What is the Hardest Part?

Here on the home front...

When it comes to sitting down to quilt, how does your project start out? Here is how things start for me.  I walk in the multipurpose room and hear this clamoring of little voices calling to me.

"Hello - we know you are out there.  We want to see some daylight. Pretty please!!!" the little voices say.
  "What?  What do you want?" as I question them all; "I want to make something today. I need some instant gratification!"

"We want to become usable pieces. We hate being in this bag, box or whatever it is we are in. It's so dark and crowded in here."  they quibbled. "Please let us out of here."

"Well my back is hurting and I can't spend all that time in just prepping." I retort " I want to see some progress."

"So take your meds and get busy!" says one sassy piece of fabric.

"UGH!!" is all I say as I head off to do just that.

"See! You just have to be firm with her." says the sassy bit to the others.

"We don't want to make her mad, then she won't do anything with us" states a piece of brown wood plank fabric. 

An hour or so later, I go back in and load up a small wooden Brie cheese container.  I have the iron all heated up and the instruments that I need to slicing this pile into submission.  Another hour later, I'm heading for the recliner with the knowledge that I have pushed myself beyond the limit again. And once again, not much to show for the past hour.
 
Now here is a question that I'm sure that every quilter can answer in a quick hurry and without much lot.  What is the hardest part of quilting for you?

These days it seems like everyone is throwing off the mantles of winter off and welcoming Spring into their lives.  They are making bright and large quilts with spring themes and/or new patterns.  Me, it seems to have hit a figurative block wall.  I'm feeling frustrated and discouraged. 

I think I have figured out a couple of the problems. One - doing things like having the wind close a van door on the your hand is not good for your dominate hand.  Neither is putting a sewing machine needle through a finger on the non-dominate hand when a cat decides to play parrot on my shoulder, scaring the begeezes out of me. Nor is stabbing your fingers multiple times while trying to something as cross-stitch or hand quilt to end up bleeding all over the dang-nabbed place.  

It's not the lack of fabric I love the scraps and bits that I have received from my quilty friends. It is my way of saving them from the trash heap, because it allow me to play with some of the newest fabrics out there.  You know that whole "make-do" concept. There are days that is all I want to do is to play in the scrap pile. Not there is nothing wrong with that. I'm sure that this funk won't last long. At least I hope not!! So fondling & petting my precious pretties is good for something at the very least.

The problem is the ironing and cutting the pieces into useable pieces.  I'm not sure if everyone who follows me knows that I have some ... okay ... a lot of health issues, including that I get some sort of injections at least once a week. There is several for my back, some in my knees, shoulders and now we have to add some injections into my neck...ewww.  There is also been talk of adding even more types of therapies to my weekly injections.  But I've digressed.

What I mean is that it can make it very difficult for me to stand for anything more than 15/20 minutes at a given time.  As I prep my fabrics, I try to get a pile done in the most useful cuts before I have to sit down after a while. It can take me days just to get through a loosely filled gallon size baggie.  Now don't get me wrong ... I love quilting, it's the prep stage that I find to be the hardest part for me.  I mean all that work for a 2" stack of usable cuts are nice but daunting.  

I'm sure that having pre-cuts would be the solution for a while but then I'm right back to the ironing & slicing.  I read about everyone who has one of those fabric cutting systems.  But on looking into getting to one of those my eyes dang near came out of my head. Holy Chihuahua!!! Those are pricey!!  And then you have to buy the dies for them! OMG!!! Soooo the question is ...

Someone got one I can borrow for about a month or three.  I could do a lot with a variety of HST's and squares. LOL ... no really ... can I borrow one?
 
So what is the hardest part of quilting for you & why?

Until next time...

Toodles,
Tricia