Road to California 2014, part II

February 4, 2014February 5, 2014 Elizabeth E.18 Comments

There was a great exhibit of quilts from the book I was lucky enough to be in: Amish Quilts, The Adventure Continues. As always, seeing them in person, beats a flat picture or a digital photograph any day. (How has that changed what we esteem as “good” quilts? Just something to think about.) That’s why quilt shows are so valuable as they allow a viewer to fall in love with quilts again.

Suzanne Keeney Lucy’s Ocean Waves

Two views of Michelle Webber’s It’s Hip to Be Square

Two views (one to show the quilting) of Reflection of the Times, made by Angela Yosten and quilted by Natalia Bonner

Likewise there were some quilts from QuiltCon.

I took a shot of this one because I love Carolyn Friedlander’s fabrics, but it is true that this quilt is lacking some contrast. It’s not just the photography. The title of this one is The Local Quilt.

Deconstructed Nine Patch by Jacquie Gering

Honey in Space, by Elizabeth Hartman

Log Pyramids, by Liz Harvatine

You Rule, by Brigitte Heitland

and lastly, A Very Long Conversation, by Rossie Hutchinson. I was pretty sure I had a photo from Christa Watson’s String of Pearls (using Lizzy House’s fabric–a great design) but it’s too blurry to post, so go *here* to see that fun quilt. . . and her (more on that later). There were a couple of quilts I was sure I had a photo of, but when I looked at them, I must have been taking them on a fast run past. Maybe it was because I had too many bags around my shoulders?

At this point, don’t you think we need a little retail therapy? This is the little quilt in the charm booth–a way to display those little pins we all love. This group had figured out how to make earrings out of them, so they had a lot of people crowded around.

Fabricworm’s first time at Road. Judging from the crowd at their booth, I think they’ll be back.

Loved the chair AND the floor mat. The floor “rug” looked like just patches with some sort of matte finish brushed over it.

And LUNCH! From left, Leisa, Lisa, Lisa’s sister-in-law Betty (who came from another state just for Road), me and Simone. Get your scrolling fingers ready, here come more quilts!

Janet Dorsey Hirth used lots of different piecing styles in her sampler quilt, titled Loose Leaf Earl Grey.

Random snapshot of free-motion quilting

This is a terrible picture of a fabulous quilt, by Ann Feitelson, titled Music of the Spheres. Google it and you should find a better photo. It’s really amazing.

Here’s another Ann Feitelson. I think she never sleeps. This one is titled Basket Weave II: See Saw. There was a lot of math that went into this quilt, judging from her description. She writes “The titled also refers to seeing and have seen, the way vision shifts in every blink.”

Kim Bruny’s Blast from the Past is so named because all the bright designs and paisley prints remind her of her childhood. Well, now we know how old she is! (Kidding, Kim. It was a terrific quilt.) I have several photos, showing details.

She used the “tiling” method of creating her top: appliquéing her patches to a single piece of fabric, keeping the pieces an even distance away, so it looks like tiles have been laid down.

And in the borders–broderie perse, a technique of using specific cuts of the printed fabric to create the design.

I liked this quilting because it wasn’t so dense. Lately quilters have been quilting their quilts so densely, they could stand up as a room screen by themselves. This is a nice change.

Sandi Delman’s Kartwheels was started in 2009, and took several raids of her fabric stash to make the rings, arcs, borders and stars. Kerry Marksbury quilted it.

Eva Birch’s Tequila Sunrise was a more modern quilt with lots of interesting quilting in the negatives spaces. Even though the photo above looks washed out, the background fabric was deep-toned. Two more detail shots:

I spent the better part of Friday afternoon tearing back and forth between the Superior Thread Booth and the booth where my quilter Cathy Kreter was working, talking about threads, designs, colors, etc. I was successful in choosing a thread, and on the way back, I stopped by Nancy Rink’s booth to show her my quilt (she designed this quilt). She obliged me with a photo. Yes, I carried that king-sized quilt top around all afternoon (which may account for some of the blurry photos).

