Room For Improvement

Realizing it is a bit early, have you thought about your New Year's Resolutions for 2023? 
I stopped making resolutions years ago...it felt like such a setup for failure.  But, that does not mean there isn't room for improvement.

It's no secret this past year has left me stagnant, marking time, what with the big move, then dad's illness and subsequent passing.... But, I have made progress...I have been making small changes....

 

*spend some quiet time each day being thankful to God
*cooking...REAL cooking, not just assembling*
*do some sewing each day (lately it has been working on my Glorious Hexies while watching documentaries on Netflix)**
*signed up for ukulele lessons with Josh of Time on a String.
*floss

Small steps are certainly better than no steps at all, right?

**(My office space is behind that ugly zoom screen. I'm open to suggestions on
how to make the transition between office and living space more aesthetic.)

 

So, with the start of a new year, it just feels fresh and clean and begging for change.  

I love Karen Brown of Just Get it Done Quilts.  HERE  

Beginning January 1, 2023 she is again presenting her Declutter Challenge.

 

My sewing space is not that old....I've only been in this house 10 months, but I think there is room for improvement where STUFF is concerned.  I believe I will follow along and implement what is relevant and let pass what is not.  And, it's a connection...moving in a positive direction.

And, you....do you need a nudge to get back in your sewing space, or tidy up, or just make a connection? 
Follow the Link and Register with me.

*I've been following Becky at Acre Homestead on YouTube.  She has inspired me.  I even bought a freezer!

New Kid In Town

Small businesses suffered a lot as a result of the pandemic...some to the point of death... to be sure quilt shops and fabric stores closed left-and-right!   And, if you were a small business in a small town...well, let's just say the cards were stacked against you.

After moving to Paducah (a small town) earlier this year, I was surprised to see a lot of empty storefronts downtown.  It did not look the same as I remember from previous-years visits with the Quilting Auntie during Quilt Week.  It was disappointing to see how much quilting was not happening in Quilt City, USA.

Of course there is the quilt show every year in April and Hancocks of Paducah and the Quilt Museum, but other than that....

Enter Cheryl Sleboda and Mauppin's Sewing Emporium...all the way from Chicago to our small town!

Apparently Cheryl knows/and is known around the quilting community.   

She has a YouTube channel and a presence on Instagram.

When this notice popped up on Nextdoor, I decided to go have a look.

 

 

And, what fun!  So delightful to get to know her.   She is a number of years younger than me and our styles are very different, but I love her vision; i.e., classes, lectures, community.  And I love that she is already promoting Paducah as a fiber arts kind of town.

 

As we chatted, in walked Norma....another new best friend after today.  She talked about the one official sewing guild in town, Paducah Stitch & Quilt Guild.  I have not visited because they meet during the day, on week days...a work day for me. 
But after today, I may take an afternoon off to go visit.

It was such a fun morning.  I learned a lot about other fiber arts shops open in downtown and a pottery shop opening up right next door in the former "Quilt In A Day" shop.  It gives me hope.

The Sewing Emporium is not even officially open yet, but loved visiting with Cheryl and Norma, looking at some of her fun notions, kits, etc.  and just generally talking "quilt." Who knows Paducah just might become the next Hamilton, MO!

Thankful

 Wishing everyone a wonderful, Thankful, day.

UPDATE:

Lot's of fun, food and family.

Joy & Michael's, Paducah, KY

SNOW !

 And just like that....the weather went from 80 degrees and sleeping with the A/C on to SNOW!!

 

Nothing like a chilly 26 degrees outside to keep you INSIDE! 
Soup Weather!

But, I'm not complaining....really...

According to the Farmer's Almanac, this winter is supposed to be colder and snowier than normal.  I don't like to be cold, and I most definitely will not like my power bill when it comes, but I am embracing my first full winter in my new digs and spending time INSIDE and in the studio.

 

Messy is Beautiful

 

Not long ago I read a FB post -- Pat Sloan's FB page -- about creating a test block when beginning a new quilt project. 
I've never done that although it sounds like a good idea this time...I suppose.... because I changed the block size on the
You're Invited pattern from 10.5" blocks to 12" blocks to accommodate the pictures in this panel.

                                        Practice Block                                                       Paper Block from EQ8

I think the practice block came out rather nice.  It's almost perfect. I did lose some points.

