Projects I dislike...

Today I am going to share two projects I have been working on (and avoiding working on) for almost a year. I dislike them, strongly (one much more than the other). Depending on the day, you might even get me to say that I hate one of them. Interestingly enough, they were both commissioned quilts. I wonder if I secretly dislike the having to make them aspect of them or if it was the projects themselves. 

Question: Have you ever taken on a commissioned project? If so, how did it make you feel? 

Okay, I am going to start with the one that I am actually fairly impartial about. Really, all I didn't like about this one is the fabric choice. My mom bought all the fabric and asked me to make the quilt for her cousin who loves cats. We are talking crazy cat lady to the nth degree. So when you consider that, it makes sense. 

Dang, it is just so horrible and tacky though. Ugh. 

But on the up side, it is done and once I drive the 2 hours to deliver it, I never have to see it again!

Then that brings us to the second one. This is the one that I can safely say I hated at times. It is a commissioned tee-shirt quilt for my cousin's friend's daughter. Anyways, she was living in Spain at the time and asked if I could help because the interfacing she bought to make it sucked. My thoughts: "Sure, I have been wanting to try a shirt quilt anyways. Send the shirts!"

Then the box arrived. My cousin's friend's daughter had already cut up all of the shirts and apparently had no idea that when you sew things together, edges need to be straight and corners usually help. She had basically cut around designs and left little to no room to square things up (you know, because things were cut around the design which left triangles, circles, dodecagons, etc.). She also had already sewn on horrible interfacing that had to go. I spent 2 straight weeks of evenings trying to square things up, replace interfacing, and make it not such a nightmare.

Then I just couldn't take it anymore, so I put it all away and waited for inspiration to hit. Inspiration never hit. At this point, it had been half a year or so, and I realized I should have just bit the bullet and sent everything back in the beginning and made up an excuse about not having time (which wouldn't have been a lie with all the time I had already invested with nothing to show). Then both cousin's friend and cousin's friend's daughter started bugging me about progress updates and I started to get upset. I was desperately trying to explain how frustrating it all was because there was hardly enough room to square things up and yada yada.

In my frustration, I decided I did not care what this quilt looked like when it was done. If I butchered a few shirts and cut out part of the picture, who cares? I would not feel bad. Besides, there was no way around it. Plus, I was getting more and more desperate after the status reports.

So I started cutting. Unfortunately it had been so long since I started fiddling around and had applied the correct interfacing that the interfacing had un-fused itself. I didn't even care and kept sewing.

Finally today I can say that the top is done. 

Now I just have to baste and quilt it. Then we get to the backing cousin's friend's daughter sent... IT IS A TAPESTRY. Quilting it is going to be a nightmare. It is also going to be one of the most uncomfortable quilts ever when you factor in the tapestry backing and the excess of interfacing. Oh well. It will all be over soon.

Generally, I only make quilts intended for people I am close to. Both of these were for people I know, but not too well. Hmm. Maybe I just wasn't feeling the love enough to enjoy the quiltmaking process. Maybe it wouldn't have been as bad if I cared about these people more. Probably not on the second one, though.

Now because I can't have a post that is all bad, here is a picture from my garden. My first bluebonnet of the year has arrived. It is a runty little flower, but a bluebonnet nonetheless. As a Texan, I am thrilled!