After a long day (as both Leisa and I woke up too early that morning and couldn’t go back to sleep) my little gang, The Good Heart Quilters, took ourselves to the local El Torito, where ten of us gathered round the table, including Cindy of Live A Colorful Life and Deborah of Simply Miss Luella. (They’ve adopted us Good Heart Quilters.)

A few went back home to our town, and those of us who were staying the night gathered together in mine and Leisa’s room, did Show and Tell and talked shop. I’m not letting those others go home next year, and think we ought to order in some chocolate cake and ice cream for fun.

You’ll hear us Southern Californians complain about our drought (those mountains ought to have WHITE tops, not brown), but you can’t beat waking up to this on a January morning. We’re in for a doozy this summer in terms of water rationing. Expect me to come and see you for a shower this summer. Okay, last batch of quilts. Here we go.

Pat Adair’s Joyful Giddiness used a few of Kim McClean’s patterns to create the appliqué in this quilt.

A lovely quilt, as evidenced by the use of color, piecing and quilting (and that blue ribbon!).

Almost Symmetry, by Nicki Allen (quilted by Kathy Gray).

This was made for the EZ Dresden Quilt Challenge, an online challenge sponsored by the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild.

Marilyn Belford used all varieties of fabrics and techniques to create this masterpiece titled Perseus Saving Andromeda.

That rough water is raw-edge appliquéd, as is most of the quilt.

Fractured Star was made by Linda Bergmann and quilted by Debbie Lopez, and is a Karen Stone design.

So is Susan Bianchi’s Graffiti Heart a quilt? Since she created her design out of beads and buttons on whole cloth? I remember that controversy came up with Hollis Chatelein first debuted at Houston, with her whole-cloth painted quilts. (She earned a blue ribbon that year.) Whatever, this was one of two of these button/bead quilts in the show, fascinating collages utilizing hard surface design.

And now it’s time for the Ugly Quilt Award. Every year I try to pick the ugliest quilt. It could miss on overall composition, surface design treatment, overreaching in the skill department (think: Peter Principle), or by the fact that somehow, it was just plain. And ugly. A very subjective category, but in walking around with some of my quilter friends, a number of them pointed out candidates for this award, so I know it wasn’t just me. All of these are nameless, maker-less. And in full-disclosure, any one of us could in any given year qualify, so no hubris intended.

From the plastic doll, to the overly busy background to the tassels, andthat 3D hair, this is a sure qualifier.

Another angel candidate, with her strangely proportioned torso to that gift-wrapped bow on the corner. Hmmm.

Meant to evoke a haunting response from the viewer, of the souls of lost native Americans now inhabiting the abandoned-dwellings-now-a-National-Park (I suppose) instead this just came off as creepy-looking, kind of like a cartoonish dead baby head filling a sacred space.

Update: While I originally noted the fine quality of the quilting and the good design and composition of space, I panned this quilt for the drawings, as they looked extremely juvenile. My sister, the historian, called me tonight to tell me that she thinks they were based on well-known (to historians) primitive drawings done by Native Americans at some of the critical battles. She’ll let me know the source, and then I’ll add it here.

If it is true that this quilt was based on those historical drawings, it obviously needs to be moved from this category. (However, I still stand on the unfortunate quilted swirls on the men’s faces.)

Okay, Ugly Quilt Contest over. Later on I’ll show you my favorite quilt, and I’ll tell you why. (The ones I love usually never win at this show. But I was happy to see this week that one of my favorites from last year went on to Win Big at other national contests.) Okay, back to the quilts.

Modern Alphabet, made and quilted by Gerrie Thompson.

Yep, I’m pretty much fixated on DSM quilting this year. My apologies.

Patricia Wolfe titled her innovation of a traditional Bear Paw block KABOOM! Bear Paws Gone Wild. She also quilted it herself.

