Summer is for Sewing!

Its been a couple of weeks since my last post. Our family survived five straight days of soccer tryouts at three different local clubs. The Sunday following tryouts is "call day" and families wait by the phone starting at 2 PM to find out what offer their child will get. My little one made the U10G Premier Team, she will be returning with five of her previous teammates and has a phenomenal coach who played for his European national team. We can't wait to get started with training. 

For the Memorial Day holiday weekend, we headed back to our hometown to visit and decorate graves of family members.  When we visit, we always stay with my mom's brother and his wife.  The quilt you see above was made by me as a Christmas gift for them about eleven years ago. They have used it regularly ever since and it still looks pretty good for it's age. It brings a smile to me to see that this thing I made still makes them think of me and all the quilts or gifts I make, even for non-family members, carry a piece of me.  There aren't too many things we do in this life that allows us to say that--many of us spend most of our lives pursuing things that don't really matter at all. 

My inaugural boot campers completed their table toppers.  My second class is knee deep in piecing and I have another class starting this Tuesday. I've launched a new product, a reversible tote in time for the summer pool and beach season.  I've actually swiped a pattern from a Craftsy class for this one just because it was a great project that was simple and practical. Love it! 

So now our family kicks off our summer with the first of three planned vacations. We have always kept up a pretty fast-paced lifestyle so our vacations mean a lot to us.  It's our way (especially for me) to be forced to slow down and just be together. 

Summer 2013 will bring more classes, (hopefully) more custom made products, and work beginning on my home-based quilt shop.  The plan now is to kick off my grand opening with a crafters/consultants open house at summer's end and I've already got a couple of independent business owners registered for booths. Riding the waves and excited to see where they take me....thanks for riding along. 

Goal Baby!

Another custom order finally completed! I absolutely LOVE this table runner, and I won't lie, it looked darn good on MY table! But, it gave my customer a lot of joy and even her nine year old daughter loves it and now wants a table runner for her dresser top!  That's alright with me. This project was made from fabrics by Anthology Fabrics which I carry in my shop.   I love all the color in this one.

Our rental property is officially sale-ready and has been on the market now for about one week.  We've had three showings and great feedback so now we wait for someone to love it.  The neat thing has been that I have been using the property as a classroom for my current boot camp class and it has worked out wonderfully.  My boot campers have one week left to reach completion of their table toppers, and they have been fantastic students.  I will miss this little group, but they will take future classes with me and I will be starting two more sessions of the beginner's boot camp, one starting Sunday and another beginning in June.  

As I complete another custom order iPad case and prepare for my next new class, our family is preparing for soccer tryouts week.  It is actually more "trying" on the parents! Once school is out and my daughter's commitments subside, we'll have a lot more time for sewing!

My husband has agreed to fix up my screen porch and help me transform it into a mini quilt shop.  My dream comes true small-scale! I'll keep you updated on that as it progresses.  My goal is to have it completed by the end up August for my Grand Opening which I will celebrate while hosting a crafters/independent consultants open house.  Before that, I need to get a catalog together...my days are not long enough!

So, tonight I am very tired.  Between work, my business, my daughter, my church activities and the upcoming soccer tryouts...I am beat!  Forgive me for cutting tonight short.  I'll be in touch soon.  Until then, have a wonderful Memorial Day!

