I know I struggle with focus, have my entire life. Long term focus. Short term, if it is something I really want to do, I have laser focus, to the point of blocking out the entire world. Longer focus really doesn’t exist for me. That’s why quilting is such an odd thing in my life. I’ve been quilting for over 30 years.

Lately I’ve been noticing that I have spurts of creativity, but there’s been more finishing. That’s also kinda different for me. I’ve been doing a lot of quilting (not piecing, actual quilting) lately and it’s interesting. I have fought my equipment for years, not being able to do what is in my head, and I think maybe (don’t want to jinx anything) I am getting over that hump.

I’ve had the new software on my long arm for over a year now, and I’ve quilted more stuff in the last year than I think I’ve done the entire time I’ve had the long arm, which is shocking when I think about it like that. Bessie is still kinda temperamental. She only likes King Tut thread. She’s picky about the kind of patterns she sews off, but I have finally found a Baptist Fan pattern that she likes and will do reliably. I’m getting the hang of a lot of the little pieces of the process and it’s been delightful.

This weekend I quilted 3 different quilts. The weekend before I finished two things. Yes my binding pile is stacking up, that’s a separate discussion, but that’s ok. I know how to do that. So somehow, my focus and my ability have come together and I feel like I can complete things the way I want. That’s making me want to finish piecing more quilts because I know I can quilt them. Huh. I don’t think I’ll ever be without UFOs but it sure is interesting to have that mental block feel like it’s lifting. Maybe at the end of this year I’ll count my UFOs. Maybe. We don’t want to get carried away or anything.