I am not afraid…I was born to do this.
Joan of Arc
Do you need a little Monday Motivation? Need to spend more time in the sewing room to get your mind off all that is happening in the world right now? Join me and set a goal for the week to hold yourself accountable for getting one thing done.
How many times have you told yourself you would spend all your time quilting if you didn’t have to do X, Y, or Z? Many of us dream about having hours and hours of quilting time each day. Here we are with the time, but lack motivation. Why is that? When our “safer at home” order came, I looked forward to all the new-found sewing time. At our house we are starting the seventh week of self-isolation, yet I’ve made very little progress on any of my projects. This seems to be a common thread among other quilters with whom I’ve had communication. Nearly everyone is getting far less accomplished than they thought they would.
Admittedly, many people, including myself, are making masks and these are quite time consuming. The masks I made went directly to friends and family in need, so I know they are being used. Just this afternoon, I received another plea for a few more masks for doctors with inadequate PPE. I will happily honor this request and hopefully get them in the mail tomorrow.
In the beginning of this pandemic, I was paralyzed by the news. I spent hours each day scrolling through every article I could find. Then it started making me crazy with all the contradiction, accusations, supposition, and hyperbole. Now, I spend far less time with the news and much more at my sewing machine. It is a much happier place! My UFO bins are overflowing so it is the perfect time to take action and tame the beast.
First on my list is to complete some small quilts for donation. Our local Project Linus chapter cancelled the most recent sewing day. These “sew-ins” typically net several hundred blankets to be distributed in our area. I am sure the need is still there and I have several quilts that can be quickly finished and ready to donate as soon as it is safe.
Awhile back I cut up a big pile of fabric into Yellow Brick Road blocks. I ended up with 100 blocks and divided them into sets of 20 blocks to make 5 small quilts.
Over the weekend I pieced the tops and added borders.
Then I dug out a few more small tops that need quilting and cut backs and binding for them. Fortunately, I had suitable stash for all the backs and bindings so no shopping trips or online orders were necessary.
I like these hangers from Amazon for keeping tops, backs and binding together. They are a little larger and more heavy duty than regular hangers and have a little slot that is PERFECT for the binding.
My challenge for the week is to get these quilted and bound. Like Joan of Arc said, “…I was born to do this.”
What are your goals for the week?