Boot Camp, Bible Covers and a Log Cabin

This week's post is going to be somewhat short.  It's late on a Saturday night and I'm kicking myself because I got NO quilting done today.  My husband and I own a rental property about 15 minutes from our residence that we are preparing to sell.  I find myself a little melancholy as I talk about it simply due to the way things have gone astray.  My husband's brother has been our tenant for the last four years and at one point desired to buy the property.  During his teens and twenties, my brother-in-law had definitely taken a route different from that of my husband and myself having gotten involved in drugs pretty heavily.  He and my husband were not close for all those years, but in 2004 after the passing of my Mother and my husband having been diagnosed with testicular cancer, my brother-in-law seemed to want to change his life and for the next eight years, we helped him to get established running his own small business, getting a job in a large grocery chain and putting him in our rental property with plans for him to lease-purchase.  My brother-in-law became a devoted uncle to my daughter as well.  About a year ago, he began dating a woman from work and he changed.  This relationship caused him to become very disrespectful to us and brought the relationship to a point of almost complete severance.   My little girl lost her uncle and got her heart broken.  The Christian in me knows that I have been forgiven of a multitude of sins and that forgiveness sets me free....the Mommy in me will never forget.  The brother will be moving out in the next few days and we've decided to sell the property. I am sad for him because arrogance and pride have completely changed the course of his life, and I mourn for what could have been for him.  But our lives have changed as well since we purchased that property.  Life has become busier and time is at a premium, my girl has us running around to soccer games and tournaments, and of course, my quilting and fabric business has already grown to be nothing short of an amazing miracle.  This week, I got the privilege of teaching my inaugural "Quilting Beginner's Boot Camp" class to some amazing and eager students.  I loved every minute! We will meet for four more weeks and by the end, they will each have made their first quilted table runner! iPad case mania has slowed a bit, but after a woman from church asked me to make her a Bible cover, I had another soccer Mom order THREE Bible covers for Mother's Day gifts! I am also finishing a beautiful table runner that was a custom order---it's gorgeous in Anthology Fabrics "Bonjour" line. This was the project I had wanted to finish today before I ended up committed to working at the rental.  I also encountered another individual today interested in my "Boot Camp" class starting in June, and as soon as things slow a bit and school is out, my daughter and I will be starting a quilt for her own bed.  Her bed is a beautiful solid oak Amish built bed, and oh, I can't wait to see that quilt on there bringing a smile to my face, and hers, everyday.  My husband and I have been able to use this situation with his brother to teach our daughter about placing value in your family and always making them your priority.  It has also enabled us to show her that "I love you" and "I'm sorry" are empty words if they aren't followed by action.  This time in our family's life makes me think of the Log Cabin quilt block.  The Log Cabin block has a long history and in modern times has had many different variations.  After my first American Flag project, the next quilt I made was a Log Cabin quilt and the story I was told goes like this.  The Log Cabin block has a square in the center surrounded by strips with light strips on one side of the square and dark strips on the other side.  The center square is usually done in a color that stands out in the quilt and represents the heart of the home.  The light strips on one side represent the good times in a family, while the dark strips represent the more difficult times.  These strips in lights and darks surround that center square beautifully and then the entire look of the quilt can change depending upon how all of the blocks are arranged.  I love the Log Cabin quilt.  In fact, the quilt I had made for my Mother in 2002 and is pictured in an earlier post on this blog, is a Log Cabin quilt.  Our family has certainly seen light times and dark times, as I'm sure your family has as well.  I believe the dark times help us to better appreciate those light times, while the light times give us a source of hope during those dark times, and that center square, the heart of the home, is that family that we know "has our back" through it all. In the end, together, our lights and darks make a beautiful design.  So I guess I was wrong and this wasn't too short after all.  I'm so happy to be able to do this every week and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Thank you for reading.

Mod-itional Quilting

Hi all! I hope you're having a wonderful week!  In my last post, I had mentioned that I was headed off to my first Modern Quilt Guild meeting, here's my take on it. The only chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild in the Columbus area was on the north side of town, about 45 minutes from where I live.  That would not be a big problem, but when I arrived to the meeting, I was virtually ignored until I decided to randomly introduce myself to the woman sitting next to me.  I'm sure they are all very nice people once they know you, but they were not terribly astute at making a new person feel welcomed.  The quilt shop that hosted the meeting was extremely modern with more trendy styles of quilt patterns and fabrics. One of the activities of the meeting was to present a challenge piece that they took on in January using a certain fabric line with a given theme.  The fabric was acceptable in very muted tones.  As each person presented their challenge piece and then later, their respective show and tell pieces, I soon realized that if I heard the word "wonky" one more time, I was going to scream.  The definition of modern quilting as taken from the National Modern Quilt Guild website is:
 " Modern quilters work in different styles and define modern quilting in different ways, but several characteristics often appear which may help identify a modern quilt. These include, but are not limited to: the use of bold colors and prints, high contrast and graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, expansive negative space, and alternate grid work. "Modern traditionalism" or the updating of classic quilt designs is also often seen in modern quilting." 

Okay, all that being said, I saw a lot of muted colors; solids mostly in grays and tans.  One of the quilters there (who lead the meeting and did beautiful quilting) made the comment that she didn't like a busy quilt and preferred more negative space.  Of course, they all loved their "wonky stars" which are stars (but can also be anything that doesn't appear straight or even) that aren't perfectly pointed.  The best way to describe modern quilting if you ask me is more fussy cutting to make things look "wonky" as though you sloppily pieced them together, when in reality, the piecing is actually quite fussy and can't be "mass produced" as easily as some more traditional blocks.  

