You know those projects that you start, and then they never get finished? The ones that you set aside to do a new and more cool project, then when you finish that new project, you don’t have the energy or motivation to return to it? Well, if you don’t, I certainly do!
I have started and stopped working on this quilt many times over the past 9 years or so. I first decided to make a quilt when we were on vacation once and we were in a cute little quilt shop. My parents let me pick out a quilt pattern, and that began this never ending project. The reason why it has taken me so long to finish the quilt is really because of a lack of motivation. I would get to a point on the quilt that I could not complete on my own, and then I would give up.
I picked the quilt up again last winter and decided to finish it as is. Therefore, the quilt is larger than a twin but smaller than a full size bed. Thankfully, we already had batting the size of the quilt top, so all we had to do was buy fabric for the backing. The other issue at that point in the process was deciding how to quilt it. Because I dragged the process out, I did not want to hand stitch the quilting. However, it did not seem right to simply tie the quilt together with knots either. Therefore, I looked into how to use my sewing machine to quilt. I got a walking foot for my machine and stitched in the ditch for all of the quilt squares. I finished a nice chunk of the quilting last winter break, but then school and work got in the way of the project and it was thrown into the back of my closet once again.
This winter break I promised myself that I would finally finish my quilt, so I finished stitching in the ditch. Then I just stitched straight lines on my borders to jazz them up a bit more. The coolest part of finishing was learning how to do the binding all by machine rather than by hand. It was super quick and easy and fit the bill since I just wanted to finish the project as quickly as possible. So now, 9 years later, my first quilt is officially finished! A weight has been lifted from my shoulders, and now I have the energy to begin a new and exciting project (to be determined)!
So my suggestion to you is to take a moment and look at those projects that you have set aside. Think about why you have not finished them. Consider how encouraging it would be to have them finally finished. What a great way to begin 2013, to have all of your incomplete projects finished! Think of it as a clean slate for crafting!
~Courtney Rose~
What are some of those projects that you have been procrastinating on? Share below! I would love to hear that I’m not the only one with this bad habit!
