Quilting Swap

I am behind in my posting.  My goal is to post once a week.  However,  I just read a piece in the Sunday paper that addresses resolutions.  I should celebrate the small achievements and not beat myself up over the misses,  so there I am Celebrating that this is my first miss and I have been updating my blog.

I have been following one of my fellow quilter's blog and the topic of her post last week was "Why I Don't Do Swaps".  Really a topic near and dear to me.  If you are not a quilter I will explain what a SWAP involves.  There are many versions,  but the basic is that you complete a project and send it to another member in the swap group and they complete a project and send it to you.  There is usually a theme to the SWAP.  I belong to a yahoo group of African American Quilters,  who at this time of the year have an Black History Month swap and a Mini Quilt Swap going on.  I am participating in the Mini Quilt Swap and I have just completed my project and need to get it into the mail by the deadline.

The positives of participating in a swap are that it pushes you to do your best because you are sending this project to one of your peers.  You get to see how others use thier creativity.   There is a sharing of techniques and ideas that you could incorporate into your knowledge base.  Not to mention,  IT IS FUN GETTING ART IN THE MAIL. 

I am always hesistant in participating because I am always concerned that my work will not meet up to the standards of some of my peers.  I feel that I am still practicing and some of my stitching may not be straight or my measurements might be a little off.   Then I have to think that this should be fun and not stressful.   As I make this statement I hope that my Mini Quilt partner likes my quilt and is not too critical.

Creating - JUST DO IT!!

On Tuesday I had oral surgery and took the next day to recover.  While taking my antibiotics and advil,  I start thinking about the project that I needed to complete for a mini quilt swap.  I have been working with a cartoon drawing that my son created and gave to me as a gift.  I have made this drawing my logo for my quilt labels,  but I have been trying to use the drawing in a mini quilt. 

I started a project that I have been working on off and on.  But on Wednesday,  something just hit me and I started pulling out fabrics and created two other mini quilts with the drawing. 

I also follow the website of Pam Holland,  and this morning she talked about creating and "Just do it".  This was so right on,  you JUST HAVE TO DO IT!! 

I also have an account on Etsy and they send daily emails about marketing your store,  yesterday there was an e-mail about tips on selling your products on-line and the advice was "Just Do It"

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you just start.  As I started the ideas just starting flowing.  I now need to write it down,  because when you decide that you are just going to do it , energy and good vibes are all around you.

Presentation Is Everything

I am always looking for unique/different ways to display my quilts. I am always asked, where did you find that quilt hanger. This time I tried a different process that I saw in one of the many craft/quilting books that I own. I used wood molding to create a quilt wall hanger for two of my memory quilts.

I used wooden molding from Home Depot. I measured my quilt and added an each on each side. I then cut the molding using that measurement. The molding will have lip on the back side which will allow quilt to lay flat against the molding.

I covered one of the moldings with fabric and painted the other. Once the molding is dry, I added a picture hanger to the back. I then glued my quilt to the lip of the molding back or you can use velcro. This process allows you to decorate your hanger with fabric of your choice, embellish or paint.

New Years Day

What a lazy day. For the past 3 years there has been snow on January 1. This year it rained and washed all the snow away. It was really a dreary cold day. I made a big pot of chili, a pan of cornbread and listened to an audiobook. I also put up pegboards in my sewing craft area as I try to get organized.

The New Year is the time that we all make ridiculous goals and at the end of the year we are upset that we did not accomplish them. As I discuss this process with my daughter, she told me to make a few goals in increments. Weekly, monthly, six months and then 12 months. So this year in 2011 I will follow this process. She made me get a small journal and we have begun.

One of my goals for 2011 is to update my blog weekly.

So here goes: I work intermittently on projects, not completing anyone project. I have been trying to complete a wall hanging for my office, but my daughter keeps showing up to determine if her wall hanging has been completed. I am pondering on how to quilt the border, which is the finishing touch to this colorful project. I scanned the fabrics into EQ7 and designed the layout. From the layout I was able to printout small quilts 8 x 10, but the colors were not vibrant enough for me. I will need to work with my software to determine how to obtain the true color of what I see on the screen. My thought for the small quilts is to embellish with colorful thread and practice my free motion quilting. I will post pictures of the finished wall hanging once I quilt the borders. The cool thing about EQ7 is that you can playaround with the layout and try different borders.

Holiday Project

Every year I start Christmas projects in November and December and think that I will have them completed in time to decorate my house. How optimistic am I? This year I finally completed a Holiday wall hanging and Christmas stockings. I have other holiday projects to complete, but I am sure that they will not be completed but I do plan to complete them early in 2011 and have them ready for next Christmas.

I am proud of myself for completing 4 lap quilts and having them quilted. I just have to add the bindings, but that will take a little time. I only need to complete one as a Christmas gift to my mother.

A Seven Day Party - No Quilting

We just came back from an outstanding vacation. My husband and I took a 7 day cruise on the Carnival Liberty. This a was a cruise like non other. We have never been on a cruise and we decided that we would take a theme cruise. We selected the Capital Jazz Super Cruise!! We had so much fun that we are booking again for 2011. There was non stop entertainment and activities for all (biz whiz, spades, dance classes, ping pong tournaments). The musicians even had sessions to work with individuals with their instruments. We would be walking back to our cabin and we would never make it because someone would be performing and you had to stop and listen. There was music morning, noon and night and all night long.




The weather as great and the people we met were extremely nice. People from all over the country were on this cruise. People would ask us is this your first cruise ? "You will be spoiled" and they were not wrong. We were blown away by the quality of the entertainment and the fun that we had with the people that we met.




We needed a vacation after the cruise, thank goodness we took two weeks of vacation and did not have to return to work, it took us a week to recoup from all the activities. When someone ask how was my vacation, I have to tell them that it was awesome and I am going back. If you want to see pictures of the cruise and the activities please go to the Capital Jazz Super Cruise web site and get jealous because you were not there.

Perfection

Perfection leaves no room for growth or improvement. I have found that I sometime procrastinate finishing a project because I am afraid that it will not be perfect : my stitching may be off or I didn't place the piece in the right place when appliqueing, or whatever. But as I take this journey to determine my style or my voice I am finding that it really doesn't matter that it is not perfect. I am also learning that I need to give myself a break. My work is my relaxation and gives me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. As I finish the projects that I have started over the years I have given myself the freedom not to be perfect and I am finding that I am much more productive. Perfection is limiting and you need to learn from the missed steps along the way.

A wall hanging almost completed, but I procrastinated finishing because I was afraid that my stitching would not be perfect, but little nudge from my daughter "Mom when are you going to finish that!" pushed me to complete the project.

I think that we would all accomplish more if we did not have the fear that it will not be perfect. I think back to the being a little girl making paper dolls, I did not think that I could not draw or that they had to be perfect, it was just the fun of "Just doing" .