Deadlines

I spent a good number of years making quilts by hand and entering competitions. I taught quilting, wrote for quilting magazines, authored books, and made many life long friends during that time. It was an exciting way of life.

Below is an article that I wrote during that time. I know some of you will relate...

I work best when I am inspired. But good ideas come faster than I can complete them. As a result, I find myself working on many quilts at one time, delaying completion of any particular one until there is an urgent need to have it finished.
 
I take my quiltmaking seriously. I know that I will not be satisfied if I don’t give each quilt what it needs. Often I am faced with a show deadline and find myself calculating... “if I can quilt “x” number of stitches in an hour, or so many inches of the border each night, and with only this many days left...how can I be done on time??” During one of my more stressful moments, my husband asked... “Do you want to be buried with the quilt that kills you?”
 
I appreciated the humor, as well as the serious undertones of his remark, and I am sure that I explained the importance of meeting the deadline. I just couldn’t go to the show without a quilt to enter. But his comment gave the word “deadline” new meaning.
 
Being buried with a quilt is a comforting thought, but I never considered that my quiltmaking might be the cause of my departure. I hope to live a long time and to thread my needle every day. So I will try to relax and to finish each quilt in its own time. But, please excuse me now; I have a quilt to finish...