School Days, School Days!

Admit it, you are more excited that school is starting than your child(ren) are.  I don't blame you!  After all it means a little more quiet in the house.  Some structure to their days and some peaceful time for you.  So, what are you going to do with that time?  I know what I'm going to do with mine, quilt!

Finally I can get some time to work on those project that I just haven't been able to get to and now with school starting I'll have some regularly scheduled time where I can do just that.  I will freely admit, I am wholeheartedly looking forward to it!

Hopefully you are able to do the same.  Even if it is not quilting that you have on your list of projects to finish.

Today's tip is to not be afraid to walk away from a project.  We have all had them.  Those projects that we get started on and realize that it is not what we thought it was going to be.  It might be the fabric colors, it might be the pattern or it might even be the techniques used.  Once you realize what is happening, things can go one of two ways. 

Number one, you can scrap the whole thing.  That's right, I said it and it is nothing to feel guilty about.  Perhaps you have a friend that you could trade with.  Then you wouldn't feel like you were losing out on all the fabric, pattern or time you have already put into it.  If there is not a friend, perhaps your guild has a charity chair who would love to have it in whatever condition it is.  Someone might finish it for charity.  If it is really that bad, throwing it away might be a more mind cleansing option. 

Number two, put it away.  Just find a box or bag or whatever you can find to pack up all the pieces and the pattern.  I would suggest that you do it neatly and perhaps write yourself a note about the difficulties you were facing or at what point in the project you stopped.  Then, move on to something else.  Let time go by.  A month or two, maybe a year.  Just put it out of your mind and when it does come to the front again, take it out and give it a look over.  Things just might not seem so bad when you have had time away from the project and when you start to look at it again, it might just be the time to pick it back up and finish it.

Most importantly, with either of these options is to let go of the guilt.  There is no need to feel guilty for not finishing that project.  There is no shame in getting rid or it or putting it away to let it percolate.  Our hobby is an expensive one and it should be fun.  Otherwise we are just wasting our money and time.  Work on those things that you love and don't be afraid to challenge yourself.  However, if the challenge is too great, there is no shame in walking away whether it be for a while or forever.

Happy Quilting!

Getting Back on Track!

It happens to all of us at one time or another, we get sidetracked.  For some of us it happens with regularity.  Don't worry, I'm referring to myself.  However, it is time to "get with the program" or whatever other cliche you would prefer to use.  We will be getting out a new blog each week and hopefully include a quilting tip for you.

It is getting to be that time of year already.  The lists for school supplies can be found in Wal-mart  and parents are starting to do the dance of joy knowing that very soon their children will be returning to school.  No more will we here those words, "I'm bored" when we know full well that there are rooms full of toys, friends a phone call away, and beautiful weather outside that is just begging to be enjoyed.  Ahhh, relief is around the corner.  I'm sure we'll be exchanging it for, "I don't want to go to school" or some other such complaint but we can just push them out the door anyway and enjoy a second cup of coffee in quiet bliss.  At least that is part of my plan...

Here at Quilting By-You, we are watching summer winding down and waiting to see what the fall will bring us.  Don't forget about our new hours!

Daytime: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday 9am - 2pm
Evening: Monday and Wednesday 5:30pm - 8:30pm

Of course, if you need a different time, please give us a call.  We are always happy to work with you.

Now, for today's tip.  Getting on track.  I find that I work better when I prioritize or make lists.  Sometimes I don't want to follow those lists, but it is a whole lot easier to remember everything when I have it written down.  I also make different lists for different areas of my life.  Grocery lists, quilting lists, packing lists, organization idea lists.  The list goes on and on (sorry, I couldn't help myself there...).  I have also found it helpful to keep a quilting journal.  Now, this journal does not work in the typical way a journal works.  It is not really a chronological notation of my ideas.  Instead, I use it to keep track of fabric collections that I am on the hunt for, projects that I have been mulling over in my mind complete with little sketches and notes, what UFOs I have and what step I am on with them or notes about a difficult part of the UFO that I am trying to work through.  Sometimes the notes say, go to page X where I have made modifications that I want to consider.  I keep track of the quilts I have been working on and when I have completed them and who received them.  I write down websites and shop names with information about where I found fabric and patterns.  I don't want to call it my Quilting Bible, it's more of a log book with all the bits that are important to me jammed inside.  At some point that little book will be full and I will need to start another one.

