Jan 29, 2017
Well, here we go again and another week gone by. I woke up on Monday morning not feeling well, and sure enough I ended up with the cold that seems to be making it around the city of Victoria. I guess it’s that time of year. I’m finally feeling better now though yeah!
So, in light of the fact I wasn’t feeling well, not a lot got done last week. The Cloth Castle where I am now working part time is a one stop sewing and quilt shop so they sell regular sewing fabric, home dec fabric, quilting fabric as well as notions, sewing machines and even knitting supplies. I used to sew my own clothes and knit my own sweaters but then I found quilting and well that has been my focus for the past 11 years or so. So since I was down for the count anyhow I used my time to brush up on watching YouTube videos on sewing and knitting as a refresher for myself.
I did get a hand applique block completed though.
The pattern is Vintage Valentine by Verna Mosquera of The Vintage Spool. This is block 10 of 12. I started sewing these blocks about 11 years ago. This was supposed to be a block of the month which has turned into a block of the year (more or less). I will finish this one day but not sure when.
I also managed to finish the quilting on my first great niece’s quilt. I just have to sew the binding on now.
I did take a picture of the quilt but it didn’t turn out well and I ran out of time to retake it so I will have to show a better picture when I have finished sewing the binding on. I choose to highlight the star with straight lines and just did a simple stipple in the centre as I wanted the dog fabric in the centre to shine and didn’t want anything too complicated to take away the focus from the fabric. I choose to replicate the stipple in the border however I doubled back to make a ribbon effect just because it make it look a little fancier.
I like how this quilt turned out and am hoping my nephew and his wife will like it too.
In light of what is going on in the world I wanted to close this post with this quote.
Please remember to love one another.
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Jan 20, 2017
It’s Friday! For some that is a day to celebrate the end of a long and busy week. However I am finding that when one works for oneself there really aren’t any defined days off. Even when I don’t have client quilts waiting in the wings I am still working at something for the business whether it’s designing quilts, or learning some new quilting designs.
This week was even busier than normal although I am excited at the new possibilities this will bring. I started working part time at a local quilt shop, The Cloth Castle . I only had a few short shifts this week however I loved it. I love helping people pick out fabrics and working with colour and seeing what they will create with their purchases.
The Cloth Castle is where I purchased my Handi Quilter Avante and the store usually has both an Avante and a HQ Simply Sixteen on the floor. These models are available to rent and you can either purchase the floor model or of course order a brand new one.
Yesterday I got to play with the Simply Sixteen and it’s a really nice little machine, I really liked it and it would be perfect for people who don’t have the space for a larger machine.
This morning I taught my first class on how to load and use the HQ Avante to some woman who were interested in maybe renting the machine.
Now some would think, but hey Janice, don’t you have your own longarm business, aren’t you taking business away from yourself? The opposite of that is won’t the store think you will steal all of their customers for yourself? Well, here is the thing. Angela Walters has her own store, does amazing longarm quilting for people and yet she also teaches, writes books and helps people quilt their own quilts.
There will always be people, like me, that love to quilt. We love the whole process from designing our quilts, piecing them and designing the quilting itself and then actually quilting the quilt. We don’t want to give up control of the design process to someone else.
There are still others who love to piece the quilts, they love working with the fabric, playing with colour but when it comes to basting the quilt and quilting it themselves, they just don’t want it, it simply doesn’t interest them. Those types would rather hand the quilt off to someone like me! Someone who can do that part of the process for them.
Next you have people who love the whole process but simply don’t have the space or money for a longarm and maybe just don’t have the time to complete everything themselves. For these people renting a longarm for an afternoon is an excellent alternative or maybe taking some machine quilting classes so they can quilt on their domestic machines. People in this category quite often utilize the services of a longarm quilter for their larger quilt tops or quilt tops that may require quilting that is beyond their capabilities or time allowances.
So, you see there is something here for everyone. I am excited to see where this leads and am looking forward to the journey.
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Jan 13, 2017
Well the weather here in Victoria BC has continued to be clear and cold and the skating on Panama Flats is still happening. The forecast is for warmer weather soon. We have been lucky here on the south island though as we have managed to escape most of the snow and ice even though it has been cold.
Not a lot has been going on here. I have been working on setting up my own daily planner guide as the ones in the stores just weren’t doing it for me. I thought it might be a more cost effective way of doing it but as it turns out it won’t be however at least it will work for me.
The other thing I have been working on is setting my goals and intentions for 2017. This has proven harder than it would seem as I have had to ask myself the very hard question of what I want to achieve in 2017. Now you would think this would be easy right? What I found was I came up against a deep seated upper limit belief of “who am I to want and achieve success.” Wow! OK so now that I have uncovered this upper limit belief how do I work through it? Has anyone ever had to work through deep seated beliefs that they have uncovered about themselves?
Some of the other things I have been working on this week are designing some quilts in Electric Quilt 7. My first great niece will be born soon and I have been working on the quilt. It is larger than a baby quilt as apparently you don’t use quilts in cribs anymore so I always make the quilts larger so they can be used on the floor when the child is a bit older. My favourite design for this type of quilt is the Sawtooth Star block. This is an image that I have exported from Electric Quilt 7 as the actual quilt is now loaded on the longarm ready for quilting (which I have to start today).
Another quilt I designed yesterday was this one
This quilt was based on the 9-Patch Pizzazz book by Judy Sisneros and some of the fabrics included are these. Aren’t they fun! This quilt should be a lot of fun to make. I used the custom quilt set in Electric Quilt 7 to design this.
