Always a Quilter -- Even at Work!

The art of piecing things back together is a valuable skill. Here is a link to a blog I wrote at work. Once a quilter -- always a quilter! ”. http://www.nvrural.org/blog/piecing-together-something-beautiful

Lisa

Quilter Goes Back to Work

The economy has affected all of us. So, it is no surprise that 3+ years ago I noticed a change in my husband's landscape business. The phone wasn't ringing as much and there just didn't seem to be the steady stream of work that we had come to rely on. I tend to listen to my "gut instinct" and mine was telling me that the future was very uncertain. After being self-employed for almost a decade, I decided to sacrifice my flexible lifestyle and look for a 9-5 job! Just in the nick of time as it turns out, as businesses here in Nevada were just beginning to sense an economic decline and available jobs were few and far between.

I consider myself fortunate. I landed a job within three months in the field that I was targeting -- affordable housing. I have a background in Interior Design, but I consider myself a no-frills, no-nonsense designer and decided that my skills were best applied to tackling the basics with minimal budget compounded with a plethora of federal rules and regulations! Call me crazy, but these are the same types of creative limitations that draw me to the art of foundation piecing. It is all just a puzzle to be figured out.

My best quilts start out as an image that develops in my head, some can be traced to the inspiration and some can't. Lately, due to lack of available quilting time, I try to keep the visions at bay. But I find that they start to nag at me and eventually I say "Fine, I will quilt you!". This is where the creativity of working within the limits of my quilting ability forces me to strategize the design. With a full time job, I have now added another limitation -- time. Not only do my designs need to squelch the voices in my head, they need to get there faster and more efficiently.

I believe constraints force better design and hopefully I will be able to offer to you better designs that maximize your precious time investment.

Quilting Withdrawals

I've gone a solid four months without quilting. Not because I was subjected to some sort of intervention, but because we sold our home and moved. Moving for us is a true test of personal, marital and family strength. We always choose the most neglected properties and then set out with much enthusiasm (and minimal budget) to make them charming. Needless to say, everything else is put on the back burner. I finally unpacked my quilting supplies last week and am warming up to my new (but much smaller) quilting environment.

I do have a bit of quilting excitement. My foundation pieced pattern 'Holy Carrots!' has been published in this month's issue (July/August) of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine. This is the first time I have appeared in this magazine and I think they did a great job -- you can even download the pattern from their website http://qnm.com/webextras/feature297/ .

Speaking of websites, I am excited to see so many people visiting www.spooloffish.com and downloading my free foundation piecing instructions. Now that we have settled into our new home I am looking forward to adding more patterns for you to enjoy.

Lisa

Welcome to Spool of Fish Quilting Designs

This blog is designed to share quilting ideas, tips and tricks. Please feel free to comment on the postings and visit my website, Spool of Fish Quilting Designs.

Also, I have a free quilting pattern that you may download.

Thanks for visiting.

Lisa
www.SpoolofFish.com