Maybe you already have your own journal to keep track of your quilting journey.  If not, it can be really helpful to you to have a place to jot down all those ideas that keep tumbling around in your head.  After all, you don't want to lose that one idea that may be just perfect for the next wedding or baby quilt or line of fabric that you just saw in the store.  Writing it down will also help encourage you to grow that idea.  Not over night of course.  Sometimes I write in my little book like my hand is on fire.  I just can get my ideas down fast enough.  Sometimes when I find myself looking for inspiration, I will pick up my little book and read through it and find myself really taking time and working through my sketches or ideas or troubleshooting the problems I have encountered.  It also helps me turn my brain off when it is time to sleep because I know those ideas are safely written down and I can access them at any time without fearing that I may have forgotten a tiny bit.

I'm not sure that I really expressed myself well concerning my little quilter's journal, but I hope you get the gist.  I also hope that you find something that really works well for you.

Happy Quilting!

And we are back to business as usual!

It has been a rough ride the last couple of weeks.  Jen had a bit of a mishap with some plate glass which resulted in a few firsts for her...first call to 911, first ride in an ambulance, and first stitches.  Luckily there is no permanent damage and now that all stitches are out she is able to resume her day shifts at the shop.  Of course when it rains it pours and during the time of her mishap her father-in-law passed away somewhat unexpectedly. 

Thankfully that is all behind us now and we can focus on business as usual.

Be on the lookout though, we will have another shift in our hours coming August 1st.  Our daytime hours will change to Tuesdays and Thursdays and our evening hours will be on Mondays and Wednesdays.  We are shifting our hours as Alex is moving on to 3-day a week pre-school.  Remember though, that will be August 1st!  Our Saturday hours will remain the same.

Hopefully you have been keeping Libby Lehman in your thoughts and prayers.  You can visit her Caringbridge site here.  Please do keep her in your thoughts and prayers as this will be a very long road to recovery.

Lastly, here is your quilting tip for this week!  Keep a well stocked first aid kit in your sewing room.  We work with a lot of sharp implements from rotary cutters to scissors and don't forget those needles.  Perhaps adding in a small pair of pliers would be helpful - just in case. While my accident did not occur in my sewing room or with our tools of trade, it does make me mindful.  Accidents can happen anywhere at anytime.  So, if we are prepared with the basics we should be good to handle most incidents.  Hopefully you will never need to use it, but if you do have need of it at least it will be close at hand.

Happy Quilting!

A call for thoughts and prayers.

If you are a member of the quilting world, chances are good that you know who Ricky Tims is.  Chances are also good that you may have heard of his Super Seminar where he travels with Alex Anderson and Libby Lehman to teach quilters around the world various and sundry things.  We are both lucky to have been able to attend a Super Seminar and it was very enlightening.

We have been dismayed to learn that Libby Lehman is very ill.  She is such a creative talent.  We are sending our thoughts and prayers for her and her family during what I'm sure is a very emotional and difficult time.

If you are on Facebook you can check out Ricky Tims page where he has been providing daily updates regarding Libby.  The short story is that she had a brain aneurysm and surgery to clamp that off.  Subsequently she suffered a  massive stroke on her left side and is left handed.  She is currently kept sedated so her body can heal.  The last couple of days have brought some optimistic news in that her left side, which they had thought to be paralyzed, is regaining movement.  That is certainly something to be thankful for.

Obviously it will be a very long road to recovery for Libby and she is not out of the proverbial woods yet.  Please keep her and her family in your thoughts.

I give a lot of kudos to Ricky for keeping the fan base in the know as well as for what I'm sure were difficult messages to post the last couple of days.  Those messages are unrelated to her condition, but are geared toward the enormous generosity that quilters tend to have.  Those who have been touched by Libby of course want to send their love and support and what better way to do that than to organize the creation of a quilt for her.  While that sounds like an incredibly marvelous idea, the truth is that the family is overwhelmed as it is and Libby is not in condition to be able to enjoy the fruits of that labor.  The family did encourage sending cards and Ricky echoed that and encouraged the cards to be our quilts for Libby.  I also saw some great things in the comments for his posts - that the quilters were not offended to have their efforts scaled down and instead some were suggesting perhaps instead of a quilt sent to Libby, it could be a quilt donated to your favorite charity in Libby's name.

If you are interested in sending a card for Libby, you can find her address on Ricky Tims' facebook page.  Or, leave a comment and I will send the address to you.  I don't want to be posting her personal information without permission.

Take care everyone.

The 3 yard rule

I think this time we're just going to get right down to it.  The tip this week is about the 3 yard rule.  Obviously it pertains to fabric.  This is a very simple rule.  If you see a fabric that you really like buy 3 yards, even if you don't have a project in mind for it.  Why?  Well, 3 yards will border out a queen sized quilt.  3 yards at 36" = 108" length.  Perfect for not having to piece your border.  You can even get a nice 8" border and perhaps a 10" border providing the selvages aren't taking up too much space.  If you go with a smaller border such as 6" you should have enough for binding.  You may want to do the math yourself to make sure and if you have doubt an extra yard certainly won't hurt.

