A question of patience

Do you consider yourself to be a patient person? If so, are you always patient or does the particular situation make a difference?

So often when I mention that I quilt the person I'm talking to says something like this, "I could never make a quilt. I'm not nearly patient enough." My response is always the same. "It takes impatience to make a quilt. You must have a desire to see what it will look like when it's all finished. Otherwise you'll never stick to it long enough to finish it." The last person I said that to was one of our new employees at the credit union who'd just finished taking my class. I got to thinking about her statement and my response, and for the first time I asked myself whether or not that was really true.

Most people consider me a very patient person, because anyone who teaches other people how to do anything must be patient. And when it comes to my students I am always patient - even when I have to think of a third or fourth way to explain something because they didn't "get" the first two or three explanations. But outside of work and outside of teaching I'm the most impatient person you can imagine. I have trouble waiting for things I've ordered to arrive in the mail or by UPS. If we are expecting guests and they don't arrive right when I expect them to I begin to worry that something might have happened to detain them. And when I get involved in a project - especially one I'm excited about - I find myself dropping everything else in order to get that project done. It's like I'm driven - I block out everything else.

You'd think that would mean that I have no UFO's right? Because I'm driven to work on one until it's finished. You know by my sidebar that it isn't true. If only it would really work that way. Instead I find myself driven to accomplish a set goal, but the goal is often something other than finishing a quilt.

Take today for example. I was supposed to be upstairs quilting. I even got up early - about 6:30 am - so I could get a good start. I told myself I'd just trim a few more triangles so I could clear off the cutting table. Then I decided to trim until my daughter came to take us to coffee. Then it was just until the DVD I was watching was over. Can you see the tendency here? What I REALLY wanted to do wasn't quilt - it was to get those triangles finished. So I did - about 3:30 this afternoon. Something like this always takes way longer than I think it will. I've posted a picture of results of my efforts. Who was I kidding when I happily (and proudly) said I'd emptied an entire plastic shoebox by sewing together these triangles? Now that same shoebox contains half-square triangle squares, all trimmed nicely and waiting for the next step towards becoming whatever they are going to be. They range in size from 1" to a bit over 2". And the shoebox is right back on the shelf where it was originally when it was full of triangles.

I'm telling myself I did accomplish something - after all, they are just that much closer to becoming part of a finished quilt. But there they sit, because I don't dare start stitching them together. If I do I'll become driven to complete another goal - sewing them all together into a finished flimsy - and I still won't get any quilting done. So I'm calling it quits for now - especially since the second Yankee-Mariner game is about to begin. I'll take the laptop upstairs, sit in the recliner, and read blogs while I watch baseball. Notice that still doesn't have anything to do with quilting a flimsy. Tomorrow morning I'll go upstairs to load a quilt on the machine - at least that's what I'm thinking tonight.

Obviously I have way too much patience when it comes to quilting all these flimsies. So I guess what I said is true - I have to be impatient to see them finished or I'll never stick to the job required to get them done. So tell me - what do I need to do in order to be impatient when it comes to quilting these tops?

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Gratitudes:

1. Azaleas and rhododendrons in bloom

2. A tasty new rub and barbecue sauce - a gift from a casual friend

3. A glass of white wine

4. A box full of triangle squares

5. A new pedicure

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