The experience taught me a few more things.  I most likely won't drive 45 minutes again to attend one of their meetings; and modern quilting in it's truest sense seems to mean go out of your way to make things look very plain (guess I always called a plain quilt a BLANKET!) and tediously piece things so that they look like you threw them together.  On a side note, most of the members were women in their late twenties, thirties and forties.  There was even one man there who quilts with, and attends the meetings with, his mother.  I did think it was neat to see others of my peer group so passionate about quilting, but it almost seems like the younger (under age 50 or so) quilter's feel a need to separate their style from quilting past in order to prove that quilting isn't just for old ladies.  I found myself thinking that there has to be a middle ground where modern meets traditional so that the beauty of those old styles isn't completely lost or forgotten, but is instead somehow enhanced in a way that keeps up with our culture.

I drove home asking myself this question: where do I belong in the world of quilting? I know I don't care for tiny floral prints or flying geese quilts, but I also don't care for quite so much "negative space" so that my quilt simply looks like a quilted blanket after I spent HOURS making it.  I like the end of the definition of modern quilting--the updating of classic quilt designs is also considered modern quilting.  I think I fall there, somewhere between the wonky stars and the flying geese.  I like simplicity of design, but mostly I like simplicity of construction.  I want to make beautiful things, but my life is simply too busy to fussy cut wonky stars all day.  I want to make beautiful quilts, but I don't have the time to be fussy.  I am a mass production girl--cut as many as you can at one time of something and choose blocks that have a simple look and can be arranged in different ways to give a different effect depending on the block arrangement.  I dubbed myself and those like me "moditional" quilters: modern + traditional.  Am I traditional with a modern skew or modern with a traditional streak, I don't know.  What I do know is this: in life, as in quilting, we can't dwell in the past, however, we can't ignore it as though it never existed.  We learn from our past, be it past victories or past mistakes.  Our past affects who we evolve into as we move through this life.  The past often affects the outcomes of our future because our past experiences shape the choices we make moving forward.  Quilting is this way too.  The classic quilts of the past all tell a story of the times, a history of  our country through the block designs or the fabric types.  Certain economic times in history necessitated certain fabric types or popular culture of a time prompted a certain block or pattern design.  I guess I, for one, would hate to see that history overly diluted in the name of "modern." It makes me wonder what story the quilts from these times will tell future generations of quilters like my daughter.  
Of course, as is typical for me, I can't just walk away and call it a wash, so I decided I will start a new chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild in my area and I'm currently doing research on what I need (besides more people!) to get started.  I'll hopefully have more on that shortly as well.  
My quilting journey continues as I discover the contentment that is found in being who you were meant to be.  My minister said it perfectly in his sermon this past Sunday.  From James 4:17 " Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." The point in the sermon was this: "Relentlessly pursue who God has called you to be." Wow! What an epiphany! Since I have re- entered quilting, I have had the unique privilege of making some items for people in need, as well as meeting a need for a family who deals daily with a child with multiple illnesses so that their family could have some family and relaxation time.  In life we go through many "seasons" and I believe in this season, this is God's calling on my life.  Through it already He has given me a peace in my life like I have never known and I have in turn been permitted to give something to others.  My blessings have been many, and I am humbled and amazed...and thankful.  I am also thankful for those of you who actually read my weekly ramblings and for so many who have been so encouraging along the way.  Thank you to so many people, and God bless.

You only THINK you know what quilting is!

