A Monday of Quilting!

I was so excited to get the new fat quarters for the background of my March quilt! They will work nicely - I really like some of the patterns in them.  The blue ones went in to my stash - this is one quilt that has no blue in it.  Wow, I can hardly believe I am making a quilt with no blue, that doesn't happen too often!  Anyway, it has some nice yellow, green, and tan prints that work really well with the rest of the prints.

I made 16 blocks today for this quilt, so good progress!  Only four more and I'll be halfway done - woohoo! I definitely should be able to finish the top by the end of this month.  It takes me about an hour to make 4 blocks (9 inches square finished) so by the time I finish all 80 blocks for the center I will have quite a bit of time invested in this quilt.  I guess I need to start looking for a backing for it now.

I managed to take some nice pictures of my newest baby quilt - I made my Monkey Around Pattern using owl fabric.  It came out super cute!  I did some easy straight line quiting on it for the fun of it.  It came our really nicely. I enjoyed doing the quilting, but don't think I'd want to do this on a quilt that would be much bigger!  By the end it was a lot to fit under my machine's arm and control to keep straight.  

Here is a picture of the quilting in progress:  

I didn't measure, just eyeballed the distance between lines.  The staight lines in the pattern and blocks made it easy to keep them faily straight

And this is a picture I found in my cameral of the quilt top I finished in February.  I just ordered a backing for it - feathers! I thought that would be fun with the cats on the top of the quilt.  We'll see if I like it when it comes in.  I have plenty of quilts that need backing, so I'm sure it will work on something if  don't like it for this one!

The roman shades I've been working so hard on are now finished and installed!  So this week I get to have fun quilting....and boy, do I need it!  

Do What You Love...

and you will never work a day in your life.  Really?  I don't agree, work is work.  Maybe you might enjoy it more than digging ditches, but it is still work.  And what about all those people who do not want to turn their hobby into a job?  They have a very valid point that once you start doing it for pay, it's not as much fun anymore.

I know this is somewhat true for me.  My work involves sewing, so I enjoy that.  But it is still work.  I have to do it.  I have deadlines and people counting on me to finish the job, so I can't slack off or start a new project just because I feel frustrated by the one I am working on.  I actually have two jobs (at least!)  so I can really see different sides of the issue.

The job I earn an actual (small) paycheck for is my position at my LQS (local Quilt Shop).  I started out as just helping customers, making kits, cutting fat quarters - really basic work that ended when I left the shop.  At this point I am in charge of the website, newsletter and scheduling classes.  I also am relied on to provide designs for blocks and create custom patterns and kits for the shop.  My work comes home with me more often than not and I sometimes feel stressed about deadlines and things that need to be done.  It is just a half day a week, but I find it takes up much more than four or five hours a week in my brain!

Another job I do is custom sewing and alterations.  I have been working with an interior designer, creating custom drapes and home furnishings.  This can be quite fun and creative, but also requires sewing to deadlines and being very precise with cutting and sewing.  Plus I have my own clients that I have worked with for many years that bring me their projects - so I can have a lot on my plate at any one time and I really try to make everything work as best as I can, but sometimes I feel like I am chained to my sewing machine!

At the start of this year I decided that I needed to create some more space in my life for playing on my own projects, which keep getting pushed to the back of the line because of work.  So, weekends and early mornings I have set aside for doing what I love - quilting!  During the month of January I spent most of that time working on Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion Mystery.  I loved every minute of all that piecing!  The quilt top makes me so happy and I am excited to start quilting it soon!  (Playing is so much fun, and this quilt was definitely play - not work at all)

In February I decided to complete sewing a top that was about halfway done.  This is going to be a pattern - my inspiration was to create a sampler quilt that I could use to teach beginnners with.  This quilt features a huge variety of techniques and is great for helping students to learn the basics.  This is the third top I have made, and I think it is my favorite!  I finished the center last night, after quite a long inner debate about the cornerstones.  They look all right to me, and I think once the borders are on it will be perfect.  I plan on using this as my hand quilting for the spring and summer and will be using it as my fall quilt later this year.  I have been wanting a fall quilt for years, but could never find a design I liked - guess I just needed to come up with my own thing!

