I mentioned that I made her niece and nephew a quilt - and she said, "Mine should come first!" in this huffy tone.
And I was forced to defend making a baby quilt.
Then - I stopped.
This is MY hobby. This is something I do for joy and for peace of mind. And I told her that. I basically told her to back off - this is my hobby and she is not allowed to hijack it.
It really made me cranky.
Has this every happened to you? I find that more and more people EXPECT me to make them a quilt.
And honestly - I don't always want to. Not that I don't care about them, but I want my hobby to be mine. And my hobby isn't theirs to guilt me over.
I am free to make what I want, when I want. It is a hobby. Not a job. They aren't paying me for it.
So - I am making a stand. Quilting is for me. For my joy. And I am taking it back.
Okay....rant over.
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Fabric is taking over my house...
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Atta girl! I completely agree. I have only done a couple things "on request" for someone, and each time, I found myself procrastinating and unhappy. On the other hand, when I have decided to make someone a quilt as a gift, it has been a complete pleasure. Since I realized that, I just say no when someone says, "Can you make me a quilt? I'll pay you."
ReplyDeleteGood for you! I can ditto Colleen's remarks. I only make quilts as gifts that I decide to make--not that someone has asked me for. I.E., I'm working on a wedding quilt now that the couple doesn't know they're getting, so the fact that it's not done by the wedding isn't stressing me out. :-) And by the way, it's a Jacob's Ladder, LOL.
ReplyDeleteI applaud you for making your thoughts known. When I first started quilting, I agreed to make a quilt for a friend who knew nothing about fabric or the process of quilting. I not enjoy making the quilt at all! I felt used while making the quilt. I make quilts as gifts these days not because someone has asked me to make them one. Like Sandy, I do not tell the individual that I am make them a quilt since I don't want to be pressured by any deadline commitment.
ReplyDeleteHello Katie .... I lost connection with you when I crashed my computer and Google Reader ... glad to see you and yours are thriving and you get to do some quilting.
ReplyDeleteNOW BACK TO YOUR BLOG.... I NEVER QUILT for other people unless I want to give a gift .... Not even for my DD ... I love quilting and doing it on a time schedule or having someone else try and tell me how to do a quilt sucks the joy out of me.
I have a print out from a blog post I found on line and tell them this is this is the estimate of what I would have to charge them..... I would be revised upward as I had a better idea for what the project would entail. That usually has people backing off and not asking me to make them a quilt.
I now have the blog printout on my sewing room wall so anyone can read it... I rarely get asked to make a quilt for anyone.