Quilting and mental health

I think we can all agree that quilting benefits our mental well-being. For some, it provides a widespread social network through an in-person guild, classes, online, social media, etc. Many of us have met and maintained long-time friendships through quilting. 

If you moved, what would be the first thing you would do? Well, maybe not the first, but you would check out the local quilt stores, guilds, and sewing groups. 

And yes - I get that there are issues - guilds can be "unfriendly" because people have their cliches, teachers, or store owners may be less than friendly, but for the most part, we have all had relatively good experiences meeting new quilters. 

It's also therapeutic. People take handwork to pass the hours while sitting with loved ones in times of comfort. People travel with their handwork to occupy their time on a plane, at the beach, or at a cottage on a rainy day. People love to sew, and even at home, it fills many hours for retired and working people. What the heck would we do with our time otherwise? Perhaps we'd be cruising up and down Main Street and getting into trouble! 

Quilters are also very generous with their time and their quilts. Many organizations have benefited from donations of quilts or other items—Quilts of Valour, Victoria Quilts, Project Linus, Quilts for Survivors, Comfy Cases (pillowcase), and I'm sure I've missed a few. Other organizations take quilts to help people in crisis. 

How many have received a handmade quilt or quilted item? It warms the heart to know someone cared enough to spend the time to make a gift for them. However, not everyone is quilt-worthy! 

We all know how good quilting is for our mental health, but when is the line crossed when quilting becomes harmful to you? Yes, while quilting is good, it can cause you many problems. I've mentioned this in the past on the blog, but those cute little memes about how much fabric we have? Or the creative places we hide it? Those memes are giving us permission that more is better, that we're not alone, and that what we are doing is OK.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but those are not cute! They are a sign of mental illness, which is called hoarding! 

I am guilty of hoarding craft supplies, particularly quilting supplies. It did not take me long to amass a massive stash of fabric, gadgets, rulers, patterns, etc. Why? I needed them. Thankfully, that habit was curbed about 15 years ago, but I did some serious damage before reality clicked in. 

Now, here is the thing - even if everything is super organized and my stuff is pretty organized, how much will I use in my lifetime? And who will deal with it if I don't wake up tomorrow? Family? Friends? Another quilter? I'm sure many of you have dealt with a friend's stash, and it wasn't fun. 

Would any of you want to deal with what I have? I thought so! It would take weeks of physical and mental strength to deal with it all. Even if you brought in a dumpster, it would be one of the most stressful things you've had to do! 

I've harped enough about the stash in the past, so I will leave that. Today - yes - all that above was to chat about another subject. UFOs!! Yes --- that is not an Unidentified Flying Object, that is a UNFINISHED OBJECT in your sewing room! 

You define a UFO's status for yourself, but if it's a class project, the second that class is over, it becomes a UFO. The minute it gets put back on the shelf, it's a UFO. Now, here's the story I wanted to share yesterday, but I had to wait to share it with my class first. 

We had our final class of Dear Jen (Jen Kingwell) yesterday. Of all the quilts I've taught over the years, this one almost killed me and the students. The blocks were a challenge and definitely harder than they needed to be. The coloring was a challenge, the fabrics were a challenge - everything was a challenge. We had a fantastic show and tell because I went back and pulled pictures from everyone over the past 8 months. I'll share it with you tomorrow, so this doesn't become too long today. 

Several months ago, I realized most of the class was in trouble, including me. That day, I gave all the students permission to STOP - do no more blocks, but try to figure out what you could do with what they had already made. When a project is no longer fun -- guess what? That becomes an issue for your mental health! 

Yes -- that innocent little box of blocks or half-finished project becomes a massive weight in the back of your mind. Imagine if you have a lot of UFOs --- your brain is subconsciously thinking about them, and the stress is not good! 

