Follow along with video, worksheets and inspiration as we make the Live Well Live Strong Quilt. Click on the images below to see each quilt blocks worksheet, live video and blog post.
Every moring we are born again what do today is what matters most. Buddha
How could being mindful spark joy in your life? Let’s talk about it!
The Mindful Quilt Block is the third week on our Live Well Live Strong Quilt Sew Along! It is exciting to finally be here with all of you on this journey! I loved designing the mindful quilt block to be a hourglass quilt block! I think its perfect! I love watching an hourglass.
Buddha says, “Our life is shaped by our minds, for we become what we think.” So….. Mindfulness is important, right?
Use this worksheet to provoke thoughts…. On the Mindful Worksheet, scribble on the hourglass quilt block triangles mindful activities you would like to do. Then on the gray scaled square, scribble things that are barriers and interfere with mindfulness. This is your personal worksheet… I’ve written down several Mindfulness exercises you can try out. This is about you and me helping to become our best selves. There are so many benefits to Mindfulness in our lives. I know I feel calmer, energetic, confident, accepting, and less stressed. I feel compassionate towards myself & others!
There are many Mindful exercises that you can do. On the worksheet below, I’m introducing you to four of my favorites. Experience mindfulness through your senses. During stress in the day or before I fall asleep at night, I might go through the steps of a Mindful Body Scan. I’m always reminding myself to be kind to my body and mind. Then a Mindful Journal, to thoughtfully examine how you are feeling, possibly why, reflect on what you feel grateful for and where your energy sources or drains come from.
Download your Mindfulness Worksheets below and work through the exercises as you focus on making your Mindful Hourglass Quilt Block this next week!
If you haven’t yet, you can join in anytime on the Live Well Live Strong Quilt Sew Along! Get your downloadable pattern right now.
I was always fascinated with an hourglass with sand slowly passing through. Did you like them? I used to have a brass ship looking hourglass always in my bedroom, I think it broke. I just replaced it with a NEW one. To me it represents being present, intentional and mindful as time passes by. What do you think?
I can’t wait to see the Live Well Live Strong Quilt in all black & white! Here are some things that I am working on this mindful week. Select one or several or create one of your own.
Mindful Possible Challenges could include:
Or customize your own personal challenge. Let’s not overwhelm ourselves. Take tiny steps towards a good thing and reward yourself with a quiet moment closing your eyes to feel good about yourself including your body & mind.
Share a photo of your completed Mindful Quilt Block on Facebook or Instagram. And if you feel comfortable share a photo that represents a positive step in a Mindful Challenge. Let’s inspire each other! You have seen lots of my social media posts this week of enjoying time with my new grand daughter. Oh my… leisure and I have become good friends.
Remember this is just about you and all of us possibly lifting each other to a better space. AND…. the Live Well Live Strong Quilt is not about being negative. Be kind and positive with yourself. Be as generous to yourself. Share your thoughts! Remember this week that Leisure is the opposite of excessive seriousness!
Next week’s block is all about Positive! If you haven’t yet, purchase your Live Well Live Strong Quilt Pattern!
Many happy wishes for a week filled with Healing Live Well Live Strong! XOXO!
Learn more about the LWLS Sew Along
Fuel Half Square Triangle Quilt Block Week & Worksheets
Leisure Pinwheel Quilt Block Week & Worksheets
Mindful Hourglass Quilt Block Week & Worksheets
Next Week Self Reliance Quilt Block Week & Worksheet coming soon!
Tula is a storyteller in each of her fabric lines! Her stories enrapture us and draw us to her fabrics and art. She has told many stories to enthrall and entertain us, but it isn’t until this Slow and Steady collection that she shares her personal journey through her fabric. To celebrate Tula’s 20th Anniversary Collection, she decided to share her own personal story with such a big milestone. Her story speaks to me in such a beautiful way with the things I want to do in my own personal life. I’m sure this story will speak to you too!
Do you remember learning life’s lessons from Aesop’s Fables when you were young or reading them to your own children? Aesop was known to be a slave and storyteller in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BC. That was a LONG time ago! The fable of the Tortoise and the Hare was something that always resonated with Tula. In Tula’s own words she says, “It’s a story about staying the course against all odds, championing heart and hard work over arrogance and giving it your all, every time. It is a story about focus and drive, integrity and determination.”
We can all relate to this! Can’t we? It’s a classic and there are some parts of the story that Tula bring to our attention in her newest fabric collection Slow and Steady.
Tula takes the story a little further, and mention that the Tortoise and the Hare are like one coin that has two sides. One side of the coin is the Tortoise and the other side the Hare. Is there maybe a little bit of the Tortoise AND the Hare in each of us. Do we personally struggle with feeling like we are in a race and just need to keep running and running incessantly without a break? We feel great from the progress then like the Hare we take a break. We decide that we have been working so hard and getting such great results that we just stop and don’t realize that life starts to pass us by. The quote below is on a coordinate of the Slow and Steady Fabric Collection that is called Clear Skies. Let’s keep those skies clear to see just what is out there in the world.
Do we sometimes take a slow pace and just ever so methodically get things done every day? Do we enjoy the journey and simple joys to feed our soul to keep our steady pace going like the Tortoise? The Tortoise has a big heart and keeps his heart strong by just continually keeping a pace. Feeling progress fuels our spirits no matter what speed we are going.
Tula mentions that the Tortoise represents heart and the Hare represent ego. Sometimes our heart and ego conflict with each other. We want to win and succeed don’t we? I certainly don’t want to win at the expense of others though. I don’t want to win for accolades.
