Quilting and A Sense of Accomplishment

When reading other quilters' blogs and talking to quilters I know, it seems that the favorite part of making quilts for many quilters is the piecing process. Taking those small pieces of fabric and putting them together is a bit like completing a puzzle. Using a pattern but then changing it slightly and using different combinations of colorful fabric are parts of an intense creative process. And then seeing the whole quilt top coming together right before your eyes is especially satisfying. Doing the piecing as I put the quilt top together has always been my favorite part of quilting. 

Even though I have always enjoyed the piecing process more, I used to follow through with layering the quilt top, the batting, and the backing so that I could quilt the three layers together. As a matter of fact, at the end of 2017, I had only one quilt top that I had not finished. Somewhere along the way, I told myself that I could always finish the quilting later, and lo and behold, before long I began to have a stack of unfinished quilt tops! That stack grew to be a whole drawer full of unfinished objects (or according to quilters' lingo--UFO's). 

To be successful at quilting the three layers together requires practice, and for some quilting techniques, it takes lots and lots of practice. I had good intentions. I would prepare some practice squares while setting a goal of trying some new quilting techniques every day. I didn't do so well with that goal because it was always more fun to work on piecing another quilt top. I'm at home most of the time because of the pandemic, and at the beginning, I made lots of face masks. However, after completing many masks, I decided to move on to some quilting, and one day, I opened my UFO drawer to reacquaint myself with those quilt tops I so enjoyed making. By not finishing those quilts, I had banished those tops to a drawer instead of giving them a place in my home where I could enjoy them daily. That realization turned into determination to complete those UFO's! My nearly empty UFO drawer speaks to the number of quilts I have finished so far. 

The feature of this table topper is the colorful bird fabric.

What to do with a small amount of fabric?--Make this table topper.

Butterflies are the focus of this table runner. It just calls for
a  vase of spring daffodils in the center!

This pinwheel quilt features cardinals on a snowy black fabric.
The picture was taken before the black binding was attached.

This multi-colored runner is made from charm squares (5 inch squares).

This three fabric quilt turned out to be one of my favorite quilts that I've made.

And it's already displayed on a quilt rack in my living room!

With all the work to complete the quilts came a true sense of accomplishment. I am still not as confident about the quilting process as I am about piecing quilts. The quilting I have used on these completed UFO's is simple, mostly using a walking foot instead of doing free motion quilting (which requires more practice). However the sense of accomplishment that I experienced as I finished those UFO's will give me the motivation I need to once again complete quilts right after the piecing process. Hopefully my UFO drawer will become the former UFO drawer when it no longer holds unfinished quilt tops!