KatyQuilts

Can I be down and dirty, gritty and real here for just a bit?

Alycia from Quilts Girl got me thinking….. Actually, I’ve already been pondering some related things, but her post was a definite piece of the puzzle. She wrote a great post about finishing, or not. You can read it here. Go ahead, I’ll wait. 😊

I’ve been working on cleaning out my house lately. Mr. Wonderful and I would eventually like to downsize our Michigan home. I don’t want to leave a big mess for my kids to deal with down the road.

This means lots of sorting, donating, selling, pitching. It’s a big job. It’s hard. It’s messy. But I’d rather do this than leave it for my kids, not that I’m planning on going anywhere soon!

Clearly, my sewing stuff is a big category. I have been giving quilts away, and have more to part with. I need to pare down the herd of sewing machines and collectibles. (This one is not for sale yet 😊).

Alycia reminded me that one thing I can let go of, is finishing every project I have started. My kids are under no obligation to finish them either. Who made the rule that we have to finish everything? I will say that I do enjoy finishing most things, but I hereby release myself from the obligation of it. Big difference.

So, I’ve decided to put these away for now. Eventually, I might let them go altogether. I’ve given myself permission.

Life is too short to spend on things that don’t matter. And in the light of eternity, it does not matter if I don’t finish this little thing, but move on to something else more important or engaging.

And if my kids want to drop everything that’s left at Goodwill for another quilter to find, I’m good with that.

So, you all just got a little peek into the chaos of my head! I’m still processing, so if none of this makes sense, that’s my excuse. 😁

And if you have any tips or ideas regarding downsizing, please share!

Have a great day!

You know I couldn’t leave the postage stamp leftovers alone! I started thinking I could use them to make a small version of this quilt.

The problem is, the leftover blocks have definite light and dark areas.

Hmmm…. Maybe I should just put them together like this.

But that doesn’t really scratch the itch the stripy quilt above gives.

I’m going to have to think about this some more.

Have a great day!

I have more photos to share from the AQS show. Here are the deets on the Cherrywood Challenge.

And here are a few of my favorites.

Have a great day!

Here are my favorites from the Shakespeare exhibition at the AQS show. So much creativity. Enjoy!

Have a great day!

Studio Art Quilt Associates had a special exhibit at the AQS show called the Sustainability Challenge. Here are my favorite quilts from that exhibit.

Have a great day!

I’ve dithered about long enough on this project! I decided it was tim3 to just sew it together. You’ll notice I ended up skipping the sashing.

I noticed this little bit while quilting. These blocks were made by a friend in New Jersey!

I decided to use that pretty green fabric for the binding.

This is my dedicated binding machine. I love it for that!

Now I have lots of hand work to do. I need to find a few good movies.

Have a great day!

I’m back! I think I’m caught up on sleep and my laundry is nearly done. So it’s time to share a bit about the Grand Rapids AQS show. First off, this won Best Original Design and it was well deserved!

These tiny blocks were only an inch!

It was absolutely stunning in person.

As I mentioned earlier, I was there to work in the lounge which was sponsored by AccuQuilt .

We had tables for people to rest, water to drink, chocolates, and an opportunity for people to make blocks for Project Linus.

By the end of the third day, we had about 120 blocks!

I had a great time chatting with people and demonstrating the AccuQuilt dies and cutters. I even got to meet blog reader, Lois! That was a highlight! I also got to visit this little quilt.

This was the first quilt/pattern that I made for AccuQuilt . It hung in the lounge along with many other “AccuQuilt Built” quilts.

I’ll be sharing more show quilts soon. Have a great day!

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I will be sharing photos from the show soon, but today I’m in recovery mode. I have managed a few more blocks for the scrappy stars SAL.

The original antique crib quilt had 20 stars set on point.

Only four more blocks to go! Have a great day!

Ta daaaaa!!! It’s finally all in one piece and pressed.

I love it, but I am tired of working on it.

This next photo shows what it looks like on a 45 degree angle.

And here is a peek at the back.

It currently measures about 46”by 56”. I have more pieces cut. Should I keep going and make it bigger? And how will I finish the edges?

These are the questions I’m currently pondering. At the very least, it may do some closet time. I’m overdue for some hand quilting.

Have a great day!