Just Do It

I've been spending my time lately endlessly pondering my blog. What should I call it? What service should I use? Blah, blah, blah. I do the same thing with quilt designs. Then I reach a point where I just kick myself in the butt and do it. The blah, blah, blah is just a form of procrastination. If you never start something - never cut the fabric - you never screw stuff up and embarrass yourself. And you still look like you're doing something because you're considering all the angles. Whatever. I recently took a class from quiltuniversity.com where we were forced to cut into our favorite fabric that we had been squirreling away for that perfect project. It was a terrifying exercise. But liberating at the same time. Here is the fabic I chose for the exercise:


It is in that spirit that I started this blog. Plus I made a New Year's resolution to add new skills to my quilting know-how (more on that later). The purpose of this blog is to journal my progress as a quilter. There's a lot that goes through my head during the quilting process. I take notes and keep a journal of all of the quilts I make. But it's private. I don't actually like to show my quilts to people. Here is something else I need to get over by just doing it.

So here's a little bit about myself. I've been quilting for about six years but collecting fabric since college. I am mostly self-taught, though I've taken lots of art classes. I am mostly a hand quilter. I think hand piecing and quilting is easier and more relaxing than doing work on the machine. That said, I am improving my machine skills. I actually have two Baby Lock sewing machines. A big momma that stays in the studio and a little one that I can use in other areas of the house. I have an 11 month old son and husband so I like to hang out with them when I sew. I have multiple projects going at once. I'm a fast typist and an atrocious speller. I find cutting pieces out tedious. If I were a master artisan, I would have my apprentice do all of the cutting. I hate binding. I love everything else about quilting.

By the way, here is the little quilt I made of that fabric I had been afraid to cut.