My Least Favorite Things About Quilting

Even things we like usually have some unpleasantries & we seldom talk about them--except maybe mumbling under our breath as we deal with them.  For some reason I was just reflecting on what those are in my quilting life.  Don't get me wrong;  I LOVE to quilt (as if you hadn't noticed!) & any frustrations usually fit into the 'don't sweat the small stuff' category.  But here are a few of my unfavorite things (can't you hear Julie Andrews singing in the background?):

• Making binding--a tedious task of cutting the strips, bias sewing the strips to the identified length, & then pressing in half.  I would add applying the binding, except I've gotten it down to a pretty easy process & once that's done, it's finished!  Viola!  Such a feeling of accomplishment!  So applying the binding is the home stretch--making the binding is not...
• Cleaning up studio space.  Cleaning is not my strong suit in any case--but once a project is completed, all of the remaining fabric, scraps, & general mess of creation need to be dealt with.  Some projects are messier than others--& it becomes exponential if there have been one or two 'emergency/gotta finish this NOW' projects tossed in the middle of the current project!  In the worst case senario, I can't see the 2' x 3' cutting mat on the work table, several fabric drawers have been so pilfered that they won't close, & the garbage is running over (to say nothing of the floor...).   I am, however, enough of a neat-nik that I enjoy the moment of a clean space after the last project and before the next one gets underway.
• Related to cleaning:  there's a place for everything & everything is in it's place, but where the heck IS it?!  I'm a firm believer in having things put away in project boxes, drawers, baskets, etc.  Occasionally, though, that works against you when you can't quite remember where you put the item that you most definitely need now! I hate time wasted going on the hunt. In most situations, I just leave off & go to the next task while I do the mind-file search, thinking through where something may have gone.  That usually works eventually--but if I'm stuck at a key point in a project, the hunt can waste time I'd rather be putting to good use! Rarely, an item never does turn up--or turns up when I've long since given it up for lost!  *sigh*
• An empty design wall.  It's just wrong.  Thank goodness it usually doesn't last long!  If push comes to shove, I drag out a UFO to put up.  It may not be the next project in the que but can use some idle looking & planning.  That can be related to the final one on the list...

• The project brainstorm that occurs in the middle of the current project--and completely derails me while I start throwing things together in a pile before I lose the light-bulb moment!  This phenomenon is DIRECTLY related to the long UFO list!  You can think up a variety of projects while you're working on this one!  It's like not being able to meditate successfully; while you're supposed to be focused on the here-and-now moment, you're mind is off on the future moment of the next project!  And just to be clear:  I love the brainstorming, next-great-idea process!  What I don't love is the pile(s) that gets created & now needs a home, a plan, etc.  Back to the cleaning items previously noted, right?!

Like I said,  'don't sweat the small stuff'--so now it's off my chest.
On to the next project...except where did I put that box?