Fat Quarter Shop Favorites Collage

Here it is - my collage! What fun it was cruising through all the fabrics available. What a difficult decision. But I LOVE this combo - it uses some of my favorite color ways but adds a splash of pizzazz that I wouldn't ordinarily do. Learning to stretch my imagine is so easy with all the great choices available to quilters these days!

And if you want a closer look, check these out:
1. Bespoken-BE-7101-200, 2. Bespoken-BE-6107-200, 3. Bespoken-BE-7102-200, 4. Bespoken-BE-7103-200, 5. Bespoken-BE-7106-200, 6. Promenade-C200-30-200, 7. HyperrealGarden-HG-7409-200, 8. HyperrealGarden-HG-8404-200, 9. HyperrealGarden-HG-8402-200, 10. HyperrealGarden-HG-8407-200, 11. HyperrealGarden-HG-8409-200, 12. IndianSummer-C200-25-200, 13. RBSolids-C100-49-200, 14. Modernology-MO-4801-200, 15. Modernology-MO-3808-20016. Not available


Fat Quarter Shop

Controlled Chaos!

I am finally making some order out of my chaos, and it does feel GOOD! Now if I could only figure out how to keep it in order?

For me, 2012 is my Year of Learning. I have already bought enough fabric to stock the Moda Factory, so now I just need to learn how to creativity put it all together.

To that end, I've decided to take time to do two things each month:  master free motion quilting and learn new skills with quilt block construction.  And to accomplish this, my online friends have made it super easy!

First, thanks to Sewcalgal, there is a terrific program called 2012 Free Motion Quilting Class. And it's free! What's not to love about that? Plus, she has a year's worth of free motion quilting experts lined up to share their insights in how to make machine quilting a pleasure instead of the chore it now is for me.

After I signed up for the FMQ class, along came the Craftsy Block of the Month.  And it's free too!  How can we not take advantage of all this great, free instruction, right at our fingertips? 

You can still have time to jump aboard at http://www.craftsy.com/class/The-Craftsy-Block-of-the-Month/50

I'm very excited for this journey to begin. Why not jump on board, too?

Overwhelmed

My goodness!  In my search to learn all I can about quilting, I have become mind boggled. Literally! There are so many great blogs, tutorials, web sites and just plain fun information out there, that I have to limit myself - daily - on how much time I spend cruisin' my favorite sites!  I equate it to the 'olden days' when info was gathered by checking quilting books out from the library and reading them page to page, taking them back, checking out another one. Except in that process, I can go through it at a snail's pace if I want.  Here on the Internet, I click from here to there, back to here and then on to beyond, and before I know it, my brain is filled with so much info that I finally just crash. Lock  'er up and call it a day.

But it's all good! Over the past two months I have started to dream in quilting designs and pieced patterns. Color, tone and texture filter through my head as I shop. When I'm out for a walk, the juxtaposition of house colors against stark, bare, winter trees or warm pines and spruce brings to mind a fabric that I know must exist out there. Somewhere.

But then when I step into my sewing room to start a project, I become stymied. It's like I've hit a brick wall, because there are so many options, choices, plans, skill sets, possibilities - what to do, what to do?  So often times I do nothing. I play around with the fabrics I have, look at the pattern books. Go back to the computer and cruise again. It's really a vicious circle.

I have decided that, perhaps, it's really not my own personality flaw. I have never come before this dilemma before.  It's just that I am so excited by this new arena in my life but I don't have time to do it all.

Light bulb goes off - I need to create some order out of this chaos!

So this is what I'm going to work on this year.

• Depleting my stash
• Gathering examples of designs I love
• Picking designs which are out of my comfort zone
• Actually making them
• Learning to quilt on my soon-to-be-delivered long arm machine (insert squealing here!)
• Finish projects
• Turn my passion into a business without losing the passion that got me there in the first place!

Put order to chaos. That's all I need to do?

How about you? How are you handling your chaos?

Holiday Wishes

Wishing everyone the very merriest of Christmas and holidays for you and your family.

And may the new year bring you success and joy and lots 'n lots of quality quilting time!

Patience is a virtue I lack

You would think that after all the years I have walked this earth, I would have figured out how to be patient. After all, patience is an attribute that comes in handy day in and day out. And yet, I find myself still battling it.

Right now I am waiting for my grown children to arrive home for a short Christmas weekend. I still have a week to wait.  I feel just like our dog, Misty, in this photograph. It drives her crazy to see her 'treats' beneath the tree, and yet she can't have them yet.

Guess I can get a lot of quilting in between now and then, especially since I'm not baking this year. I must remember:  All good things come to those that wait.

I Won!

Wow! Just received notification that I was one of the lucky winners in the 2011 Christmas Quilt Show. Not for my quilt entry, but by random selection. Whichever way it was, I'll take it!
How fun is this? I will receive a package of fabric and patterns from Country Faces. Maybe I'll put the package under the Christmas tree and wait to open it until December 25!
I'd like to thank Darlene of SewCalGal for organizing and putting on this Virtual Quilt Show. She was very helpful when I needed some help in linking up to her blog - thank you, Darlene!
Okay - off to my sewing room. Much to be done and so little time. It's all good.

Christmas is sprouting up all over

Fun Christmas-time Wallhanging Quilt!

Close-up View

I was glad when I got this all together - what a lot of work! I'm not as speedy as I'd like to be, but at least it's done right. I still need to sandwich it, quilt, and bind it.  But all in good time. I just thought I'd hop on here and post this to SewCalGal's 2011 Christmas Quilt Show.  You'll want to take time to browse through the entries - they are amazing!