My Present to ME!

Oh my, Santa has come and brought me a little face lift.....to my sewing room. After wrangling for far too long, I asked Santa to put new flooring in my sewing room. With the generous help of some darling elves, we muscled all of my sewing stuff and other stuff out of the family room to make way for the installers.

The best way to lessen your stuff is to sort it out. I cut up fabrics into bits and pieces...charm packs, jelly rolls and even recycled a wanna-be chenille blanket into some fabulous ribbons for Christmas presents. Found all the "lost" books I had and re-organized my patterns in such a way that I can actually see them.

When I get my Koala Studios set up with their under-shelving units, my collections of publications and what-nots will live there. I loved working on the Koalas while I waited for the flooring and am so anxious to install the shelving kits to make the MOST of them.

I have shared the room with the pool table, an air hockey table and TV. My sewing area sits between the TV viewers and their chairs. That WILL be changing. I can't hear myself think when they are trying to hear the TV over my sewing! I am thinking speakers behind their chairs. And, after wiggling audition settings around and around the room, I have convinced them that the air hockey table is just one surface too many and should go into a another room of the basement. Yippee. I think I am as happy for that as I am the new flooring.

Of course, sneak peeks around the corners where I shoved stuff indicates that much will need to be put away before my room is ready for guests. My sewing companions will be home in the next ten days. But, that is also why I stuffed most of it into closets and boxes. Labels would have been a good idea, but since I didn't do that, I just reach what I can and quietly accept that I will find the rest sometime...and it will be like finding a lost diamond!
All the Best to You, jill

The 15 Minutes Table Runner

To help you with your holiday preparations, I am offering you PERMISSION.
7. Change up your routine of when you "allow" yourself to sew. Let yourself sew at unconventional times to reduce stress.

How do I find time when I so many things to get done??

Give "The 15 Minutes Table Runner" a chance. Truly, these will go together so fast even you will be amazed.

Step #1:
Start with 3/4 yard cuts of two fabrics. This will make TWO table runners. Cut 10" wide and then a 17" wide piece will remain. Make sure cuts are perpendicular (straight with the selvage). This might mean that you will have trimmed down each piece a bit in the width.
Step #2: Sew the 10" wide strip and the 17" wide strip together with the right sides together along the right side length of the fabrics.

Step #3:
Pulling the left sides together with the right sides together. This will be reaching the 10" piece to the other side of the 17" piece. Sew together, creating a tube. This may look unbalanced, but it is correct.

Step #4:
Turn the tube right side out.

Step #5
Spread the tube out on an ironing board, distributing the border evenly on both sides of the tube.

Step #6:
Press the "borders" measuring to maintain an even width on each side of the center piece (striped fabric in the photo). The "borders" will be approximately 1-3/4" on each the left and right side of the center.

Step #7:
Trim selvages off both ends of the tube. Be sure the cut is perpendicular to the sides.

Step #8:
Fold the tube in half lengthwise, matching the border pieces.

Step #9:
Sew the ends of the folded segment, back-stitch at the beginning and end. (Option: this could be sewn as a french seam: sewing the wrong side first with a 1/8" seam and then turning to encase the seam by sewing right sides together with a 1/4" seam.)

Step #10:
Turn points on each end of the table runner right side out and press out the points. You may have to do some trimming at the point to get crisp points.

Step #11
Back of the runners will have a band of the border. Press well.

Finishing:
At the points of the table runner, you can add buttonholes and attach tassles. Consider monogramming the ends of the runner.
Options: Cutting the strip in half after Step #7 and finishing each end, you can make two placemats of the strip width. You can use a cutaway stabilizer, Decor-bond™ or batting to add more body to the table runner. Try decorator fabrics for more stability. I prefer a cutaway stabilizer such as OESD Fusible Polymesh.

Download a copy of the pattern by clicking HERE.

A Twinkling Spirit

At Christmas time, we often get so caught up in the shoulds of the world. We think we should make sure that everything is done and we should make sure that every detail is "perfect." The holiday isn't about perfect. It is about joy and celebration. Taking time to rest, to think, to watch and to just "BE" are the best ways to reduce stress.

It is so important that you make your gift-creating time work for the person you love and for you. Celebrating that person while you are creating is healthy and doubles the joy of giving. I stress making things very simple when we are in these last days before gift-giving time not because it is easy or because I am lazy but rather because it is a time to give ourselves tender care as well as to share the gift of sincere and generous giving, not a spirit of bitterness.