Have you ever noticed how euphoric it is to finish a UFO? Imagine if you had none? OK - I know some of you have no UFOs, and I congratulate you on that accomplishment and discipline. Elle, I can see you waving your hand in the back of the room! LOL - I wish I could be more like you! Most quilters fail at that, including me. But I am trying "desperately" (that phrase brings a whole other quilting story to my mind, which I'll share another day) to eliminate these UFOs. Or at the very least, to prep the top, backing, and binding. And that's a whole other story for another day! 

In preparation for this last Dear Jen quilt class and the "lecture" I would give them, I needed to up my game and do something with my blocks, or they could turn around and call me a hypocrite! I was excited about this project initially, but I faltered and just could not wrap my head around it. Was it my fabric choice (another story), time, or what? Anyway, I now have a ton of topics to pick up and chat about this coming week. I wrote them down so I won't forget!

Here's what happened with my quilt. These are the blocks I made. There are 72 blocks in this pattern, and I'm unsure how many I made, as some of these are duplicates. My initial plan was to make two of each. My background was white on black for the dark and black on white for the light. (Big story about that another day.) 

My Dear Jen blocks

While the blocks look fine, I just could not wrap my head around them. Too many colors? The background fabrics were driving me mad. Values within the blocks related to the background weren't always happening. And it looked busy, which isn't my thing. I think it's extremely important that we figure out why we don't like something, or we could repeat those mistakes. 

I decided to switch colors and use solid black for the blocks. While this was better, my brain was still very unhappy with the process. 

A new background

Knowing that the students' and my interest in the project was waning fast, it was a challenge each month to prepare and be super excited about this class. Guess what? More mental stress! 

In light of that upcoming final show and tell, I needed to pull up my bootstraps and do something with my blocks. So this is what I did. And it's funny because this setting was my original idea from the beginning. It's one that I spotted online and offered up to the group in the first class. Looking at it on the screen, I might rearrange some of the blocks before I sew them together. 

My Dear Jen quilt

I sorted out 25 blocks that worked together, and I added black sashing to the light backgrounds and white sashing to the dark backgrounds. Some of the others in the class used smaller sashing than I did, and I'm not sure I want to do that, although that was the original design, and it looks awesome. 

Two blocks still need sashing. This project has been on the floor by the cutting table for months. Then it got moved to one of those project tables. That's what I was so happy about—I put away all the excess fabric that had been pulled for this quilt. It's back on the shelf. And there's a wee bit more room on one of the tables. More about those tomorrow. 

I wasn't sure what to do with this as it's not super large—each block with framing is 8". As I talked with everyone, I said I would make a child's quilt and give it away. Then, after glancing at my sewing machines beside me, I had a flash: I'm going to completely finish this quilt, and it will become a cover for one of my machines. It won't be shaped, just something to drape over to keep the dust off. 

YES—do you know how happy that makes me? I solved a "horrible" mental block, I'll finish this UFO (the class is now over), and I'll get a sewing machine cover in the deal. 

This is WHY quilting is bad for our mental health. As I went through all the pictures, I gave suggestions and PERMISSION to each person struggling to call it a day. DO NOT let these things become UFOs. You will regret it for the rest of your quilting life! 

Now, what will happen to my extra blocks? I had them arranged like this to go on the back of the quilt, but I think it'll be too wide. I have one more block with the black background that is almost finished, so I'm going to rearrange those, and they will go on the back! 

Extra Dear Jen blocks

I want to celebrate this quilt. Even though I did not finish the blocks in the book, I am going to finish the project. This is a huge breakthrough, and I want it to remind me each and every day that ANYTHING is possible if you let go! Do not let any quilting project get you down. Find a solution to finish it as it is, give it away, or whatever, but letting it drag you down mentally is not good! 

Neither is the clutter in the sewing room, which I've harped about enough in the past. That is why those three tables are my focus for the next month. 

I have ONE Zoom today, and the rest of the day is mine. Do you know how excited I am about that? Yes - I have lots of work to do, but I'm taking the day off. I'm going to sew! 

On that note, I want you to think long and hard about what I said above. Let things go—the world will not end, and you will be much happier. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!