The other quilt I am in the process of designing is a double four patch quilt. I started this quilt in the hopes of using up some of my 1.5 and 2.5 inch squares that were building up in my stash. Well I did use some up I still have more to be used.
This is the progress so far I am still trying to decide the border treatment.
I love the way using the different scraps gives so much life to what is essentially a two colour quilt.
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Jan 6, 2017
About a week ago I wrote about how create a pantograph using Electric Quilt 7 software. I created a simple coffee mug pantograph from a colouring book page.
I have quilted three quilts now using pantographs. One was a paw print, one a moon and star design and this last coffee mug one. Although I enjoyed the process and really liked the end result I have to say I am not a big fan of quilting a quilt with a pantograph.
For me, I find working from the back of the machine, following a little laser light, repetitive and boring. After 2 hours of this I find I have a pain that starts in my neck and travels all the way down my right arm. Once I start feeling that pain I know I need to stop. Quilting too many quilts using a pantograph would see any profits from my quilting going back into the hands of a chiropractor.
I also find the constant bending and stretching to see the quilt (as you are working from the back of the machine) very hard on the body. On this past quilt I added up the extra time it took to adjust the quilt on every pass. Normally advancing the quilt takes me 2 to 4 minutes. With a pantograph I find that time is usually 4 to 6 minutes. The other thing is that on a quilt that would normally take me say 7 passes, with a pantograph that amount may jump to 12 passes therefore if you add up the extra time pantographs can eat up to almost 45 minutes longer to quilt than an all over free form design.
Now, that may not seem like a lot but most times the cost to quilt an all over design vs a pantograph is the same however because the pantograph has used 45 minutes more of your time you are actually making less money so technically speaking we, as long arm quilters should actually be charging more for using pantographs.
Some quilts, like the one I used the paw print on and the coffee mug, call out for cute designs that are defiantly easier to quilt using a pantograph. Others can just as easily look great with an allover design or a partial custom look to them. I find it takes the same amount of time to do some partial stitch in the ditch and a free flowing feather or leaf design than it takes to quilt from the back of the machine.
Anyway, I guess if you had a computerized machine all over pantographs would be great. Just program the design in and let the machine do the work. That said you still have to advance the quilt and check to ensure everything is lined up correctly.
So for me, I love working from the front of the machine and creating my own designs even if I learned them from a book by Angela Walters or some other quilter. The designs are like handwriting, they are similar but still uniquely in your style.
The above is a client quilt I finished last week. It will be a wall hanging for her sister. I love the way it turned out and it was a lot easier to do and a lot more fun than the coffee mugs (although I do love the look of the coffee mugs).
Friendship is sewn with love and measured by kindness
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Jan 4, 2017
Happy New Year! Wow I can’t believe another year has started. I never used to really think about this before but now that I am working for myself I am actually finding I am enjoying the process of looking back over 2016 of what worked, what didn’t and where I need to change my mindset. What I have discovered about myself is that I am still (and maybe always will do to some extent) carry around some limiting beliefs. These beliefs come in the package of “I’m not good enough”.
Over the years I have worked hard on this record that used to play in my head constantly. What I am discovering is that although I have done a lot of work to silence that record, there is still work to be done. I also never used to really think about what I wanted in life, OK maybe in very general terms, but not really specific, what do I really want my life to look like terms.
What I am learning is that because of my limiting beliefs, and the fact that I thought “I’m not good enough” I never really felt worthy enough to set down real goals so instead I kinda just floated through life hoping things would work out well. Not sure about how this works for anyone else but for me that didn’t always go so well and life would hit me over the head with something until I made a change. So, I would do the work make the change and then….. coast along no real direction until WHAM! Life happened again.
I have lived my life like that for years. What I am discovering now is that I have made so many changes that coasting just isn’t an option anymore but at the same time letting go of my limiting beliefs is also really scary. Lately I am feeling like I am in limbo land, I need to let go of the beliefs that are stopping me from moving forward however going back is also simply not an option either.
Along with the quilting, I also sell Mary Kay cosmetics, I have done this for 20 years in a very small way. Why haven’t I taken this further? Easy, I didn’t believe in myself so I stayed small. What I am realizing now in reflecting back over 2016 that although I am starting to venture out on my own, I am still thinking small. I am still trying to stay safe, but what is safe? Letting someone else who also has many limiting beliefs call the shots and dictate my life.
So 2017 is the year I need to really make some changes. I am in the process of setting some big goals and one of those is to start thinking BIG! Feel the fear and do it anyway! I mean look how far I have come in 2016. I have started my own business, stepped out of my comfort zone in writing this blog and so many other ways. I have tried to go back, tried applying for jobs, and although I didn’t get the jobs I realized in the process that I really, really didn’t want to go back to that life anyway. One of the reasons I am not getting the jobs is that I am long passed playing the games. I am simply not willing to compromise myself to stay and look small because of someone else’s fears. I am not willing to work for someone I can’t respect. I know there are some who won’t agree with me on this one, but I have worked for some really fantastic people and some hmm not so fantastic, very fear based people and at this point in the game I am only willing to work for the fantastic ones. The ones who get that we are in this life together and there is enough for all and treating people with respect and dignity is the only way to get anything done.
So here’s to 2017 and making BIG scary goals!! Ones that stretch me outside of my comfort zone and keep me moving forward and out of limbo land.
So how about you? Anyone else making BIG goals this year? If yes, please share them in the comments as I would love to hear what they are.
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