Oops! How to recover from mistakes

Oops!  It has been far too long since I last wrote.  I debated closing down the site, and decided I need to give this one more try.   I want to do this for myself as much as for anyone who happens to read this.

I love to write and I love to quilt.  There are other things I love too, please don't get me wrong, but this is a creative outlet that supports my desire to write and encourages me to quilt.  It is never too late to start over, start again, or start to further your goals.  This is true of quilting, blogging and life.  So, let's start with a challenge for myself:  to create and post a weekly update for this blog.  Each week I will give an update to this blog and let's see where this journey goes.

Oops!  My latest project is a mystery quilt that was designed and run by our local quilt guild.   There was a number of 4 patch blocks that were included in the design and the layout would create a chain.  If you look closely, you'll see the challenge I created for myself (what others might call a "mistake") in the layout of my 4 patch blocks.

To leave it or to correct it - that is the challenge!  I decided that now that I noticed it, it would drive me crazy and be the only thing I saw if I left it there.  I decided to rip out the 4 seams that attached the block to the quilt, and re-sew it in the correct position.  The results....well, lets save that for our next installment!

Have you ever created a challenge for yourself in your quilting?  How did you handle the challenge?

New Attitude

I've been away from my quilting for too long and just before Christmas, I started back in and realized quickly, just how much I've missed it.  So this year I've been working on some new tips and techniques for focusing on the important things in life and I'm going to add this blog back into the mix.

Get ready and stay tuned.  Next update - tomorrow!

Inspired and the Deepest Cut

There is nothing like a Quilt Guild to inspire someone.  In my case, I had the distinct pleasure and honour to hear Bethany Garner speak and the joy of being inspired by her trunk show.  This woman is so eloquent and creative - what a combination!  If you ever have the chance to meet this amazing woman and/or see her work, I strongly encourage you to do so.  I've added a link to her blog space and I encourage you to check it out.

This was the second meeting of the Guild I joined this year and it was during last month's meeting - the first, with my best friend there too -  that left me inspired to attack my collection of UFOs.  I finally made the first cut on my oldest UFO - a Trip Around the World quilt that I've had for more years than my daughters have been alive COMBINED!  A simple thing, but very surreal to finally take my rotary cutter to this fabric that has been moved between 8 homes over the years.

As I mentioned earlier, I've been inspired to work through the large stash of UFO's I have.  In addition to the Trip Around the World, I also did some work on a Border Creek Mystery quilt that has been on my plate for a while (oldest and youngest).  This is a step from the 6th month of the mystery and it's starting to come together.

Both this blog and these projects should continue to make progress!

When life gets in the way...

I saw my blog and once again regretted the long hiatus.  Life just gets in the way sometimes, or does it?  I have not been working on my quilting very much in the past year, so what have I been up to?  A new job with a long commute is part of the equation.  Spending time with my children as they are getting older and don't want to miss out.  But if I'm brutally honest, the television has become a bloodsucker in my life.

So what's changed?  Almost everything!  Start with a new diet, and already losing 25 pounds, while supporting my wonderful husband who started this diet because the doctor told him to and now we both continue willingly for how it makes us feel.  

I've also begun to realize I don't use the hours in my day we'll.   I started with an old school agenda and this weekend switched to bullet journaling.   It is a planner, to-do list(s), and a record of accomplishments with major creative elements and already, between the two, I've spent more quality time with my husband and children AND QUILTING!

So now I have renewed interest in life, in this blog, in homesteading, and seeing where this chapter of my journey takes me.  Why not come along for the ride!

14 Feet and Counting...

So remember those lovely sets of 3 strips of fabric from my last entry?  How did I not notice that I had cut one of those strips 1/4" short (the whole strip, the whole width of the fabric)?  When I did the math, I realize this meant ripping out 14 feet of stitching.

Now by the time I passed the 10' mark, I realized that I might need new glasses to see what I was doing, because things got a little blurry.  Fortunately, I had some material still in my stash and I was able to cut new strips and eventually, I once again had 4 sets of strips.  I think that's a good day's work!

Tomorrow, we cut those strips to pieces!!!

The end of Procrastination

Are you like me?  Do you mind yourself seeing so much to be done in your environment that you are paralyzed to do anything?  Why do anything since there is so much that baby steps won't even get noticed?

I'm slowly re-discovering what any parent knows.  One moment the baby doesn't move and the next minute they vanish the second you turn around!  Who ever said baby steps don't amount to much, never spent any quality time with a toddler.

The same is now how I'm addressing my life.  I can't control everything and I don't have time or energy to do everything that I can control.  I have allowed my to-do lists to be a weight on my shoulders that I can not bear.  So, like the baby taking early steps, I'm setting myself the goal to do something for a minimum of 30 minutes a day.  It doesn't have to be 30 continuous minutes either.  Just 30 minute to work on something that has a tangible result.

Yesterday was 30 minutes that turned into an hour of working on my Border Creek Quilt.  I sewed my three border strips together (the width of the fabric - and four sets of these) and was about to start cutting into 1-1/2" portions when I realized I had cut the red strip too narrow.  Some days I don't know if I can actually use a ruler properly.  At least I caught it before I took the next step.

The day before I worked on a very old UFO from a Sampler of Stars quilt.  While it is not much of a change since the last time I touched either project, it is progress none the less.

Today, I rededicated myself to documenting this journey with this blog.  Small steps, but they add up.

UFO Strategy

Despite the lack of blog posts, I have in fact, been busy trying to get into a rhythm of life balance that includes time quilting.  I find there is so much in the day that I should be doing, that carving out time to work on quilting is a chore.  Once I get myself to my little space, I completely relax and enjoy my time quilting and wonder why it was such an effort to get going!

A best friend of mine, and one of the key sources of inspiration I have, passed along a gem for me to consider.  Work on UFO's for 15 minutes one day, 30 minutes the next day, 45 minutes the day after, then back to 15 minutes and repeat.  Even if I broke this down into 10 minute increments, after one week I would have invested over 2 hours on UFO's.  Over the course of the month, that starts to add up!

I decided to start the year by investing in three containers and putting two of my UFO's in 2 of them and leaving the 3rd one empty until I'm suddenly inspired to work on something new!  My thought is that I need to focus on UFO's, not get overwhelmed by the UFO's, and allow myself to get involved in a new project during the year without getting set to star in an episode of Hoarders.  This way, if I get bored of one UFO, I can switch to the second and back again.  It keeps my UFO's organized, and allows me to only have 2 projects clearly visible, with the possibility of adding a third and no more until something is done.

First up are the Border Creek mystery quilt from last year and the Block of the Month Star quilt.

Now that I'm inspired, hopefully both the quilting and blog posts will keep coming.