Hello friends and Happy New Year!

With the house empty again I finally have time to write my first blog post of 2021. The “kids” (being my youngest daughter, son-in-law and their daughter, now 7 months old!) left back to England on Wednesday. All have arrived home safe and sound and are snug in their home for their quarantine and the duration of the UK lockdown. It sure was a treat to have them here with us for two months. Hubby and I were so upset when the pandemic prevented us from traveling to see them when Yana was born last May so we were very lucky to have been able to spend time with them as new parents and soak up all the baby cuddles I could. In just those two months, we got to see her sit up on her own, start to eat real food and crawl on her tummy! It just melts my heart every time I hear those little giggles and baby laughs! Babies can be so silly, but I think perhaps my hubby’s singing is even more hilarious! Surprisingly, +30 years on, we still remember quite a few rhymes and songs but have to improvise with a few “dee dah dah doo”s and when in doubt, some lyrics of our own: “Somewhere over the rainbow, Yaya’s quilting….” Ha! I am hoping now when we video chat, Yana will recognize our voices and I won’t feel like such a stranger. They grow up so quickly and more than ever it has reminded me how fast they grow up and how suddenly life happens.

As I do at the start of every, I try to pick a single word to focus on and use as guidance for the forthcoming year. I wanted to choose something meaningful that would act as a compass, something that might help guide my decisions, encourage me to be the best version of myself, something to go back to no matter what 2021 throws at me. I am leaning towards “Pause”.

Reflecting on the last few years, I can’t help but notice how busy I have been. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, I have been forced, like many, to take step back. A few weeks into another lock down, I’ve looked at the river, had time to quilt for “me”, and sat in the sun doing nothing. I’ve taken moments to just, pause. I would, under “normal” circumstances, feel guilty and a little anxious doing nothing. But this time, well, this time it feels quite good!

So, this year I will “pause”. Pause before I make any big decisions. Pause once a day for myself. Pause to be thankful. Pause before taking on a new challenge. Pause to breathe when it all feels like too much. And with this pandemic looming for a while longer yet, sometimes it does feel rather overwhelming. Of course, I will still continue to quilt and come up with new patterns, long arm and as always help you out when you are in need of my assistance. These are after all the things that fundamentally bring me happiness. But, maybe I might try shifting down from 5th into 2nd or 3rd gear… come out of warp speed and, as they say, smell the roses.

One thing I haven’t had much trouble “pausing” at has been the cheese plates, cookie trays and abundance of goodies around the house during the holiday season. Is it possible to press “pause” on my expanding waistline!? HA.

Maybe one thing I will have to do at warp speed is piecing for my Colour Me Red quilt-along quilt. Since the kids left, I have been frantically trying to catch up and I still have 19 more chain blocks to do before I can start to put it together for this Wednesdays instruction for borders! Wait a second… Oh yea. Paauuuseeeee. This is meant to be fun and I’ve got to get better at savouring these projects! Well, I guess this will take some practice. See, it’s hard to stop that built-in, hardwired, rushing around thing!

To everyone taking taking part in the Quilt-Along, who have been posting photos of their progress and completed quilts, thank you so much for participating! They all look beautiful and each so different with the many fabric choices. Love, love, love!

I received a photo of River Rocks from Dixie Moore before Christmas. Thank you to all who have sent along photos of your projects. I love to see all your creations and even more so now that we can’t get together for show and share. Sighhhh.

In other exciting news…. I received my Fabric Placement Notepads from the printers just before Christmas! If you missed the social media blast, these are my new quilting tools that I have had made up to make your quilting a little easier. Check out the 5 different styles and additional information on my website HERE. I am really excited about them and I hope you find them helpful.

Before I sign off, I just had two gentle reminders for the new year:

1. You can sign up for email notifications of my monthly blog/newsletter HERE.

2. You can join me every second Wednesday of the month for my Facebook live chat (https://www.facebook.com/riverquilting) where I talk about all things “Quilty” and just hanging out in a pandemic. The next one is coming up on Wednesday, January 13th at 7:00pm.