Whew! To say I am tired would be an understatement! I apologize that I don't have a pic to add to this post.  I could add a pic of another iPad case, but let's just say, they are selling VERY WELL.  I just finished my fourth order, and I have fabric in the washer for number five and fabric for number six being shipped as I write this blog.  As well as, I received orders for a table runner and a complete kitchen ensemble including coasters, trivets, pot holders and a matching apron! My handmade items department is doing well to say the least.  My online fabric shop still averages one to two orders per week so it's a good passive income producer.  My private classes start in about two weeks and my parks and rec classes start in June.  I am currently trying to create a catalog of handmade products, available fabrics, patterns, books and quilting supplies so that I can begin in-home shopping experiences that would also offer my products and class opportunities to another kind of audience.   I am getting WAY into modern quilt styles where lines aren't straight and backs aren't plain.  I will be attending my very first meeting of the Columbus Modern Quilt Guild later this week and I can't wait to meet other people out there who are Gen X'ers like myself or even, dare I say, younger!  As a quilter who has been reintroduced to the quilting world, I have seen a shift in WHO a "quilter" is since I began quilting thirteen years ago.  One week ago I sold a quilt basting gun from my online shop.  The purchaser was a man.  The next day, I was at a local quilt shop buying fabric for one of the plethora of iPad cases I've made and there was a younger man who looked to be late twenties, maybe thirty and was getting advice from one of the quilt shop employees on how to make his QUILT! Could it be possible that quilting is NOT something that old ladies sit around and do all afternoon while they watch their "stories?"  Could it be that quilting is BOTH ART and SCIENCE? Could it be that WOMEN and MEN of any age or walk of life could want to create these works of art? Yes, works of art--not blankets--but one of a kind works of art. Even a handmade iPad case is a one of a kind with no other exactly like it. That's something you can't get at Wal-Mart. Allow me to add that quilting is not for the unintelligent. I have done more math in the last fourth months than I previously did in years!  Do you realize that pattern designers who create how the pattern will work and then present it in a way so that a person who has never made the item will understand it are both engineer and teacher? Fabric designers are artists and quilt shop owners and people like me who sell fabric, finished products, books and supplies are presidents and CEO's of our own little piece of the American dream? Quilting is not what you think it is, it's everything that you don't know it is until you've tried it and if a crazy, creative, mathematician, engineer, teacher, entrepreneur, straight lines and curves kind of person lives inside you....well, you will be hooked and you'll wonder how you were ever complete before someone introduced you to quilting. Then you will be amazed at the places it will take you.  For those of you who swear you don't have a crafty bone in your body, it's all good, we old quilters will provide you with all the beautiful items you could possible want in your home and in your life---but don't bother us until "Days of our Lives" is over....

Wow!

So here is my latest creation. Cases for iPad Mini and iPad.  These are becoming VERY popular.  I've got one custom order in production and another order in process as soon as my customer chooses a fabric.  Of course, my daughter has requested one for her iPad--pieces are cut and ready for assembly.  I will have to finish hers first or I'll be in trouble! I love these!

My beginner's classes are filling up as well. I'm so excited to get my students working on their first ever quilt project, a square table topper in an interconnecting circle pattern.  As soon as I get caught up on these iPad cases, I'll begin the prototype for the class project.   I'm such as fabric junkie, I can't wait to make the fabric selections to make MINE! 

I've been doing some research on local quilt guilds. I believe these will be a great way for me to continue to grow in experience and knowledge of quilting, while providing me a great networking opportunity. I have stumbled across a local guild of The Modern Quilt Guild (MQG), and a local chapter of the National Quilting Association (NQA).  I will be attending my first meeting of the MQG next Thursday night and joining the NQA this week.  I am very excited to begin meeting people with my love of quilting, art and a desire to share with and teach others.  I'll be attending the NQA's annual quilt show and convention in June here in Columbus, Ohio.  I plan to make an excursion out of it, inviting some of my friends, customers and students. I love to see the beautiful quilts in the quilt show and witness the amazing talent some of these people possess.  

I am amazed and filled with gratitude at what God has already allowed me to do with my new business and for the opportunities he has provided to me.  It just goes to prove that with Him all things are possible.

Have a wonderful week and we'll talk again soon.  

Spring Break!

Oh, this old Ohio winter weather won't go away! We had snow on April 1st! Not a very funny April Fool's joke! Nonetheless, I am busy preparing to teach two private "quilting boot camp" courses beginning at the end of April. April 27th in Lancaster, Ohio I will be hosting a booth at a huge craft show being held at the fairgrounds. My shop is doing well and I'm beginning to have people contact me locally for fabric, quilt repairs and classes. Happy can't describe how I feel. I love what I'm doing and the only way I could be any more fulfilled with quilting is if I could make it my "day job." I'm kicking around a way to open a shop from my home which would be a perfect next step in my journey from " renewed quilter" to professional quilter, designer and quilt business owner. I'm taking it all one day at a time, but I am amazed that just four months ago I was only a wannabe. I can't believe how far I've come and that God has already allowed me to touch lives and have my life changed by this art I love.
Usually, we would be on a spring break vacation this week, but my husband was unable to take the whole week off so instead, my little girl and I have been hanging out together. Later this week, she and my husband are heading out to a cabin for a father-daughter fishing trip and I get some much-needed uninterrupted sewing time to work on iPad cases and other items for the craft show. I have already resolved that I will not work myself ragged to get ready for this craft show...let's see if I can stick to that!
Next, I have found a local chapter of Modern Quilt Guild and I plan to start attending meetings as another method of education and networking. In short, I'm loving what I do, and doing everything I can to make it what I do. No, it's not Florida or the Caribbean, but this spring break is yet another stop on my journey.