5. As you sew, think about the person you are sewing for. This is the gift to YOU.
6. Savor every moment of sewing.

Nice picture of most of our staff from our Christmas Party. Along with being a sharp-looking bunch, these are some of the best people I have ever had the privilege of working with. They give so much of themselves to help our customers be inspired and they inspire each other. What a great gift to enjoy in one's workplace.

On Sunday, we had a great time celebrating with our customers at our annual holiday party. If you missed it, you will want to make sure you mark your calendar for next year. Not only did we have a great time but each person got a gift of a FREE premier embroidery design collection or a $50 gift certificate to use on any kit in the store. So, if you were at the party, be sure to bring in your ticket and get your gift. As for the 2010 party, watch for it to be held in mid November. We are going to move it up to better fit your calendars. It will be a Sunday afternoon again from 3-6:00. We had great food and a lot of fun. Everyone got to participate in fabulous specials. All attendees can still use their specials on the kits through December 31. If you want to see some of the projects we shared, stop in and check them out in our downstairs classroom. They are amazing!

Go to our web site to collect a FREE copy of the pattern of an easy and quick table runner. You can truly make this one in less and 30 minutes. We have 3/4 yard cut kits for this one in the store. You will find that you can get THREE table runners out of one kit. WOW! The kits we have made up are from Figgy Pudding, Winterscapes, City Girl Holiday, Snow Show and more. These work out to about $6 a runner. You can't beat that one.
(FREE PATTERN....Just Click on these highlighted words and you will go to our web site where you can download the pattern as a pdf)

All the Best to You, jill

Then I Will Be Happy

As we trek forward towards Christmas, I am continuing doing my best to help you to keep the holidays less stressful.

4. Prioritize what would most make YOU HAPPY to get done.

I think in respect to my shortcomings, the one thing I do very well is choose happiness and know that it is MY responsibility to maintain my happiness. Regardless of your history, your life story, your pain, you alone are responsible for your own happiness. In fact, I believe that anyone who has grown up with a less than perfect family, hit all the walls, suffered all the agonies of the world are BETTER EQUIPPED to be happy than most people.

It pains me listen to a litany of all the things some believe they must do for the holidays. If you put the phrase "...then I would be happy," after each of the things you think you MUST get done in time for the holidays, you will hear how absurd it might be. Let's give it a try.

•Send out Christmas cards to 250 people...then I will be happy.
•Bake cookies for all the people who don't really like me but is my chance to suck up to them and hope they will like me....then I will be happy.
•Stay up all night making a dress for my co-worker's grand-daughter's boyfriend's niece that she can wear it to a Christmas program that I won't attend....then I will be happy.
•Over-extend my credit cards to impress my family and friends with my generosity and stress myself out for three months while I try to figure out how to pay the bills...then I will be happy.

Sounds pretty absurd.

I am not thumbing my nose at anyone's traditions, but it is important to note that none of us can or should try to do it all.

Sewing little things for my family and friends with no pressure...DOES make me happy. I think about the people receiving the gift and the joy they will have using it, wearing it or just seeing it. The most simple gifts make them happy because I put a lot of thought into what would bring them joy and I gave it because I loved making it for them.

I have been visioning a Christmas stitchery made of one of my favorite machine embroidery collections. As the snowstorm built up yesterday, I took out one of my very favorite fabric collections and picked threads to go with this collection. While I am writing this, my embroidery machine is diligently (and happily) stitching out the designs. I am stitching these out for my family. They love decorating at Christmas and the thought of the joy it brings them makes me very happy.

My husband loves getting Christmas cards. Sending a Christmas letter is important to him and working through that process makes him happy. I help him because seeing him delight over Christmas cards makes me happy.

My SIL, Sally shared with me her memories of baking cookies for Christmas with her sisters. Her eyes twinkled as she told me the story. Imagining the joy of her re-telling and how she has brought this tradition to her six sons. I am sure Sally had times she had to drag the boys through it; but watching how kind and loving her boys are, I am confident that Sally's happiness was transmitted to them in the joy of giving at Christmas. Each time I share cookies that Sally and her sisters have lovingly and lavishly brought together at the holidays, I think of Sally's happiness and my heart is warmed.