Alright, time for me to calmly go piece some chain blocks!

Thanks for dropping by. Until next time, stay safe, keep warm and don’t forget to pauuussee….

Hello Friends. Let me begin by saying Thank You to the quilters of the Rayside Balfour Quilters guild. I was an invited guest at their year end Banquet. What a lovely evening! A special thank you to this year’s Guild President Diane Blais who was my secret sister for the evening. She made me this lovely quilted bag with accessories to match!

In this post, I’d like to share some organizational discoveries I’ve made while my studio has been undergoing its renovations. First off, there is nothing like a complete reno to make you take a close look at your stuff and sort through it. As a quilter, I can confidently say that I am a little bit of a hoarder. Keeping that fabric that you bought in 1998 (which now is in the ugly fabric pile) because you might need it someday, or that leftover piece from the quilt you made your girlfriend, just in case it gets a tear and needs mending. Well it’s 2016 and there is so many new (and gorgeous!) fabrics out there. I went through my stash and donated anything that was 6-10 years old and I knew deep down that I would not have use for. I managed to fill a large box and donated it to the Sudbury Guild for their cuddle quilt program. This way I felt that I was giving to the community and the fabric would not go to waste. Pre-school programs also love fabric donations for their craft bins. Next time you feel the need to tidy-up, do some investigating because there are lots of places that are excited to receive your fabric give-aways.

Over the past 16 years, my studio has undergone a lot of changes. It was originally what we called the rec-room, where the family watched TV and the girls played. Now it’s used for a different kind of recreation! There were several advantages to converting the space; being on ground level allows for a separate entrance for the quilters and the big, open layout provides lots of room for all things quilting. I also don’t have to worry about walking outside in the dark with the bears to get to my studio!

This year’s renovation was a total upgrade. We, or I should say my darling husband, tore out the sauna and opened up the wall beside the existing studio – this space is now solely dedicated to my long arm and has freed up some much needed space at other the end of the studio. New flooring and a fresh coat of paint, well what a difference!

The only challenge now is to figure out how to store ‘my stuff’ without blocking a window or doorway. Luckily, as quilters, we are creative beings and with thanks to Pinterest (that giant time sucking hole on the internet that I try to stay away from but it keeps pulling me in), I have found a few really helpful hints.

First, my peg board. I have had it in front of my sewing machine since the beginning. It holds my scissors, rotary cutters, and things I use all the time.

Next, thanks to Ikea, is my RÅSKOG Utility Cart that holds the notions and things I use when longarming. It's on rollers and can follow me for easy access to things needed or can easily be pushed out of the way.

Another big challenge after so many years of quilting are all the rulers I've collected. One day, Hubby whipped me up this "Tucker Rack" to hold all my Studio 180 tools just like a file folder. It works like a charm!

I also love my stencil organizer. On the wall in my long arm room are two bars with “s” hooks that hold my quilting stencils. I like it so much I put a towel bar on the side of my cutting table to hang my regular rulers.

This shelving unit is one of my favourites. Purchased from Home Depot, this airy steel shelf unit not only holds my stuff but allows me to hang patterns and things from its sides, again with “s” hooks, for visibility and easy access.

Last but not least is my new cutting table. Needing a place to store my fabric bins, (and thanks to a fantastic IKEA Hack on Pinterest) I purchased two bookcases from Ikea. Hubby mounted them together and put it on rollers. A piece of melamine sits on top for the cutting mats. I now have a two-in-one, all-sides-accessible cutting table!

I would love to hear and see pictures of anything you have in your quilt room that helps with organization or things that have made your quilt room better - share in the comments! I'll be sure to post an update once I have my design wall up. That's all for now, thanks for dropping by, stay safe, enjoy the summer flowers, and have fun quilting.

A Covid Winter, a Coronavirus Christmas and a Pandemic New Year!

Pinterest, IKEA Hacks, and the Search for Organization in the Quilt Studio