Quilt Again Rebirth

It's been almost a year since my last post.  Why?  I'm not sure. I didn't stop quilting, sewing, creating.  I simply stopped posting.  No longer do I feel that my retirement from teaching school kids is new; no longer does it seem that I have lots of time; my life seems to amply fill my time no matter what my activity. 

"Retirement" has turned into lots of "Grandma" time. Lillie my youngest grand-daughter (9 months) spends every Tuesday and Thursday with me while Mom and Dad are at work.  She demands all my time and attention on those days, but I'm enjoying her tremendously.  After all, how many more times in my lifetime will I get to nurture and nuzzle a baby. She's a sweet-heart, and it is easy to appreciate how quickly babies grow and change when you are not the over-worked, under-rested parent. My other grandchildren drop in now and again whenever their parents need a baby-sitter.  The oldest is in 6th grade and is growing up way too fast. Soon enough they will all be too busy to spend much time with "grandma", so I try to enjoy them whenever I get the chance. 

Wednesday is my day with "Sew Therapy" friends. Three of my best friends show up at my house for coffee, encouragement, socializing, and a bit of quilting.  When it comes to their sewing projects, I serve the role of mentor or guide.  I don't usually get much of my own sewing done on these days, but it feels like teaching, and that's also very enjoyable for me.

Monday is my dedicated "Sewing Day." Friday through Sunday make up my husband's weekend days.  It's our days for getting out and about with whatever we want.  If he gets sucked into his TV sports, then quilt projects call to me.  There are also church projects - I'm organist for the East Otto Methodist Church, and once a month I cook and serve a community dinner with 1 other partner. Early Bird Swim class makes sure I get out of bed at 6 A.M.  Add in a little gardening and blueberry backyard business for the summer, and I'm starting to see where my time is spent.

I guess I'm trying to explain to myself why I let this blog go silent so long.  But no more.  I'm making it a goal. I want to chronicle this stage of my life. It's a wonderful time for me. I'm enjoying myself immensely.  I've completed many fabric art projects in the last year, and I want to journal my progress as I learn new techniques and try new ideas.  Going forward, my goal is to post at least once per week.  Sunday or Monday will be my assigned posting day at least until I get this blog back into my routine.  I blog mostly for myself, but I sure do like readers - especially readers who will leave me a comment or two.  If you are one of those readers, I thank you.

So on to my projects:  One project that I'm especially pleased with was a Craftsy course learning project. Craftsy.com is an Internet site that offers online classes in all sorts of arts and crafts including quilting. I took the Beyond Machine Quilting to improve my free-motion quilting.  And it really did.  Here's my finished project all done with free-motion quilting on my home sewing machine.

I wish you could see this in person.  The pictures hardly do it justice.

I learned so much from this class. And now I'm so much braver and competent with my free motion work.  I also discovered a fantastic online site at www.freemotionproject.com.  This website provides hundreds of free designs for free motion work, and even little videos to help you learn each design.  Check it out.  You'll be amazed. 

Til next time... and I promise it won't be next year.....  CDudley