As you consider what traditions you carry with you at this holiday season, only choose that which makes you happy. Your love and passion will be evident in these things. Before you delve deep into any "hafta do" or "oughta do" or "should do" projects today, sit back with a warm cup of cocoa or tea and think about what brings you happiness and watch the ought and shoulds take their proper place...NOT in your life.

Happiness is a choice!

All the Best to You, jill

Be Fair To Yourself...

Among my list of things to keep in mind with holiday sewing, I have listed one of my toughest lessons learned...."3. Be fair to yourself in time evaluation for sewing." Not respecting ourselves enough to say "no" to some projects, even if the "no" is to ourselves is neither noble nor healthy. Many of us possess a very unattractive martyrdom over what we will sew for others.

Much as I would love to sew pajamas for some children for Christmas, I don't think I can absolutely get it done. I have bought the fabric for the flannel pajamas to fit the children I am thinking about for NEXT Christmas.

I confess, I have been very guilty of buying into the notion that unless I make it at the last minutes of December that it isn't quite like "giving" a project. However, over the last couple of years, I have made projects that I know are things that our kids have admired. As I made them or as they discovered them, I have kept note of the ones they love. I don't do things even and "fair" at every holiday. They have never complained that one year is their clothes year and someone else's toy year. It just depends on their personality, where they are in their lives and what we truly feel called to give them. So, I am very excited to have some special projects set aside for the kids this year. (I can't tell you what they are because sometimes my kids read my blog!)

My family will appreciate a well-rested and composed mother and wife more than a bunch of handmade gifts that I tried to squeeze into the holiday plans. When I suggest a handmade gift at this late date, I am not talking about a bed-sized quilt. Placemats, handbags, aprons, pillows, flannel lounge pants, pajamas and pillowcases are the perfect fare for the season.

I am presently working in 3/4 yard cuts and having a blast with them. I will be showing these things at our coming Holiday Party on Sunday, December 13. It is amazing what one can do with a well-coordinated set of fabrics. This kind of sewing will be fun to create and fun to give. I hope you can come and party with us!

When I look at the projects to be done, I make an estimate of time as uninterrupted time and then I add a couple hours. If I get more done faster....bonus. If not, I don't stress about it. Be sure to leave time to do your wrapping. I also wrap things up as I finish them and am so excited because this year, Moda has made up wrapping papers to match a couple of fabric lines, including Figgy Pudding. Stunning stuff!

When I suggest being fair to yourself, it is not only a time constraint but also a creativity constraint. Last year, Therese spent a couple days making cake balls for Christmas. I think I enjoyed watching her pour her heart into this project as much as she enjoyed creating these beautiful and delicious gifts. Joel helped her out and it was such a treat to watch them have fun making the treats. Their efforts were giving themselves the gift of making that which they truly wanted to do. While the cakes were beautiful and delicious, I would hope they can only do them in the future if they enjoyed doing them. This is the definition for being fair to yourself. Christmas is a time for gifting. Gift yourself with the care you well-deserve.

I Give You Permission

Rather than grab onto a sullen pout that the calendar is running faster towards Christmas, I take some serious steps that have served me well. Keep in mind that I wasn't born with these techniques but rather I have had to cultivate them, born of frustration and exhaustion.

Are you a kindred spirit? I believe so.

Before we get started, let me give you permission. You are the person who is usually sewing out of love for the recipients of your gifts. Some people buy out of love for their recipients. One is NOT more noble than the other. Each should be an expression of our heart lest it be falsehood to gift in any other manner. Give yourself permission to not sew for anyone you don't love...truly!

1. Before starting any creative projects, put away all the distractions from your creating space.

For some of us this will entail whole cleaning. I recommend that you figure out what you can do in less than half a day. Your inspiration area may never be ready to be featured in "Where Women Create" or "Studio". The goal here is to make it so that you can function.

I recently purchased new Koala studio pieces (which I love, love, love). I am having my flooring worked on in a few weeks. It would be a ridiculous choice for me to work on re-decorating and putting my stash of stuff "away". So, I have stored it in a couple closets. To get through Thanksgiving, I first dumped it in the areas. All the while, I sort out things for donation or for dumping if it isn't inspiring me any longer. Out of sight. Out of mind. (Take that how you wish.) Last week, I started digging through the stuff to find the things I WANT to work on. I set aside anything that is beyond my ability to finish in this short time.