I have another large top I want to work on for March.  I think this is going to be the year of queen size quilts for me - but I love it.  I am so happy with my decision to set some time aside to play at completing some lanquishing projects.  I can't call my progress on these work, because it really is play and it makes my sewing work so much less stressfull.

Is sewing work for you, or is it play?  For me it is both - and I hope to keep the balance and spend enough time playing to make the work feel like it is worth it!

Decisions, Decisions

I've got all my rows together, so now I need to make a decision about the cornerstones....

I have an idea - I'm thinking cute little snowball blocks would look like buttons!  I'll make one and see if I like it.  

First it's time to get dressed and out for a walk before I head out for a walk with my hubby.  We are going earlier than usual because I have a Women's Ministry meeting out at the church at 10:00.  Hopefully lots of time to sew this afternoon and I can get this top together as planned!

Taming My Quilt Stash

I finally found a source for all the plastic baskets I needed so I could work on organizing my fabric closet!  I've wanted to do this for some time, but didn't really want to have stacking baskets.  Once I got used to the idea, the next problem was finding enough of them!  I had to make a couple trips, but I finally gathered enough to get most of my closet done.  I still need a few more to do the Christmas fabric, but the rest is sorted, culled and basketed!

Here is the before picture:

This little closet is really great for storing my fabric, but storing it in piles just was not working.  The piles were always falling over and getting disorganized, resulting in a huge mess.  Now I have the colors sorted into baskets.  I allowed two baskets for my favorite blue fabrics, and everything else has one.  (Orange and Yellow share a basket)  Any fabric I had in excess of the basket allotted had to go into the donate bin.  I sorted out one banker's box of fabric to get rid of.  Most of which was fabric that I always pass over anyway!  I had to keep telling myself that it was silly to be emotionally attached to fabric and I could let someone else have it that will USE it and not just pet it!

Here is the after:

Much nicer, right!

We drove up to see our daughter in Eugene today and give her some encouragement.  It was a lovely day for a drive and I got the rest of my Dresden Plate blocks appliqued on the way home - I'll add the centers soon and give you a peek.  I'm excited to get this top done by the end of the week!  This one will be hand quilted with the queen size wool batt I bought this summer, I think.  I might give my husband the choice - I have three quilts in the same pattern and plan to keep one for myself.

 I hope to finish the pattern up this week as well.  It's a great beginners sampler quilt that teaches a variety of techniques...I just have to come up with a name.  Sometimes that is the hardest part!  Maybe I'll put a picture up on Instagram and Facebook and see if I get any good ideas.

In fact, here is the EQ7 version of the quilt design in brights.  What do you think would be a good name for this pattern?

Trying Something New

Don't laugh, but I'm a bit vegetable challenged - growing up we ate potatoes at almost every meal, and usually had green beans or corn as a vegetable. I like a larger variety of vegetables now, but feel rather intimidated by cooking things that I've never eaten before. Today my boss gave me a cute little round spaghetti squash, and even though I'd never tried one before I decided to go ahead and serve it. My friend google found me some instructions for cooking it and I decided to go with baking it, then sauteing in butter and garlic. It was delicious, and now I've added a new vegie to my repetoire! Yay for trying something new!
And now for another something new - my sampler project. This is the first time I have ever made anything quilty with gray! I really like it and am excited to add the borders, I think it will be lovely! I am thrilled to be one step closer to finishing this big project, I've really enjoyed it and am looking forward to seeing what the completed project will look like.

Do you like to try new things, or do you stick with what's comfortable? I'm often guilty of sticking with the tried and true, but I do love to experiment sometimes and try a different approach.

I'm getting some goodies together and will post about my celebratory giveaway in the morning - I have some fun goodies that I want to share, so be sure to check in and see what I've got, I think you'll like it!