Balancing Act!

Balancing Act!

December 3, 2015 by · 1 Comment

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.

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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!

Filed Under: Fabric Designers, General, Patterns, Personal
Mickey & Minnie..and her pretty shoes

Mickey & Minnie..and her pretty shoes

July 9, 2015 by · 4 Comments

IMG_2910My four year old loves Mickey and Minnie.  He watches Mickey Mouse Club House, was Mickey for Halloween last year.  He LOVES that mouse!  So to celebrate his new bedroom I decided to make a Mickey quilt for him.  That decision turned out to be harder than I thought it would be…

My first issue was that none of the major fabric companies have Mickey fabric, many have Marvel, DC, Star Wars, etc.  But none of them have Mr. Mouse and friends.  I like to buy from my local quilt shop, it’s supporting a local business and they know me there.  But this time around I had to make the rounds at Handcock, Joann, and Hobby Lobby.  Now there isn’t anything WRONG with these stores mind you, but when it comes to fabric, I like certain things, and I don’t normally find them in a Big Box store.  Anyway, I digress, I found enough Mickey fabric to put something nice together.

I took all of my fabric home and the first thing I did was wash it call in cold water with Synthrapol.  I had several reds and was really nervous about them bleeding all over my lighter colors.  The next thing I did, washed them in cold water with Synthrapol AGAIN…just to be sure.  ( I NEVER pre-wash my fabrics….so this was very long a tedious process for me)

Then I dried them and went to the ironing board to get them all nicely ironed.  I set out with a specific pattern in mind, and then changed my mind after making a few audition blocks.  With some input from my friend Donna, I ended up with what I thought was a great looking quilt.

I then showed it to my 4 year old.  He’s response was this, “Well, I just thought Minnie would be in it wearing her pretty shoes.  Because I just love Minnie.”  So it was an easy swap out for some Minnie fabric and we were in business.  (And my son was happy)

Now to get the borders on and then it’s off to Charisma to get it all quilted for me!

Filed Under: Personal, Quilts
Pardon My Growing Family!!

Pardon My Growing Family!!

June 30, 2015 by · 2 Comments

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!

 

Filed Under: Fabric Designers, General, Personal