2018 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop

Another year, another New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop! I participated last year, and it was a fantastic and eye-opening experience. I made a lot of new friends and learned a lot, so I rejoined this year. My hive is called the Happy Stitching Team, and our hive leader is Tish of Tish 'n Wonderland. Thank you Tish for being one of the hosts for this wonderful blog hop!

My Journey

I started sewing a little over 3 years ago because of all the Project Runway I watched, and I was curious about the art of sewing. (I didn't know the difference between sewing and quilting at the time, either.) My mother-in-law got me a starter machine for Christmas and I tried making pillows and cotton skirts, but I wasn't into it at all, so I stopped. About a year later, I was browsing classes on Craftsy when some new quilting classes caught my eye. Seeing all the bright and graphic modern prints gave me the impetus to try quilting, and soon after that, I was totally, 100%, obsessively and head over heels in love.

I have two young children, and it can be very taxing at times. I soon found that looking forward to quilting at the end of the day helped me get through even the most difficult of days. Sometimes the house is a mess, and sometimes my calendar is a mess, but I know that when I go to my sewing machine, I can make sense of things again. It is my happy place and my therapy, and I'm so grateful to have it.

My Style

I would describe my style as modern to modern traditional. But mostly, I would say that I don't have a particular style as far as pattern or layout, but that my particulars lay in the fabric. I love bright colors, metallics, black and white, and graphic / geometric prints.

But a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some of my favorite quilts from the past year, and I think they convey my style better than my words can!

Top left: Urban Cabin
Top right: Critical Sunshine
Middle left: Inside Looking Out
Middle right: Lakeshore
Bottom left: Flux
Bottom right: Lagom

The biggest change in my quilting journey in the past year is that I got a longarm machine and even recently finished the longarm room into a beautiful studio. I realize I'm super, super blessed to have all this! Longarming has added a new dimension to my quilting because I no longer had to compromise my vision. I consider it one of my best decisions ever, next to taking up quilting to begin with.

It's been an amazing journey so far and I look forward to what the next year will bring!

Blogging Tip

I find the toughest part of being a quilt blogger to be photography, and it's something I'm always working on and I imagine it's true for other bloggers. I discovered by accident last year that some of my favorite photos of my quilts aren't with them lying flat (though that's important too) or even closeups of the quilting. The ones that have the most life are the ones that are staged in the living area, and they don't even have to show details of the quilt. Here are some examples of mine:

It's not always possible and sometimes I don't manage it, but I usually try to get a photograph of the quilt in a staging shot, as I call it. Sometimes it takes rearranging a few pillows or moving a chair, but it doesn't take any fancy equipment.

Quilting Tip

My one tip deals with overcoming quilter's paralysis. If you haven't heard of quilter's paralysis, it's that instance when you're finished with a quilt top, but then put off quilting it for days, months, ages ... because you're afraid of messing it up. But I've come up with a strategy that works ... most of the time. It's a 3-step program:

1) Load the quilt. (Or, if you're on your domestic machine, it's baste it and get it under the machine.) For me, in particular, once I load it, I know I have to work on it because nothing else can get quilted while it's on the frame!

2) Audition designs but set a time limit. I usually give myself about a day or so. I will rough sketch the quilt on paper and then start drawing designs on top. I'm usually surprised how quickly ideas come to me.

3) Start quilting! Once I start, the ideas really come and as I quilt, they get finalized (because I don't want to rip!). Sometimes I step back and say, "Wow that looks really good!" and other times I think, "Hmm, I wish I did something else." But at this point it's usually too late to rip, so I keep going and when it's finished, I'm already thinking about the next quilt and it doesn't bother me that that one patch of swirls would have looked better if it was mixed with pebbles or something.

I know it sounds obvious, but the best way to get a quilt finished is to get it started!

Question For You

Who is your all-time favorite fabric designer? I'll pick two since this is my blog ... Brigitte Heitland (aka Zen Chic) and Alison Glass! I think 80% of my stash is their fabrics.

Hop Onwards

Thanks for visiting! Here are the other stops on the blog hop:

April 16	April 23
Gail @ Quilting Gail Rachel @ Rachel Rossi Design Tracie @ Riceford Streams Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts Jan @ Cocoa Quilts Michelle @ Creative Blonde Terry @ Quilting a Legacy April @ Janda Bend Quilts	Velda @ Freckled Fox Quiltery Carrie @ Carrie Bee Creates Sharon @ Ms. P. Designs Ann @ Laughing Gas Quilts Nicole @ Hand Wrought Quilts Becca @ Pretty Piney Sherry @ Powered by Quilting Stephanie @ Low Country Quilts and Embroidery
May 7	May 14
Sandy @ Gray Barn Designs Linda @ Cozy Quilts Dione @ Clever Chameleon Cate @ Chaos Theory Quilting Tara @ Quilt District Roseanne @ Homesewn by Us Karen @ Tuna Quilts Rashida @ No 3 Quilt Studio	Tracy @ It's a T-Sweets day! Joni @ For the Love of Thread Cherie @ Cherie's Quilting Journey Cindy @ Gray Barn Designs Karen @ The Quilt Rambler Sarah @ 9658 Textiles Terri @ Meanderings Along Lizard Creek

Last but not least, don't forget to check out our host blogs for some fantastic giveaways!

Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts
Jan @ Dizzy Quilter
Tish @ Tish 'n Wonderland
Sanda @ mmm! Quilts