I’m a personality not in competition with others. My life has been too difficult to spend any energy of mine focusing on others. I’m only in competition with myself and the person I was yesterday. I don’t know about you but my life has not been an easy one. I’ve been told that what I have experienced in my lifetime is unreal in terms of trauma. I am just proud to be the person that I am today. I’m proud that I am a survivor. I am proud that I am a good mother. I’m proud that I get up everyday, take care of myself and others, I think if my mom would be alive today that she would be proud of me too. I’m glad that I can find simple joys in life and appreciate them. I like to surround myself with things of meaning reminding myself of who I am and who I can become.
Sometimes we can be the type of people that are in competition with others or ourselves. Both can be a dangerous path. With a person like me, being in competition with myself, I have to be kind to myself and benevolent. Do you think that you need to be kinder to yourself? If you are not going to be kind to yourself then who will? We don’t need to be victims; we just need to be ourselves. We need to overcome whatever tiny thing it is that is pulling us down. But most of all don’t be the one pulling yourself down. Tell yourself how wonderful you are, be kind to you!
Tula truly inspires me! Like the heart shape above is a coordinate piece from the Slow and Steady collection. If you look closely at the pattern it is the Tortoise’s shell. Don’t you love surrounding yourself with meaning. Sometimes I’m like the Hare and think I need to go fast to achieve something but it really is the slow steady pace of the Tortoise with blind faith that gets us where we want to be in life! Does she inspire you? I’m going to make something extra special with this fabric collection that not only represents Tula’s story but represents my own story. It is a story I want to share with my children. What I make with this collection will sit out everyday to remind me that life isn’t a race but to be slow and steady in my personal and life goals.
Tula says, “The tortoise represents that magical thing in all of us that drives us to do the thing that we NEED to do even when there isn’t any evidence to support it. The tortoise is blind faith, he continues on when no one is looking. He keeps marching forward when no one expects him to win.”
That just resonates within me! Does it resonate within you? I am no one special and no one is watching me. Everyday we get up and do our thing that we need to do. There is a magical thing within each of us that speaks of our integrity to be true to ourselves and take care of what we need to do. There isn’t evidence that what we do today will give us a good result tomorrow but… we do it because we know we need to. Let us all keep marching forward not because we are going to win or receive accolades but because we know what we are doing is right.
I have dreams and I’m sure that you have dreams. Here is the word dreams on the racing flags coordinate of Tula’s Slow and Steady collection. Are our dreams a race? No. I don’t know if our dreams will come true, but I do know that if we are helpful to each other we can help our dreams come true. There are many people out in the world that their dreams our so simple and we can help those dreams become a reality. As we lift and encourage each other we can make a difference in our lives and the lives of others.
I’m grateful for a talented person like Tula that can reach into our hearts with her storytelling art and help us discover the best within ourselves. The items I create with Slow and Steady will be a token and reminder of just how I can become the best person that is within me.
As Creatives, there is always a struggle between getting it done fast versus doing it with the heart.
In reference to the Hare, Tula shares, “The Hare tells us that we can rest on our laurels and take it easy. The Hare needs other people to tell him he is good enough. The Hare doesn’t run unless there is someone there to watch him win. The Hare can win but will always get in his own way.” I don’t want to be an obstacle in my own path. May we always search deep to improve ourselves.
My hope is that I will slow down and keep my focus on doing things with my heart. We can truly succeed personally if we just do it with our hearts. I know that Tula does! I have never seen a person work so hard at what she does, sharing so much of herself with everyone. She is one talented individual with her art! She is able to express things that are at a cutting edge artistically in bright beautiful colors. Not only is she gifted in her art, but she knows how to quilt and makes art that works for us as quilters. Her fabric collections are cohesive taking every piece, color and motif designed for the end creator.
Tula is smart and savvy as a business woman and an example for us all to be a girl boss of our business and rock it! Tula is dedicated to making her customer, the end consumer, happy with what they purchase. She is kind and generous with her time to everyone. Tula just makes each one of us feel important to her. Feel connected to her, her story and her fabrics. She wants you to feel that way. She feels connected to you whether she has met you or not. She is constantly thinking about you and designing with you personally in mind.
One of the pieces of her collection say, “I’m a winner”. People asked her if she was saying that she is personally a winner. Of course she is a winner to all of us but more importantly to herself! Tula’s message is not that she is the winner, rather we are all winners as we balance the Tortoise and the Hare – the Heart versus the Ego within each one of us. This piece of fabric in my quilt, will remind me that I am a winnner and that I just need to keep moving forward in a Slow and Steady pace even when I don’t feel like it. I love to work hard and I want to work hard at a slow and steady pace. Life is a balance and sometimes we may get a little unbalanced but we can steady it and that’s part of life.
I hope you will enjoy seeing EVERYONE create items from her fabric collection. I will teach you everything I know so that you can make something similar for yourself. Your item might be different because it will speak of your journey and to your heart. I can’t wait to see all the creations that you make that will inspire all of us!
If you are new to quilting, I’m going to teach some basic quilting with Tula Pink’s fabrics. Remember it is a slow and steady pace and we are not in a race with others but just ourselves. You don’t come into the world knowing how to sew or quilt. I remember Tula saying something like, “What’s the worst thing, I can do? Mess up a piece of fabric?”
For this article, Tula’s closing message is, “Creating anything is always a struggle between these two opposing sides but if I have learned anything at all through 20 fabric collections it’s that the heart has a lot more to say than the ego and that people can feel the heart in everything that you do, whether they know it or not. I have learned that you have to try, every time, you have to earn it every time. I have learned that the more you do something the better you get. No one is born perfect or complete you build up to it, slow and steady, one foot in front of the other.”
What you think about Tula’s Slow and Steady fabrics and her message? What speaks to you from the fable the Tortoise and the Hare? What personal message do you embrace within your heart? What have you experienced in life that has helped you grow?
