Quilting is About Solutions

I'm stumped.

I'm finishing up my cleaning, reorganization, or whatever you want to call it.  Almost everything has found its place again.  I gave away a tiny bit of fabric and some of my books to Goodwill.  I washed fabric that had escaped from totes because I didn't want to put it into a new tote dusty or infested with who knows what....  I went through UFOs and projects I had set aside to refamiliarize myself with them all.

Quilting has always been partly about solutions for me.  I feel like I'm problem solving at many points when I'm doing it.

My books are a problem.  I want them out, but I can't.  I don't have anywhere to put them.  I sew in the living room.  I've taken as much as I can back downstairs only leaving three totes of Twilight stuff upstairs because that is the project I'm working on right now.  I guess I'm going to have to store them again in totes downstairs.  I wish I could have them upstairs on a bookshelf or something.  I hate it when the living room becomes cluttered with totes.

I wanted to finish everything up and I'm very close.  I've got books and ripped up magazine pages all over the living room right now.  I finished the rest of the fabric this morning.  I'm at the point where I'm shuffling stuff around.  I can't buy anything else until Tuesday.

I sewed with S today.  I brought up the spare sewing machine and we got it going.  She needs a guide to line up her seam and this sewing machine isn't as forgiving as mine.  We used a straw on mine the last time, but we used an acrylic ruler on this one.  I'll have to think about it some more to see if I can come up with something better.  The needle on this machine doesn't move which is a problem.  She's made 20 blocks so far.  I had her separate the remaining fabrics into sets for the Rail Fence blocks so I can cut them into the strips and get them ready for her.

I'm eager to get back to sewing myself.  I take advantage of football Sundays to sew without guilt.  I did practice free motion some more on Sarah's machine.  I think I like it better than mine.  I've found the most amazing free motion quilting site and it's been so helpful.  I already had the Magic Slider and so I knew how helpful it could be.  I'm eager to get a quilt done so I can practice some more on something real.

If truth be known, there is a lot of reasons why I don't quilt my own quilts.  I've talked about it.  Perfectionism.  Lack of Confidence.  Not having the right tools.  Laziness!!!!!  How can I spend so much time on making a quilt and not quilt it to the best of my ability?  I can say that I've not ever taken the TIME to quilt something because at this point I just want to get it done.....  This has been a big mistake. 

I've really taken in ALL the tips, tools, and methods at this site.  For the first time, things are making sense.  I am realizing that I will have to take the time to properly prepare my machine and the quilt for quilting.  My success depends on it.

Check it out!  365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs