Wednesday, June 5, 2013

It's a Sad Day. I Can't Even Pretend to Like Foundation Piecing Anymore...

I am dedicated to having a pickle dish quilt some day in the future, oh yes I am! It feels really good to get into the quilting room and just do some basic sewing. Foundation piecing isn't quite 'mindless' sewing, but it is so very simple....
2 more completed sets for the pickle dish
I had big plans to sew about four sets of the pickle dish melons before I quit for the day, but I'm afraid that didn't last very long at all.  It's the funniest, unfunny thing really.  I start sewing the foundations in good spirits thinking 'Wow, this is so easy and simple, I could do this just about forever!'.  And I start dreaming about the my Karen Stone book collecting dust on the shelf and the New York Beauty quilt I've always wanted to make.  Why in the world am I not making more of these gorgeous quilts?

Then, like always, I get to the point where I'm fussing with how well the fabric is going to line up with the sewing line, flipping it back and forth, upside down and sideways for the umpteenth time thinking 'Ugghh, I can't believe there are people who actually love doing this!'.  As I jump up and down from my sewing chair to get to the ironing board once again, I'm laughing somewhat hysterically at myself for all the enthusiasm and optimism that I always, always feel at the start of foundation piecing. The straight line sewing, the perfection of the piecing? It's a good trick really.

But reality tends to set in on me more quickly perhaps than it used to.  There's no kidding myself anymore about the truth of something so very basic: foundation piecing is a process that I STILL do not enjoy and probably never will.  So my progress is meagerly.  I can't and won't force it beyond a certain point! Only two sets of melons done before I was gladly fleeing the sewing room for the beeper on the finished dryer cycle of which I'm quite sure I always ignore.

I haven't given up though, I'm just regrouping! Having committed to finishing this particular project, finish I will, even if it takes me all through the summer to somehow work through my foundation piecing angst.*wink

17 comments:

  1. Have tried foundation piecing twice and it just doesn't feel like 'my thing'. Like your pickle dishes !

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  2. I too have done foundation piecing and have never gotten into it. I have found that a lot of the piecing can just plain be done by hand like I like to do either by using Inklingo or just plain drawing your seam on with a pencil. I really do not like paper piecing at all!!

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  3. Amen Sister I'm a fellow hater lover of foundation piecing

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  4. I think you just have an issue with your process, Audrey. There are easier ways to do it! Lisa Sipes has a YouTube video on how to use the Add-a-Quarter ruler while paper piecing. I just use a regular ruler, and pins instead of glue, but otherwise I use the same technique. Here's the link:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoQkqYtG3fo&feature=youtu.be

    I hope it will be an "aha" moment!

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  5. One more reason why I think we may have secretly been twins separated at birth! hahaha

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  6. I just can't get into it either...looks like you are doing great, though!! Life is just too short for me to paper piece...LOL!

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  7. I have projects like that sometimes too. It's amazing to think I would rather tidy my house than work on them for longer than an hour or so .

    I usually make those projects long term and just do a few blocks or pieces at a time . My hexie flower quilt has been in progress since October 2011 - just keep plugging along when you feel like it.

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  8. I could do a couple for you Audrey - but would need a pattern. I am sure some of your other "faithful followers" would do one or two for you too. :-) Dasha

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  9. What you have done looks really good. I think if it works for you to take it in small bites instead of marathon sessions that is great. You will still end up with a quilt you will love even if you don't actually "love" paper piecing.

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  10. You can do it! Nothing wrong with doing a little at a time!

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  11. I am so sorry. A pickle dish has been on my to-do list for over a year. Wish I was close enough and we could do it together. I've done 8 NYB quilts and have another I want to start. I hope you can find a zone where maybe you can do 2 a day and then go on to something else. They look wonderful.

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  12. This post made me giggle... where as you went running to the dryer when the beeper rang, gladly escaping the task of foundation paper piecing, I have let clothes sit it the dryer for a day or two because I'm busy enjoying foundation paper piecing quilt blocks! One helpful hint... because there is a lot of pressing during the process of paper piecing, (but really not much more than pressing other methods of piecing blocks when you think of it...) I lower my ironing board, add an extension cord to the iron, and move both right next to me so I can just swivel in my chair for the task of pressing. That and a bottomless cup of diet coke seem to work for me!

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  13. AT LEAST YOU HAVE STARTED!! I just dream about making one. Remember slow and steady wins the race and when you pass the finishing line you will have a gorgeous quilt and I will still be dreaming about making a pickledish quilt.

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  14. These are so pretty! Sometimes the idea of the finished quilt is enough to keep me going. Thinking some quilts are slow cloth. Thankfully there is working on several quilts in parallel!
    ; )

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  15. I feel exactly the same about foundation piecing. I want to like it but ......

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  16. I just love the chuckles I always get from your post. One thing for sure foundation piecing is not for everyone but what you have done looks great.

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  17. You sounds just like me! I love the precision, but dislike all the threads and up down to the ironing board...I guess one consolidation is that it is good exercise LOL

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