Titled Mishief Maker, Sue Wilson both made and quilted this octopus quilt, hand-painting the design on linen. I walked around with my friend Simone and she gave me a lesson on borders, and why are quilters so attached to their borders? As a trained graphic artist, she showed me several quilts that would have benefitted from “breaking the borders,” as the traditional use of that space enclosing a design cramped the artistry of the quilt. This was a successful breaking of the border, she noted. We both loved it.

LUNCH! (Day Two) with Cindy, Deborah, me, Leisa and Christa of ChristaQuilts. It was a great conversation about quilting, the industry, design, breaking news and old news, one of the advantages of getting together at a quilt show.

Okay, last gasp of quilts, then my favorite.

One of a trio of quilts, Linzi Upton’s quilts were tucked away at the back of the hall. Another quilt, Silver Madonna won big last year, and these look like they follow in the same trend of using metallic fabric, then painting it, then quilting it to achieve the texture.

The title of the three together is Odin’s Triology, and Upton made and quilted them all.

Another strong black and white quilt, ChrisTaylor’s I have felt lonely in a crowded room brought in architectural features of doors, windows and line to portray that feeling of being “alone” yet feeling “comforted by memories.”

Inspired by the Holyoke Range and the Connecticut rivers near her home, Timna Tarr created Valley Snapshots, a rich mix of shape and color. This was almost my most favorite.

Timna Tarr was busy this year, getting two quilts into Road. This one, titled Request and Dedication, started out as a Wheel of Fortune block, but “after ten years of marriage [to a musician], he finally rubbed off on me and I unintentionally made a record quilt.”

I had to show you close-ups of the quilting.

Spilling Over was made and quilted by Sharon Schlotzhauer, her inspiration coming from the loss of a treasured quilt, and from the “faith. . . [and] loving thoughts and prayers from friends and the quilting community.”

Citrus Slices by Marie O’Kelley was dear to my heart, as we live near the Citrus Experimental Station of the University of California–Riverside. She writes “This quilt commemorates my brother’s career at UCR hybridizing new citrus varieties. Included are the names of his hybrids and those of more common citrus types.” By the way, if you like the little easy-to-peel Cutie (brand) tangerines, you have the scientists at UCR to thank.

Autumn Whirlpool, by Bobbie Moon.

Banderitas, by Victoria Murphy

Daisy Dance, by Susan Meyers, from a pattern by Kathy Munkelwitz

And now my favorite quilt of the show. It’s not flashy, overly huge, stylized with 300 pounds of crystals and bling, but it’s a perfectly executed gem of a quilt. Titled, Did You Wash Your Beak, it comes from a nature photograph of Eastern Bluebirds by Steve Byland.

The quilting appeared to be in a heavier weight variegated thread, which shows every flaw. I couldn’t find any. Taylor had put more leaves in the background of his quilting, surrounding those with small stippling stitches. The branch had more texture added by the quilting.

The white-gloved lady held it up to show me the back. Exquisite. Taylor writes “I believe this is my most accomplished quilt to date. The technique I have been trying to master for the past 12 years. . . was to create an appliquéd quilt that appears to be a photograph or painting at first glance.” I’d say he succeeded.

All of these feathers, the claw, all pieces really, are needle-turned appliqué, with the quilting enhancing the shading and structure. A masterpiece of a quilt. While some might aspire to be the big old blue ribbon winner at the front of the hall, by the CD-selling harpist, I aspire to create quiet quilts of detail and story like this one. I loved it!

And that’s all folks–see you next year!!

Road to California 2014, part I

February 3, 2014February 3, 2014 Elizabeth E.9 Comments

No matter how many times I go, I’m always excited to walk in the front door of the convention center, see these hanging quilts (this one is by Nancy Boyce Geese in the Fields) and know that the quilting game is ON, specifically that the Road to California show has opened for another year.

I’m trying something different this year. I noticed that the Road to California has put up good, high-resolution photos of the quilts that far surpass any of my snapshot renditions (largely because they are able to go around earlier, with a tripod and a good flash camera), plus they have many of the quilts that I may pass by. Click *here* to go to that listing and enjoy their show. What I’ll do below, is list some of the ones that interested me, make some commentary here and there (good and bad) and sum up the social aspect of the show.