Thank you Tula for sharing so much of YOU with everyone! You have deeply inspired me! Each and everyone of you inspire me!
Please share,
To Watch the Interview of Deanna with Tula click here!
Want some eye candy of lots of items made with the Slow and Steady Fabric Collection? Click here to see our post about Slow and Steady Tula Pink Inspiration!
To see all of the products that we carry for Tula Pink click here
The Beginnings of a Glammy Grinch Christmas – My husband absolutely loves the story of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I was one that didn’t really relate to that story and focused on other ones. When we play the DVD of the Jim Carrey movie of How The Grinch Stole Christmas, will bring my husband to gravitate to the couch and then invariably start laughing so much that we see his sparkly white teeth. The children just get a kick out of watching my husband do this and they start the movie to just watch the phenomena and start quoting Grinch quotes from memory. I’m adding a link to the book and movie because I actually had someone message me from another country not familiar with the story of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Our two dogs get involved in the movie watching too by barking at poor Max while we watch the movie. Since my husband’s birthday is November 22, the kids and I would always buy my husband Grinch things and we dedicated a corner, then a room and now most of the house to decorating Christmas Grinchy. I now have the dining room for my angel tree and all the nativity displays. Funny isn’t? We do a lot of spiritual things during Christmas but I have to say by embracing the Grinch everyone is certainly having a lot more fun helping me decorate the house (which is good). Each year the family comes up with some more great ideas that we need to execute – including my husband.
I don’t have the BEST Grinchy Christmas decorations PHOTOS but we will be getting our Grinch bins out soon to start getting up to enjoy a long time and share with all of you. I will post regularly on how to make all this stuff yourself with many easy ideas coming soon. I recommend signing up for the Stitches Quilting newsletter so you don’t miss a single post. There will be free downloads, printables, instruction by photograph and video that you just won’t want to miss!
I never understood the message of the Grinch book but now I have a better idea. The message brings in family discussions of character, compassion, sharing, acceptance, respect, positive thinking, increasing love in our life and more. I will not only provide tons of big or small ways to bring a bit a the Grinch into your Christmas traditions.
If you are ever facing a hard Christmas from either a loss or financial distress – then the things I will teach you are easy practical fun things to implement as a family and really embrace the spirit of Christmas in a playful way. We still decorate in a traditional way but use some of our things in a Glammy Grinchy way too.
My husband used to dread the Christmas season with extra financial stress of buying things that we might not need but buy for the sake of holiday gift giving. My husband is a family law attorney and not many people are hiring divorce attorneys in the month of December, so being the conscientious man that he is – he just doesn’t feel passionate about spending when he is feeling the flow pull back. People usually put off the paperwork of filing a divorce until after the holiday season. So with my extra resourceful nature along with my deep belief in repurposing; pulling together a bit of a Grinchy decorated Christmas is practically brilliant.
Here are a few photographs for you to get a hint of what we did last year, I took these photographs just right before we packed everything back up. May they inspire you to do something just a little different this year!
Let’s take a closer look at some of the ornaments that we are using on our Grinch Christmas tree.
I got a large FREE used artificial Christmas Tree and we will have a post on how to take a traditional looking tree to looking like a Glammy Grinch Tree. Tutorial coming soon!
Now let’s take a peak at what we did to Grinch Glam up our Christmas Fireplace Mantle. Do you notice the green directional lighting? My husband does the green lighting. I never really noticed it until years later when someone was visiting us and asked if that was a green light bulb and I answered, “Well yes it is.”
Start looking at your online classified ads in your area to see if people are selling their Grinch décor items really inexpensive. The stuffed Grinch hanging out on the left of the mantle we actually picked up for $10. You never know what you can find.
Here are more details of how we decorated the Glammed out Grinch Fireplace Mantle.
What ideas do you have? What traditions do you celebrate? Well more Glammy Grinchy Christmas ideas and instructions coming to you, so sign up for the Stitches Quilting Newsletter! We will see you tomorrow – this is only the beginning!
I have officially as of today become an affiliate blogger to point readers to items that they might want to purchase. I do this as a service to you and may be paid for the link but I do not recommend items that I do not have confidence in.
Parents of Special Needs Children are some of the strongest people that I know. We are a breed of people that are different from others. We are tired, exhausted and spent being pulled in many directions. There is enormous responsibility because no one is going to take this path with our child.
Disappointments began when we noticed that our child’s growth or development just wasn’t quite right and then more disappointments to follow when least expected.
We celebrate and appreciate moments that parents of typical children may never even notice. We grow in ways that we never imagined, developing abilities beyond our foresight. Being consumed taking care of others, we may not even know who we are anymore.
We may feel nervous asking ourselves are we doing too much, too little, the right thing, or are we focusing on the completely wrong thing? We try not to step on anyone’s toes as we advocate for our children. How do we network to figure out what is right for our child to reach their potential?
We juggle the impossible of raising our child/ren to their fullest potential, accessing resources for their development, their siblings, our spouse and finally ourselves.
I remember when my son was diagnosed with a disorder that would most likely cause significant development and medical issues for him. I was stunned, numb while activated to search everything to learn what I needed to do to help him. How was I stunned, numb and yet activated to a higher level than I have ever been?
During that time in our little family, our life revolved around his diagnosis. Time passed with his disorder became just a part or appendage of our family that was a part of us. Later we got in the rhythm of existing as a family but taking care of the specials needs when needed. Occasionally there would be unexpected hiccups that we hoped wouldn’t impact our son. Naturally we shifted our routine to mobilize but then those hiccups became routine.
