quilting and procrastination

I have always been a procrastinator, and now it has even shown up in my creative life.  During school I would always write papers at the last minute (I mean seriously--I’d be writing a paper at 7AM for an 11AM class).  The thing was that I loved doing the research for the paper and would do it ahead of time, but I never liked to actually write it.  Cue to this quilt:


I put together the fabrics about three years ago.  I knew my mom would adore the red Asian print and went from there.  Eventually I created the blocks and put the quilt top together.  I basted it probably around twenty or so months ago and then started the straight-line quilting about fifteen months ago.  Then I didn’t touch it again until last week.  There’s nothing like a deadline to get me to actually finish something, and I wanted to get this to my mom for her birthday.  Success!


Just like my school papers, I love the process of putting things together (gathering research/piecing the blocks).  But I must have that deadline to actually get it done.  I’m not even sure how to improve on this as there’s always a new quilt to begin, but unless I’m planning it for someone it rarely gets finished.  I'm always amazed at the quilters who seem to whip up a new one every week; I've been quilting for going on four years and have only completed about ten large quilts (and various wall hangings/table runners).



I guess I'm just going to keep enjoying the process.