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I am a Finisher-Upper.
I finish things, one at a time.
The idea of having incomplete projects is intimidating.
For me, the best moment is when I hold my completed work in my hands.
Only then am I ready to begin my next quilt.
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The High-Powered Finisher-Upper
By Helen Kelley
Some time ago, when Bill and I were starting out in business for ourselves, we cut our personal budget to the bone and impatiently waited out the slow times. To entertain ourselves inexpensively, we spent some of our weekends visiting real estate time-share deals. We visited sites of luxurious condominiums and country clubs, and we toured wooded areas beside streams where plots for small cabins or trailers were laid out among the trees.
Salesmen swarmed around these places. We were always greeted warmly and then given a tour of the facilities. When we came back from our tour, we were isolated in a small cubicle where we were subjected to The Hard Sell. We were offered grand inducements to buy into their plan. The whole affair was a wonderfully choreographed routine. We became quite expert, though, at saying, "No, thank you." At this point in the process, the salesman would then say that he was sure that perhaps some sort of special agreement could be reached, and that he would talk to his supervisor to see if they could "sweeten the deal." In would come The High-Powered Finisher-Upper. He would be a fast-talking, slick young man who would attempt to beguile us with fancy offers. He had the toughness, drive, charm, and persistence to bring the whole affair to a rousing conclusion.
My husband, Bill, however, is not a Finisher-Upper. He washes the cleanest dishes I have ever seen, but, rather than following through and putting them away, he leaves the scrubbed crockery on the kitchen counter. He puts the house to bed at night, but leaves a light still burning in his office. When he eats the last of the veggies in our serving bowl at supper, there are always a few peas left behind.
Two of my four daughters are like my husband and never quite get to the point of taking the last stitch, never binding off the incomplete elements of their lives. One patiently explained to me once that she loves having a stash of delectable works-in-progress to choose from as her mood moves her. To this day, she lives in the midst of ragged edges and turmoil, but carefully stashes her works-in-progress in remote, hidden crannies so that she can take them out some day when she is older and wiser, and she can stitch on them in the long, empty, golden moments, maybe.
The other two daughters and I are of the other persuasion; we are Finisher-Uppers. We finish things, one at a time. My rationale is that if I am doing two things, it will take me twice as long to finish them both. I love to hold my quilts in my hands, bound off, soft, clean, and done. I find the moment of completion is exhilarating. The wonder of it is that we all lived in the same house all those years, mostly in harmony.
I think these same distinctions apply to quilters, too. There are the Are-Finisher-Uppers and the Are-Nots. Some quilters pile their half-done pieces in the cupboard for a rainy day or give away their not-quite-complete blocks at guild auctions. Those are the people who take pride in enumerating their unfinished things. They are gleeful about accumulating patterns that they may make, someday, and rejoice in tops that are complete but for the want of one more fabric, or quilts that need to be bound off. This is a source of amazement to those of us who are HPFUs. The idea of having all those incomplete projects is intimidating. They would nag at us. They would dominate our thoughts and take over our lives, demanding to be finished and put away. It is amazing that these Are-Nots and the HPFUs can exist together in the same quilt guild.
But happily co-exist they do. The world must thank the Unfinishers for all of the incomplete quilt tops found in attics and at garage sales. These savers, sorters, and stashers who put their unfinished projects safely into trunks and cubbyholes have created a resource for quilt historians and an inspiration for neophyte quilters. On the other hand, as one of the great Finishers, I do not stow away my half-done bits and scruffy pieces. Instead, the best moment of all for me is when I hold my completed work in my hands, pull out the basting, and snip off the last thread ends. Only then am I ready to begin my next quilt.
©HK 2003
Helen Kelley is a quiltmaker, lecturer, author, and teacher from Minneapolis, Minnesota. You can visit Helen on the Internet at her website www.helenkelley-patchworks.com or email Helen at this address: helen@helenkelley-patchworks.com.
Helen's book Every Quilt Tells a Story: A Quilter's Stash of Wit and Wisdom is a collection of two decades of Loose Threads. Now in its second printing, the book is available at quilt shops, bookstores, or from us at https://secure.tpli.com/VillageQuiltShoppe/QV_Products.asp. Helen will be signing copies of her book at our Primedia booth at the International Quilt Festival, October 30 through November 2, 2003, in Houston, Texas.
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