Somewhere though I think on this path we tend to lose part of ourselves taking care of critical along with other needs of the family. Larger life ordinary events creep in, we lose a spouse, death of a parent, divorce, remarriage, step-children, more children, etc.. We once again shift our family unit and the needs of our unique family into these unexpected events.
Something happens to us as we drive and push the momentum of caring for so many others that we sometimes stop feeling or at times feel too much. We disappear, become invisible and our needs …. well our needs – we don’t even think about our needs anymore. That is when I have seen us lose something deep within us.
Then we become so strong and caring for a chronic disorder that people don’t come around to help anymore. We are long forgotten and even avoided. When someone asks us how we are doing or how our child or family is, they are being polite but don’t really want to know and truthfully couldn’t even imagine what our world is even like.
We need less strength at time and allow ourselves to soften to feel parts of the world that we don’t even notice passing by us. It is then that we begin to reach out and participate in them again.
I will be writing for the next 31 days in the month of October about strategies that can enable us to avoid chronic dullness or burnout as caregivers of long term disorders.
I’ve been a parent of a special needs child/ren since 1996 and I may have another 50 more years ahead of me. As parents of special needs children, we can relate to each other in ways that our own extended family members can’t possibly understand.
We are all in different stages of this journey. Let’s break those stages down and when a stage might return we can understand what we need. I want to help identify those stages, feelings to empower ourselves with strategies to get through those stages in the healthiest way possible.
I want to learn from all of you too, your comments and shared journey is important. I learn from my experiences and other caregivers I know with special needs children and what strengthens them.
I want you to know that I know you are out there and even though what I may speak of in a particular stage may not be you, I want to learn how you get through it. I have crossed paths with many exhausted caregivers that just didn’t know where their next drop of energy would come from. We spend a couple hours sharing and I think we both go our separate paths strengthened.
I will share the deepest part of my heart with you and I hope that you will feel comfortable sharing parts of yourself. I have been through a lot; have seen a lot and I am certain that you have too. Share your story… share your heart and what has helped you during different parts of your journey. We will all grow together… you can comment below or email me personally at deanna@stitchesquilting.com For this first post please know that there are many of us that feel different but similar things at different times and find comfort that we are not alone.
Let’s start this journey together and identify more strategies for our future. Let’s not just exist but live uniquely as we navigate the windy paths. Each day will have a message and then printables that you can print off and write down how your unique path has carved you and how you have carved out your own journey.
All the BEST!
Deanna
For the 31 post summary of Strengthening Parents of Special Needs Children click here.
Are You Worried About Your Children? Are you overwhelmed not knowing what the best thing is to do? Or completely bewildered how to raise children in this day in age.
The climate of raising a family has completely changed from raising my 22 year old son to now my 14 year old son. My girlfriends and I are just stunned at how different it is! Need a new way to look at the challenges of raising a family then allow Matt Townsend (Setting Boundaries), Brad Barton (Resilient Kids), Carmen Rasmusen Herbert (Kid’s Self-esteem), Clay Olsen (Effects of Pornography), Lucy Delgadillo (Money Talks) with a Special Musical Guest of Joshua Creek INSPIRE YOU! You will not be disappointed and NEED this Parenting Evening to get you going!
Last Chance to purchase a couple’s date night or individual tickets with dinner for this Saturday, September 19, 2015 for the 2015 Uplift Families Parenting Conference. With Stitches Quilting Coupon $5.00 off Code of Stitches2015 your couple ticket will only be $20.00 and an individual ticket $10.00. Click above to purchase your ticket now before it is sold out!
There will also be resourceful exhibits at the Thanksgiving Point, Show Barn set up for you to obtain additional community information available here in Utah. Don’t miss out! Remember not only can YOU do hard things but YOUR kids can do hard things too! We can raise better children, families and communities together!
Summary of things that would describe this quilter:
Blogger & Owner of Stitches Quilting Online Store – Live in Salt Lake City Utah – Born on a farm but now live in a city – Quilter – DIY – Sewist – Pattern Writer – Surface Pattern Designer – Graphic Design – Special Needs Mom – Proud Handy User of Power and Hand Tools – Hand and Machine Embroidery – Heirloom Maker – Long Armer – Jewelry Maker – Gadget Lover – Technology Lover – (I use every gadget to its fullest potential to not waste money – I like to read the entire manual) – Social Media Networker – Laid 2 stories of my own hardwood floors – Redecorated husband’s law office with DIY Repurposed Stripped Filing Cabinets in Industrial Look – Thrift and Repurpose Lover – Positive – Appreciates Antique, Vintage, Simplistic Items – Bargain Enthusiast – Spiritually Oriented – Survivor – Creative parent – Gentle Spirited – Non Judgmental – Divorced and Happily Remarried for 12 years – Mother – Practical – Enjoy making Household Products and Makeup – Novice Photographer & Videographer – Entrepreneur – Firm Personal Believer in the Quote, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.” (Often in this day and age we live a life of such over excess.) – Generous and Love to Share what I have with Others – Always and Endlessly trying to improve myself to be a better person.
My love of sewing started when I was a young girl and I actually made a vest with my grandmother on a non-electric foot treadle sewing machine!
As a teen, I loved finding a pattern to make something to wear or a gift for someone else. I always felt a sense of accomplishment after I made something, although I have to admit that sewing my own clothing was disappointing at this age.
I learned about quilting when I was in high school and I know this is mind boggling but my first quilt was a whole cloth hand quilted quilt. I started it in the 1980’s which the shiny fabric and design dates my selection, I found hand quilting relaxing although I have to admit that family members helped me finish it as it was a huge undertaking.
