Remember my Quilting Without Obligation series and all the reasons we quilt? For fun... for the art... for the colors... for the beauty... for the fabric... for the therapy...
But what do you do when there is an obligation to finish what you started? Perhaps it's a commissioned quilt or a gift. Or a quilt for a certain fabric company... ;) You may have started off inspired but soon that faded. It's happened to me and I'm pretty sure it's happened to nearly every quilter; hence the pile of UFO's that we all have in a closet somewhere.
So how do you find your inspiration once again? I spent this weekend re-discovering inspiration so I thought I would share what that process looked like.
First, define what drew you to the quilt project in the first place. Was it the fabrics? The colors? The design? The individual you were creating for? For me it was the design. I loved the design.
Second, determine what happened. Sometimes it's a single issue. Other times it's a mix of factors. Did the colors clash? Did you fall out of love with the fabrics? Did the design have a flaw? For me, the design had some unexpected issues. Nothing big... nothing wrong or ugly... but not what I envisioned.
My favorite fabric
Third, find one thing to love about your project. The colors. The fabrics. The person you are making the quilt for. Something that inspires you to pick it up again and get sewing! I found that I loved the fabrics and one in particular. The colors and the prints just sing together and my favorite print brings everything to a perfect pitch.
Fourth, be flexible enough to tweak your quilt design. Focus on what drew you to the quilt project in the beginning. Fix the issue that brought it to a screeching halt. Draw your inspiration from the one thing you love about the quilt. Remember my favorite fabric? I tweaked the design to highlight this one fabric. And guess what? That splash of inspiration fixed the previous show-stopping hitch. All of a sudden I was in love with design again and I was sewing like a mad-woman. I wish I could show you the finished quilt but not quite yet... :)
So, don't give up on your UFO's! In the spirit of being resourceful and creative, be flexible and be ready to fall in love with an old, obligated quilt project all over again. Try it and I bet that like me, you will soon be quilting that quilt without obligation.