Guilting Myself Into Action

This picture shows a portion of the queen size Double Wedding Ring quilt I gave my daughter for Christmas year before last. I gave it to her . . . and then took it back because I hadn't managed to complete the hand quilting on it before Christmas. Guilt, guilt, guilt. Shame, shame, shame. Hang your head, Mama Pea. It's still not done.

That Christmas I made a quilt for FSIL (favorite son-in-law) and one for DD. FSIL's was done by September and then I started in on DD's. I would have been okay if I hadn't decided to hand quilt the thing but I wanted it to be special and hand quilting was the only way to go.

Why isn't it done by now? That Christmas was a year and a half ago! It's one of those projects that looms so HUGE and will require so much time that it's hard to just jump in with both feet (both hands would probably work better) and get on with it. If I set up a schedule to do an hour a day, it wouldn't seem so daunting. But I don't use a hoop when I hand quilt. Smaller projects I can do on my lap but this quilt is much too large for that. For this I require a large, flat surface on which to spread the quilt. The sewing table in my quilt room is perfect for the job, but that means I have to clear off the table, put away my two sewing machines and various necessary tools that are always set up and ready for any spare time I can squeeze in a little quilting. And don't ya know, every time I do clear the table, an URGENT need comes up for a mending job or gift to be made and I have to put the quilt away and reset up my sewing table with machine, etc. Oh, the great hassles of it all.

The quilt has been calling to me lately though and I think it's time to diligently put in those hours whenever I can until it's finished. So go ahead. Lay a little more guilt on me by asking how it's going. :)