My next sewing adventure that I loved was making Halloween costumes for my children. It was something that my girlfriends and I enjoyed doing with our children and my children loved how I could make their imagination come alive with fabric. My children loved the super hero capes and everything else I sewed for them. Just a few years after I had my first child, a good friend, Randi Welch, taught me how to cut fabric and piece it back together again to create a quilt top. I loved it and embraced the craft with precision. The quilting generation at that time taught you to always press your seams to the side with the darker fabric. I lived in Galveston Texas at the time, with no fabric store on the island with my only access to Walmart fabrics and one small darling quilt store that I didn’t feel I could afford the quality quilting fabrics. Not having much of a budget for gifts during my 1st husband’s school and training, I made every gift for each holiday to extended family members. I loved giving gifts that were personal, useful and handmade. We didn’t have much money so I was very frugal with what I made.
I never lived in a place where I had easy access to trendy quilt stores and especially in Yuma, Arizona. I found myself having to travel three hours to Phoenix or San Diego to try to find quality quilting fabrics. Even though there was a quilting store in Yuma, they did not sell Moda fabrics, and I really loved the style of Moda fabrics. After my divorce in 2002, I invested some money into opening a 2,000 square foot brick and mortar quilt store.
I loved my Shoppe and it was a second home to my three young boys. When the fabric started arriving, I was in ecstatic and loved touching and arranging displays. My Shabby Chic Italian themed Shoppe attracted new young quilters along with the snow birds that would travel to Yuma for the winter months. The Shoppe had a large variety of classes available, but was ALWAYS open and room for someone to just plop in with their sewing machine to stitch there and socialize instead of being alone at home. The Shoppe had a beautiful area for children to play that had a custom crafted stucco Italian playhouse as the central feature along with dolls, quilts, tea sets, dress up clothing, legos, TV’s gaming and more.
It was darling because no child ever wanted to leave my Shoppe. After a mother would make her selections, we could see her nervously approach the child to say it was time to leave, and the child always protested. The mom would have to say to the child five or ten more minutes and then nervously walk the Shoppe and visit with others going back to retrieve the still resistant child. People loved to come to the Shoppe although leaving the Shoppe was often difficult. Every month I showcased a local ordinary quilter’s work and displayed all their pieces in the store. The Shoppe evolved monthly with new quilts from designated local quilters of the month let alone the beautiful samples for the fabric, books, pattern and notions being sold.
One of the hardest things I did was close the Shoppe, my youngest child sustained a traumatic brain injury at 11 months of age from riding a horse. He was paralyzed on the right side and had to learn everything over again and I already had one autistic son diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosiss . I knew I needed to focus all my energies to my children and it was costing so much to have other people run the shoppe. I remarried and moved to Utah. I had no idea how much fabric the sweet employees and snow birds had packed up for me after my son’s accident. Unknown to me these boxes traveled with me from Arizona to Utah. After getting my master’s degree 2008 and being the practical person that I am, I decided to re-open the Shoppe online with the boxes of bolts of fabric newly discovered from the store. The fabric sold like hot cakes because by that time the fabric was highly collectible and out of print.
After selling enough fabric, I saved up to buy a long arm quilting machine. I always wanted one and would only machine quilt my quilts on my domestic machine. I had a friend, Renae Haddadin, at Quilts on the Corner, that encouraged me that I could operate a long arm machine and after admiring them for years, I finally bought one in 2010. I don’t care to long arm for other people but love to long arm for myself and teach others how to long arm quilt tops they would make in my studio.
I choose the name of “Stitches” for my business in 2002 but after reopening it in 2008, I had to add “Stitches Quilting” to the name in Utah. The name Stitches represented happiness and lightheartedness. I am a glass half full kind of gal, and the one that looks at things through rose-colored glasses. I am one of those positive “Tiggers” that seem to naturally annoy “Eeyores”, although when I sense an “Eeyore” is with me, I am sensitive and naturally limit the positive annoying “Tigger” within me.
One thing that I love about quilting is the connections it brings with other people. Either making a gift by hand or building relationships through spending time to teach someone how to quilt those connections naturally come. I have domestic machines that are always available for people to come over and sew with.
I wouldn’t be able to even count the number of quilts I have made in my lifetime or the number of people I have taught to quilt. I’m apprehensive to just show you quilts I have made, as it isn’t the quilts that I work hard at making but connections with other people and impacting others’ lives through quilting that is important to me. Do you feel the same way about your quilts that each one is a personal journey of growth or meaning with an entire story behind it? An extremely simple quilt of mine may have the most amazing personal impact in my life based on why I was making the quilt and what journey I was on in my life at the time.
Many people think that they can’t quilt, based off of negative impressions say from their home ec class. Nothing thrills me more than to share my enthusiasm that anyone can do anything they set their mind to. Nothing is as difficult as it ever seems when it is broken down into sizable pieces. Especially for quilting because anyone can embrace it at any level as really it begins with simple sewing of straight lines. I love to teach people and even children that what they have told themselves from past experiences that they can’t do they really can do and are capable of anything if they have the faith and encouragement to try. Were you someone that didn’t think you had a skill set or thought it would be too difficult that made you apprehensive to enjoy quilting or something else in life?
Quilting is also a hobby that is simple or challenging as one wants. Each quilt is uniquely personal by learning new techniques, using different materials, fabrics, threads or expressions of what one loves at the time. That is what I love about quilting is the connections you make with others and that the craft is as easy or challenging as you want it. I now no longer need a pattern to make anything. Someone can just show me a picture or doodle of something and I can personally make it or teach them how to make it. I love the challenge to create my own patterns based off of the fabrics available, project needed and limitations existing. I find that sometimes the limitations we are given is what draws out the most creativity that is within us. Do you feel the same way? What is the simplest quilt you have made and then the most challenging? Do you find your emotional attachments of the quilts you make are based on the complexity of the quilting?
