Monday, October 15, 2012

Motivated by fractions

Whimsy is finally seeing some steady progress.  I started quilting it on February 26, had a little flurry of activity, then promptly slowed to a crawl.  There were long periods of inactivity and I even lost my quilting callous on my left index finger. Summer was only partly to blame.

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Last month I decided I really needed to focus on getting this finished, but it wasn’t until the last 4 or 5 days that I really hit my stride.  This has happened before.  I start enthusiastically quilting a quilt, then the enthusiasm peters out and the quilt languishes, getting worked on only sporadically, until suddenly I become very focused again to finish up.

Today I figured out what triggers the push to the finish.  It’s all about fractions.  Really!  The quilt as a whole is rather overwhelming, but getting past the halfway mark, then the 3/4 mark, and so on, makes the finish seem within reach and I start to obsess about reaching the finish line, so to speak.

Whimsy quilting 2012-10-15In the case of Whimsy,  this weekend I realized I had over two thirds of the green triangles quilted, and if I could get 3 more of the small pinwheels done then I would have less than half of those left to do.  Today I pushed on to get another large pinwheel done so I could say that 3/4 of those are done…I will be settling in to finish that pinwheel as soon as I post this! 

Once I get to this point, I can also guess how many hours of work are left, which helps me set a more or less realistic goal of when I will have the quilt finished.  That helps motivate me too!  Right now I think I can finish in about 3 weeks...if I can commit to one hour a day of work.  No pressure!

2 comments:

  1. I've loved this quilt since first showing, but not until today did I really study the pattern. I wish my stack and whack were put together like this with the alternating rows that form the stars with pinwheels. Your radiating quilting lines are perfect too! (Mine has been basted together almost two years! You've inspired me! Maybe after Christmas I'll give it a try.) ---"Love"

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  2. It's looking amazing! And it's funny how fractions scare most people, but can be so motivating...I'm the same way with things...halfway, 3/4 done, etc. It's going to be such a treasure when it's finished.

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