And repeat: I sort out things for donation or for dumping if it isn't inspiring me any longer.

2. Set out all the things you would LIKE to get done for the holidays.

I stacked the things up that I WANT to sew. I went to the store and bought the colors of fabrics that I really want to sew for my loved ones. I have been petting the Figgy Pudding fabric at the store. I know I have some very special people in my life who are going to love these fresh new things. It is time we all quit thinking it noble to refrain from sewing with what inspires us in the hopes that it will inspire us to want to sew the ugly stuff we are hanging onto in our stash.

And repeat: I sort out things for donation or for dumping if it isn't inspiring me any longer.

I made sure to add some new patterns that inspire me. When I brought it home, I made a list of what I want to get done. Went to bed. Wake up and remove the unreasonable things.

As I sort through the projects, I remember the stuff that I have in my stash that will help this project. I find piping and plan to use it all up (because I know I will lose it and forget it later).

As I dig through that older stuff, I sort out things for donation or for dumping if it isn't inspiring me any longer.

Depending on my mood, I will decide my course of action. Respecting your patterns of behavior, you need to decide how you best function. For me, when I am tired, I can't sit a long time lest I get sleepy. So, I like to stand and cut. I put in a good movie and start cutting out everything. I lay out two or three projects that when I am more up to sewing, I can just sew.

If I am ready to sit and sew, I will pull up Pandora on my computer and listen to music and sew and sew and sew.

Start asking yourself about when you are most productive. I find that late at night and early in the morning are my best times. I also respect that sometimes I need a 20 minute rest in the afternoon. This may not be a nap but rather a time to just enjoy quiet and not doing. When you start practicing these disciplines that respect your own style of creating, you will find that you not only are more productive but also are much less frustrated. Giving your creativity as a gift should benefit the recipient but also the giver. Give yourself the gift of PEACE.

All the Best to You, jill

How Creative People Survive the Holidays

While Christmas is looming around the corner, I would urge you to do one thing that will make your holiday season better all the way around. Don't sew anything for anyone that you don't truly in your heart want to do. We are all pretty guilty of this and are oft well known for burning the midnight oil to finish up those projects in time for gifts. I look back on family photos from Christmases past and see the kids in nice hand sewn clothes, and I have bags under my eyes from trying to get them sewn in time to get the cards out in the mail before Christmas. Crazy. For sure! However, over the weekend, Therese was going through the trunk of little dresses and suits that I'd made over the years for our children. Listening to her delight over her favorites and tell me how much she loved this one and that and how she remembered family events and how special she felt wearing her new clothes...well, I think it probably wasn't so crazy after all. That the kids loved the feel of new clothes that were handmade gave me a lot of joy. I clearly remember being happy the whole time I was sewing for them. They would check on the progress of their things.

I now think it wasn't the sewing for the kids that sent me over the edge but rather all the things I tried to sew for everyone else. A family friend often had me making curtains for her home. After the third bedroom, I tried to let her know that it was really hard for me to do this with my young children and asked if she could just order the curtains from the Penney's catalog that she had me working from to redesign her curtains. She was indignant and told me that she would think I would have wanted to earn the money being I have a big family. Little did she know, I charged just a pittance because I was doing more of a favor for her since she wanted to save money from buying them in the catalog. I was charging her less than she could order them. Boy, that was a lesson quickly learned. (On top of that, I never remember telling her I needed the money because I had a big family, her assumption was in error.) What I "lost" in earnings was gained in wisdom that has served me well for a long time.

I clearly remember when I stopped trying to sew for everyone and do everything at Christmas time. It really hasn't anything to do with age or ability but is the stuff that I pass on to our children and anyone who will hear. The holidays are no longer stressful to me because I reduced my stress level by making a conscious choice to better care for myself. I love the holidays because I do what I want, create what I want and ignore the rest.

