I can see the light!

I have to say without a doubt that I have one of the most amazing dh in the world. When we buying a house a few years ago, one of the requirements was that there needed to be space for me to have a sewing room. The house we bought had a room in the basement and I put my quilting room there. It quickly became apparent that it was small once all of the furniture was in, and having young children made it difficult to be down there for any length of time. A decision was made (okay I made the decision) to take over the office on our main floor. It had been put on as an addition to the house as a bedroom so there was lots of closet space. The computer got moved out to our living room and I moved in. I did leave him a small space. The only problem with the room is that it had no overhead lighting so I had to use task lighting. I have an Ott floor lamp and I would move it around as needed. This past weekend my dh put in some overhead lights for me and I can't believe what a difference it has made. It is like a whole new world! Sometimes you don't realize how bad things are until you have it good. My quilting is so much faster now because it is so much easier to see. It has really changed my perspective.


I went to the quilt store last Wednesday. Not for fabric, I went to buy an Angler 2. I find it really helpful to use as my guideline for my 1/4 inch seam. I also bought a ruler holder which I absolutely love. I had bought one a few years ago which was short and only had 3 slots. This one is much longer and has 5 slots. It can hold all of the rulers that I use most often. I did not buy any fabric. However, when I went up to the cash to pay for it, I fell in love. There beside the counter was some charm packs of Aster Manor by Moda. I will have to put it on my Christmas wish list. The line has nice warm browns, soft pinks, creams and red. I have been wanting to make a brown and pink quilt for a long time.




Here is hopefully my last stash picture for a while. These are the fabrics I got on Father's Day. The fall leaves for a tablerunner, the blue/red for a quilt I am saving up to make, and some fat 1/8's for my bits and pieces mystery quilt.

I realized this morning that I can be my own worst enemy. I can set myself up for failure very easily. I am hoping with my new lighting, my new ruler holder, my project busting, and my swap stopping I will set myself up for success in quilting and that success will continue through to other parts of my life.

I hope you have an enlightening day and Happy Birthday to Myra!

Spring Blooms Mini-Quilt Swap Finale

I got my mini-quilt on Friday. It is absolutely stunning. My picture does not do it justice. Kelly did such an amazing job. She is so incredibly talented. I feel like it was tailor-made for me, even though I gave her nothing to go on. I love how the flowers were done. I will need to learn the technique. Multiple layers of cut out flowers were put together and then held by a button. I love buttons!

My Spring Blossom partner Mary got her quilt on Wednesday. I am so happy she likes it. There is another sign up started for Summer. I am trying not to sign up, even though I have a few good ideas for a quilt. I would rather live vicariously through you! I have two baby quilts to finish by August, a pincushion swap, the Halloween swap and my Dad's quilt to have ready for September. I am trying to remind myself of all of this so I don't enter the swap. I would however recommend it for you. It has been a great experience. The quilts produced for the swap have been incredible. Here is the flickr group if you want to have a look at them.

Healthy Quilting Lifestyle

Okay, I did not want to say the D word, but we all know what it is. I need to have a healthier quilting lifestyle. My plan is not to buy any more fabric, or participate in any more swaps until I have a certain amount of projects done. I can only buy fabric if I need it to finish a project where I already have most of the fabric. As I write this I realize I am not sure if I have enough yellow for my 9 patch squares. Of course, I have not quite determined how many projects that will be. This is not a punishment to myself, rather it is an incentive to keep going. I see so many gorgeous fabrics and patterns out there and I would love to have the opportunity to do some of them. I just have too many projects already. It would be easier if I was a stashaholic. In a moment of weakness last week, I admitted to my dh that I have 25 projects organized. Only a few of them are UFO's. Sunday was Father's Day, and we went to see my father-in-law who lives a few hours away. Well, it just so happens that there is a quilt shop 10 minutes from his house. Yes, we ended up there and yes I ended up buying new fabric for a project. They had some fall fabric on for 40% off, and I bought some to make a table runner for my mom. That's part of my problem too, that I am rarely buying fabric for myself so I feel justified in buying it. It does not help for me to be creating more stress for myself, especially when I work full-time, have young children, have a husband who works longer hours than me and is away a few times a month. I saw this quote on this website and I thought it was very applicable "Never again clutter your days or nights with so many menial and unimportant things that you have no time to accept a real challenge when it comes along." I do love the projects I have, I just look forward to a bit more spontaneity.

PS. For my friend Myra, the D word is diet.

Quilt Qua Giveaway

Quilt Qua is have a wonderful giveaway of 1 Frosted Memories fat quarter bundle. You can enter to win until July 31.

Spring Blooms Mini-Quilt Swap

It is finished and I am so happy it is! I never feel comfortable with my machine quilting. I keep swearing when there is a class for hand quilting I am taking it, but I have not found one yet. Being uncomfortable causes stress which of course does not help to make the quilt look like the way I want it. I need to have less on my plate and more faith in myself. I do really like it. I called it Spring is Here. It was very difficult to send away, more so than I expected. This is the first swap I have participated in where you are making a mini quilt. Usually when I am making something as a gift, I know the person and some idea of their likes and dislikes. This time I knew very little. Plus when you are sending away something you love so much ( I want to make one like this for myself now) you just hope the person will like it too. I have not commented on any of the quilts that have been done so far, only because I don't know which one is mine and I don't want to say something that somebody could perceive as negative. I must say that I have found all of the quilts to be beautiful. I am amazed and envious at the incredible talent that is out there. Well, on to the next swap!


PS. There are some fabulous giveaways right now. Please check out Ariane's Crafts, Jaybird Quilts and Highway Cottage. They are all extremely talented women.

Quilting Retreat Wrapup

My quilting retreat turned out very well this weekend. I also had a few other things on my to do list and those were done too. It is amazing how much you can get done without kids around (though I missed them so much) and now having kids, I am much more efficient with my time. I finished my Spring Blooms Mini-Quilt Swap, did some work on my 9 patch quilt along, worked on my Dad's bento box quilt and got my zigzap quilt top half finished. I also cleaned my quilting room and rearranged some of it. Saturday I did the shop hop. I also cleaned out my children's rooms, went through all of their summer clothes, put away winter clothes and took 4 huge garbage bags of clothes and toys to charity. I had dinners out with my dh and we went to a movie Saturday night. I also got to go swimming, one of my favourite activities.


My dh did see the bags I brought in to the shop hop. While, he is not concerned about the cost he is worried about the toll it takes on me to have so many projects on the go. I have to admit he is right. I am still trying to balance, or should I say juggle all the different aspects of my life. It is not always easy but it is worth it.

How do you balance your quilting with the other parts of your life?

Happiness is ....

• Your children picking out thread in the quilting store.
• Your son asking for another quilt. This time with dinosaurs.
• Beautiful charm packs waiting to be made into a quilt.
• Bonding with EQ6.
• A quilt coming back from the quilter's, more beautiful than you could have imagined.
• Fabric.
• A good book.
  
• Wonderful friends (both blogger and non-blogger) and family.
  
• A living room covered in scraps by your daughter.
• An extremely supportive husband.
• Chocolate.