This is the Big Kahuna of winners, and no surprise, it was won by Sharon Schamber. Titled Once Upon a Time, she started making it in 2000, then put it aside for over 10 years.

I’m interested in her quilting, for that it how she gained her fame.

Cheryl See’s quilt, Tatted Hearts had 20 yards of her great-grandmother’s hand-tatted lace and a doily. Never could locate the doily, so I assume it was used in the construction of this whimsical quilt, but the yards of tatting are evident.

Magic Carpet Ride reflects the childhood of maker Janet Wilson, when she noted that she grew up with Turkish carpets all over their floors. She set out to create a design that was a colorful quilted, version of these carpets.

This is a quilt that gets a thumbs up on the use of crystals (generally, I think it is WAY overdone in show quilts), as they were used to be a integral part of the design and only for accent. But using French knots would have been okay with me too, in those spaces where she put some bling.

How do you like that fringe? Wilson is a clever quilter, and skilled with her quilting (below is the back):

Zen Garden was made and quilted by Margaret Solomon Gunn, and is based on the “Blooming Carpenter’s Star.” She noted that all the fabrics she used were from her stash (certainly noteworthy!) and she used a longarm machine to complete the quilting.

On this next quilt, first I’m going to show you some of the details before showing you the full quilt:

And here it is: Willow, by Debra Crine. She used hand-dyed fabrics over a silk background, and her technique was to fuse them, then appliqué them with a double blanket stitch. She also quilted it. This was not a large quilt, nor was the Magic Carpet Ride. Crine doesn’t say whether it was a domestic sewing machine (DSM) that she used to quilt it, or a long arm. Of course, my bias is to see people quilting on a domestic machine, as that’s what most of us have.

I love reading Linda’s blog, Flourishing Palms, as she is trying to adapt many of the longarm techniques to our DSM, applying some of their tricks and tips so that the resulting finish can have a similar technical excellence to them. I began to look for quilts that indicated that they’d used a DSM, chuckling a bit at the phrase “hand-guided longarm quilting,” although I know that this label is appropriate.

When I read in MaryPat Leger’s artist’s statement that her quilting was inspired by Leah Day’s free motion quilting class, I knew I was seeing a quilt that was done on a DSM. Leger tried out many different patterns on her Mariner’s Circles, and although the next picture is blurry (they have strips of plastic stretched across the quilts so it does make it hard to get good photos), you can see how many different stitches she tried on her quilt.

Debra Crine’s been busy. This is another quilt of hers, titled A Taste of Paradise. Taken from an illustration, she hand painted the fabric with acrylic paints and a used a variety of threads for the thread painting. She also quilted it, but no word on whether it was a DSM or a longarm.

Lenore Crawford came upon an art class of teenagers sketching in the streets while on a trip to northern France, then returned home to create her quilt Capturing Brittany from what she saw. She used raw edge fused appliqué, and quilted it herself. This was another quilt that we were prevented from seeing up close, due to the barriers. I just wanted to stand there all day, enjoying her scene and her skills at bringing this to us. Click on this quilt on the Road website to see it larger.

We interrupt this quilt show to bring you an advertisement for more sparkles.

This is the BACK of the quilt, a sign proudly proclaiming “over 22,000” crystals. Would it surprise you to know that this quilter had a booth, and was selling crystals? Certainly a masterpiece of quilting and technically perfect with applied crystals, it represents the high point (or low point, depending on your point of view) of the Crystal/Sparkle/Bling phenomena. (I don’t know who the maker was because I was not impressed with the front, and I don’t like to give out the names of quilts I diss.) We now return you to our regularly scheduled quilt show.

Lorraine Williams, who made this quilt titled All The Pretty Pieces, notes that it comes from a pattern, but doesn’t mention which one. (I’m guessing this one from Jen Kingwell Designs.) But it was lovely and refreshing and I’ve already participated in helping to make a variation of this pattern for one of our Mid-Century Modern Bee quilters. I like the look of this one, as if someone had been piecing blocks all along, and then it just came together naturally.

