Balancing Act!

Hello Everyone!

Well I’m back again with an infrequent post.  I am in the midst of learning to find some balance in my life.  With the addition of Hayden, my life certainly has changed.  Gone are the days of waking up at 6 in the morning and locking myself away in my quilt room watching Anne of Green Gables, and old episodes of Designing Women or the Golden Girls while piecing together my patchwork.

 

Time is now a luxury, and I have to start treating that way.  Those 2 hours in the evening when Hayden has gone to bed and I can do whatever I want is a new golden hour.  Currently I have been playing video games, which while really fun, is not very productive.  I need to change my perception that I need to have at least 5 hours at a time devoted to quilting.  I now need to have the mindset that perhaps I can get some pressing done, tomorrow, maybe cut out a few pieces of patchwork.  In other words, I have to be okay with slowing down.  I’ve always enjoyed quilting, but it was a retreat for me, a whole day or several hours of “me” time.  So now I need to take the time where I can find it.

full_8602_104345_PostcardfromSwedenQuiltpattern_2I have SO many quilts I want to make!  I did start pressing fabric the other day for the “Postcard from Sweden” it’s a free pattern from Craftsy. (Click on the picture to be taken to the FREE Craftsy pattern) It’s amazing and it’s all half square triangles, which is easy and good project to start my slow quilting on.

Next up is a beautiful quilt that I have wanted to make for a long time now, and just haven’t been able to get started.  It’s call “Shattered Dresden” it’s part template, part paper piecing.  (Click on the pattern to be taken to the order page.)  The templates are only used so you can conserve fabric on your paper piecing portion for this project, and I think it will be a good introduction to paper piecing for me.

Shattered_Dresden_QuiltSo I guess the moral of my dilemma is sometimes you have to slow down to speed up.  Currently I’m making nothing, so slowly but surely I will get some quilts created.  Maybe not as quickly as I used to, but I need to make time for a hobby I’m so passionate about.

Happy Quilting!

Pardon My Growing Family!!

11402984_896526417049892_3493969184854224607_nI know I’ve been gone a long time.  I’ve been going through an adoption journey, and although I can’t go into details things are going great!!  It’s exciting, tiring, sometimes scary, but a really wonderful experience.  So I have been kept away from my sewing room for several months, and this leads me to a dilemma…

I’m not really a UFO person, I start ONE project and work in that project until it is completed.  Then I move on to the next project.  I don’t multi-task well when it comes to quilting.  I’m not sure why, but it’s just not something I do well.  So I currently have a quilt in the works, but am making a new quilt for a special someone who love Mickey Mouse.  So for the first time in my quilting HISTORY I’m going to be working on 2 things at once…I hope the OCD organizationalist in me can manage.

In other news the I have some wonder “True Colors” by Tula pink coming my way, and I can’t wait to tell you about the fun project I have planned for that.IMG_2003

And last, but certainly NOT least I plan on trying to make some Wild & Goosey blocks….call me CRAZY!  My friend Charisma inspired me, I LOVE her quilt so much, that I decided to try my hand at my own.  See more about her Wild & Goosey quilt here!

 

What I Learned Today

30's Lone Star Mock-UpSo I spent my afternoon with Jan Krentz (Okay not HER, but her DVD) and getting my first lone star quilt setup.  I chose 30’s reproduction fabric, for many of my friends this will not come as a surprise.  There is something about 30s fabric that just makes me smile.  It’s bright, it’s cheery, it plays well together, what’s not to like?

I plan on the center to be bright red and will burst out into the cooler colors.  The background will be yellow, and then I plan on adding either smaller stars or some applique in the corners.  Jan’s DVD is a WONDERFUL tool if you plan on making one of these in a strip pieced method.  Her instructions are clear and precise, as is her entire method of assembly.

olfa45So as for what I learned today?  I should be embarrassed probably, but I will admit it, I have NEVER changed the blade on my rotary cutter….ever.  So when watching the DVD, because of the need for precision, she tells you to change your blade.  So I open my package of blade and pop a new one in.  (And I didn’t even cut myself!)  Boy HOWDY does that make a HUGE difference!!!  It cuts like BUTTER!  So the moral of the story is….change your blade.  (I admit I was cheap and didn’t want to spend the $7 on a blade, but it was SO worth it, and made the cutting process MUCH easier and enjoyable.)

So tomorrow I need to get my strip sets sewn together.  Then it’s off to Sew Inspired (my LQS) to get some muslin so I can “block” my diamonds once they are complete.  I also need to see if my 97D foot has come in yet, I can’t WAIT for that little gem!  I will keep you updated on my progress!  Excited to see how this turns out!   😀