Let your gut instinct be your quilting teacher and don't forget to experiment!

Goals are such a wonderful thing or not! I'm using BMI as a relative indicator, rather than fixating on my weight. Let's just say that I want to convert some fat to muscle or lose it altogether. While I can use my waistband as an indicator, I prefer to use BMI. I like goal-setting and numbers. 

The big reason for this is the creep! You know— you know your weight was X ten years ago, and now it's X PLUS. I don't like the plus, but I also know that I might gain as I get older, but there's reason to! 

My annual creep is about 1.5 pounds over the last 7 years. Not a big deal, but imagine if I let that continue? I do NOT, so I'm taking charge! The bottom line is that we have to find something to guide us if we wish to go down that path! 

And I might add that I've seen some very healthy and fit "overweight" people! 

The good news for yesterday was that I got my sewing mojo back! Yeah! And I finished quilting a quilt, but you need to wait a couple of days before I can share it with you. 

I finally accomplished the three things on my priority list, and I've started a new list. Let's see how far I get today. But that visual "to-do" stares at me every day and dares me to let it go unnoticed. 

Not to worry, I'm working very hard on my goals, and well, I'll be able to share more after this weekend. 

I set up the old computer in the kitchen, where there is loads of clear space, and I deactivated EQ8. I was able to use my distribution lists, and all is good. Except that I need to get those lists on the new computer. Not my priority this weekend. 

The old computer in the kitchen

 Then I got out the EQ8 package to access my license and password, and reactivated it on the new computer. That was easy, since I knew exactly where the box with the information was, and it didn't take long. Yeah!!!! When one is organized, it can sure make life that much easier! I need to do more, but I'm already miles ahead of where I was, and I can't get lax now! I still have to download the Creativate Embroidery Software, but I think that's it. I have very simple needs, and NO files reside on my computer's hard drive. 

My EQ8 box

I managed to get a few more half-square triangles sewn and trimmed. 

More half-square triangles

I will say that making your space inviting to work makes it a whole lot easier to work there. Look at this tray of triangles. 

My tray of triangles

When it was a jumbled mess in a drawer, I never touched it, except to add to the mess. NOW? I keep that tray organized, and if I add to it, then I sort the triangles by color. Then I match up two sets and place them on the sewing machine. Then it's easy to sew and trim. And before I know it, I'll be digging out one of the boxes of triangles that I have stored away. We are not going there!!

Enders and leaders - ready to sew

This morning, I needed to find some yellow batik. Hmm -- I have two boxes and two baskets of batik fabric. I don't store these by color as I don't have space. But imagine that I found four or five choices in the top basket. It's obscene how much fabric is there, but it's also nice to find exactly what I want, when I want. OK - so that one looks green! 

The yellow batiks I found

And here's the basket they were sitting in. 

A basket of batiks

Here's something I promised a couple of days back, but I needed to find it. I often get asked about thread colors and thread weights. So what do I do? I experiment! I made these samples a while back. By the way, I had used these for a presentation, and they did NOT get put back in the correct spot. They were in the dumping ground that I call Studio U. They are NOW in the right place. They were all quilted on the long arm. 

On this sample, I used a regular weight (probably a 50-weight matte polyester thread) on the top that matches the fabric color. See how it all blends in, and you see the texture, but not really the stitching. 

Quilting thread matches the fabric

Now look at this one. I used the same thread weight but in a high-contrast color. It's pretty visible and that's the first thing you see - the stitching, which is probably not the most important thing on a quilt. 

High contrast thread

So let's suppose you have a quilt with light and dark elements. A light background, but black for some of the blocks. What color thread will you use so that it doesn't jar you when you look at it? If you choose a dark thread, it'll show like mad on the lighter bits and disappear into the dark fabric. The same if you choose a light thread, it'll show like mad on the darker bits, and disappear into the lighter fabric. 

What should you do? 

Well, look at this sample. This is quilted with the SAME color as the previous example. But what's the difference? 

Sample quilted with white thread

The difference? The thread weight!! Yes -- this is a 60-weight bobbin thread, and while visible, it's not in your face. Also, picking a medium neutral color - khaki, tan, taupe, beige, all work well and will blend into almost any color you have and allow you to see the quilt, not the quilting!!

I wrote an article about it in Issue 64 (The Texture Issue) of A Needle Pulling Thread. 

By the way, did you know that you can purchase individual patterns that I've written for the magazine? Yep --- check this link out. 

Oh dear—where are my pictures this morning? I sent them to myself a bit late, and they are taking forever to sync. Now what's going on? Well, obviously, the pictures came through - I don't know what happened, but when I went to move them to today's folder, which already had some images I hadn't used over the last couple of days, I proceeded to delete the entire folder. Sigh..............  I had highlighted the incorrect folder and selected DELETE. GONE - POOF - just like that! So, those pictures I hadn't used yet? They are gone! 

Poor Murphy - she is having lots of bad hair days! Look at the top of her head! 

Mom - I've got a fuzzy head! 

But then, she was outside in the wind, and everything was blowing like mad. She doesn't care! She's just like me!!!! She was pretty insistent when the wind blew the BBQ cover off. She wouldn't stop barking until I fixed it! Good girl Murphy!!!

MOM - I like the fresh breeze!

But the big question of the day is what is happening to Miss Lexi? While I doubt she will ever do the stairs, she is becoming much more curious about what's downstairs. Why? She'll stand at the top of the stairs and peer down, where, before, she wouldn't go near them. And she will stand in front of the dog bed in the front window, but have no interest in jumping up. Yesterday, I invited her to jump up, and she did! WAIT!!!!! Get the camera!!! So we had a little cuddle to show her it was OK to be there, and then she even stayed while I went to find my camera!

MOM -- Look, I'm up, and Murphy is down!

After yesterday's weather, our snow is almost gone, except for the piles at the bottom sides of the driveway. It was 15 degrees C at one point, very windy, and, let's say, one didn't need hats, mitts, or even jackets for walking! It's cooler today, but still above zero! What's this all about? It almost felt like spring. 

And here is the final post from this past week for QUILTsocial. Another small project that started with a button. I know I'm repeating what I said in the article, but I LOVE working on these small pieces. They can teach so much - let your hands do the work and let your brain take a rest. Make a background, and then play with anything on the quilt. Move things around - what do you like, what do you not like? How are you going to attach those items? What about color? We all have many doodads around the house that we can use to experiment with. 

The day I allowed myself to start these kinds of projects is the day I let my creativity out of the box and run wild. Yes, you can learn that from making a quilt, but it's much harder. I'm lazy and go for the small projects that let you learn quickly. And if you don't like something, guess what? You haven't wasted much time or fabric. 

So the next time you want to take a class to learn something new, why not let your hands and gut instinct be the teacher? If the project is hideous—oh, did I mention you need to check your ego outside your sewing space ?—then it's hideous. Who cares!!!! That's your opinion, but I bet someone else would love it!

Well, on that note, I'm fired up and have nothing on the agenda today but to work towards my sewing and embroidery goals! The presentations for tomorrow are mostly done - just waiting on any more pictures to add. They have until 6 AM tomorrow morning to send them to me. 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!