Williams also quilted her blocks differently, letting each stand out. I thought she used varying backgrounds quite successfully, and her color palate was harmonious and brought the quilt together.

One of the odd (and maddening) things about the way they hang their quilts at Road, is this unfortunate habit of grouping all like things together (p.s. have they ever heard of “habituation?”). The downside is that a viewer’s eyes begin to glaze over. . .oh, another flower. . . oh, another animal. . . oh, another whatever. . . after seeing 10 of the same subject in a row. The upside is that you can always find them again if you want to find them again “It’s in the flower section,” like we are at a garden show and all the lilies are grouped together or all the orchids. It’s been this way for quite a few years, and nothing I ever say will change that–it’s just one of Road’s idiosyncrasies. But since I’m trying to bring you the essence of Road, that’s just part of it.

Sue Turnquist started her quilt Even the Sunflowers Wept shortly after her mother passed away in 2009, and she referred to it as her “mourning quilt.” I’ve seen a few of these in quilt shows over the years, and I like the idea that a quilt was made to help process grief and in remembrance. She writes “Even though the sunflowers weep, one cannot remain sad in their presence.”

Rainbow Nouveau is by Margaret Solomon Gunn, using batiks, hand-dyes, and gold acrylic paint for accents. She quilted it herself: “quilting is hand-guided,” meaning longarm machine. Her original and whimsical appliqué kept my eye moving over the quilt. It was fun to look at.

I apologize for not having the maker’s name, nor the title, but I found it on my camera. Something about it caught my eye. If anyone has any information about this, please let me know. I really liked the use of those four small squares set on point to act as a type of sashing.

Always fun to have a Halloween Quilt! Debra Elenbaas pieced the top and Diane Beauchamp quilted Happy Hauntings. It’s taken from a pattern by Verna Mosquera of The Vintage Spool, and has lots of appliqué.

I thought the spiderwebs in the borders were classic!

Kay Laboda made and quilted Stars to Light Your Way, a black and white quilt where each block is different from the others. She says she “loves paper piecing” and gave this to her son and new daughter-in-law.

Now I’ve seen everything. Yep–the title of this is The Real Quilted Northern. Maker and quilter Jerry Kay writes “The TV commercial showed little old ladies with knitting needles making quilted northern. I wanted to show the ‘REAL’ thing!”

I’m going to close out this post (there’s more coming–stay tuned) showing one reason why there are fewer and fewer judged quilts at Road. It is because these collections of quilts — sponsored (read:$$) by a shop owner or a store or a corporation — have become numerous. I counted about five different ones, but here’s two.

This one was huge (I’m only showing half of it) and had mounds of white fluffy batting to denote “clouds” as this show was about angels. Some of the quilts were interesting, but many were not. Wasted space.

Because I’m involved in an on-line art group, I took time to look at this gallery of “art quilts,” also 12″ square. I thought some were interesting, but many were not (sound familiar?). Some wasted space.

I’m guessing that the economies of sponsorship outweigh the showing of quilt-show quilts, but am saddened by the shrinking number of quilts, and wish, somehow, we could have more individual quilts, fewer galleries of quilts. The category of wearable art seems to have disappeared this year, and the doll exhibit was substantially reduced. Here’s a couple:

And one doll from my favorite doll maker: Elinor Peace Bailey. She’s the best.

This traditional Dresden Plate design is updated in a pink and green setting with central blocks to allow for fabulous quilting. Quilting designs are “hand-guided.” Margaret Solomon Gunn titled this Big Bertha, and it was a stand out quilt, as you can tell by that fancy ribbon hanging on the side.

At the front of the hall, just behind the harpist selling his CDs, was this exhibit which was a communal effort of many quilters.

And the Sacramento River ran through it all.