This blog is dedicated to teaching others what I have learned from many years of quilting and “stitching through life”. I fiercely believe that if someone buys fabric from me that I don’t want it to sit somewhere unfinished because they are overwhelmed by the project or just in need of some encouragement. I believe in supporting those that purchase things anywhere so they are used in that the work of our hands can delight the souls of others along with making ourselves feel uplifted and good.
A blogging tip from me at this time of developing my own blog is to make sure your branding is carried through all of your social media. Social media is a free place to draw others to the things we love. Make your email, usernames of all accounts the same along using the same profile picture and banners on every social media platform. Even if you are not comfortable with a certain social media platform and not nearly ready to even use it, save the user name so it is consistent with all your other social media accounts. One can also really polish their social media networking by inserting hyperlinks into the bottom of your email signature including social media icons, a photograph of yourself and logo of your brand. (photo) What blogging tip do you have to share, because I have a lot to learn including that this blog post should be shorter in length?
Another quilt blogging tip is to join our #Quilt Bloggers# Pinterest Group Board where we can pin our blog posts to and then each member of the group will repin each other’s group pins posted to the group Pinterest board. Email me at deanna@stitchesquilting.com to request to join.
For a quilting tip – take care of yourself meticulously now so that you can continue to quilt and share with others you love for a very long time. When I say take care of yourself, live a gentle life of balance, keeping in mind that a healthy physical, emotional and spiritual well-being will give you more time to quilt and create giving you extended years of health. I also believe in making your craft a family social affair to spend time together. What life or health things do you think can extend your ability to quilt a long and healthy life. My children always played right with me as I created things sometimes with them joining in to help and sweet gentle boundaries were always set to not touch the rotary cutter etc.
A quilting tip is to always have your sewing machine out or fabrics to cut. I reward myself with a bit of stitching after getting a ton of required demands of life done. But even that 15 minutes I may have been able to stitch something and admire the block or item gives me much pleasure. If you always have a small area available it is amazing what time can be carved out of a day while you wait for noodles to boil for dinner or whatever it might be. So have your machine or hand sewing project easily accessible. What do you think helps you make progress on your projects?
A quilting tip is that hard and fast rules of quilting may change through the years as access to quality quilting materials, techniques, technology and sciences evolve. (ex. the standard is now to press your seams open because thread and fabrics are of a very different strength) Summing it up don’t be so rigid on yourself. What quilting technique have you seen change through the years?
A great long arm quilting technique is to use Renae Haddadin’s “Red Snappers” to attach your backing and quilt to the leaders by just snapping away instead of pinning or sewing zipper leaders to your quilt top and backing. It saves a TON of time! Are you not amazed by the things that can still be invented in this quilting industry that has been around for centuries? Below is a video of Renae explaining how to use these “Red Snappers”! What an invention!
My dream is to make a complete cathedral quilt and have that quilt be on my bed in my later years when I can no longer quilt and pass on to another season and phase of life. But before then I plan on sharing what I have learned in my younger years with anyone that would like to join me on the journey and share their experiences with quilting and life. Attached is the picture of the cathedral window quilt that I have kept posted on my daydreaming board next to my sewing machine for years. What ultimate quilt do you day dream of making? What other life experiences have you learned from embracing the art of quilting?
Please comment below, I love to interact with people and hear the thoughts that you have. I certainly don’t just want to ramble but look forward to having a dialogue with all of you and learn the thoughts you have about quilting. I hope this article helps you learn more about me as the store owner of Stitches Quilting and author of “Stitching through Life” Blog.
Can’t wait to hear from all of you!
Happy Stitching!
Deanna
I was challenged to write this blog post as a member of the 2015 New Quilt Bloggers Group. This is week 4 of the group and there are many other wonderful Quilt Bloggers that are a part of the group that you would enjoy reading about them and their blogs. There are also several valuable Giveaways that you can enter that are being used to promote this group of Bloggers. I can’t possibly thank enough the four group leaders that have inspired all of us to collaborate as a group and optimize our skills.
Yvonne
Quilting Jetgirl
Cheryl
Meadow Mist Designs
Stephanie
Late Night Quilter
Terri Ann
Childlike Fascination
My personal group leader is Terri Ann with Childlike Fascination and my group is called the Sewcial Swarm
Welcome to the final week of the 2015 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop! I’m so happy and thankful that you’ve all been here to follow along and check out all these new quilt bloggers along with us. Today I am excited to introduce you additional members of the Sewcial Swarm Hive that are posting in week 4:
Stephanie of quiltnparty.com
Jane of jollyanddelilahquilts.wordpress.com
Kathryn of upitisquilts.wordpress.com
I invite you to click and visit their blogs, and leave them a friendly comment to say hi. Bloggers appreciate comments so much; so many of us don’t have friends to sew with and connect to the quilting world virtually. Comments make the online quilting world go ’round!
I always drooled over I SPY quilts and waited forever to make one for our family! I waited and waited because I just didn’t think that I had enough pieces of fabric to make the quilt! I didn’t want the quilt to familiar like it had pieces of every single other quilt I had made in it. Which I actually think now is a charming idea because my children can look at pieces of the I SPY fabric and actually remember other quilts made with the same fabric. Well it took me a long time to collect enough novelty pieces for the I SPY quilt that I was day dreaming to make. I did eventually get this quilt off my quilting day dreaming bucket list!
I stuffed all the obscure novelty prints in a squished plastic shoe box and often I would pull the pieces out to count them and see if I was close to collecting enough pieces that could work for the quilt. Disappointed after counting, I would shove those pieces back into their plastic bin determined to keep collecting! But one day I went through the count and holy cow I finally thought I had enough of a diverse variety to start the process of making the quilt.
