I was so excited yesterday about finishing a little quilt top that I just couldn’t hold it in. I joined a Block of the Month class on Craftsy and I was getting worried that I wouldn’t even get to the first block, because it was so close to the end of the month and I hadn’t even looked at the class online. On Thursday I decided that I had to at least try , so I logged in to Craftsy and opened up the first lesson in the class. After the brief intro, the instructor said to look at the class materials list and to get everything together that I would need. Well, the fabric list was very long (a.k.a. expensive) and I didn’t really like how the finished quilt looked. Since it’s a block of the month, there are a lot of different patterns involved and they were different sizes and it just wasn’t appealing to my eye. This led me to debate with myself over whether to buy fabric that all matched or just make the individual blocks and decide what to do with each one as I make it. Since I have a stash of fabric and my goal is to use it up (so I can buy more! ), and I don’t like the whole finished quilt anyway, I decided to do individual projects. One decision made. Now, what fabric to use. The first block is a log cabin and my mind is stuck on all this Christmas fabric I have, so I decided to use the Christmas fabric. I started the tutorial, and was very impressed with the step by step method of her teaching. My goal is, after all, to become comfortable with the process of quilting and there was a lot of repeating with this block. Sew…cut…press…trim…sew…cut….press…trim…and so on. We were making four blocks at once so my mind wandered to just putting the four blocks together for a mat for a vase or a centerpiece.
I started slowly with the pressing, and folding, and measuring and cutting and eventually I had the four center squares with one “log” attached to each one. I went back to my computer and watched the next part of the video to see how I should continue. I ended up with two strips of fabric sewed on to each square and pressed and trimmed.
Friday was grocery shopping with a migraine day, so I didn’t do any sewing.
Saturday was visit with the in-laws with a migraine day….again no sewing.
Thankfully, I felt better on Sunday so I spent a couple hours on Sunday afternoon and evening working on my blocks. Well, I was so excited when I finished all four blocks! I just kept looking at them and smiling.
I played with them a little bit, turning them this way and that, until I found a pattern that caught my eye. I decided to sew them together that way so I wouldn’t forget. I messed it up first and had to rip it apart and do it again, but the next time I got it right. Then, I decided that it needed a border, so I picked the fabric for the border. I was going to leave it for today, but I was on a roll so I cut the fabric and sewed it on. It was ‘sew’ simple and it was done! The whole top of the mini-quilt was done! I was so excited that I took it around to show my family….they just don’t get it. My daughter’s comment was, “further proof that you don’t have a life.” She was just joking, of course, but the fact is that quilting is MY thing, and my family is very “eh” about the whole thing.
What most excited me is that it’s still January and I have the January block done! and put together into a little project that is also complete!….well almost, but the top is done. In this instance, I accomplished one goal of putting the kabash on procrastination.
I was so excited about completing one goal, that I decided to go for another! This morning I finished my classic book for the month! I read The Stranger by Albert Camus. It was a short book so I knew I wouldn’t be over reaching and trying to do too much at the beginning of the year and getting overwhelmed before I could get a start on accomplishing my goals.
Another goal I have accomplished for January so far, is posting to my blog at least three times a week. Since I’ve been doing so much more than I used to, it’s not hard to find ideas to write about. It’s amazing how doing one thing positive can lead to a good snowball effect just as easily as negatives can lead to the negative snowball effect. I much prefer clean, white snowballs to muddy ones!
I have to go back and review to see just how many goals I have succeeded in conquering this month, but I feel really good! I know I haven’t accomplished all of my goals, but I will keep working on it. It takes time to adapt and change and I will not be discouraged! On the last day of each month I am going to review my goals, see what I have done well on and what still needs work, and revise and tweak my goals for the next month if I need to.
I’m not posting about this because I think anyone really cares, but because it’s a form of accountability for me. It has really helped to keep me on track and focused. I see all the wonderful things that all my blogger friends do and write and I want to do them too! Hopefully, by me writing about these things, someone else will be inspired to do more and be more. Hopefully, seeing how much I can do, I stay inspired to keep doing!
Remember, it’s all for God and I think He deserves our best effort!
For more Monday morning optimism you can check out Anka at Keeping It Real Mom!
Have a Great Week!