Life Goals

I know I’ve been gone for a while. I’ve been sewing. Last week I finished quilts #20, #21, #22, and #23 that were on a ridiculous time crunch. Instead of barreling into 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28, I decided to take a rest.

Rest is good.

Unfortunately, rest evolved into plans for 29, 30 and 33. Then those thoughts progressed into an evaluation of where I am now versus where I’d like to be at the end of the year. Here are my assessments:

#1 I would like to teach a sewing class. I had one lined up for April, but it fell through. I’ve compiled a couple fun and easy patterns that I would feel comfortable teaching. As soon as I work up the nerve, I plan on contacting the writer for her cooperation and the quilt shop for their location and advertising.

#2 I would like to publish one pattern. I have approximately ten written down. I have to find a brutally honest, unsuspecting, sewing soul to test for me. After that I suppose I take the leap into publishing. Again, I am mortified.

#3 I would like to start art quilting. I have no idea how to blaze into this quilting evolution, but it seems completely awesome.

#4 I would like to finish 35 quilts by the end of the year. I recently read an article that boasted a woman who had been quilting for over ten years and completed 35 quilts! Amazing. I’ve been quilting for 21 months – not even 2 years – and I just finished #23. I think I can do it.

#5 I would like someone to write an article about my 35 quilts in far less than ten years! Haha!

I will enjoy the rest of my little rest before I tackle #4.

This Weekend

This weekend, I have pushed the boundaries of my limited apparel-making skills.

In June, Scott and I will be going to a retro-themed wedding, for which we will dress the part. In my search for a dress, I decided I would probably just be happier if I made one. Upon reaching that decision, I glazed over my distaste for sewing apparel.

A little over a year ago, I attempted to make a dress. It was, at best, a disaster. Not only am I incapable of reading apparel sewing patterns, but my disdain for following instructions - which usually makes projects more exciting - turned the entire dress into a horrific experience.

So, to accomplish this feat - for it is nothing less than that for me - I have called in a professional: my "patience is a virtue" aunt. She is, in my personal opinion, an accomplished seamstress. She made all my Halloween costumes, some without even having me present for measuring.

My Aunt Debbie is here now, guiding me into the unknown of dress making. So far, so good. My aunt has done the majority of the work - which is why things are still going well. I cut out all the pieces (supervised, of course), and my aunt slowly pieced everything together. I gathered the skirt and I sewed in the zipper! If there's one good thing about my stupidity, it's that I'm not hindered by fear because I don't know enough to be afraid. My zipper looks ... pretty good in my opinion. I'm sure it could have been better, but it's sufficient.


While I'm waiting for my aunt to put the finishing touches on the dress, I made a belt. Unsupervised!! And then I massacred a tie for Scott ... obviously unsupervised. My auntie will be fixing that when she's done with the dress.


In all, I'm happy with our progress, and my dress.

Get Crafting

Here are 5 reasons why I think you should craft:

#1 It’s relaxing. While you’re out in the terrible December weather, finding a parking place in the chaotic mall only to get elbowed in the face trying to get the last of your Christmas gifts, I’m at home, by the fire, watching It’s a Wonderful Life while I’m leisurely sewing the binding on my quilts for Christmas.

#2 It’s fun. In the hours you spend hunting through stores for the perfect clutch to go with your new dress, I’ve already made one for mine. And it matches better.

#3 It’s green. Once you start inventing, everything is a treasure. And once everything is a potential treasure, you’ll cut your trash in half. Do me one favor – if you start pulling used tissues out of the trashcan for a holiday wreath, wash your hands afterward.

#4 It’s cheaper than therapy. When I have a bad day, I come home, sit down at my sewing machine, and just make awesome. It makes me feel better. It makes me feel like I’m actually good at something, even if the rest of my day suggests otherwise. And then I get to parade my masterpieces all over the internet and get affirmation from the rest of the world that I am, in fact, good at something.

#5 It’s inspiring. Far and away the best part about being crafty is the gifts you get in return. I’m not saying that I do it for the gifts, but I certainly do appreciate them. When someone picks up a forgotten talent to thank me for a quilt or when someone tries something new because I inspired them, I am more proud of them than I am of my own work. And you know how egotistical I am about my sewing.

Now, go get your craft on. Don’t make me tell you again.

A Quilting Tale – Continued

Previously on Life’s Short. Sew Fast. … After four intense months of power quilting, Becky retires her fledgling talent as she sees no reason to pursue the hobby.

