as much as possible in the time she has. She continues in this manner through the process of putting the pieces together into blocks, then blocks into rows, then rows together, then borders (almost always 3). Then she sews her backing. She puts her batting in the dryer for 10 minutes to just release some of the folds. She uses basting spray and puts her layers together. Then she FMQs. She started out with an FMQ course and used simple patterns and her patterns became more difficult as her skills grew. Then cut off extra pieces. Make binding, sew binding to front and then hand stitched to the back. She does not use labels. (Don't know why.) All of this work for her is done in very small windows of time. It's my belief that her organization skills (which you obviously have) help her to sew and walk away and then return and pick up where she left off. She is very prolific. It just amazes me as I am retired and I cannot keep up with her or do the really neat job she does.

There is a pattern out today (which really doesn't need a pattern). I believe it is called "Race Quilt". You use jelly roll strips that are 2 1/2 inches wide. If you Google it you will see many examples. This is the pattern that my 10-year old GD asked me to do for her. Yea! Easy peasy! The pattern that I saw has two stems with flowers appliquéd over the strips.

Quilting is a wonderful craft and very rewarding. I truly hope that you will be able to move forward. I believe it may help you to look at your quilt one step at a time rather than looking at the whole and being overwhelmed. Give it a try. If it doesn't work for you now, surely it will later. Remember, you are just making a quilt and not a baby. It doesn't have to be perfect and the beauty of quilting is that small mistakes never really show because everyone looks at the whole not the individual pieces. Good luck and happy sewing always. Yolanda Wood River
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