quilters block....

Quilter's block? Hehe I did a quick search of the 'net to see if anyone else had any experience with "quilter's block". Unfortunately, when you combine the terms "quilter" and "block", everything that shows up is about actual quilt blocks. I found nothing about having trouble getting started on a quilt.

But I've had quilter's block all weekend.... and it's frustrating. I pulled weeds, did laundry, paid bills, cleaned bathroom tiles.... all of the "fun" things no one wants to do. I wrote emails, cruised the net, typed in the name of 100 people that I knew from way back when, to see if I could get any dirt on them... spent quite a bit of time looking at quilt websites, thinking I'd get some inspiration from there, but - no luck.

I considered crank phone calls, but everybody has caller ID these days... and if you block your number, you can't get through to a lot of places. Besides, I lost my patience with U.S. Customs on Thursday, when I called with questions about exporting vehicles into Canada. They didn't seem to understand why I was ticked that any calls into their office went straight to voice mail. They didn't understand that I was upset over the fact that their "preferred" method of contact was email. And they had to remind me that they had ties to Homeland Security when I strongly implied that I'd be by their office to obtain the info I needed - in person. That black car parked outside the house the next day could have been people visiting the neighbors... or it could have been Homeland Security. In any event, I wasn't about to find out.

I have plenty of fabric, plenty of patterns, plenty of notions, plenty of everything needed to turn out a spectacular quilt. But I just couldn't decide on fabrics or a pattern or get started. Even the fact that I have a Husky Quilt Designer II sitting there, raring to go - couldn't motivate me. If you have one of those babies, or know about them, you'll know what fun they are when you're actually sitting behind the wheel, with your foot on the gas pedal. Oh - and that's right... It's a Husky. I know the commercials on t.v. pronounce it Husqvarna (whooskvarna), but sheesh.... they've been making chainsaws for years, and everybody calls them a Husky.... not a Whoosky. Forget what the manufacturer says. They're wrong! (whoosk let the dogs out - whoosk! whoosk!) Hey... not a bad idea for a commercial. The dogs could be the feed dogs on the machine, and - ah, nevermind. Dumb idea.

When I talked via cell to the other person that lives in this house (he's currently in Tacoma, headed to B.C. tomorrow), I told him I couldn't decide on a pattern. He reminded me that we had enough quilt books, magazines, patterns, etc. to start a small library. He's right! Then I told him that I needed more fabric. He reminded me that we have enough fabric to start a small quilt shop. Unfortunately, he was right again. Um, the washing machine is broke? The dog ate my fabric? I was running out of excuses!

I think part of the problem is that there are so many choices.... fabric, patterns, layout... I was watching "Simply Quilts" the other day (why did they cancel that show????), and the guest that was on was explaining how you could get 450 different quilts out of one quilt block. !!!!! Crikey! THAT helps!

I stared, sorted and sifted through books and fabrics all weekend. I'll bet with a little more time, I could have come up with 451 (!) quilts out of one block. Sunday afternoon rolled around.... and it started to rain. Everything inside had been done, and I couldn't work outside, so I finally did what needed to be done. Grabbed a box of Little Debbie Nutty Bars, and sat down and watched "Planet 9 From Outer Space".

The movie was over, the Nutty Bars were gone, and I had run out of excuses. So about 5 p.m. I chose a pattern, selected the fabrics, cut what I needed, and started the washing machine. I even got the fabric pressed and the pieces cut - and then I lost my inspiration - again. But as soon as I finish this post, I'm headed back to the Husky (really!), and hopefully I'll pop out a quilt before morning.

But if you have any suggestions for fixing "quilter's block", I'd sure love to hear them!