China Gardens by Roblee Irvine

Table Mountain in the Bend Area, by Alice Burris, Violet Skeeters and Beula Alioto

Sims Flat by Patty Schuler. She says the three women about ready to head into the river “represent my sisters and me.”

Headwaters Along the South Fork of the Sacramento River, by Jacque White

Part II of Road to California 2014 will follow, which will include my favorite quilt and my nominees for the Most Ugly Quilt (I actually have several this year). I just found out that the Quilt Inspiration blog has also liked some of the same ones I have. Click *here* to see their first post, then follow the links to their second post.

Quilts

A New Place to Photograph My Quilts

January 21, 2014January 18, 2014 Elizabeth E.13 Comments

I was looking for a way to hang my quilts just for taking a photo of them. You saw my old set-up in an earlier post–stapled sheet to garage door, which doesn’t exist anymore. And while my sister and I were hanging out last week, waiting for her husband to finish getting his cancer treatment, we found clothespin bags, complete with clothesline and pins in Crate and Barrel for cheap. I bought one and began scheming.

Overhanging out house is this fascia board. My husband put two hooks, about 110″ inches apart, and we strung that clothesline between them, supporting them with two cup hooks, also equally spaced.

Then I got out the steps tool from the kitchen and hung up the quilt myself, as that was one of the criteria for my “studio.” You can see the line is hidden and just the tips of the clothespins show in the picture. But we found that this Amish quilt was too tall for the set-up. It’s about the biggest quilt I’ve ever made, and it dragged slightly on the cement. Yes, I should have put down the garage door, except right about this time two neighbors came over from two different houses to ask me about this quilt, and how could I interrupt that lovely experience?

As quilters, we are usually holed up in a room upstairs, or a basement downstairs, and only other quilters see our work on Instagram or on blogs. So, today, this quilt saw the light of day. I take it next week to go to Road to California to choose some thread. I’ve had some great suggestions from an earlier post, including thinking about using lavender thread–brilliant! Thank you all for your great suggestions; I’ll consider them all.

(my bag is similar to this photo, snagged from the web)

After I took off the clothespins, I slipped the clothesline off the hooks and stored it all away until the next time I need to photograph a quilt, and my husband isn’t around to hold up the corners.

Free Quilt Pattern · Quilt Bee · Quilts · Something to Think About · Tutorial

Oh, The Places I’ve Been!

January 18, 2014August 17, 2025 Elizabeth E.12 Comments

Well. I’m exaggerating a bit.

I went into Los Angeles to meet my sister, who was accompanying her husband for his treatments here, in the Saperstein Center, at Cedars Sinai Hospital. I’m including this photo so my mother will know what it looks like. It’s a comfortable room, with private bays all along the sides of the main room. My sister and I curl up in the comfy chemo chairs (that aren’t being used, of course) and talk while we wait to visit with him. But this time while he was in treatment and couldn’t be visited, we first went to lunch at a favorite place of mine:

Sycamore Kitchen, which has very inventive and delicious food.

Then to The Grove, where we hit Barnes and Noble because I was looking for Quilty Magazine, because I’d just hit print:

My gingham quilt was featured in “Girls on Film,” paired with Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ.

Here’s a better look at it, and here’s the blog post about it. We didn’t find the magazine; my issue came a couple of days later in the mail.

And then Nordstrom’s where just seeing these makes my feet hurt. The heels on the left remind me of my mother’s “spectator” pumps, worn for years and very stylish.

Better.

Then back to the hospital. We later had dinner at a lovely little Italian place, then it was home for me, as we were both tired and she had to drive to her hotel.

Another place I’ve been is my local community college, where school started. (The white blobs are where I whited out each student’s name.) This ought to give you a representative sample of who is in my classroom. I finally have a great class! (Intro to Literature) and I’m more excited to teach this semester than I have been in a while.

