Toddlerless Tuesday #27! The Calm Before The Storm...

Hi, all!


We had rain this morning here in Middle Tennessee - but nothing compared to what's expected here in the next 36 hours.  They're expecting the most severe weather of the year to hit during that time.  So today has been very much "the calm before the storm" - and I worked hard to get some things done in case we lose power!

First up was to get these two flimsies turned into quilts.  Thankfully, with the quilt frame and the tons of practice I've had on it lately, I was able to get both of these done by a little after noon.  They're not fancy - just a random meander - but they're quilted and ready for binding.  These will be delivered to our pastor to be available if he wants to give them out at our monthly prayer service (a time when he does very individualized prayer with people who choose to come.)

I also picked out these fabrics for a quilt for a woman undergoing chemo for breast cancer.  They told me she is really into pink these days, so I hope these will tickle her fancy and cheer her up!  That's tomorrow's project...


And look what I got in the mail - my second set of Hands2Help fabrics, this time from my partner Robyn!  

Aren't they pretty?  I can't wait to figure out what to make with them.  Cheerful fabrics are so much fun to sew with!!


So that's what I did with my toddlerless time this Tuesday.  


But one other thing I came across today, while looking at blogs, was the ongoing conversation about being "real" on your blog.  I don't know if you've seen Rebecca's post, or Deborah's post, or Rachel's post - all offshoots of a post recently about the dumbing down of quilting.  (I'm not going to link to that post here - I did not find it to be very constructive, just argumentative.)  One of the things I noticed in the comments, particularly on Rachel's posts, was that people feel intimidated by bloggers who constantly show lots of quilts they have finished, without telling about all the trauma they went through to get there.  So I wanted to clarify a few things about my blog and my quilting...


1.  I make a lot of quilts in a hurry because (a) I make quilts for a quilt ministry and can't bear to think that someone who needs a quilt is without one because I don't feel like quilting that day and (b) because I have help - lots of ladies who put together blocks that we incorporate into the quilts, and others who donate their UFOs for us to finish.  I post them on the blog because it's a way to keep a record of what we've done in the quilt ministry.


2.  It's a rare day when I don't make a total blooper on something I'm sewing - whether it's sewing the pieces together wrong side to right side, or just totally missing the seam matching, or put together fabrics that just look awful! Stuff like that happens to everyone!  And just like everyone else, sometimes I'm "frog-stitching" (rip-it, rip-it) or embracing the error and turning it into something else!  But usually by the time I've gotten around to blogging about it, the bloopers have disappeared in the joy of the finished quilt.


3.  I love making simple quilts because I can create more of them in a hurry - and I love designing my own, or making variations on others that I've seen out there on other blogs.  Sometimes we make the same quilt repeatedly because we can make them quickly.  That's a pitfall of making ministry quilts. But we try to add to our design pool and use new patterns as they are learned!  Sometimes I'd like to make more difficult designs  - and someday I might have time. But for now, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing!


I hope my blog doesn't intimidate any of you.  That's not my intent at all.  Please, if you have a question about anything I've done or shown on my blog, feel free to e-mail me and ask - I love to help others enjoy quilting as much as I do!  However you choose to quilt - traditional or modern, by hand or machine, fast or slow - you should enjoy it!!


Quilt on!


Sarah