Prolific Quilting and Decision Fatigue

 I listen to a lot of podcasts about decluttering. One of the things I've heard discussed quite a bit is decision fatigue. When you are decluttering, decisions have to made about every object you touch, do I want to keep this? If I do keep it, how should it be stored and where, if I don't, donate, sell, or trash?

The thing is, I think decision fatigue affects us a lot more than most people realize. After all, is it really that you don't like to cook or don't want to cook, or that at the end of a long day you don't have it in you to decide WHAT to cook. If you opt for not cooking, it's still a list of decisions to make. Do we have enough leftovers for dinner? Do we have enough money for a restaurant? Eat-in, take-out or delivery? Where do you want to eat? I don't know, where do you want to eat? Sound familiar?

This post is not aimed at who make two or three quilts in their lifetime, nor is it for people who enter their quilts in shows. On those type of quilts, every decision does matter. I'm specifically talking to the many quilters who want to make more quilts. Let's say you want to make more quilts so you can support one of the many great quilting charities. When you are a prolific quilter, you can also get decision fatigue.

I want to be real here, when a quilt is given to a charity, then given to its end recipient, as a quilt maker you have no idea how that quilt be be used or treated. The hope is that the quilt will be loved and cherished, and bring the recipient joy and comfort. The reality may be quite different. I would think most recipients are grateful to receive a quilt, but once the crisis that made them eligible to receive that quilt is over, whether that quilt is still loved and cherished varies greatly. The thing is, you never know which quilts are going to be the cherished ones, so making good quilts should always be our goal. 

The most frequent question I am asked as a quilter by other quilters is how do I make so many quilts. I know there's a lot of people out there making lots more quilts that I do, but I think that for someone who makes all their quilts start to finish by themselves, without a longarm, I do make more than average. 

I have some thoughts that might make you more prolific if that's your goal. They aren't rules, I'm not the quilt police. Keep in mind, these ideas are not for heirloom quilts, but for quilts you want to see used on a regular basis.

1) Change the way you make decisions. Give yourself some easy guidelines to help when you are overthinking things. 

I can give so many examples of this! 

Quilt backs- I tend to use things I want to clear out of stash as backings. I don't know about you, but I am not in love with everything in my stash. Some are things I bought at a thrift shop, or I was given, or I inherited, or I've already used in several quilts and I'm sick of it. For whatever reason, if I want it out of stash, a quilt back is a quick way to get it gone. I do try to use a color that somewhat coordinates with the top, but just use your judgement here.

Here's an example of a quilt back that doesn't quite match the front. 

I finished this quilt this week. It's scrappy, there's a lot of color going on here. How did I back it?

I backed it with these dinosaurs riding skateboards in a funky 90's print I just got in a thrift store haul. Did I have a better option in stash? Probably, but using this fabric meant I never had to put the skateboarding dinosaurs into stash at all, I had enough fabric to back the quilt, and the small scraps I have left of it will be cut down to the scrap sizes I save. 

This quilt is a good example of some other easy decision making habits I have.

What color quilting thread to use, and what color binding? Sometimes I have specific choices in mind for thread and binding color, other times I don't care much. Rather than overthink it, if I could go several ways on the thread and binding color, and I don't really care, my habit is to match the backing. On a really scrappy quilt, nothing is going to match every fabric, unless it's a monochromatic quilt, so really, almost any color thread and binding can work. I could take the time to audition multiple options, and hem and haw about, but if my goal is to make more quilts, I need easy decisions. Match the backing is an easy fix that works most of the time. If I'm using a really busy backing, I use the opportunity to use up partial bobbins, making the most of my thread stash. 

If whatever backing fabric I want to bust from stash isn't quite large enough, I go first to my orphan blocks and see if I can piece a strip of those together to make the difference. I use up a lot of orphan blocks and units that way. 

2) If there's a step in making a quilt you don't like doing, try other options for that step. I don't like binding, so I use extra wide double fold bias tape (which I buy by the 100 yard roll) and I use a serpentine stitch to sew it on. Could I get away with that if I were entering a quilt show? Nope, but these are for utility quilts, and I just want them used. It's pretty fast and I've NEVER had a binding come undone when sewn this way. There are nicer options for machine sewing on binding, I'm not even suggesting you do it my way. My point is, figure out an easier way for you to do a step you don't like. If you don't like basting, try fusible batting or spray basting. If you don't like sewing on borders, try making a few quilts without them. Check out modern quilts, they often don't have borders. Don't like needle turn applique? Try fusible applique. Don't like cutting? Look into a die cutting machine or opt for quilts with large pieces so there isn't as much cutting to do. 

