Must we keep swimming upstream?

I was in a business course many moons ago and there was a coach there who was listening to a dilemma that I had.  He paused and listened intently, and then waited until I stopped and calmly asked me "Why do you keep swimming upstream?"

My first thought was - "well there is a right way to do things".  And that may be true if you are a surgeon or  dentist.  Or a Judge.  But in most things in life there are many ways to accomplish any one thing - and as long as no one gets hurt or there is no damage to property - it may even be easier!

Well I experienced this again! Really?  In quilting?  Oh yes I did. (chuckle)

Several years ago I bought a program with a pattern called a 'mystery quilt'.  It was a program that sent you part of the pattern each month and you did not know what the quilt looked like until the last installment.  I never did get the quilt started until several years later.  On this past Sunday evening, with all the installments in hand, I headed off to a quilting retreat in the hopes of starting and completing the entire quilt in 4 days.  To maintain the integrity of the program - I decided to do each installment before looking at the next and actually followed the directions.  And began swimming upstream.

I will not go into all the gory details - but each step, after I had painstakingly followed all the directions and pieced each section, I realized that the instructions swam upstream so to speak.  Each step that I went through took the long way to cut and piece each block  All 1800 pieces.  I was tempted to try to rewrite all the short cuts - but in most cases when I realized there was another way - I was already half way through the hard way.

What many people do not realize is that you do not win any awards or badges of honour to do things the hard way.  In the end we actually lose.  Time.  Patience. And even the desire to finish something. You may feel a sense of accomplishment for swimming upstream - but the only thing I know that swims upstream to success - is salmon.  And we all know what happens to them when they reach their destination.

When I find a faster, easier way to do something now - I make it a habit to use that way - and still keep looking for other great time saving methods.  This is why I have been writing patterns with fast and easy techniques to make the project more enjoyable that can be completed in a shorter time period. You can have results you can be proud of  and still have time for that cup of tea. (or glass of wine).

So, if you are wanting to save a little time making your quilt tops - sign up for my newsletter  - or read the archives here where I announce new patterns - or take a look at "No Waste, Quick Finish Quilts".  I will be adding more patterns over the next little while!

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