Quilting? or something else?

I am starting two weeks of vacation...with hopes of travelling, but we have the fires in B.C. Then we thought about headed to Montana, but we have a son living with us who "forgets" to lock the doors or leaves the keys "in" the door. Then we have the little man above! How can you resist the glee on a child's face when he discovers his uncles superhero's tucked away?

So, the Chef and I will be doing the Porcha-back-yarda for this year and enjoying what we have right here at home. Maybe a day or two fishing nearby?  Perhaps we can sneak a trip for fabric?

Hope you all have a wonderful summer if I don't happen to post again for a bit!

Stay tuned.... before you know it, Fall will be here and the machines will be humming once again!

Happy Quilting!
Margo

In memory of Remembrance day .... where does the time go?

I was watching the news today on an American channel where the news anchor was saying "Happy Remembrance Day everyone?" Chef and I looked at each other. It was a shock to me really, considering that I don't feel that Remembrance Day is a "happy" occasion. I am humbled by all the men and women who have lost their lives in order to allow me to live in a safer world. I am not "happy" celebrating their death, but I am THANKFUL for the sacrifices that they made for us. Now when I switched to a Canadian channel -- the news anchor did not wish us a "Happy" any kind of day, but reminded us to Remember all of those who sacrificed their lives for us. I bowed my head and said a silent prayer thanking all those, including my Grandfather who lost his life in the Second World War when the Germans bombed his little village. I am thankful for my dad who served two years in the army, and all my cousins overseas who also served in the army. It is through the Good Grace of God that we have not suffered loss any other family as a result of war and service for their country. Many years later, our countries still fight, we continue to lose good men and women who fight for their country. It will never be a Happy Remembrance Day for me, but one filled with sadness and profound gratitude for the sacrifice of others. I will never forget.

So much time has passed and I have not been blogging! GOOD news though! I have been reading all your blogs and am so thankful to you all! What motivation! What amazing creativity! I feel so humbled by you all! I don't know what it is! I come home from work I am just exhausted. The only motivation I have is to read blogs and take mental notes of things I would like to do! Without further delays, I do have a finish I surprised Chef with. I am in love with black and white bindings. I have no idea what it is. Could it be the element of not matching and being totally different than the whole project? Chef did help me pick out the fabric for the binding. My first choice was a text, and I found out that he totally "hates" text for fabric. Who knew?! I love the backing fabric. So full of colour and totally like Chef with his garden every year. He wants the garden full of colour and variances. We have such a short growing season, the quilt will surely brighten up those dreary winter days! I did surprise him with a new computer as well for his birthday, so I think he was fairly shocked when I gifted this one to him. We have been "sharing" our Arizona quilt, but now we each have a quilt to wrap in (since I was seriously hogging the one)

I love poofy quilts! It's so much better after the first wash! So comforting! This is the quilt from my Mystery Quilt weekend with Nimble Thimbles Quilt Club. Karen, my longarmer, did a fabulous job (as always!) I am NOT a pre-washer. The fabric on the back has a lot of white to it, but believe it or not -- no running of colours. I bought some of those colour catchers that go into the wash machine and just went with it. If it ran, it would, and I would be sorely disappointed, but regardless it would still be a cozy quilt! I was thrilled that all those wonderful colours showed through, even through the wash!

I wish I was more productive and could give her more work! But alas, I am not as productive as I could be. I need to prioritize again and spend more time in my beautiful studio! I have everything I need in there, except Chef. In the evenings, he and I sit and review the day and watch some television. I usually have my computer on my lap and browse those quilting blogs and every now and again I ask him what he thinks of the colours of some quilts, or we laugh at some jokes that are posted.

Every time I post, I vow to be more productive! Maybe I just have to keep posting so I have something to post about! ha ha! If you all have any ideas on how to keep "sewing" and have a good balance of "blogging" and "sewing", I would love to hear all about it! Happy Quilting everyone! I am off to start sewing on my Shaman Chicken by Eleanor Peace Bailey -- it may not be a "quilt" but "creative" none the less! I just came down here to collect my pin cushion!

