Remember when it was December 2019? Ah, those were the days!

In December 2019, the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild had a holiday party. One of the festive events was an Orphan Project Challenge. Members were challenged to have compassion for another person’s unfinished project and make it their own. If adopted, the project was supposed to be completed in 6 months.

The project that I adopted contained the uncut fabric, and pattern called “Labyrinth Walk”. It is a quilt designed by Christopher Florence, aka “The Guilty Quilter”. I’d give you a link to his designs, but was unable to track down a recent web page. The patterns are available from many sources. This pattern is one that many of my friends and family had sent me as a picture of a “quilt I should make”. When I saw it on the table, I decided it was a sign. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I MAY have misjudged what the sign said, but c’est la vie.

Ok now, I remind you that today is September 2022. That is 33 months since the “adoption”. Somewhere in that time period, I lost my quilty mojo.

The assembly of the pattern was actually much more straight forward than I had anticipated. I really liked piecing it, and would love to try some of the other cool designs by The Guilty Quilter. The cutting for this pattern is a series of strips and the peicing can be done chain / assembly line style since the feature blocks are repeated four or five times on the quilt.

I even completed the top within that 6 month challenge period, April 2020. However, when it came to the quilting, I decided that it needed custom, like what the designer at Wasatch Quilting put together, to maintain and emphasize the 3D effect of the quilt. Somewhere between that daunting task, mask making, and other projects, the project languished. In hindsight (33 months later), maybe and edge to edge would have been the ticket!

I think the part that stalls me on custom computerized quilting is the repetitive stop and go nature of very small designs. Full disclosure. I loaded this quilt on my longarm around December of 2021. I had every intention to work on it, stop and go, while I was taking online classes. I think that I let my classes and family / work responsibilities give me excuses NOT to work on this!

But, finally, I buckled down. This quilt is completed! I used a batik backing to compliment the front colors and a lightweight batting (Hobbs Heirloom 80/20). This batting has become my go-to for most quilts. It really does look cool, and once I share it with my guild (albeit, a little late), I think I’d like to hang it on the wall in my entry, going up the stairs. It can be a reminder to not give up, even when you feel lost!

The next patterns I want to pick up are Passages, and Crescendo! I think both have a ring and vision to them that will be perfect for decorating in my music filled home.

Has there ever been a project or time that you lost your quilty mojo? How did you find it again? I learned that I am a SLOW quilter, a multitasker, and a finisher. In time, I get things done. I don’t like it when something is languishing.