Creating practice blocks seems like a good idea...but what do you do with a bunch of practice blocks?*

*Just Get It Done Quilts video on orphan blocks HERE

You're Invited

 Ahhhh, yes....I remember now....the joys of changing up the pattern.... Isn't that why we're quilters?

The Designer's version
(Original size 54.5" X 54.5")

I liked the original well enough.  What I really liked was the Alice in Wonderland squares and the Halloween colors.  (I'm not a fan of Halloween, but I like Halloween fabrics, go figure.)

 

I'd already decided to add another setting row to the top and bottom.

But in the process of  preparing to fussy cut the panel
I discovered the pattern said to cut the panel into 10.5 inch squares.....

OK.....

 

But by doing that the cutest part of the panel squares
would be cut off! (Why would anyone do that?!)

What to do...what to do....  I ALMOST  just followed the pattern.  But I would have forever regretted that decision. 
Why not cut the squares at 12.5 X 12.5.....  sure.....  Enter EQ8*  

In the process of enlarging the blocks, I redesigned the quilt. I wasn't really that crazy about the corner blocks anyway.

The grey squares are where the panel blocks will sit.
(New size 70.5" by 70.5")

The process of redesigning this quilt made me dig deep into the recesses of my memory to fish out how to use the features in EQ8.  Thank you, YouTube, for the help!

The original panel was designed by Riley Blake Designs using the fabric line Mad Masquerader.

I've already made 60 flying geese THE ORIGINAL SIZE!!  So, we'll see how that goes.

*Electric Quilt 8

Just DO it!

There are a few life-changing moments that shake your world....one of them is the death of a parent.  

Dad's airplane quilt - 2011
Yellow Brick Road, on point.

 

 

But that was a month ago!  Life should be normal again, right?  But, the weeks roll by and here I sit....twiddling my thumbs.... I just don't know what to do with myself!  Every night when I finish work I think "... now what do I do..."  until it's a respectful time to just go to bed.

 

 

 

 

I'd heard it said if you do something for 21 days straight, it becomes a habit. That is true statement...for more than 21 days, every day ... morning and night.... I'd drive over to sit with dad. 
I swear, now every time I get in my car, it fights me to drive to dad's.

 

 

 

While you need to give yourself grace, there comes a point in time when you simply just Pick Yourself Up and Just DO IT!

 

 

 

So, that is what I'm doing....forcing myself to sit down at the sewing machine every evening and sew, even if it is for only 10 minutes
(usually turns into an hour or so.)  

 

 

I'm starting with the project purchased from Country Sampler in Omaha last month.  HERE

It's new and fresh and fun...and easy, mostly....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hardest part...flying geese.  I only need 60.

 

 

 

 Other things to restart my life;

*perusing quilt sites and saving pictures of quilts I like; 

*this Saturday my quilting friend, Carolyn, is coming over for tapas and wine and she's bring a show-n-tell....what else.... Oh, yes, 

*A niece, Lauren, (who I met for the first time when she and her family came to Paducah for dad's memorial) is a new quilter!  She lives in Chicago, but there is Zoom, so we'll connect.

 

 

That makes two nieces who are quilters!

 (Dez's first nine patch.)

 

 

There IS life after death....both for me and for dad....
He is alive in heaven, worshiping at the feet of Christ all day long.  Psalms 95:6

Gentlemen! (Gentlewoman) Re-Start Your Engines!

 

It has been an exhausting few months with dad's accident and subsequent hospitalization and finally his passing late last month.

Since then, it's been a busy two weeks with a constant stream of family and friends coming and going...planning a memorial and starting the process of cleaning out dad's things.

The Memorial was very nice and, much to my surprise, quite a number of people traveled long distances to attend. 
It's not that easy getting in this small community and about 45 family members made the effort, including 8 of the 9 kids and a good sampling of grandkids and great grandkids. Coming from California, Nevada, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, Colorado and Tennessee to name just a few places.  (What is it they say about "Marrying and Burying" bringing families together?)

 

My dad was well loved so people came from far and near.  There was a lot of  food, some laughing, telling funny stories, lots of tears and quite a few rounds of margaritas.  

 

 

And then all too soon we were saying goodbye with a farewell breakfast at
Cracker Barrel,  keeping our family tradition alive.

 

Now it is time to get back to a normal life.  That would include quilting and ukuleleing.