I’ve also found a few minutes to spend in the sewing room. No, I’m not playing in the Economy Block Sew-a-Long. The pretty pink, yellow and chocolate square-in-a-square blocks are for a friend’s baby quilt, and I’ve already sent them to the quilter who is putting it all together. We used Red Pepper Quilt’s tutorial *here.*

I’ve already made a quilt out of the (officially known) Square-in-a-Square block, in my quilt “Into the Woods,” (number 103 on the 200 Quilts list, shown below), so I’m squared out. The block in my quilt above is 9″ square, larger than the baby blocks, and I drafted it in my quilt software, QuiltPro.

This is the block for January for the Always Bee Learning Bee. Toni of Hoosier Toni wants to make Christmas quilts for her children’s bed, and I thought her choice of the SpiderWeb block was great.

This is like the one we made a couple of months ago for another bee; the tutorial is found *here.*

This is for the Mid-Century Modern Bee, for Linda of Buzzing and Bumbling. Her house burned to the ground right before Thanksgiving last year, so we were happy to make her house blocks to help her re-create her life in a new fashion. This is my own design. I’ve got a PDF file of the templates here: *Hyde Park House*, but I have to warn you that since it’s a 12″ block finished, some of the templates “fall” off the page, and you’ll have to figure it out the measurements. What I did was measure the templates, then write the measurements down on the paper. Then I used that as a guide for cutting out the pieces. Somehow I ended up short on the height and had to add another strip of green on the bottom. Just don’t be too precious about this and you’ll get through. Hey, it’s free and untested, so Buyer Beware.

Lastly, my mind has been in Budapest, Croatia and Slovenia, places I hope to go to this summer. The challenge is when you are in lots of places, it’s sometimes hard to figure out where you need to be. Today I needed to be here in my sewing room, finishing up the Amish With A Twist 2 quilt top (next post).

And often when you are too distracted with your head in many places, you fall into the procrastinating habit. I had a student from my last class write to me, as she was worried about trying to overcome her habit of procrastination (although her habit is very slight, truthfully). I told her I sometimes ask myself “What do I want to have done before this day ends?” and sometimes that helps. Other times it is just not wanting to face that dreaded task every day, so you finally find the resources to get it done.

Although you might think this doesn’t really apply to us quilters, I think it does. Sometimes we put off tackling the really hard tasks and instead do our bee blocks (Ahem.) Other times we have sketched out a terrific quilt, but are seduced by the latest trend on Instagram (Economy Blocks) and let that pull us away from doing the hard work of designing and figuring out the quilt in our head.

An article in the New Yorker noted that “The essence of procrastination lies in not doing what you think you should be doing, a mental contortion that surely accounts for the great psychic toll the habit takes on people. This is the perplexing thing about procrastination: although it seems to involve avoiding unpleasant tasks, indulging in it generally doesn’t make people happy.”

So I’m trying to figure out which place I should go next, which direction I should head in my quilting. Shall I fall back on something easier to do than what I have to (“we often procrastinate not by doing fun tasks but by doing jobs whose only allure is that they aren’t what we should be doing”) , distract myself by buying more fabric (judging from the recent Instagram De-Stash, a lot of people have been doing this one!), or simply surf the web some more to get so many ideas, I can’t possibly make them all in my lifetime (“many studies suggest that procrastinators are self-handicappers: rather than risk failure, they prefer to create conditions that make success impossible, a reflex that of course creates a vicious cycle”).

Ultimately, it comes down to Getting The Work Done: “Since open-ended tasks with distant deadlines are much easier to postpone than focussed, short-term projects, dividing projects into smaller, more defined sections helps.” And aren’t most of our UFOs the result of procrastination?

So get yourself a notebook, break down the quilt you want to make into smaller steps, and check them off as you go. It also helps to set a deadline–try the Finish-A-Long if you need a little help with that; because of that I finished several dead-in-the-water quilt tops, surprising even myself with twenty-four completed quilts in 2013. Not all of these were begun and finished in that calendar year, but that’s when they came alive. I’ll close with some lines from one of my son’s favorite books, “Oh the Places You’ll Go,” by Dr. Seuss:

On and on you will hike
and I know you’ll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.

So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.