3) Can you make one task do two jobs? This is something I do a lot too. It's multitasking at it's most efficient. Probably the most frequent example of this is double sewing when I'm doing sew and flip corners. If I'm using a 2.5" square or larger to do do sew and flip corners, I will take the time to double sew and get a bonus HST every time. I have made many, many quilts using bonus HST's, and I often like them better than the original quilt. 

Another way of making one task do two jobs is using something rather than taking the time to put it away. 

None of my epic fabric birthday cake got put into stash, I decided to use it all right away. I made this top out of the jelly roll in the top layer of my cake. I added some scraps I had been cutting and hadn't put away yet. It was looking pretty disjointed, because the jelly roll wasn't one line of fabric, so I felt like it really needed a calm border to pull it all together. The predominant color in the quilt is green, but I opted to use a blue border.

Why did I choose blue for the border when there isn't actually much blue in the quilt top? Because I was making an easy decision, not overthinking it. That blue fabric was from a wide quilt back I had just used to back a different quilt. I had enough scraps left to be the border on this quilt, and that eliminated the need to process the scraps or put anything back into stash. Would a green border have looked better? Maybe, but the blue looks fine, and I got two things done with one action. I chose the width of the border based on how much of the blue fabric I had left. 

4) Have a couple easy finishing standby's to use when you can't decide how to finish a quilt. I tied my first few quilts, and I think all of those quilts are still in use years later. I sent a few of my first queen/king quilts to a longarmer with mixed results. Not all longarmers are good at their jobs, and even the good ones may have equipment issues and different standards than you. When DD#1 got married, I made her a queen sized quilt and tied it. They still have that quilt and it is still doing just fine. The next large quilt I made her I sent to a longarmer. There were tension issues on that quilt, the longarmer used a very long stitch length, and between pets and kids, there have been a lot of thread breaks over the years, and whole sections of the quilting is gone. Even if the longarmer result had been much better, I can't afford to send every quilt out for quilting. (I have used other longarmers since, with varying results) Unless you are independently wealthy, if you are a prolific quilter, you probably can't afford that either. There are so many tutorials available on finishing quilts, learn at least a couple different methods, so when the quilt tops pile up, you have the skills to turn those quilt tops into quilts. Some people like tying quilts, some don't. Some people are scared to try FMQ, others love it. Some people like using a ruler foot and quilt rulers, or stencils to keep their quilting neat, other people freehand it all. Some like using a walking foot, other don't. The thing is, there's going to be a method that works for you. I decided a long time ago that I'd rather do a simple meander on every quilt I make and finish quilts, than leave behind piles and piles of unquilted tops. Do I meander on every quilt? Nope. I am proficient at multiple FMQ designs now, and sometimes I like to use my walking foot, or do some ruler work, or even use stencils. The thing is, if I'm stuck on a quilting design, my go to is a meander. It's quick and I don't have to think much about it. 

There's a lot more I could say about efficiency in making quilts, but that's enough food for thought for today. Hopefully something in this post with resonate with someone. Even if all you get from this is that overthinking is slowing you down, you might be able to start on the path to easier decisions. 

Some Non-Quilty Finishes

 You know those projects that you aren't thrilled about doing, so you sigh a huge sigh of relief when they are done?

Fifty rally bags, done and dusted! They are just simple drawstring bags, nothing difficult about them, but sewing 50 of anything gets boring. At least I used different fabrics this year. Sometimes they are all the same fabric. I got 16+ yards of Western-ish fabric out of stash too, which is great, because Western isn't my thing. Several of these fabrics are left from my scrub top business days. I may not like Western prints, but they were popular for scrub tops around here. 

I had another non-quilt related project to do. I've got a horse-crazed granddaughter with a birthday coming up, so I made her and her little sister matching dresses. 

They are just t-shirt dresses, nothing fancy. I had only purchased two yards of fabric, but DD#1 wanted their dresses much longer than I expected, so I barely had enough fabric. The scraps weren't big enough to have a whole horse for me to applique on the top, so they got horse heads instead. 

The colors in that horse fabric are gorgeous, so now I'm thinking about making a quilt in those colors. It will have to wait until next year though, I'm pretty booked the rest of this year.  I just had a baby quilt added to my 2022 list too. One of my nephews and his wife are having baby #2, and my great niece is due in December. It just so happens that I have a really cute baby girl quilt top hanging in my quilt closet, so I'll quilt that up and send it off before the baby comes. Sometimes UFO's really come in handy!

All the pajama pants for Christmas are cut out.

When you get a stack that high, you realize just how big the family has gotten! I still have two nightgowns to cut out, and my goal is to get those cut out next week. I didn't bother matching any of the plaids, they are pajama pants, not high fashion! 

One family I'm making two pairs of pajamas a piece. They are usually low on clothes. That why there's a few mismatched pairs in there.  Two pairs are fleece, and I was pretty irritated when I cut those.

