Sunday, September 5, 2010

EXTREMELY rewarding finish - and an end to the "procrastination situation"


Little Asa's baby quilt is done!!  Mostly hand-pieced/appliqued (except for two skinny outer borders) and hand quilted.  I washed it to remove any residual Elmer's glue stick and cat hair (my sister is very allergic - to cats, not glue).  The washing gave it a nice, soft, slightly puckered patina.  I think I will call it Perpetual Motion...if Asa is anything like his Dad, he will be active.   :o)


He recently turned 6 months old...not quite yet in college, but still I am embarrassed about how long it took me to get my rear in gear to get this done.


I got the idea and initial method from Kellie at Don't Look Now.  You should check her site out and see what other's are doing with this quilt-along.  I made mine smaller than most people.  The first steps were easy and fun for me, and I just zoomed right along. 


When it came to connecting all my little circles to make a continuous pattern, I got bogged down and had to put it away for a while.  I have had so much quilt guilt over this thing!
 

After singing several rounds of "I am woman, hear me roar..." (any Helen Reddy fans out there?!?), I decided to jump back in and just get it done.  As things usually happen in these procrastination situations, it wasn't near as bad as I thought it was going to be...I had let my perfectionism problem get in my way.  When I finally decided to (in Ola's words) "just let 'er rip," it went together fine.

What's the worst that could of happened?  I mean, if it stunk, I could have lumped it all in the rubbish bin and made a clean start with another project.  I wasted several months sitting and stewing over it, and by the time I did approach the boxed project again, I could have made and hand quilted multiple baby quilts.

We quilters are our own worst enemies sometimes.  Maybe this is why we have so many U.F.O.'s (unfinished objects), P.I.G.S. (projects in grocery sacks), and D.P.B.'s (dusty project boxes) on our shelves, hidden under beds and buried in closets...self doubt and lack of confidence.

Maybe we worry too much about how perfect something is going to turn out and put it away, afraid that it may hurt whatever quilt reputation we may have or not live up to what we had envisioned in our heads in the first place.

Quilting is supposed to BE my therapy, not make me NEED therapy, for Pete's sake!!

(and who WAS "Pete," anyway?)

Sorry it took so long to finish, Lainie (and little Asa)!!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

16 comments:

  1. OMGosh Teresa it's GORGEOUS!!! I love the simple borders, as it frames the pattern beautifully. WELL DONE!!! Asa is going to love rolling around on this quilt :0)

    Crispy

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  2. Teresa,

    this is such a beauty! Very pretty indeed! Love the colors and the harmonious pattern. Perfect for a baby!

    Greetings from the Rhine,
    Britta

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  3. I love your quilt, it is fabulous! Great job finishing it!

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  4. Oh Teresa That is just absolutely gorgeous. I can hardly stop looking at it. You did a beautiful job. And I love the outside borders and the hand quilting. Great finish!!!

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  5. It's even more fabulous than the previews indicated! I love the wider border on the inside. And HAND-quilted!?! Very cool, and worth waiting only 6 months for!! LOL (says someone who's had a large sampler in the hoop for a year and half :-P) Thanks to the tutorials you sent, I can get started on one of my own. I have no hope it'll be as pretty as yours, though. Wonderful!
    Blessings,
    Mary Lou

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  6. Wonderful quilt and I absolutely agree with the procrastination discussion. Rarely is something nearly as hard or takes as long as I anticipate. Gorgeous baby quilt.

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  7. It's a truely wonderful baby quilt!! Perpetual motion is the perfect name for it. Asa wouldn't have been using this quilt through the summer months anyway - so it's perfect timing for your gift of a quilt.

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  8. It's beautiful Teresa, you should do what I did some years ago..!! Big sign, Quilt Police not allowed in......!!! Seems to have worked for me, I quilt for me and me alone, not for accolades or perfect stitches..
    I'm sticking to that one anyway..
    Have fun
    Lizzie
    xxx

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  9. And look at how gorgeous it is, hand made with love, it doesn't get any better than that. Thanks for putting some thoughts into words that we can all probably relate to. Three cheers for you.

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  10. What a beautiful finished product! You did an awesome job on this, and I'm sure it will be treasured for many years to come.

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  11. what a great finish. It is such a lovely baby quilt. Destined to become a family heirloom.
    happy labor day!

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  12. I have wondered who Pete is too:D
    Your quilt turned out just lovely and he is still a baby so it counts.lol

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  13. Love, love, love it ..... you have given me inspiration to get my JC petals back out and start to work on them some more.

    Did I mention how much I love this?

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  14. WOW!! You did a GORGEOUS job on this. I love how you hand quilted it. I really want to learn to do that. I will put that on my list for next year.

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  15. ooh! what a beauty!!! that was a lovely Finsih! well done!
    p.i.g.s! ha!!! i never heard that one before... hilarious!

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  16. Congratulations, your spectacular quilt made this week's Top 5 Hits. Come check it out and grab a button. Thanks for sharing your accomplishment with all of us!

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