Following are the key elements to surviving the holidays with less stress:
1. Before starting any creative projects, put away all the distractions from your creating space.
2. Set out all the things you would LIKE to get done for the holidays.
3. Be fair to yourself in time evaluation for sewing.
4. Prioritize what would most make YOU HAPPY to get done.
5. As you sew, think about the person you are sewing for. This is the gift to YOU.
6. Savor every moment of sewing.
7. Change up your routine of when you "allow" yourself to sew. Let yourself sew at unconventional times to reduce stress.
8. Plan to wrap up some of the patterns and fabrics without finishing them
9. Plan to not finish things you aren't inspired to finish.
10. Be kind to yourself.
11. The moment you get anxious about getting it all done, set it aside. Grab a cup of hot cocoa and look at Christmas lights.
12. Don't hinge your happiness on finishing EVERYTHING.
13. Listen to Christmas music if you want or listen to the Stillness if you need.

If you forget these lessons, keep coming back the next couple of weeks. I will be your sewing cheerleader and remind you of what you are trying to accomplish.
jill

Ain't No Mountain High Enough...

...No Valley Low Enough.....to keep me from sewing!

A few weeks ago, Henry and Joel brought in my new Koala sewing studio to my current sewing space. Since I was gone when they did this, they "stacked" all the notions and fabrics and stuff on the pool table and any horizontal surface to move the old stuff out and make room for my new and fabulously beautiful studio. I have done my best to not wait until it is all in place before I started sewing. If I wait that long, I'll be a wreck.

Plus, you know how it goes when you get new furniture. You measure and vision and are sure it will work this way and then it arrives and it has the wrong "feel" in that configuration. So for the past two weeks, I have moved these four fabulous pieces around my sewing space. I have tried nearly every configuration, drawn it out and dreamed about it. I go to sleep thinking, "if this piece is here and I move that there...." A couple of times I got up and went to my sewing room in my pajamas and started re-arranging furniture.

Most of the time I kept shoving stuff around and moving stacks of books, patterns and notions around. Knowing that if I start putting it in the drawers, I won't have a good feel of where everything goes until everything is sitting where I want it. And, even with that I can't set it all up because in early December I am having the carpets cleaned. It will all be upended again!

So why the hurry to do anything? It is my dream space. It is my getaway and all it does right now is scream "Get Away!" With Thanksgiving coming, I don't want our guests to enjoy every notion, thread, fabric and publication I have ever purchased being spread out all over the pool table and the air hockey table. (Those are my room companions.) Feeling the crunch of time, I decided to implement plan B. That would entail shoving stuff into storage. Since the closest storage is the room for the house electrical, that seems obvious to me. I am sure my husband Henry will veto it when (and if) he sees it. Nonetheless, in the relief of having some of the mountains of stuff out of the way, I visioned a new way for the sewing room to sit. Poor Johanna (my 17 year young daughter) got recruited for yet another move around the sewing room. She has her own studio piece in the room; so, she is a bit motivated to assist me. And magic happened! I had been trying to take up as little space in the room to save space for a TV for Henry and ample space for the kids to play pool and air hocket. Then it dawned on me...this is really my room and I am just letting them share it with me. So, I spread out a bit more and found a lovely configuration to the room. I selected the studio pieces that my family can all sew together when they come home at holiday times. With the newest piece from Koala, I have a cutting station that can also be fitted into TWO sewing spaces. I absolutely love these pieces. They are heavy critters but they are so manageable and functional. I selected the tallest pieces of them that I could have ample shelving for my publications, fabrics, notions and even my knitting stuff. I also like the higher height with the adjustable foot rests. On top of that, they are so pretty. Mine are the cherry finish. When I get the room all "set" and decorated, I will certainly share those pictures. However, I always think it is great to share with my friends the process pictures. The pictures in progress should make you feel a little better about your creating space.

The process is what is the most fun and the most invigorating. The product brings closure and sets balance for me. However, it is the process that gives me the energy and the inspiration to go. That I get so excited about configuring my sewing room gives one a glimpse of how I think. Imagine what happens when I vision sewing and creating?!

A couple of my favorite magazines Where Women Create and Studios by Cloth, Paper, Scissors really speak to the creative in each of us. I study the way the rooms are set up and love to see personalities blooming from those spaces. Not usually highly stylized spaces many are so functional and normal....perhaps tubs for fabric, recycled dressers, shelving units borrowed from other places. Each of them speak of functionality and comfort for the designer. Then today a home design magazine came in the mail. While beautiful spaces with large open areas, I kept wondering where their "stuff" was. Where do they keep the magazines they are studying? Where are the notes, the artwork and the creations of clay from kids and grandkids? I wonder if they keep boxes of special things to sort and study. While I need enough order to find my things, my spaces are combination of who I am, who I was and who I love.

