One More Thing

Isn't there always one more thing when you think you're done with a quilt? For my Peace quilt, as I finished up stitching down the binding, it was, of course, to add something to the back so I could hang it up. It shouldn't surprise you that I found myself not keen on that something being a traditional sleeve. This won't be in any exhibit requiring the obligatory 4" sleeve, I didn't want to use up any more of this particular hand-dye in a place where it would seldom be seen, and perhaps most of all, I didn't want to put my hands through all that hand sewing. So after thinking about it for a few days, I decided I would be just fine with this simple solution.

This works really well on small quilts and I hoped it would work equally well on this larger one (finished 23-1/2 x 36). I had felt left over, handily a piece wide enough to quickly cut triangles and a couple of strips from. I quickly hand-stitched all in place, cut a piece of doweling and was ready to go. 

This might not have worked as well if I'd used a traditional batting, but the stiffness of the felt is keeping it from buckling between the triangles and tabs. Not a perfect quilt, not perfect corners, but all in all, I'm pretty please, and so glad to have it done. Remember, I started this back in July, thinking it would be done in a week of persistent work, but one thing after another stretched the time frame out and kept me putting it aside while I tended other things.

I'm glad I chose the thread colors that I did . . .

. . . and I'm glad I sent the quilting lines in the directions that I did.

I ran across an article today, "Five Ways to Persuade Yourself to Be More Productive" and nearly didn't read it because I've read articles like this before and pretty much KNOW what I should do to keep from being that petulant child; I just don't do it. But I scanned through it anyway and could see that I actually did use some of these tips as I worked on this quilt, especially toward the end. One is setting interim goals (big goals with a deadline can be too daunting), and in my case, that meant breaking down some of the steps to complete over several days rather than trying to do them all at once. And then there was #4 - Take breaks: the brain and the body are not meant to work non-stop.

“For whatever weird reason, we have the idea that powering through is the best way to get stuff done and a sign of our own virtue,” he says. “We’ve got it upside down and believe amateurs take breaks and pros don’t. Athletes know that taking breaks is not a deviation from performance but is part of performance.”

Boy, is that me . . . or was me . .  thinking I have to power through multiple parts under a general heading all on the same day and without stopping. I still catch myself thinking that way but my auto-immune syndrome has shown me I just can't do that anymore without paying for it. And here's another gem that I know is true but eludes me when in the throws of working; it concerns setting deadlines, which can be a good motivator, but if too severe and "you’re engaged in divergent thinking that requires greater creativity. . .can inhibit your performance instead of enhancing it. In addition, if a deadline is too severe, it can deaden your intrinsic motivation." Been there, done that with show and exhibit deadlines and know that it seldom produces my best work yet I continued to find myself backed into these deadline corners. At any rate, I hope you'll give it a quick read, so you'll be ready when your own petulant child appears.