My least favourite part of quilting is the sewing
12-03-2025, 06:54 PM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Toronto
Posts: 143
My least favourite part of quilting is the sewing
Is anyone else like me?
I love playing with pretty fabrics and planning / designing layouts and projects. The actual sewing? I don't enjoy doing it, but it's a necessary means to an end.
I currently have two projects that I want to complete but I'm having difficulty getting my butt into the chair and sitting at the machine.
I'm hoping I'll feel better if I know I'm not the only one LOL
I love playing with pretty fabrics and planning / designing layouts and projects. The actual sewing? I don't enjoy doing it, but it's a necessary means to an end.
I currently have two projects that I want to complete but I'm having difficulty getting my butt into the chair and sitting at the machine.
I'm hoping I'll feel better if I know I'm not the only one LOL
12-04-2025, 05:29 AM
#4
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Peoria, IL -- Midwest Transplant
Posts: 7,259
My favorite part is the design and planning and collecting/playing with fabrics. But I also enjoy the actual sewing part. I am lucky enough to have a designated space and am able to sew each day. And I'm at my happiest with at least a bit of sewing.
Do you have Electric Quilt or graph paper to doodle on? I can get a lot of my fun design play on digitally or on paper without committing to fabric. And yeah, colored pencils, markers or crayons are good on paper. But with EQ you can just click and change like magic.
There is a point in each project where I just want to wrap it up and move to the next one. When people ask me what is my favorite project, I reply "the next one!"
My least favorite part is the clean up, but I've really worked on my skills and that I enjoy having a nice clean space to work in, so the putting away of one project is an important step in both my happiness and the next project.
edit: @Lena1952 I've started doing quite a bit of weird stuff on paper towels, like practicing freehand quilting motions. They hold up surprisingly well.
Do you have Electric Quilt or graph paper to doodle on? I can get a lot of my fun design play on digitally or on paper without committing to fabric. And yeah, colored pencils, markers or crayons are good on paper. But with EQ you can just click and change like magic.
There is a point in each project where I just want to wrap it up and move to the next one. When people ask me what is my favorite project, I reply "the next one!"
My least favorite part is the clean up, but I've really worked on my skills and that I enjoy having a nice clean space to work in, so the putting away of one project is an important step in both my happiness and the next project.
edit: @Lena1952 I've started doing quite a bit of weird stuff on paper towels, like practicing freehand quilting motions. They hold up surprisingly well.
Last edited by Iceblossom; 12-04-2025 at 05:31 AM.
12-04-2025, 06:22 AM
#7
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: New England, USA
Posts: 3,141
I have always loved to sew ..... so when I started to quilt, I saw it as just an extension of sewing. I started as a child sewing doll clothes, then my own clothes and after children, there were rompers, pants, tops, dresses (formal and everyday) and even swim suits! In all honesty, I knew a gal early on (a Mom of my daughters play mate) that quilted and thought it was dumb lol. Fast forward to retirement .... quilting is now my passion!!
That being said, I can see where the sewing part could be a means to an end for some, but for me, the color selection and construction is what gets me excited.
Had to laugh at cashs mom's comment about Fender covers - years ago a neighbor had one of those monster trucks for shows with pipes extended through the hood for combustion and I made him custom pipe covers lol!!
That being said, I can see where the sewing part could be a means to an end for some, but for me, the color selection and construction is what gets me excited.
Had to laugh at cashs mom's comment about Fender covers - years ago a neighbor had one of those monster trucks for shows with pipes extended through the hood for combustion and I made him custom pipe covers lol!!
12-04-2025, 06:24 AM
#8
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: SW Washington USA
Posts: 4,885
it might depend on age and stage of quilting. I made my first quilt at 8, I can still see it in my mind, then set in for real at 21 and it's been my passion ever since.
starting out I didn't like the cutting because it was still cardboard and scissors work.
rulers and blades helped, but once I made my first bonnie hunter quilt and reconized method to the maddes I like the cutting.
I bought my first sewing machine from a neighbor at 16, and replaced it in the mid-90s with a Janome memorycraft9000. Oh my gosh, what a world it opened up for me, and as members aboved mentioned, sitting at my machine...bliss. Good tools - good work.
It's the quilting I've come to dread and dislike, even smaller pieces like my 40X40 series.
This week I've been thinking about folding up and donating every unfinished piece I have. Makes my heart lift to even think about it, so it will probably happen. Maybe to celebrate New Years.
Now back to my machine...and bliss.
starting out I didn't like the cutting because it was still cardboard and scissors work.
rulers and blades helped, but once I made my first bonnie hunter quilt and reconized method to the maddes I like the cutting.
I bought my first sewing machine from a neighbor at 16, and replaced it in the mid-90s with a Janome memorycraft9000. Oh my gosh, what a world it opened up for me, and as members aboved mentioned, sitting at my machine...bliss. Good tools - good work.
It's the quilting I've come to dread and dislike, even smaller pieces like my 40X40 series.
This week I've been thinking about folding up and donating every unfinished piece I have. Makes my heart lift to even think about it, so it will probably happen. Maybe to celebrate New Years.
Now back to my machine...and bliss.
12-04-2025, 06:46 AM
#10
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Western Washington
Posts: 1,073
KalamaQuilts your comment about donating unfinished pieces is exactly what I've been doing. Just took 4 tops to my LQS which supports Project Linus and I have at least 6 more targeted as donations. I liked piecing them and the fabrics choosen but have others that I really love (those I will finish) but have decided I don't want to spend money for batting, backing or quilting even though I do my own. I feel better knowing they will be completed and gifted to someone who needs them.
I love the picking of pattern and fabric and seeing the quilt top come together. I even love the quilting process but often the top gets put into a pile with other UFOs and after a while if I look at it with fresh eyes I decide to let it move on.
I love the picking of pattern and fabric and seeing the quilt top come together. I even love the quilting process but often the top gets put into a pile with other UFOs and after a while if I look at it with fresh eyes I decide to let it move on.