A side note here, typically a queen sized quilt is around 90x108, or at least that is how the prepackaged batting is sized.  I realize that at 3 yards we are getting exactly 108", so you would want to put your two long sized borders on first so that you don't use up all 108" or close to the 108".  Hopefully I've worded that in a way that makes sense.  If not, leave us a comment and we'll try to make it a little clearer.

I know 3 yards can seem like a bit of a commitment when you may be used to only purchasing fat quarters or half yards or maybe a full yard if you really like it, but those fat quarter quilts and scrappy sensations will need a nice border to tie them all in together.  Or, perhaps you will find some inspiration in those border prints as you look for your next project.  You can use that border fabric to shop your stash and build a quilt around the colors in the border.

At least that is one way to think about it.  I didn't always adhere to the 3 yard rule.  Instead, I was one who purchased a yard here and a yard there of those fabrics that I really liked.  Now I have some nice big chunks of fabric that I can use for borders.

Oh, and if you are somewhere that is having a great sale on fabric and you want to stock up on backing fabrics - you would want to get 7-8 yards.  Just in case you were wondering. 

At the shop this week we are playing catch up on getting some customer quilts finished.  Our waiting list is starting to grow a bit, but we should have things cleared out soon.  Stop in and see us!

Happy Quilting!

Sick of sickness!

As you can tell by the title of this post that we have been battling sickness.  Thankfully they have been of the short-lived variety.  However they involve small children and massive amounts of time in the bathroom.  The real downside was that it hit our household twice. Blech.

So with that being said, today's tip is to wash your hands often.  It will help you to avoid illnesses and that leaves more time for quilting.  Since you will be washing your hands often you may want to invest in a good moisturizer or a good moisturizing soap.  Having a good moisturizer in your sewing area would be a good idea though.  That way you can keep your hands nice and smooth and feeling good.  Plus you get a little bit of a hand massage when applying and that can only help with keeping our fingers limber and from getting sore.  I know it seems strange, but after having a job where I worked with lots of paper I noticed that my hands would be come drier and drier from handling all that paper.  That has encouraged me to always be on the look out for good lotions and to avoid overuse of hand sanitizers containing alcohol as they will also dry out your hands.  After all we really count on our hands to do a multitude of things, especially with our quilting.  We need to take good care of them so we can enjoy many more years of quilting!

Hope everyone out there is avoiding being sick, but be sure to drink plenty of water and get plenty of rest anyway.

Happy Quilting!

Will we ever really feel like spring is here?

I'm seriously beginning to wonder.  We had snow yesterday.  Seriously, we had SNOW!  It is April and it snowed.  Okay, so there wasn't even enough to cover the ground but still it was falling from the sky.  I wonder if it will ever really feel like spring.  Of course when the heat of summer arrives I'll be wishing for some of that snow we had yesterday....

I think what I am missing most about not feeling like spring is here, is that we seem to shed in spring.  Our bulky clothes go away and can outfit ourselves in less layers that are thinner.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels a little bulky during the winter months with t-shirts and sweatshirts and coats and scarves and gloves.  It almost feels like going down a size when the nice weather arrives and we can go without most of those things.  Maybe you feel the same way.

This week's tip has to do with selvage.  Perhaps this is something that you already know.  On our selvage we often see colored dots.  The more colors in our fabric the more dots on our selvage.  Those dots tell us what colors are in our fabric.  So, as we are out and about we can take the selvage strip with us so we can match color.  Sometimes that's a little easier than carrying around snippets of fabric.  You can simply tie it around your wrist while on a shop hop and have easy access to what colors you might be looking for with regards to a particular project. 

Some quilters prefer to take a snippet of fabric with them while shopping.  You certainly can and there are all kinds of creative ways to do so.  A binder with page protectors to house the pattern and snips of the fabrics  you have for that project.  Perhaps you staple those snips to a piece of paper and put that into a page protector.  Maybe you are a cross-stitcher or embroidery queen and have those little baggies holes that fit onto a ring.  You can certainly carry snips of your fabrics in those as you shop around for that oh-so-right fabric that you are missing.  Perhaps you have your own system that you use while shopping for fabrics that will finish out what you need for a particular project.  Please share!  It's always interesting to see what others are doing too!  You just may inspire someone else.

Happy Quilting!