A Stitch in Time

Last week’s post seemed to strike a chord with many of you (thank you so much for all the emails, comments and messages!) I’m definitely not alone in believing that when we take on self-imposed projects and deadlines combined with the need to post constantly to social media and then find we can’t keep up, then it’s not failing, but it is definitely choosing to stop. We need to ask ourselves why we are doing these things and putting pressure on ourselves to begin with. There might be good, valid reasons but mostly there’s not. Writing about it was a useful exercise in making me understand my own motives and every day I’m feeling less inclined to put anything on social media at all. Interestingly as I started to write this week, an email popped up from Dr Rangan Chatterjee about his latest podcast episode with guest Gabor Maté. In it he references an earlier episode about one of the most common regrets of the dying being “I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the one others expected of me” and this rang so true. It made me ask, when we take on these projects and don’t complete them, are we disappointed because we didn’t stay true to our own desires or because we failed to impress someone on social media by living up to someone else’s expectations? Sometimes we need to learn to say no to ourselves, as well as others and be more like Phoebe:

However, whilst talking about online challenges that we fail to finish, I didn’t mention all those ‘projects’ that remain unfinished. The bags or boxes full of fabrics and yarn in various stages of completion… sound familiar? These are the things anyone who crafts or makes stuff will know as WIPs (Works in Progress) or possibly PhDs (Projects Half Done) so in other words we haven’t failed to finish… we just haven’t finished them yet! My absolute nemesis when it comes to uncompleted projects are patchwork quilts. I had seen and admired so many glorious quilts long before I ever thought about making one. In particular I was seduced by the vibrant strong colour combinations and exquisitely bold designs of Kaffe Fassett and started to build a stash of suitable fabrics over the years in readiness for making my own patchwork quilt, based on one of the designs in his book. How hard could it be, after all it’s only about cutting up fabric into pieces, rearranging them and sewing them back together.

I started with such enthusiasm, cutting up almost 300 red and green squares measuring just 7.5 cm. I had all the kit, the self-healing cutting mat, a special ruler marked in grids (although why imperial and not metric is a mystery) and even one of those special cutters that looks like it should be slicing pizza. I placed them on the floor, moving and rearranging until I had something pleasing, and then started the process of sewing them into blocks of four squares which were consequently joined in strips. It was all going so well, except I found sewing all those little seams absolutely mind numbing. (Don’t even get me started on ironing them) Completely bored, I would lose concentration and pieces would end up wonky and misaligned, with twisted seams and the corners never matching, so then I became frustrated as well as bored. The pieces were packed away in a bag and hidden in a drawer, long forgotten until rediscovered in a search for something else. I would then fall in love with the jewel like colours all over again and sew a few more seams until I remembered why I had cast it aside the last time… a process to be repeated on several occasions over the years. Yes, years and still it remained incomplete.

During this time, I would often teach a machine embroidery class in a Patchwork and Quilting shop or latterly at The Festival of Quilts and find myself seduced by more fabric combinations. Completely forgetting my inability to finish piecing together lots of tiny squares of fabric, another purchase would be made. And I’m ashamed to admit another two large sized quilt tops were started and abandoned partially finished.

I think at some point I realised I might have more success finishing a patchwork project if I aimed at doing something a little smaller and I started with a table mat, made out of necessity, which I finished with delight. It was foundation pieced (look it up, I can’t begin to explain) which meant no measuring or accurate matching, and finding I had a walking foot for my trusty Bernina it was machine quilted. Bolstered by my success this was followed by a cushion which was actually a commission that resulted in a delighted customer. There was no stopping me now!

I made a quilt for Project Linus, not quite full sized but certainly bigger than a table mat. Big enough for a cot or to cover a small child so I hope it found a happy home. I guess I’ll never know.

And eventually I got around to making a really big quilt as I was commissioned to make a wall hanging in the form of a memory quilt for a residential care home in Cambridge. I never really liked the finished result but the ladies in the care home loved it which was the important thing.

But those three (although by now it was actually four) unfinished quilt tops? They were still in bags in the back of drawers. Then last summer a friend and I visited the Open Studio of

Jane Brocket

and we got to see several of her beautiful, finished quilts, all in big bold glorious colours just like those of Kaffe Fassett. I came home inspired all over again and determined not to let my unfinished quilts stay in their bags for someone to find after I have gone. In a frenzy of activity and starting small I finished off a table runner in beautiful jewel colours of shot cotton, which I hand quilted and it now lives on my coffee table.

And then bolstered by my success I finished off all three full sized quilt tops. All they needed now were wadding, backing, quilting and binding… but daunted by that list, all three are still waiting!

However, at the weekend my seven year old grandson, who loves a bit of serious crafting, spotted the original red and green quilt top (at least I haven’t stuffed it back in a drawer) and asked me was that fabric the same as his advent calendar. Clever boy! I had forgotten there have been three patchwork advent calendars finished over the past few years too.

And it has reminded me I should finish these quilts because they are not unfinished, I just haven’t finished yet. So, watch this space… only don’t hold your breath because I might be some time! (and don’t look too closely at those corners)