This was something I really never thought much about until this past weekend. I recently bought a jelly roll and two charm packs of Sandy Gervais Zippity Doo Dah Moda line. I hadn't notice the line until I visited a local quilt shop and they had a quilt made from the jelly roll and they had the line on sale. Now, to find anything Moda on sale is a prize but this line was just so darn cute, I had to buy it. I later realized two things a) the line was on sale because it was retiring and b) when you buy fabric without a project in mind you will drive yourself crazy!
I spent over a week looking at the thing thinking I wanted to make a lap quilt out of it but it had to be a larger lap quilt (over 65"). I could not find a pattern for the life of me. Then when I finally found a design I could make and I made my measurements, I could not bring myself to make the first cut. What if I measured wrong? (I was not following a tested pattern but converting it from a picture I saw), What if I didn't have enough fabric? What if I cut the pieces wrong and THEN run out of fabric? I definitely could not afford another trip to the quilt shop.
Yeah. I spent all Saturday walking by the cutting table staring at the fabric. I cut and sewed a few 'test' blocks with scraps I had at hand to make sure my calculations were correct and still no cutting into the darn thing.

Finally, on Sunday I woke up early and just did it. I set aside the light colored fabric from the line to serve as a framing border and cut into the mediums and darks. I'm still not sure that I'll have enough to finish the top since it needs a few borders to reach the desired size but I know that I can make all the center blocks. I tend to have to cross a mental threshold where I say to myself, Screw it! I won't die if it ends up a royal mess!

The quilt has (16) - 13" center blocks composed of (4) smaller 6.5" blocks and a sash. I have completed 40 of the 64 smaller blocks needed. One way or another I believe this will be another 'finished' project by the end of the month.
BTW: The other great fear I have is chosing the right colors for the quilt.
What about you? Is there anything that ties you up in knots when it comes to tackling a project?
3 comments on "The Fear of Cutting"
I really like the fabrics! looks good so far!
OK so I want to know how I read this post on Facebook and it's a blog Post...are you trying to confuse me??? It doesn't take much y'know!
I'm feeding my blog to Facebook. Sorry!
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