FART! (Fabric Aquisition Road Trip) and that good old MOTIVATION

Yuk! All my good intentions of posting on a regular basis got away from me again! I was down with pneumonia and then had an asthma attack that landed me in the hospital! Now one thing I discovered was I couldn't sew because of sheer exhaustion not to mention fabric fuzz/lint! I am finally back on the mend, so I hope to get back in the groove!

I "think" I am understanding this Blogger a abit more. At least I am reading some of my favorite blogs using Blogger! It's so great seeing all those ideas and dreaming about all those projects!

Speaking of projects! Chef and I are headed back into the U.S. for our summer vacation! Wuuuuu Whoooo! Fabric Aquisition Road Trip! I have my quilt journal with me so I can load up on my "wish list" at prices that I can afford! While I was sick, the only thing I could do was watch some You Tube. I found some great little tutorials and started my wish list for the trip!

Through my blog browsing I read about an idea of having a "Quilt Journal". Now some people have a journal documenting their quilts, recording the fabrics and patterns (who pieced, who quilted, what brands of fabrics and designer names, etc.). I have also read that a Quilt Journal is a source of motivation. I am now on my second one! Just a little notebook that I can keep in my purse and take with me.

How many times have you found yourself in a quilt shop/fabric shop trying to figure out what you were short of? I know, quilters will ALWAYS use ANY fabrics that they find! I've learned to write down the "wish list" in my journal. I also write down my online orders so I know what should be coming (and I write the dates down of when I receive it so I know how long it takes to get from the shop to my studio!). I have written down a few lines on the days I am in the studio, whether it's sorting fabric, stitching, quilting, organizing! I find that it motivates me to do more! When I look back, rather than feel dejected over the "little" that I do, reading through my journal shows me how much I really have accomplished!

I've been taking some CRAFTSY classes as well. My notes go into my little journal along with again the things I want to purchase go into my book. I found that rather than my money spent on things that will really take forever to touch or items that invariably are duplicated, I am picking up the items that are really helping me on my quilt journey! When I read blogs and find new ideas that I don't want to forget I write it in my journal!

My list of UFO's are in there as well! It's motivating to see my list get knocked down and new projects getting added to the list. I've realized that my little journal has been motivation itself -- sitting there, calling my name to write down the idea's or review what's "next" on my list! I've managed to knock off quite a few of those UFO's just by writting bits about them and looking at the list on a regular basis. I finish them one by one and pat myself on my back! FINALLY the list is getting done! I am one of those who has to FINISH before I start a new project....but thanks to all those blogs out there, I have learned that having more than one project on the go is also OK!

So my wish for you all is to continue all your projects, keep blogging about them and share your ideas! The best motivation of all is seeing all those wonderful works and knowing that one day I will learn to quilt as good as the rest of you!

So with that... I say THANK YOU! Happy Quilting!

On the design wall....where did you go motivation?

I'm working to complete a quilt for my daughter's 30th birthday coming up. It's been a project of love and has been a long time coming since I started this along with my very first quilt back in 1996(?) LONG TIME! Working full time sure cuts into my quilt time. I know people say it only takes a few minutes a day, but I'm dead tired by the time I get home from work. I am loving my "15-minutes of Play" by Victoria Findlay Wolfe. Her book is fantastic! Maybe one day I'll actually get around to "made fabric"! The one HUGE lesson that I got from it -- 15 minutes a day -- that's it. Start by taking 15 minutes a day, devote 15 minutes a day to just "play". I've been taking her words to heart and have been doing just that. Even though I may be exhausted (ok, no cutting fabric when exhausted with a rotary cutter!)..but I am putting in 15 minutes a day into my studio. Whether I'm cutting, sewing, organizing, folding fabric -- minimum, 15 minutes a day. Thanks to Ms. Wolfe for her words of wisdom! For months I was frozen after work, sitting in front of the television, stagnant! (I do have a tv in my studio, but somehow I didn't get up there). So motivation has been a huge thing for me. Fifteen minutes is nothing -- but in the scheme of things, I am frozen....mentally frozen. I had taken a week of vacation earlier in February and it was great! I took the time to head to the studio daily and work on my quilt. Now, back to work, I am exhausted again when I get home. Maybe it has to do with work, rather than creativity? :-) Any suggestions would be great! Meantime, I'll work on going in there 15 minutes a day! Happy Quilting everyone!