Last week I had this idea. One that I couldn’t — or didn’t — shake off. An idea that seemed totally reasonable at the time, as ideas often do. I’ve been feeling so inspired with my quilting lately that I decided I would turn one of my designs from the #30daysofquiltdesign challenge into reality…and I would submit it for QuiltCon 2017.
The deadline is November 30.
My fabric arrived on Monday.
Did I mention that this week is Thanksgiving?
Did I mention that I’ve got a big work meeting next week on the last 2 days of the month?
And somehow, despite all this, making an entire quilt in one week seemed doable. I had already planned to take this whole week off work, and some part of my brain decided that would give me plenty of time to not only finish a quilt, but finish one with the care and attention to detail required to actually submit to a show.
(Why do I want to submit a quilt to a show? I’m not even entirely sure about that, other than to say that I am a “gold star junkie” and getting a quilt accepted into a show seems like a nice gold star.)
On Monday night I dutifully cut my fabric. Yesterday before Jose and the girls got home, I pieced the entire top and basted the sandwich. I sewed basically all day, which I have never done before, and I have to admit that I’m actually pretty impressed with what I was able to accomplish in 7 hours. I did a ton, and I did it all with care — my piecing on the top is as accurate as any I’ve ever done.
But when last night rolled around and the girls were in bed, I just didn’t want to sew anymore. I thought about how I really had to get back to quilting if I wanted to finish by the deadline. I thought about how the quilting will take me several hours if I really do it right. (And I want to do it right!) But after sewing all day, I just wasn’t feeling it.
So I didn’t sew.
And for once, I didn’t let myself feel guilty about not making as much progress as I feel like I “could” or “should.” I sat down on the couch and watched an episode of Silicon Valley with Jose. We talked about politics. We commiserated on Charlotte’s evening fussiness and Emma’s lack of listening skills. I did actually sit back down at the sewing machine for about 45 minutes later in the evening, but overall I just…let it go.
I might still finish it by the end of the month, but really? I probably won’t. I’m not going to push myself unnecessarily to make it happen. Instead, I’ll keep plugging away and when it’s finished, I know it will be something I can be proud of, because I took the time to make it turn out exactly like I want.
And hey, there are plenty of other quilt shows…
This might be my favorite quilt you’ve done so far!
You made a ton of progress already! If you do get close to a finish in time for the submission but still need to do binding, here’s a tip: sew the binding to the top and then use tape to fix it to the back for the submission photos. I’ve even seen Valori Wells using that tip. 🙂
I was already planning to do that! Heehee. But first I’d have to get the quilting done…
Evening fussiness and not listening are all in the wonderful game of “We’ve Got Kids”!! ❤️
Looks great.
I have done quilts as Christmas presents the last two years, which meant a quilt in about 3 weeks. Given Bri was 4 months old the first year and 16 months old the second, that was not easy. And not really that fun at the end of the day, though I did get them both done. This year, I think I’m going to pass. But we’ll see.
Ha, I like that you ended with “we’ll see!” My biggest issue is that I’m just really susceptible to suggestion…and I have a bad habit of underestimating how long something will take me to make. The frustrating part is that I continue to do it even though I should know better!