Sometimes Completion is More Important than Perfection

As the baby shower approached I had to make a decision - would it be awesome or would it get finished? Let's just say it was pretty close to awesome and it got finished just in the nick of time.

Sure, it could have been better. The piecing was good. My skills are definitely improving. It was the actual quilting that was less than stellar. Unfortunately, I just couldn't give it the time it deserved. To be honest, quilting isn't something I have a lot of experience with, so even if I'd had time, I'm pretty sure than it still wouldn't have been "perfect."

There was something difficult for me about accepting that this project would be inadequate. I had so wanted it to be flawless. Ha! Who am I kidding? I'm not capable of flawless. But, at this point, I am capable of pretty darned good. Come to think of it, there's really nothing wrong with pretty darned good ... especially if I'm not trying to get a ribbon. It's a baby quilt for goodness sake. Little Jude will not be complaining that my stitching isn't on the money.

I'm just thankful to have the opportunity, skills and materials to make this unique, one-of-a-kind gift for someone special. Quilting is fun, even when it's not perfect.

Birthday Reflections

Forty nine. It’s just a number, right?

Well it’s a significant number today, because it’s mine to claim. I’m no longer in my “mid forties.” I suppose I have to own the fact that I’m approaching 50 and should now embrace my late forties. While the body does indeed ache a little more, I really don’t feel that much older. Life is still full of wonders and little things still bring excitement. I’m believing more and more that age is a state of mind.

There are many seniors in my life who have the enthusiasm of youth. It's a pleasure to be in their company. And then there are some who are just plain grumpy. Every time I’m around them I wonder if I’m going to say something that will be ridiculed or considered offensive. I refuse to accept that as you age you have to become a curmudgeon.

Business man and poet Samuel Ullman said it well in this poem:

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a body of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what's next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.

Bring on youth!

Finally Finished

My best friend, Judy, is coming to visit in a few weeks. She's going to sleep on our extra bed upstairs. The only quilt I have for that bed is over 20 years old and falling apart. This will not be acceptable.

I've had a flimsy complete since I went to a retreat about 3 years ago, but I wasn't loving this quilt and wasn't sure I wanted to keep it. I pulled it out and decided that maybe if I had it quilted I would like it better. I met with a local long-arm quilter and got an estimate that was a tad high for my tastes. After some thought and discussion, I decided that custom quilting wasn't really necessary. An allover meandering pattern would do quite nicely and was much less expensive. So off to the quilter it went.

Once quilted, I had a new appreciation for this old JoAnn's Block of the Month cutie. With the deadline of my visiting friend fast approaching, I whipped the binding on in no time. Ahhh....the power of a deadline! I'm hoping that power will come into play on this, not-yet-started baby quilt.



I'll keep you posted.

Super Thankful

Last week was a week of many blessings.

Blessing #1 - There has been some cleaning out going on at work (a quilt shop). It was determined that some fabric needed to go and I was the very happy recipient of 2 yards.



Blessing #2 - My friend/quilting gal (Dawn) has been cleaning out her sewing room and throwing away - yes, I said throwing away - fabric. Can you imagine? Neither could I. I told her in no uncertain terms that I would take that "trash" off her hands. When she brought me a 33 gallon trash bag almost full with fabric I was giddy.



Blessing #3 - Another friend/quilting gal from my home state of California has a quilt pattern business. I follow her projects and life happenings on her blog, Robin Quilts, Etc. She was at Market last week and attended an event called Sample Spree. She had a contest on her blog and was going to gift one commenter with an item she picked up at Sample Spree. I was the winning commenter, so I'm going to be receiving a Robert Kaufman Roll Up in the mail soon.



I am so blessed and very, very thankful.

Block 3

This is the 3rd block in the Romance Continues Block of the Month by Marti Michell. This picture is a bit blurry, but I actually think I like my fabrics better than those that come in the block of the month kit each month. I haven't shared those yet, have I? I'll save that for another blog post.

I've also got a large quilt that I need to start binding. So far, the strips are cut and sewn together.



Next is the ironing and attaching. And then finally, the hand sewing. This is probably my favorite part of quiltmaking - it means another quilt is almost finised. And since my bff is coming to visit next month and needs to sleep under this quilt, I'd better get moving.

Panic - Not!

Okay....I tried to log into my blogger account and couldn't. So I kind of panicked, thinking maybe I'd been hacked. But no...I was just using the wrong password or email or both. When did life become so packed with information? So full of content? So distractingly crazy.

I could sit and read blog posts all day because there are just so many good blogs to read - couponing, quilting, cooking, etc. (By the way, spell check doesn't consider couponing a word. Yeah, right!) Plus articles on the latest news, saving money, celebrities and so on. And then there are the TV programs that I can access online. Oh yeah, add working on the budget to the list. Ahhhh...so much to process. And meanwhile, my backside just grows and grows. Must ... get ... control.



That's why I'm going to go for a walk tomorrow morning. I might not be fast, but at least I'll tie on the shoes and get in some steps. Right now the mornings are perfect for enjoying outside. While I'm at it I'll take the time to talk to God about all that I'm thankful for and all I need to entrust to Him. I'm looking forward to it.

A Little Bit at a Time

So ... if sewing soothes the soul, why don't I do it every day? Well, the answer is simple - time. One has to think ahead and plan a little so that when one has the chance one can just get going. I'm working on this, so that I can make good use of the snippets of time that appear in my life.

Having goals also helps to make wise use of time. I have a dear friend coming to visit me in approximately 3 months. She will be staying in our "guest bedroom/husband's hobby room." The bed we have for this room is a futon (we hear it's hard as a rock, so we bought an egg-crate topper, but I digress). I would like for my dear friend to be the first to sleep under an Americana quilt that I hope to have complete at that time.

I bought the parts for this quilt in a kit series from Jo-Ann about 10 years ago. I thought it was so cute back then. Over time I grew to be less enamored with the quilt top. But as it's completion comes closer I am once again finding it attractive.

The goal for this week was to contact the quilter and find out when she could pick it up. You see, this quilt is rather large and I'm a little out of practice when it comes to the art of machine quilting, so I opted to have someone else tackle this job. I was a little surprised when she told me she was available the next day, which is today. So last night, my next goal of seaming the backing fabric, was set for me.

Here's a little peek of what the backing looks like.



When I get the quilt back and have finished binding it (in less than 3 months, hopefully) I'll post a pic. I'm excited for this quilt to be completed and this goal to be met. But it didn't happen quickly. It took a little bit at a time.