Four month later …

In March of 2011, I began planning a baby shower for a coworker and his wife. They were having a little girl. We were trying to decide what to get them in the way of baby gifts, and someone mentioned a quilt. I am in the unfortunate habit of speaking before I think, so I volunteered – completely neglecting my retirement.

The rest of this story won’t surprise you one bit. In the mad rush (I had about 3 weeks to make this quilt) to find a pattern, fabric, and crank this quilt out, I realized that I really like quilting. I really like finding patterns. I love buying fabric. I like to watch the quilt come together. I like imagining what the person will think when they see it, where they will put it, if they’ll think of me when they use it.

I don’t know if the little girl I made this quilt for likes the quilt, or even uses the quilt. But it doesn’t really matter either way. This quilt was a turning point for me. It changed my mind about quilting. There isn’t an end to it. There will never be an end for it. There will always be beautiful new things to create. And I will never tire of creating them.

So here’s to my stubborn persistence! I hope you never tire of enjoying my creations.

#Winning

Not how Charlie Sheen does it though.


Well, here we are. It's Friday March 16th. The day I draw the winner for a quilt! I am currently not at home (I'm visiting with Scott this weekend), and I forgot both my laptop and my camera. So I can't physically show you the quilt that some lucky, lucky person won. But I will tell you that you can see the unfinished project on my previous blog: Sew-cation Day 5, Victory Speech


That's right someone won my personal-best, record-setting quilt made from a jelly roll. Forty five minutes and forty nine seconds. That's how much effort I put into this thing. Of course that doesn't include the effort I put into gloating about it afterwards. That was probably double the time.


And, the winner is - drum roll please - .............. ALYSIA STINSON!!!!


Congratulations, Alysia! I know you'll love it - it's purple and green!


On that wonderful note, have a delightfully crafty weekend, everyone!

A Quilting Tale

The end of my story.

Today I want to tell you about my last quilt. Not my most recent quilt, my last one. I will always think of this quilt as my last quilt ever, because that’s what it was supposed to be. Funny, huh?

So, we’ve seen my first and most fun, my second and scariest, my third and most perfect. So here is the story of my very last quilt:

In the fall of 2010 it dawned upon me that my parents’ 25^th anniversary was fast approaching in December. After some serious brooding about memorable gifts, Heather and I settled on making a memory quilt. That idea was the motivation for me to start my first quilt – as practice. My second and third came because I really needed a lot of practice.

I designed the pattern myself, based off the large blocks on Terry Atkinson’s “All About Me.” Heather and I did some serious stalking and assembled a list of people to send blocks to. I pieced the blocks, mailed them out, and patiently waited for their return. While we waited, I had a large center block screen printed with their wedding picture and embroidered with words of congratulations. I bordered it with my aunt’s silk maid-of-honor dress.

When the blocks returned, I assembled, pinned, quilted, bound and ultimately presented my parents with their anniversary gift. They were touched. My mom cried. And that was it for me. I relinquished all of my quilting supplies – safety pins, my mom’s mid-arm, left over batting – to my mom and called it quits. I remember her saying to me “You’re not going to quilt again?” And I thought, why? Haven’t I done it all?

I made four quilts in four months. That’s pretty remarkable for a new quilter. I made four quilts for four people who meant the world to me. I felt like I had accomplished something. And I felt there was really no reason to go on. So that was my last quilt.

To be continued …

Three’s a Crowd

That’s why I have to give them all away!

I’m having a day away from the sewing machine. I broke two needles yesterday sewing through thick fabric, so I’ve granted my sewing machine an official day of rest. Of course, for me it is agony because I have so much to do. I suppose I should enjoy not being hunched over a sewing machine though.

Here’s a fun quilt for new sewers. It was my third in a long string of speed quilting. It’s called “A Century of Progress.” I took it as a beginner’s quilting class at Wish Upon A Quilt. I was, of course, the fastest in the class of three. But that should come as no surprise to you since a mere 17 months later I was the fastest in a class of 60.

In the class, we learned how to properly cut with a rotary cutter. Suffice it to say my “cut-measure-crap!” method was seriously frowned upon. I also learned some neat tricks about sewing. At the time I didn’t know what a “leader” was. It’s a small piece of fabric that gets your stitches going before you actually start sewing on your project. Some people call them “spiders” because they have lots of thread hanging off of them, but I like “leader” better. Another fun thing I learned was how to do a partial seam. A partial seam is where you begin to piece uneven sized fabrics and stop part way through the seam. You continue adding to the block until all that is left is the unfinished seam. You close the seam and then the block is done!

It turned out to be a nearly perfect quilt, so I gave it to my little sister, Heather.