GladGrams

YOU'RE NORMAL! WHAT A SHOCK, HUH? :thumbup:

QuiltQtrs

Just spending a few relaxing minutes browsing your quilt magazines for
projects will help you wind down. Then make a list of things you would
really like to finish, and gradually collect your fabrics, and begin the project.
It feels so good to cross off your accomplishments!

kellen46

Being creative is not a straight line, it is a up and down line. We all need to pull back and let our inner artist rest and refresh. All creative people do this, writers, painters, all artists. Rather than punish yourself and replay other negative messages allow yourself to take a break. You are not a factory, nor are you a machine. I would suggest you clean the sewing room, clean the machine, organize your stash and then shut the door for at least a week. If you have other passions, reading, cooking, crochet, walking in the rain or taking imaginary trips to Europe then do that. The urge, the need to go back will surface when ready and you can answer that call. I once took a whole year off to learn and do book binding. I came back to sewing renewed and recharged. What you should never do is let others define you. Even done in a loving way, with genuine concern it is destructive. They do not live in your skin and may have their own agenda. For what ever reason they offer an opinion remember only you can define who you are. Turn off those voices and when people inquire tell them your inner quilter is on a vacation, hopefully to a sunny local with good local red wine and handsome charming waiters who love to bring you great food and call you La Bella Donna

Favorite Fabrics

Is it possible that you actually miss the OLD sewing room? If your furniture/tools/machines are arranged differently, you need to learn a whole new routine/path around your space.

And with all that's in your life, you may not WANT new routines now, but the comfort of old ways.

When I replaced my cutting table in my sewing room, I was in a funk just because the new table had to be turned a different way in the room. (Go figure!)

Also... if you have collected too much stuff, it can be so overwhelming that you just don't know where to start. Perhaps it would be helpful to keep out the items you need for just one small easy project, and put everything else in boxes or opaque bins so you don't see it. That way you can focus on just one thing for now, and forget about the rest.

When you get the one project done, you might feel so pleased that you can face... two projects the next time!

How old is your son, by the way?

Elliotsgreatgrandma

What I heard was a new sewing room. Maybe you are like I was in May. I had finished working and was off during the summer and had several quilts planned to make for my family as gifts at weddings or special occassions. But Nothing was where it use to be I had gotten a new sewing table, it was the right height but we had not become comfortable with each other. Where would my thread go. My table did not have drawers like my old one. I felt like a stranger in my own sewing room. I had to get everything I wanted handy and laid it all out and worked my way through the unformalier territory of a new environment until I made it mine again. Quilters are artist and we all have out artistic temperment and for us to get in the creative mood we have to be comfortable and comfortated in an enviromnent that we feel the freedom to take what is in our head and heart into a fabric pieced form.

See if your family will take a Sat or Sun or both and give you some alone time to reconnect with your sewing room. It might be good for son and dad to have some one on one time. My boys always need it and so did I. Hope this helps. Gail

quiltaroni

Try some of those ten minute blocks you can have a lap quilt
in no time.

Twisted Quilter

Ditto! I think we're twins. :lol:

sheila bee

Couldn't say it better !!!!!

starshine

When I went to work outside the home with 4 kids at home, I pretty much abandoned most quilting, as well as lots of other things. I am trying to get back into it now that the nest is empty. One thing you mentioned was frustration with having to undo and redo- perhaps you could sign up for a class at a quilt shop, and learn some techniques and tips that will make it more enjoyable. If doing so now would put too much on your plate, maybe next summer if your off work. And with a job, an hour commute, family responsiblities I wouldn't call not wanting to do anything lazy- I'd call it TIRED! And rightly so. In the mean time, maybe do something small for a gift like a potholder or mini quilt wall hanging. Or instead of starting with gifts for others maybe start with something for you. That might be rewarding and motivating to get the creative juices flowing. I'm hoping that moving my machine from the dining room to one of the spare bedrooms will make it easier too. But the comment about checking in on this board using all your time is too true for me too. Hang in there, take some baby steps. and good luck.

wildyard

Everyone is so right!! Sewing and Quilting is supposed to be the fun part of your life. Please don't let it add to the stress. When you are missing your fabric, just go in and play with it. Sort some of it, pet it and hug it. Put some that compliment together; no specific project needed to have in mind. It's just to soothe you and give you a quiet time with your fabric. And if for right now you are just a fabric collector, so what? Just look at all you will have to work from when you turn back into a quilter!!! Many hugs and smiles, wildlinda