Tip Tuesday! Do What You LOVE

"Tip Tuesday!" - Do What You LOVE

I love learning new things and then sharing that knowledge with my quilting friends. So, every Tuesday I'll provide some tips, hints, tricks, tutorials, shortcuts, etc. that I've learned over the years and share them here on the blog. 

"Tip Tuesday" will be a collection of information about a wide variety of subjects garnered from a large variety of sources.  I am not an expert by any means and do not take credit for being the great wizard behind all of these hints and tips. I will gladly give due credit whenever possible.

These tips will be archived and accessible to you just by clicking on the "Tip Tuesday" tab above. 

Read, enjoy, and be inspired!

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I love to create quilts! 

That's something you all know about me, and that anyone who knows anything about me knows. 

It's a simple fact.

While waiting for my husband to receive his eye injection recently (he has macular degeneration), I wondered about how I would react if I lost my sight, developed terrible arthritis or Parkinson's Disease, or something else that would making quilting a challenge or not possible at all. (No, I'm not a "Debbie Downer" or anything, I just wondered.)

That also got me thinking about the type of quilting and projects on which I'm currently working. Although I make a lot of donation quilts which allow me to try new patterns, most of my current projects are for class samples or memory quilts for customers. 

Here's a few pictures of a quilt I recently finished for a customer. This was made from her niece's baby clothes and she was pleasantly surprised that I was able to use most of the pieces in tact instead of just squares of them. She loved it and I was pretty happy with it too.

The clothing makes this quilt heavy, but she wanted flannel on the back so this is one HEAVY quilt. Plus, it's large (90" x 110"). 

Although I like how it turned out, while making this quilt, I struggled a bit with the process. I've made MANY memory quilts over the years, and although it is often challenging for me to work with the different fabrics, decide what part of the clothing to use, etc., I've never really had a motivation problem. I think my favorite part of making memory quilts is not the process or the quilt itself, but in giving of it to the customer. It is wonderful to see them recognize an article of clothing and tell the story that goes along with it. That is especially gratifying when the clothing is from someone who has died. I know that the quilt will bring comfort to the recipient and that makes me happy.

But, while working on this particular quilt, I was not loving the process. It wasn't the typical challenge of getting the clothing to "work" how I wanted it to, it was recognizing that I didn't want to be making a memory quilt. I realized that I had started having those feelings with the last one I made but I just hadn't recognized what I was feeling. 

The proverbial light went off while talking with one of my students, Suzy. She was making a quilt for her cousin and she didn't like the fabrics or the pattern she was using. For that matter, Suzy didn't really like the cousin either but felt guilted in to making it. I sympathized with Suzy and suggested that her next quilt be just for HER - her favorite fabric, favorite colors, favorite pattern, etc. I told her that she should do what she loves and love what she does.

Oh my goodness how those words hit me! It was easy for me to tell that to someone else, but in reality I was saying them to myself.

Right then and there I made the decision to finish this quilt, do the other three small ones that I have here for a friend and take a hiatus from memory quilts. I still like making t-shirt quilts so I'll continue to do that, but on a limited basis. 

Perhaps I'll head back down the memory quilt path someday, but I don't know. Maybe I'll make some for myself or family members, but not for customers. Who know? All I know is that I feel pretty good, having made that decision.

Are you doing what you LOVE?

Doing what you love is always so much easier than doing what you MUST do. Chances are that you'll still have to work hard at doing what you love, but you'll enjoy the process and the results so much more. 

Yes, I know that there are things that we MUST to do. I'm certainly not advocating that you ignore everything and focus only on what YOU WANT. 

Instead, I'm saying that to truly be successful, you must find a balance in your life and that balance should include doing at least one thing that you LOVE. 

You are worth it!

Stop back tomorrow for a tutorial on flange binding.

Even though I provided a link in a previous post, I've been asked to post a tutorial. 

I'm editing pictures today and will post it tomorrow.