Since the fabric was Star Wars it was already upcharged because it's licensed. When I saw the selvage was 2.25 inches, which really cut into the usable amount, I was not a happy camper. I've worked with a lot of fleece over the years, and I've never seen a selvage that wide. So in reality, that upcharged fabric also shorted me. Star Wars does not play nice! 

Next week I'm hoping to clear the decks a bit. I want to get binding onto the stack of quilted quilts, and I'd like to get a couple quilt tops assembled and hanging in the quilt closet. I've only got three more quilts basted and ready to quilt, so I'll have to find some basting time somewhere along the line. Things are moving along though, so that's good!

A Working Plan

 Sometimes you make a plan, and it all falls apart for some reason. I've got a ridiculous number of projects to do right now, so I made a plan, and it actually seems like it's working! 

I've been consistent about FMQ an hour per day, and I've got a nice pile of quilts ready for binding. Last week I took the weekend off, and I think I'll do the same this weekend. My arm appreciates the break, but it's doing really well holding up to the stress of regular FMQ. 

Cutting garments isn't my favorite activity, so rather than push myself to get all the Christmas Nana Jama's cut out in a day or two, I've opted to cut out one pair per day instead. I've been able to stick with that too, so now all the adult pajama pants are cut out, as are the older kids, so now I'm down to the younger grandkids. The flannel I bought for the pajama pants is wider than average, so I've been able to make better use of the fabric than I expected. I'm almost finished the second bolt, and I will go into the third bolt I bought, but I'll have quite a bit of that bolt left. I may just use the rest of that third bolt to back a couple quilts. 

I finished making the luggage tags DH wanted.

I ended up making 88, which is enough for the scooter rally coming up, and enough left to give a few away at some upcoming events. 

I haven't been doing much piecing lately because I've been working on other sewing projects, but I got the September/October Quiltmaker magazine, and I've already pieced the blocks for the fifth clue of the Ruby Jubilee mystery.

I didn't follow the value recommendations for some of these blocks, because I was using what I had taken out. I was trying to make the whole quilt from the fronts of shirts where the pockets are. I've been able to do it, and I still have fabric left, but I didn't have enough darks to do the 6" squares with matching 3" corners from the darkest colors. I'm sure it will be fine in the finished quilt. 

I've started cutting out the quilt for the scooter rally, I'm feeling pressed for time since it's in early November. My plan is to sew all the rally bags before I start sewing the rally quilt. I had three sewing projects for the rally; luggage tags which are now finished, rally bags, and a quilt for the raffle. I'd like to get the rally bags finished next, because once I'm done those, I will be back to piecing, and I can use whichever project I want as leaders/enders while I work on that. 

I may be busy, but at least I feel like I'm making good progress on multiple fronts!

Experiencing Color

 I've never taken any formal quilting lessons, nor have I taken any formal color theory lessons. That said, I have read lots of books, and watched countless YouTube videos about both. The funny thing about being self taught is, sometimes I can be rather hard to teach, because when I hear "rules", I pretty much disregard them. I remember hearing that you can't mix yellow-greens and blue-greens together and have a quilt come out well. All I have to do it look out my window to see the yellow-greens of the cactus, with the blue-greens or some evergreen bushes to know that's not a "rule" I would ever follow. You see those colors combined in nature all the time, and I'm not going to discard the beauty of nature for a man-made color theory. 

I love watching Lynn from Cotton Art Studio. She has been doing a series on color, and she always ends up with "this color matches everything". I completely agree! You can take two colors that seem like they don't match at all, and with the right fabrics to bridge the difference, you can make anything match. 

Have you ever seen pics of the results of a fabric challenge? Everyone has to start with one-three fabrics that are the same, then they can add whatever other fabrics they like to make a quilt. The resulting quilts can be drastically different, and I love seeing the results. 

I just finished quilting this quilt today, and you can see there are two blocks in it that use the same pink/orange print. The blocks don't look like duplicates because the fabrics I paired them with are drastically different in value and color, and they bring out different aspects of the print. 

Since I'm not much for rules, I've learned most of what I do through experience. I'm sure a lot of what I do breaks the "rules", but I'm ok with that. After all, there are different decorating styles for a reason, not everyone likes the same esthetic. 

Quilting thread color, so much drama about it, so many discussions about it, so many books about it. The fact of the matter is, every quilter has their personal preferences. I've noticed Donna Jordan from Jordan fabrics almost always sticks with the value of the background color. She doesn't like the quilting to show much, and that's a good way to make it blend in.

I make mostly scrappy quilts, sometimes color controlled, sometimes not. Sometimes I want the quilting to show up more, sometimes not, and mostly, unless I doing more involved quilting I don't care much either way. If there are a lot of different colors in a quilt, I tend to choose a thread that matches the backing. I backed the above quilt with a slate blue fabric, so I used a blue quilting thread. I knew the blue thread would pretty much disappear on the dark colors, but I was surprised to see it didn't show up much on the pink prints either. 

