Spring is Here!!!
Well, at least in Virginia….I noticed that some of us are still living in cold and snowy type weather. However, here in Virginia, the weather is a bit warmer (usually 50-60s), the flowers are popping out, and some of the trees are budding. HALO Inspirations loves to spread beauty and joy, and I feel that the environment is at one with me, as it spreads its own beauty and joy that leads to many inspirations.
So, what does Spring mean for a quilter? I don’t know about you, but for me, there are many things about spring that I find affect my quilting. For example, as the colors from the trees and the flowers begin to emerge, I find it inspirational and want to make more quilts with variations of value and/or color. I do not usually like yellow. But when I see all the wild daffodils, I often think how much I want to use that color somewhere. If anyone knows me personally, they know I do not like white in quilts. It isn’t because I do not like white, but I worry so much about getting something on it that will not come out. I have worked with many other quilts when longarming that people have sent to me to quilt and they have had white. It brings me so much anxiety! I’ll open the box and see white and my levels of stress begin. However, on my bucket list of personal quilts that I want to make are the hunter star and a red/white quilt. I haven’t done it yet, not just because I haven’t found the time, but also because they both have that white!!! Ugh! But, I will probably find myself making these quilts during the spring one year. Every spring, when I see the dogwoods bloom their beautiful, striking flowers in the mist of all the green, I am again inspired to make one of those quilts.
A little bit of color and life coming from the depths of winter…..LOVE IT!!!
Another thing about spring that affects my quilting is the longer daylight that we begin to receive. It is a funny thing to me, as most of my life I have been a night owl. At times, I still am. However, I find more energy and my highest time of creativity in the morning. Notice, I did say energy. In the winter, right after dinner, I am just done for the day. I got nothing left. The darkness is upon us, and I just am tooo tired. But, as the daylight stretches, I find myself with a more energy to do things, and my time of creativity also lasts longer. As a RN, I can understand the science behind that, but emotionally I find the whole thing intriguing and just want to take advantage of it.
Some people do spring cleaning with their newly revived energy. With the big talked about Netflix series, “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo,” I can see this truly being even a bigger hit than it already is. One idea while “decluttering” your clothes that I can give you is to turn those t-shirts, shirts, favorite pants, or whatever clothes that you may be having trouble parting with and no longer wear, is to turn them into a quilt or a t-shirt quilt. The ideas are unlimited to save those favorites in such a way that you can continue to cherish and at the same time clean out that closet or some of those drawers. I have even seen people use socks! I don’t know that using old underwear would be a good idea, but I guess to each their own. (LOL) You could name the quilt, “Under Where?” That sort of cracks me up.
So what does Spring do for you? Feel free to comment below on this blog or on our Facebook page. It is always fun to hear about the differences we all experience. I find it personally inspiring.
This week we had our first “give-away.” We conducted a simple Facebook post called, “Fun Free Friday,” where people had to do a few things to receive one our Pac-a-mats for free. Yep, I did say free. Our selected winner “seams” excited to receive hers and so does one of her quilting friends! We are excited that she will be able to experience the benefits of the Pac-a-mat, and hopefully she lets her friend try it too. I really love mine, and it is one of the things I do not piece without. We thank everyone that liked the post and our page and gave comments. It was fun! We have been tossing the idea around about doing more of Fun Friday, just not with the Pac-a-mats. We will have to wait and see.
Next, I wanted to tell you about something I have agreed to do in the month of April. Vicki Holloway is doing an April Challenge. The challenge is simple. It is finding 15 minutes a day to quilt. It can be any type of quilting. For example, it can be longarming, any type of domestic quilting, or hand quilting. We will do this together with her in her Facebook community. The idea is to “quilt without judgment.” We all need a safe place to try new motifs or better our existing skills. By giving ourselves 15 minutes a day in this safe environment, it gives us the time and the freedom to get those objectives done. It is not about practice makes perfect. In my opinion, no one is ever perfect. But it is about practice makes us better or equipped with more skills. That’s why I decided to accept her challenge. For her own growth and pulling out of the rustiness she finds herself in, she created the challenge and invited her community to join her for themselves, each other, and to help hold her accountable…lol (We need someone at times for that!) If you don’t know Vicki Holloway, she is a beautiful woman who also shares our love for quilting. She describes her quilting style as “Traditional Fusion” where she explains is “a love of all things old but new in some way.” She designs, she longarms for others, she is a member of the Quilts for Cure non-profit organization, and she continuously spreads joy, beauty, and inspiration by sharing herself and her quilting through Facebook, her blog, and her podcast. You can find her on her website: mycreativecorner3.wordpress.com or on Facebook @vickihollowayquilting. I have added buttons to get you there easily. If you are ready to accept the challenge as I have, you can join her community on Facebook, My Creative Corner3. I hope to see you all there!
Time to go and work on some of my projects….they seem to be calling for me from my sewing studio.
Until next time, may you continue to be inspired, productive, and joyful! And never stop making your dreams in quilting come true!
Sign up with your email address to receive News, Updates, and Inspirations.