The Quilt that Nearly Ended My Career

I figured the only way to get over my feelings of utter worthlessness was to do something difficult that I didn't really want to do.  So I got out this quilt.

I don't know how many quilts I have made.  Ten at least.  This is a pretty good example of them.  They are manly quilts, mostly solid colors with strong geometrical patterns, mostly salvaged from men's shirts and pants.  I enjoy the purely geometric design process and I like doing something this big, and something that will actually be useful, not just a picture you look at.  I sleep under one or two of my quilts every night.  This one, though, nearly did me in.  Sometimes I use store bought batting, a cottony layer to put between the top and bottom layers of fabric, and sometimes I just use an old blanket.  The blanket I tried to use for this one was way too thick and springy.  I should have stopped as soon as I thought there might be trouble, but I kept going in the belief that it would all even out and look okay in the end.  By the time I got it 90% done I realized I could either take it all apart or just throw it away.  So I took my seam ripper and cut all the stitches holding the layers together and threw away that stupid blanket.  The thought of going over both the top and bottom pieces of the quilt and picking out threads for hours took all the heart out of me.  I had another top finished and a package of batting, but I didn't feel like I could do anything with it so I packed all my quilting supplies away under the table in the corner of my studio and left them there.  I don't even know how many years ago that was.  I thought I would either quilt again someday or I wouldn't.  Looks like I am. I sat for about five hours picking threads out with tweezers.  Part of the time I listened to an L. Ron Hubbard audiobook my friend Jim gave me and it was even more atrocious than I expected.  Dreadful stuff.  This is a pretty good pattern.  The red sashing between the blocks is kind of a fuzzy flannel which contrasts nicely with the smooth cotton twill, and the back is wooly plaid with a constrasting orange stripe across one end.  I like the colors, and it should be a pretty good quilt when I get it done.