I borrowed this from a friend that heard Bonita speak. This was what he took away from her lecture.
When Bonita Norris, the youngest British woman to climb Mount Everest, set out on her quest to conquer this mountain, she faced much resistance. She was told by experts that 99% of the people who say that they’re going to climb Mount Everest, fail. That’s pretty disheartening news to someone who has never climbed a mountain. Instead of listening to the loudest voices of the ninety-nine percentile, she decided to focus on the quieter 1%. What is it about that 1% that sets them apart? With this focus, just a few years later she conquered that mountain and stood on the summit.
What are your mountains? What do you need to conquer? Listen to that still small voice, the voice of victory and focus on that. Take it one step at a time. Don’t worry about the thousands of steps or decisions ahead of you. Just the next one. That’s the only one you need to take right now. Also note that the steps you’ve taken so far, every single one of them, has brought you to this place, this moment, this decision point. I don’t know about you, but my biggest mountains are those that exist in my mind. I’m learning how to quiet those loud voices, the naysayers, your enemy and focus on my champion, the victory, the 1%. It could take you to great heights.
This is my mountain. My Avante that I’ve owned since August 2015. I can probably count the number of quilts I’ve quilted on it with two hands. Why do I not use it more? You’ve seen me crank out tops left and right. I taken several ruler classes. I’ve quilted for others both for group gifts and commissions I’ve taken on. Not one single time has my work been criticized.
So why? I’ve tried talking to others about it. I’ve tried to enlist a coach or encourager. No luck. I’ve thought about it many times and tried to pin the reason on others. My son complains it’s too noisy. He’s barely around anymore. There goes that excuse. My daughters cats were always using it for a hammock. They became interested in the thread so it was immediately unthreaded and not used since. Neither the daughter nor cats live here any longer. I know it’s me. All me!
I had a quilt on the frame that my design was too complex for my skill set at the time. I took it off until my skill set matched my desired plan. I’ve mostly freehand quilted with good success. I have a tendency to want to custom quilt everything. I can’t seem to see that an all over pattern will be just fine for what I am doing. What I am doing is quilting every day quilts. The current quilt on the frame is one that I’m doing an all over swirl pattern on. It’s boring, I’m bored, I don’t want to do it. I’ve learned a lot about myself haven’t I?
So here I am. I don’t want to take that quilt off. I need to move forward. Do I pick it out and do something else? No, I’m a quarter to a third way through. Can I change the pattern up? Doubtful but I may be able to make the designs more open so it’s less quilting but it’s still a lot of quilting. I just need to commit myself to doing a little on it everyday until it’s done.
Do you have something you’re trying to overcome?
6 comments:
I had my sit down long arm for close to 2 years before I got serious about using it. I have come to realize that I prefer curves over straight lines, I don't like ruler work at all, and I prefer edge to edge or all over designs to anything with a symmetrical repeat. Boring is in your own mind - if you label it that way, it will be. BUT the finished quit is worth the effort so get this one done and then move on. There's a whole page on my blog about Max (my APQS George) and some of my learning curve issues. There's also a label "liberated free motion quilting" that pulls up any and all posts with FMQ involved. Maybe there is something in there to help you. The biggest gift I gave myself was to label my work as LIBERATED (I'm not like any of the professional quilters - I am me and that's good). Hang in there - you CAN do this.
Oh, dear! I don't own a long arm quilting machine so I can't help but I do have (as you know now) a hand quilting frame. The quilt on the frame has been there since 2015, yes 6 years. I didn't like the design I had created. I unstitched it all (over a row done) and waited. Waited for the desire to try again. I love that quilt, don't get me wrong. I just can't get the motivation to do it.
Then I needed a back for another quilt and I decided I didn't like the back that was on the frame. I took it off and put another back in. Now I am happy with my decision. I will get it stitched. I am not counting how many blocks I have left, I count how many blocks I have done. Every day, it is one step closer to completion. Hang in there. It's not as bad as it seems at the moment. You'll get through this. You can do this. ;^)
What a deep post. Sounds like you have a mountain to conquer with your longarm. I know what you mean about boring. That whole cloth flannel quilt I did for my SIL was so boring! I really had to push myself to work on it. I guess what helped was the reason I was doing it. My SIL cried when she opened it on Christmas and I have been thanked several times for rescuing her tattered comforter. You are too far along to rip out what you have done. Maybe just set a goal of working on it 15 - 30 minutes a day. Before you know it the quilt will be quilted.
My mountain is finishing all the home improvement projects I have around the house. There is something that needs finished in EVERY ROOM! Maybe I should set a goal of finishing one room every month. I could never sell the house this way so it's going to need finished. Why I don't finish? I am not sure. Sometimes I do run into a problem so I just stop until I can figure out what to do. Other times I am sewing instead.
I had a very hard time getting myself going when I bought my first mid-arm. I have 2 friends who custom quilted for decades. They both said: it is a rare quilt that really benefits from custom quilting. Such as a Baltimore album. They both told me to go with Edge to Edge pantographs.
If you prefer the freehand, develop 5 motifs you enjoy doing and use them. When those feel good, develop 5 more. It sounds like you have plenty of tops ready so it's time to just do it!
And yes, the cat and thread is a problem. I think it motivates me. I fully load my quilt and then thread the machine when I'm ready to quilt. It is a rare quilt I can't do in a day. And if I do, I unthread and rethread in the morning. It really only takes about 2 minutes.
My mountain? My eating habits/weight. I need to conquer that. I am tired of where I am and really want to wear the clothes in my closet not the 3 outfits that fit right now.
HI Swooze! I do not have any kind of long arm quilter, but I am rooting for you...I have always, always wanted one, so I just know that when you get into it, you will love it!!!
As you know, I only set up my Grace frame every few years (for my domestic machine). It is a huge challenge every time, the first one being to work out how it goes back together! I have had most success starting with the easiest quilts and working my way up to more difficult quilts as my skill level increases. So my first 'quilt' will always be a throw-away sandwich that I practice meandering on. Then I graduate to an easy quick quilt I am probably donating, and do meandering on that. Then I meander a few more simple quilts. Then I get out my first panto and try that back on the practice sandwich. Then the 'medium' quilt tops get the panto. Only at the very end do I tackle the most important/complex quilts when I am feeling at my most comfortable with the process. Then it all gets packed away for another couple of years while I re-build my queue of quilt tops.
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