On the pink solid, the blue thread shows up quite a bit, but on the prints, it blends in much better than I ever expected. 

Early in my FMQ journey, I bought a thread set of 40 different colors. One of the colors was a pretty ugly (in my opinion) yellow-green. In person it's a bit greener than my photo. 

Rather than let it languish, I decided I'd use it up right away and get it out of stash, why would I want more of that color? Imagine my surprise when that color blended into almost every color I quilted it on. I've reordered that thread over and over again, and if I'm really undecided on quilting thread color, it's my go-to. I likely would have never bought a single spool of that color, buying a thread set is the only reason I ever had it to use. 

My point is, you can learn all you want about color, but to really get to know it, you need to experience it. That's one of the reasons I love playing in other people's scraps. Someone else will buy things I'd never get, but I learn the most when I'm stretching my boundaries, and realizing I've been limiting myself is quite freeing. 

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mother is a lovely lady, and a very talented one too. She still sews, knits, crochets, and does needlepoint. Back in the day she was an amazing cake decorator, but her hands can't handle that anymore. 

When I was a child, she tried to teach me all of those skills, but I was far from a willing student. I may have finished one embroidery project as a child, and every time I use those skills I remember her teaching them to me. I remember how amazed I was after learning the lazy daisy stitch and then I could stitch flowers that actually looked like flowers. That's likely why my favorite flowers are daisies to this day. 

She tried to teach me to crochet, and a granny square is all I can make now. Knitting wasn't ever going to happen. I sewed a couple of seams on some clothes she was making me, then I wandered off and went back to reading. I was all about reading as a girl, a love I've never outgrown. 

I remember her trying to teach me how to make frosting roses. Mine kind of looked like deformed pine cones. I learned enough to muddle through making my kids birthday cakes, but I still sighed with relief when my kids started opting for non-cake desserts and I didn't have to worry about decorating cakes anymore. 

About the only craft I really enjoyed as a child was latchhook rugs, and I did complete several of those. I finished multiple crafts as a kid, some string art, some trivets, the obligatory woven loop potholders. I was blessed to have been exposed to all kinds of crafts, including "helping" my dad do some woodworking. As a kid I loved hearing his praise that I drilled the hole just right, but as an adult I realize he had the stop on the drill press so I couldn't screw it up!

I was exposed to a lot of crafts, but as a kid, none of it took. I wasn't passionate about any of them. I'm sure it was frustrating to my mom who tried so hard. My oldest sister tried to teach me some crafts too, so I learned some macrame from her, and school art classes taught me rudimentary calligraphy and drawing. 

The advantage to be exposed to so much as a child, was as an adult, I was open to trying new things. When we were first married. I had a neighbor who introduced me to ceramics. I enjoyed learning about the different paints and glazes, and that year I gave away what I had made as Christmas gifts. 

I started sewing with my first pregnancy. Plus sized clothing was hard to find and plus sized maternity clothes weren't a thing at all back then. I grew up watching my mom sew clothes, so I bought a pattern that touted itself as easy, and went for it. I was scared to do button holes, so I used snaps instead. 

My sewing abilities grew as my family grew, I learned to make button holes and put in zippers. Oh, how I wish we had YouTube back then. My skills would have developed so much faster! 

I got into needlepoint and cross stitch, things I could work on while keeping an eye on my kids. I started homeschooling and using several craft methods I made a lot of learning tools that were too expensive for me to purchase. I was glad I had been exposed to so much as a kid it helped me to think outside the box on getting something done. 

If you are trying to teach a child how to quilt, or any other crafts, don't despair if they don't take to it. You are planting ideas in their mind, and someday those ideas may grow into a passion for something seemingly unrelated, but still based on those lessons. 

My sewing for the past week hasn't been typical for me. 

I finished clipping the rag quilt for DS the Younger. It's already been mailed and arrived at his house. He's out in the field, so he won't see it until next month, but it will be waiting for him. 

I got the drawstring bags made that DH wanted for some events coming up. I haven't even started the rally bags yet. They'll be just like these but western fabrics. 

Even with all the extra projects that got thrown my way, I'm still determined to get the Nana Jamas done for Christmas. I bought all the shirts to with the pajama pants I'm making, and I figured out if I just cut out one pair of pajama pants per day, or trace off a size I don't already have traced off, I can get all of those cut out this month. Doing one thing per day seems more doable than taking several days out to get them done. As long as I get them all cut this month, I think I can still get them done before Christmas, even with all the rally projects thrown in. 

With every item I sew, all those seemingly unheeded sewing lessons my mother tried to give me come to fruition. Thanks, Mom, and happy birthday!