Occasionally my daughters will tease me about things mauve and blue or the many hand-woven basket, but I just cannot part with things that still have function and still bring me great joy as I remember their childhoods of growing up in a house of country blue and mauve and a lifetime of collecting their things and my things in baskets handmade by friends. With age, I just get more and more sentimental. However, just as it was when I considered the space I should take up for my creating time, I am old enough now to relinquish any sort of modesty about being inordinately tidy or organized. I doubt I will be much remembered for someone else's vision and will be more likely remembered for the passion for life that I have.

Affording ourselves a space and time and freedom from serious restrictions on our creative expression is the best form of self-care we can enjoy. Cultivating a healthy amount of self-expression and an avenue for us to keep touch with who we are is the most life-giving thing we can do to afford us each the chance to better serve others and to become who we are called to be in our daily walk.

I need a sewing day...scratch....MONTH...scratch....LIFE

Having been on the road the past six weeks for work and family, I have been too long away from home and my own sewing room. The nice thing is I have had a couple of chances to quilt and got a bit of escape. Problems and worry just melt away when I machine quilt. I know this isn't so for everyone but for me, it is like a child with chalk and a blank sidewalk. What makes it easy for me isn't that I have a natural bend to it but rather complete abandon. I don't get all hung up about if there is a "right way" to quilt. In fact, if there is a "right way" I am sure to find a new path.

I have great appreciation for quilt masters. I am transfixed watching Karen McTavish dance the needle across her quilts. I am in awe to watch the details of Diane Gaudynski's work and am always thrilled to see my own replicas when I use an embroidery machine with her designs. While at the AQS show in Des Moines, I got to spend some time watching Marilyn Badger and the easy conversation of how she enjoys her APQS and the new cruise feature.

While on retreat, I got back to my Red Silk quilt. My rendition is from Terry Atkinson's Happy Hour book, called Snap Shots. I love this quilt and loved it more as I quilted it with one of my new favorite products....silk that is variagated. I love silk thread anyway and variagated is beyond my wildest dreams. I FINISHED my quilt in a day and quilted it such that the rectangles "popped." Let me know what you think. I love it!!

When I was a younger soul, I longed to be an artist. I have no regret even though I am not living in Paris as a starving artist. My life, my creative journey, my passion, my family and friends are so much more than I envisioned. Life is always a surprise and an absolute joy to me. My Red Silk lovely is my expression and MY dance. Give it a try. Red Silk kit is a collection of fat quarters that will take you to a new place with your imagination!

I have been asked what am I going to do with my Red Silk Dance. I am not really sure what that means. Red Silk Dance has done so much for me. I smile everytime I see it. I loved every minute of sewing it. I even love the pictures of it. Do you think anyone asked Vincent Van Gogh what he was going to do with his painting Starry Night?

There need not be a practical side of my sewing. But, if one needs to justify it, I would suggest that Red Silk Dance makes me happy, brings me joy. So, it is better than medication!

All the Best to You, jill

QuiltPosium Shipping September 1!

Did you get your copy of the NEW Sew Inspired News from Pine Needles? This is the first of a new copy for just tips, techniques and inspirations and online stuff . Then we have a separate mailing just for in-store events.

A few months ago my friend Jim West of Sew Many Places asked me to write an article for an online magazine he was going to offer people about quilting with articles about sewing, gardening, travelling and life in general. Wow....and in my true style, I took my time and was very late with getting my article in to Jim. But he was a good sport about it. I shipped it off and forgot about it.

Last night a couple of friends came over to our house and told me they had seen my picture in a magazine and that it was with others like Kaye England and Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson. I was VERY confused. We were celebrating my arriving at the 25th anniversary of my 25th birthday and I did as all of us in that age bracket due when faced with confusion...ignored it. (Confusion becomes a friend after a while....easily forgiven.)

Then this morning, I log into Facebook (FB for those of you new to this lingo) and learned that I AM in an article and it is featuring the release date of a new publication that you can get for FREE. On September 1, you can get your own online subscription to QuiltPosium. Just go to the web site and register yourself. You can be in the ground floor of this new publication. And. Indeed, I do have an article in the magazine. (hmmm....wonder what I wrote about.)

