My 3 P's: Precision, Production, Patience

TGIF! Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday with two finishes.  Driving In Circles is officially done and posed on the porch this morning.  I'll be writing a separate post for The MQG Madrona Road entry. The second finish is one that I realized I had not shared on the blog, a baby boy quilt that still needs to be given away any day.

I am constantly trying to find the perfect balance of Precision and Production that fits with my natural level of Patience (or lack thereof) : My 3 P's.

There are just too many things to do and not enough time in the day to get them all done - plus, if I am too picky or the process is too slow then I simply loose interest.   I repeatedly ask myself: Can I streamline the cutting or skip the pressing steps and not regret it later when it causes more trouble and I have to spend time fixing the fudge?  A balancing act and the lines I draw on what I can get away with are a moving target.

Driving In Circles - Back, Finished on the Porch

Driving In Circles - Front, Finished on the Porch

I was feeling pretty clever with my fussy cut text edging the quilt until my friend Anne at PlayCrafts blew it out of the water with her Infinity Binding - way to take it up a notch!

Madrona Road close up

When I cut my curves for Madrona Road I stacked six fabrics deep knowing that I would be trimming up later and that worked great -usually I don't do more than four in general cutting because of distortion.

cut Six layers at a time

Back in the day I would go from the design wall to the machine when I was sewing rows putting them in place each step and now they all come off stacked with 1-2-3 and a-b-c markers which has got to be the biggest time saver ever. Chain piecing is a given and I'm trying to give starch a valiant effort because although it adds a step, it does help things behave.

With Scrappy Trip Along I tried layering several strips in a row lining up the seams to do the cross cut rather than one by one as suggested by someone.  I'm sure I would get faster with practice but it seemed to take too much effort getting them in place and I did find some were a bit askew so I abandoned the technique for the remaining.

cross cut with strips staggered using stitch lines

I came across another 3 P's at remember your karma while hopping around blogland. Her 3 P's are FMQ Tips  Prepare, Practice, Persevere.

I've been trying my hand at FMQ more so lately and I have to confess the Persevere is about the only one I can put a check next to.  There are a couple of saying that have been used a lot in my vocabulary these days: "Cowgirl Up" and "Wearing my Big Girl Panties"they pretty much sum up FMQ for me at this stage in my skill set.

FMQ playing with placement

Be sure to check out Amanda Jean's gorgeous Chopped Rhubarb and the impressive number of links to finished work of fellow bloggers.

I'd love to hear any time saving, sanity saving tips you use to find a 3P balance.