I was so excited and my biggest admirer of my quilts was my darling son, Nick, so I immediately showed him that I had enough pieces. I so vividly remember Nick and I, sitting cramped against my sewing room wall examining and counting each piece. The pieces stuffed in that plastic box for years were now crumpled up odd pieces of fabric! They were really crumpled! I quickly grabbed a cutting board with rotary cutter and placed it on the floor next to us along with an iron and tiny ironing pad to start it right away. My son, in fourth grade at the time, and I sat so awkwardly against the wall with him just as excited about the project as me. We had bought so many I SPY books through the years and loved reading those. Maybe these I SPY quilts remind of my days as a child sitting in the doctor’s office going through Highlights magazines searching the hidden pictures! I guess I figured this quilt could be something like a permanent huge Highlight magazine hidden picture. No one in those days other than family practice offices had those Highlight magazines back then.
Well my sweet Nick would iron each of the crumpled ODD shaped fabrics and I was sitting on Nick’s left side fussy cutting away these pieces to work with the pattern I had in mind! It was a big task ahead of us and I have no idea why we didn’t do this process on a table. I know my back starting hurting crunched over to make these perfect cuts. Sweet Nick would iron each one and hand it to me and I would cut away. With excitement we examined each piece of fabric together to decide which image would be fussy cut and then BAM I felt this HOT searing feeling on my arm. Nick and I were sitting so close together watching what each other was doing that when handing me another pressed piece of fabric the iron hit my arm and I had one heck of a burn! Nick felt so bad but we just kept working away. I had a scar from that iron burn for the longest time but it represented a sweet memories of the two of us finally accomplishing something we daydreamed about.
I have no idea why I made the quilt in the pattern I did with all those hexagons! Being thrilled to finally have the resources to make this quilt, I got it put together quickly! Through the years, our family has cherished the quilt with the memories of playing I SPY and interacting with each other. I can only imagine the years and years of fun we will continue to have with this quilt with grandchildren and more! What an heirloom! I embroidered all around the border of the quilt different things to search for to start the challenge and interaction.
I have found some fabulous ideas for different I SPY quilt patterns! You may already have a pattern in mind. I have a Pinterest I SPY Quilt Board and would love if you pinned ideas or post them with #ISPYQUILT and I will find them! I will summarize my favorites in a blog.
At Stitches Quilting when I had a store front, we always had a basket that people could trade novelty square pieces of fabric for the pieces in the basket. It was fun and I still have that same basket today! You can mail me some of your extra novelty fabrics and I will mail you back the same number of pieces from the basket. Let’s keep that I SPY basket of fun swapping away. Click the following link to see 20 piece – 5 inch I SPY charm packs and 10 inch layer cakes for sale in the Stitches Quilting Shoppe! Let us know if you would like some! Many of the prints in the basket are out of print and no longer available so you will be getting a very unique collection and of course if you have a particular interest in girl, boy, fish, holiday etc. prints just let me KNOW!
Share the quilts that you waited and waited to get just those perfect fabrics that took forever and then you finally had it perfectly right to then assemble! What fabrics did you stash away for that perfect quilt? Post photos on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #quiltybucketlist #quiltfabricstashaway or #stichesquilting to share with each other what you are daydreaming about or have accomplished! I can’t wait to see your things and read your comments! Where you ever quilting with a family member or friend that developed into a first aid experience and memories? Tell us your stories!
Is Gardening like Quilting?
Is it possible to Quilt in our Gardens?
Could Gardeners deep down inside have budding skills to become Quilters?
Or are Quilters really deep down inside budding skills to become Gardeners?
As quilters, we naturally use our quilting skills in our outdoor gardens to create warmth for the exteriors of our homes.
How I love to get in the outdoors, especially during the spring with drizzling rain, moist soil, to dig in the dirt, making the outside of our home warm to delightedly saunter by feeling welcome. In the spring there are many weeds to pull, soil nourished before planting can be done. It is kind of like the concept that we have regular pieces of fabric then we cut them up and stitch them together to be a quilt.
Well at least that is what I try to do…. Actually I completely doubt that any human being would gather warm fuzzies as they saunter by, let alone even notice my home. I really wouldn’t want to have a house that stands out too much for people to feel bad they don’t have that yard.
So I just simply have a house that is sort of…… unnoticeable. Not such a bad idea, right?
I mean let’s get real, at times we do things to just pathetically blend in, AND trying to keep my gardens half-way decent for the neighbor across the street that has their house for sale.
I don’t want to have the house that stands out with the weeds and unrecognizable things growing from the earth. The house that children cross the street before they walk by because they aren’t certain about what’s with that scary growing house that might have rats and snakes lurking in the growth. Well at least that is what I am trying to do – to be unnoticeable.
Gardening a bed of flowers or vegetables is all about patterns and that is exactly what quilting is all about. Patterns, colors, with interweaving of different threads and textures are things consistent in quilting and gardening.
Four things that have stuck consistently as basic skills to develop are cooking, cleaning, gardening and quilting. The pioneers that our nation grew from relied on both of these skills along with others so they must be a good skill to develop. At least that is how I convince myself.
Let’s get back to gardening, because we are not made to only have one skill set. Especially as women, we were made for multi-tasking the constant needs of a family, work, play. So… if you are a gardener secretly you might really be a budding quilter deep down inside – and it may not have crossed your mind. I believe the reverse of quilters being budding gardeners may also be true. What do you think?