At any rate, QuiltPosium is featured as "Living and traveling with a Quilter's Eye". Dubbed at the most exciting, ground-breaking, online magazine quilters will ever see! It's informative, entertaining and it's FREE! You'll enjoy articles by some of today's biggest names in the quilting industry* Jinny Beyer, Kaye England, Eleanor Burns, Ricky Tims, Meg Cox, Alex Anderson, HD Wilbanks, Luana Rubin, Matt Sparrow, Jill Reicks, Rita Fishel, Pat Sloan, Tim Holtz, Charlotte Angotti, Alex Veronelli, Kathy Blank, Pam Holland, Doug Eagleson, Andrea Bishop, Vicky Tracy, Debbie Homer and many more!

You'll also read about gardening, cooking, crafts and take a journey on our Sew Many Places cruises and tours as you learn more about the fun places quilters are going around the world.

And you'll be in stitches as you view the very first centerfold to ever appear in a quilting magazine-legendary educator, designer and author Kaye England! You won't believe what she is up to in that centerfold!

Don't delay, register today! Pre-register for the Premier issue NOW!

While I realize that emails and blogs and web sites aren't as interesting as sewing and creating, I am fascinated by the way we can connect to incredible talents all over the world and have a network of friends.

If you aren't on our email list, you can go to our web site and join one or both email lists. Just REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE for our newsletters.

And if you want to catch a peek at our newest email I just sent out today...there's an article about sewing with silk, the clip about QuiltPosium, a peek at My Quilt Village and a great Block of the Month. Didn't catch the email....
Click HERE to see the today's version of our Sew Inspired email news!

All the Best to You, jill
P.S. As to the "biggest names in the quilting industry..." (EDITORIAL NOTE FROM JILL: "this is their writing not mine, but thanks for putting me among some great talents. It's nice to sit at their table a bit.")

Tree of Life

Therese recently finished her Tree of Life quilt. This one has been a quilt she has been longing to do for quite some time. Designed by Ricky Tims, the kit is made up of hand-dyed fabrics that Ricky's team creates in their hometown of LaVeta, Colorado (Home of The Quilt Show...which he hosts with Alex Anderson). The quilt is phenomenal because it combines Ricky's techniques from Convergence Quilts combined with raw-edge applique. This was an incredibly inspiring project for her to work on and especially inviting with Ricky's hand-dyed fabrics. Therese is now going to have her grandparents sign her quilt as part of her family tree, Tree of Life.
It was so much fun to see these quilts again that we made sure we put several options for a class on Convergence Quilting for the Fall run of classes.

I celebrated what one might deem as a "big birthday" this last week. Jackie Onassis, Stevie Wonder, Rita Scott, Olivia Maharry and I all share the same birthday. While a lot of people enjoy taking shots at us old people about our age, I have never found it amusing. Don't get me wrong, I am not vain about my age. I have always thought it rather pointless....it isn't a choice after all! I do enjoy being older for a lot of reasons. I would never want to be 20 again. It was a fun age to be, but the wisdom and knowledge I have now are so much better than I thought I had then. I also love being more comfortable in my own skin. I look around my sewing room and am less annoyed with tidiness than celebrating the freedom I enjoy in creating. I have always loved being with little kids. They so get the world and how to think about it. But, I enjoy them more now as I am aging because I am past fretting about my own kids being a reflection of my parenting (another benefit of aging...my kids aren't aren't truly a reflection of us if we raised them to think for themselves).

So, after ten years of saying "I'm almost 50" (Yes, I have been saying that for ten years. Then people would go "whoa, you DON'T look 50"....even though I might have been only 41.) So now my friend Kay Shindelar is telling me that she says "I am in my fifties." I like that!

In closing, my sage advice for the day is this....eat dessert first...you might not be hungry enough to have it at the end of the meal. And, dream big and live abundantly.

All the Best to You, JILL

Love Those Details

When my kids were younger and loved fussy kid clothes, I loved the detailing. I learned to applique for the first time on a homemade onesie (that is BEFORE onesie was a word or a thing). It was awful applique as I didn't understand stabilizer and my $99 sewing machine didn't allow me to reduce stitch length to a satin stitch. I bought that little machine when I started college and made all of my clothes except my jeans. Of course, everyone on my floor thought that since I had a sewing machine I would want to mend their jeans. (It didn't take me long to discover that I didn't need to reveal that I knew how to sew.)

