Archive for the ‘Life Madness’ Category

Making Time to Quilt

Tuesday, October 7th, 2014

As a SAHM (a stay at home mom) of young children and a part time teacher I often lack time to do some of the things I would like to in a day. I am a list writer – I attempt to plan out each day in a way that our home and lives will run more smoothly… but, some days I’m terrible at it! I usually finish 80% of my to do list, but sometimes I manage to finish 100%. Often that is for the simple reason that I set a low bar to begin with. 🙂 The goal is to survive and be happy. I was once told that frustration comes from unmet expectations. Managing expectations is something I am working on. So I leave things that I would just like to do off my list.
FFQ1
My list really helps me throughout the day. Quilting is high on my “want to do” list but it falls lower on my “need to do to survive” list. Sometimes to keep sanity I must make time for things we want to do. In an attempt to make time for my “want to do” list… which definitely means quilting… I have tried to make some of my to do list items quicker and easier.
I decided that dinner was a time user and needed streamlining. To make dinners easier I combined freezer and slow cooker meals. I made 18 frozen meals that I can just toss into the slow cooker each morning. Dinner time comes and all I have to do is open the crock pot to a warm, scrumtious dinner.
FFQ3 The first thing I did was to plan a few meals. I looked online for inspiration. Once I had a list of the meals I wanted to prepare, I made a list of all of the needed ingreedients. I then found a babysitter and went to the grocery store with my LONG list. I bought in bulk (saving money for me to buy more fabric.) and I brought the food home. I then went back to the grocery store for the few items I forgot, this time with kids in tow.
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The next day my mother (who was so kind to come over and help me) and I cut up meats and vegetables and put the meals together into the freezer bags. I kept the dry seasonings in their own small freezer bags within the larger bags to add to the meal when cooking. That really just seemed like a good idea to me. 🙂 I ended up with many meals this month that are going to help me maximize my quilting time! Chicken Pot Roast, Lentil soup, Pork Chops, Sweet and Sour Pork and many more.
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We had one of the dinners two nights ago. It was a tasty success! What types of things do you do to be more efficient and make time for quilting?
RecipeHappy Tuesday! Stephanie

Quilt Show & Love Lessons

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014

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Labor day weekend is always a fun time for our family. Our anniversary usually falls in that weekend and so we celebrate our “family’s birthday” together. This year we were fortunate to get to go up north to cooler weather. While we were up there we had lots of fun without the Internet and it’s accompanying worries. One morning while driving to a couple of places Harley and I saw a sign that said “Quilt Show; Labor Day Weekend”. How is it that there happened to be a quilt show just down the road from where we were staying on the one weekend in a year that I would be there? A coincidence? A blessing? Maybe both? Well whatever it was I was more than happy when I saw the sign.PNQS1 PNQS2
It is an interesting thing to be married because your spouse sometimes has very different likes and dislikes and there are moments when we have no desire to do things but we do them because we love our spouse. This quilt show was one of those times. I know that Israel is sometimes frustrated with my hobby and the amount of time and effort that sometimes goes into it. And I talk incessantly about stitches, fabric choice, patterns, etc. All of this renders him bored out of his mind, but he listens and tries to be engaged and when all else fails he feigns interest. I love him for that. So when I told Israel about the quilt show he, the best husband EVER, knowing that he would be bored and most likely just act as babysitter, said we should all go. And so we did.PNQS5
Marriages are like quilts and the same way that the contrasting, similar and complimentary fabrics play together to create beautiful patterns and art so does the contrasting, similar and complimentary personalities and likes and the conscious and planned way that we put them together can create a beautiful marriage. Cheesy I know. But true.PNQS6PNQS7
It was a fun little quilt show. There are SO many talented quilters all over. I took photos of some of my favorite quilts and exhibits. There were some of the local guild members encouraging membership and a few other local organizations with booths and raffles. We walked around and looked at the pretty quilts and spoke to some of the designers/quilters about techniques and other things. Some of them would stop me just so they could get a look at my pretty baby girl. She was a treat. Even though she was teething she still gave out smiles to all the nice people. PNQS4
The whole quilt show was super fun for me! My husband is SO kind. He took Harley around and they found stuff that was fun for him and then they went and played at the playground outside the school where the show took place. What a fun quilt show, we enjoyed it so much. I have such a fun family!PNQS8Happy Wednesday!Stephanie

July Journey-ing

Sunday, August 3rd, 2014

This past month has been jam packed with family, fun, and travel. June 20th we took off for Oklahoma where our son and his wife live with our beautiful granddaughter, Kayli. We had fun times with them at the zoo, and then took off for parts unknown (to us).
Trip
Arrived in North Carolina two days later to help our son Darryl and family move around the corner to a new house. Even moving just a few hundred feet takes SO MUCH WORK! We had fun helping them move and now I can picture where they are living!  Great times in North Carolina, visiting Duke campus, and generally hanging out with our four grandchildren in NC. Then on to Virginia to help our daughter and her family move! It’s been a moving summer! Jessica and family have been in Fairfax for 9 years, and have moved south near Charlottesville where her husband will be working at the University of Virginia. We had so much fun with our six grandchildren in Virginia, and loved seeing their new home. So exciting for them to move from their townhouse bursting at the seams to a beautiful, large home on half an acre. Trip2
When we got back to Midway, Marg, Hilaree and I got to work on getting my studio into tip top shape, and I’ve been sewing and quilting ever since.  Alex, Jeff’s daughter, saw the fish with lips fabric and had to have some pj’s using the fish fabric!  The last four days in Midway I have managed to get five quilts long-arm quilted as well as sewing on three other quilts. It’s been lots of fun, and great to get back to quilting, sewing and long-arm quilting!   Trip3

More moving this weekend, as we helped our son, Jeff, and family move to Midway for the interim between college and job. And back to Mesa on Monday for us!
Happy Saturday!Jaime

Quilting Studio Move

Sunday, July 20th, 2014

Earlier this summer we decided to move my quilt studio and its been a eye-opening experience.

Roompic2

For starters, moving can be a long drawn out process, and I have been unpacking for a week.  I’m still only a quarter of the way through my fabric stash.  Before the move, I stored my fabric in plastic bins (open, of course), but I decided to sort my stash by color in the new studio.  Except for the fabric for the twenty or so quilts that I have designed already in my head, I’m stacking.  And this is just the beginning.

RoomMoved

Scraps are one of the things that slow me down sometimes, because I have so many.  Every time I make a new quilt, I create more and more scraps. One of the things I’m excited to do once I’m all moved in, and have the fabric all sorted is to get those scraps organized and usable.  I’ve dreamed of the day that I would FINALLY be able to get a  quilt done fast, fast, fast.  That day is coming, thanks to  Bonnie Hunter’s Scrap User’s System from Quiltville.  Another post for another day~Happy Saturday!
Jaime