Let’s get the real truth out about me and gardening. The honest label would be a “black” thumb. There hasn’t been much that stays growing around me. I dreaded getting plants as a gift or purchasing them to then feel bad about myself because shortly they would die. I admired gardeners and was determined to change this aspect about myself! So slowly I learned some basic gardening skills. My niece is a master gardener with gorgeous long red hair! In my younger years, I used to pay someone to manage my garden beds knowing I was probably saving money by not having everything die. Paying people money to do something that I so badly wanted to learn was absurd especially considering how frugal I am! Then my gifted gardening niece with the long red hair would come every year helping me.
My niece helped but we also replaced all the plastic sprinkler heads with brass heads so the 3 Labrador retrievers would no longer chew up the sprinkler heads with white lengths of pvc pipe through the grass. It also helped to have the sprinklers turn on during the early hours of the morning, when the 3 labs were asleep in the house.
Deep down I believe in self-sufficiency, there are not many things that I can’t figure out how to do.
Each year, my niece taught me and I would watch her carefully. She would explain things before she did them wanting my flower beds to grow into blankets of blooms. She would let me know my soil wasn’t nourishing enough…. that my sprinkler heads are not efficient giving coverage to that area…. That I can’t grow that kind of flower in that hot and sunny space. I would ask her “Where do I go get fertilizer?” She would answer, “The dump…. a whole pick up truck load for $30.” I would be puzzled and think, “Really? I don’t just go to Lowes or Home Depot….? Hmmm.”
With both us deeply valuing frugality and resourcefulness, she taught me and through the years I listened…….. and grew. The listening part can be the most important part of growing.
You can see how my garden is growing now. I do it now all by myself with my sons. You can see the patterns, colors of different plants I used to complement one another to connect the beds with threads to grow.
I would love to listen to you share some thoughts so we continue to grow in different ways. Living all around the world, we all have different kinds of garden. Below is a beautiful picture of a succulent garden I took in Cambria, California this summer. What types of gardens do you grow? Let’s not forget our vegetable and herb gardens too. Please share what you grow in your region, we are all different in around the world and so are our gardens.
To those of you that are gardeners…. you may not know it but deep down could you be a budding emerging quilter? If you have admire quilting maybe this post can encourage you to try.
To those quilters out there, could we be a budding gardener? Some of us may already be both! What are you?
A flower garden of a quilt that I have always wanted to make is A Trip Around the World, here is a picture of a quilt I daydream making similar to:
This my stash of fabric to make this quilt?
What do you think of my colors and fabrics so far?
I do need to pause from quilting and do some catch up summer weeding…. My neighbors did sell their house…. I am very happy for them.
What kind of beauty whether through gardening, sewing, quilting, parenting or more enriches your life for the better?
May the work of your hands delight the soul,
Quilting is Therapy! When I had my storefront quilt store in Yuma, Arizona, I featured a local customer as Quilter of the Month and showcased her quilts in the shoppe. It was an absolute delight to see the gorgeous quilts come out of the closets and drawers to hang them beautifully around the store. I couldn’t wait each month to see the unique style of each quilter unveiled each to learn more about her.
One gal that I approached for Stitches Quilting “Quilter of the Month” having her quilts showcased in a future month was hesitant. She said that she loved piecing quilt tops together but that she rarely quilted and finished them. I told her it did not matter, that we wanted to see and display all her work. She said she didn’t care about finishing them because each quilt top of quilting was her therapy!
I agree 300% with that. Quilting is therapy! There is nothing like being discouraged in life and thoughtfully pause with beautiful fabrics, and threads to execute something your mind has envisioned. There have been many times that I have felt so downtrodden not knowing what to do, but in this confusion I would quilt and create while thoughtfully considering how to react to an event in my life. I remember those quilts so vividly and I am so deeply attached to those stitches. It was through those stitches that I decided how to rise above a situation that was challenging. Often I made quilts for other people at those times and I think that by serving another through my stitching, I was able to put my troubles into perspective.
I remember quilting while I was expecting my second child knowing that he had severe special needs (tuberous sclerosis) and wanting to wrap this child with my love when he arrived. I remember making a quilt when my little brother died to comfort my mother the first Christmas that he would not be with us. I remember making my mother an intricate quilt and so lovingly picking out fabrics and designs when we learned of her diagnosis of Lou Gehrig’s disease. I made that quilt to manifest my love for my mother; that quilt laid over her as she progressed through the disease and I cared for her until her death. I cherish that quilt now in my home representing the bond of our mother daughter relationship.
I remember being bewildered at the thought that I was quickly going facing a divorce with three small children to care for. The youngest was three months old and the second oldest with very severe special needs. The thought of the challenges ahead overwhelmed me, but what did I do? I quilted. I quilted a simple quilt for my special needs son and as I stitched I knew that I would have the strength, dignity and resolve to face the challenges ahead.
I recall quilting in times of joy and anticipation to celebrate moments. I remember vividly creating quilts with carefully selected fabrics for people who I loved. I remember thoughtfully selecting fabrics to make a quilt for my fiancé and current husband. I wanted him to know how much I cared for him and appreciated his love. He was so delighted to see me come off an airplane with a quilt tied in a bow hoping that it was something for him. It was for him and how I enjoyed giving him something I created with my hands to represent my devotion to him.
Quilting is Therapy… there are so many challenges that we may face quietly stitching away while deciding our resolve or approach. Quilting is Therapy… in the friendships that we create as we stitch, share and dream together. I am so grateful for such a beautiful healthy hobby to embrace that helps me become a better person while doing something positive. Whether we stitch alone or with others, pull out a sewing machine, let it hum and sooth your troubles to become peace within your soul. Allow yourself to lay fabrics on the floor next to each other for hours deciding upon a beautiful combination that will express what you need to share. Give yourself the permission that no matter what you will face in life that you can still create and feel joy.
Stitch, find peace and be happy,
With Love,
Deanna