In teaching myself to applique at that time, I didn't have access to fusible products as we have now. So, I improvised with stitch witchery which I used now and again for hems. Expensive for this process but I was thrilled with the results. My resource for learning these techniques was an ancient sewing book that I had pretty well memorized. Before my $99 machine, I could only do bound buttonholes--not even knowing that was an advanced technique. My sewing machine from high school was my mom's old machine, a Singer with a wooden case that I ran with a knee control and it only had a straight stitch. So being self-taught, I learned from a 30 year old sewing book (which now would be almost 60 years old) and now realize that the techniques I learned are fine techniques with great details and great finishes and are actually considered fairly high functioning detail work in sewing.

When I moved on to advance my applique skills, I add heirloom sewing skills and loved the concepts of pin tucks, winged needles and lace insertions. I became a Martha Pullen groupie, nearly looking holes in every publication I bought. I never learned smocking as it wasn't one of my favorite techniques but I was enchanted by cutwork. I have always studied fabrics and textures to try to figure out how they use them and what could be done to add more in detail. I really love gadgets like rolled hem feet, rufflers and bias binders. They are such smart tools. After having sewn on a lot of machines in my lifetime, I have a real appreciation for the fine tooling of these accessories on my Bernina machines. Not because I am a dealer but rather because I have had my share of the generic ones for the other machines and love my Bernina accessories which are tooled for performance and durability.

With machine embroidery...well that is the ULTIMATE sewing tool for me. Being able to do cutwork, applique, digitizing and so much more, my head spins with ideas!

This last week, I got to sit in a bit on our Master-Your-Machine classes on heirloom sewing. It was like looking in on Santa's workshop as I watched them do a lace insertion technique and fall in love with winged needle work. I wondered what happen to all the blouses I made over the years with those techniques. However, as I think about it...most of that stuff was my maternity clothes. (Oh yeah, passed them on to friends. I am sure they have had a good life.) What a delightful treat to remember these techniques. It is like finding a good novel and reading the good parts again. (Or am I the only one that does stuff like that?)

It also reminded me of Monica's apron she made while we were on vacation. Our kids grew up with mom sewing and always had ample access to sewing and crafting. However, I never pushed it. They all sewed at some level out of a desire to learn. To this day, I can't say that I have done a lot (except stay out of the way and smile and encourage) to teach them. I am available when they have questions, but like myself, they learn a lot by observing, questioning and researching. So, I was thrilled to see Monica take on an apron of this proportion. Details like a reversible apron, gathered bodice, draw string neck and classy pockets made this a challenge for her. But she is very proud of this as am I for her !

I have had lots of mothers tell me they have to work so hard to resist the urge to pull out stitches their kids sew or to not start working for the kids to rush things along. I have never really had that urge. I think it is because I know how much I grew in my own sewing skills by not having someone hover over me. I took on projects that good sense should have made me never consider. However, I also know I am not alone. Many sewers my age keenly remember winging it and learning on our own. I give a lot of credit to programs such as 4-H. If parents and leaders can just cheerlead and stay out of the way, kids can do great things. Next week, our kids camp starts at the store. I love it because I get to see the kids soar. We give direction but we always leave room for the kids to express themselves. I think I have as much fun as the kids do!

My kids didn't always wear or use everything they sewed, but they each have memories of the process. Keeping in mind that Monica's first sewing project was sewing a thumb mitten that she could put on her thumb at nights to help her quit sucking her thumb, I would say her apron is a long and positive way. But, I still wish thumb mitten would have survived the wash and wear (and probably eventual flushing) as it still makes me smile to think of it.

Sometimes I like to just practice a few techniques and envision what they will be on a valance or a table cloth. I like to just play on samples and write notes on them. (But then I am probably the person who while I am reading a book, will skip ahead and randomly read a future segment, then watch the plot unfold trying to figure out how the author will get the story line to my random reading.)

So now that you got a glimpse at the weird way my brain works, I hope I have encouraged you to go and pull out the decorative stitches on your machine, thread it up with a winged needle (or better yet a twin-winged needle) and see what comes of it. Be sure to use a natural fiber (cotton or linen or flax) as it will only keep the holes with natural fibers.

All the Best to You, jill

p.s. If you want to learn more about the book Monica used, just click on the photograph and it will take you the link about it.