Link Love: Slow + Steady Wins at Life

Well last week just disappeared in a flurry, didn’t it? I had a really great week last week, but not because it was an easy week. My week was full of appointments, hard to take news, illness and more social events in one week then we’ve had in the last 2 years. It was a brilliant example of why I need to make changes in my life and why the changes I am making are making a difference. On Monday I took a road trip with Raylee (of Sunflower Quilting) and Caroline (of Nightingale Quilts) out to Young to check out a fabric sale that was on. It was great because I didn’t have to drive and so I got to sit in the back seat, watch the countryside go by and talk about everything and nothing with the ladies.

One of the biggest hurdles of working from home is the isolation. I hadn’t realised just how bad it had gotten for me until the end of last year when my mental health became an issue after Quilt Market. I’m a homebody by choice. In fact, once upon a time I used to daydream about living the life of a hermit working on a lighthouse in the middle of nowhere. My social anxieties mean I don’t do well in crowds, or even one-on-one, and so like any big cry baby I tend to avoid them like the plague. Here’s where working from home really helps me out! I can go months without having to leave the house (with the exception of school drop off and pick up of course!). It’s brilliant for my introverted needs, not so great for my mental health.

Back in January when I was knee deep in planning for the year I made a rule with myself that I would go on at least one non-work related social event every month for the year. Whether it was catching up for a coffee, going to a lecture, seeing a movie – something. I needed to get out of the house and have human contact. I’m happy to report that so far this year I’ve stuck to that rule and it’s been brilliant. I’ve gone out for meals, we’ve had people over for dinner, I’ve gone out on a Friday night – it’s been little things, but they’ve all been great.

I also made a rule that I have to try harder at the Little Man’s school to make play dates with his friend’s families so that he gets some social contact as well. He is very much like his parents in that he’ll happily spend his days amusing himself in the house which is great on some levels, but not so great for his development. So this month I’ve sucked up my own fears and insecurities (I hate making small talk!) and we’ve just had our first organised play date. It went great! So great in fact that I’m already thinking about what we can do next month. (I figure if I organise one play date a month it will help us slowly build up to a more rigorous social calendar as he gets older.)

On top of all this socialising we’ve finally taken the plunge and started a family activity; karate. We had our first lesson on the weekend and it was amazing! The Little Man’s Occupational Therapist recommended that we get him playing some sports to help with his gross motor skills and we’d been talking about doing a family activity for a couple of months now and so the stars aligned and we took the plunge. I really thought it would be hard going (I hate doing exercise in public), but it was the complete opposite. Ten minutes in and I was already thinking about when we could attend another lesson. I’d forgotten how much fun it can be to just be goofballs together. I’m really looking forward to us all learning new things together and getting out of the house on a regular basis.

Last week was a full-on week but it’s left me energised for the week ahead. I’m doing battle daily with my impatience when it comes to my work life and my desire to make changes, but it’s good for me. I’m learning some new things about life and the people I love in the process and I’m grateful for the opportunity. I have no idea what this week will hold and that’s both scary and exhilarating. It’s good to be alive. Wishing you a fabulous week filled with love, laughter and much fabric fondling!

#100Days100Blocks2018 is less than 100 days away and this year I’d like to use the event to help those that are starting out in our creative industry. If you’re a small business owner, pattern designer, author, podcaster, blogger in the creative industries then this is the opportunity for you. I’m offering free daily sponsorship spots (sponsorship of this event is normally something you’d have to purchase) to help promote those that are helping our industry stay alive and grow by going into business. If you’ve got something you’d like to promote then register your interest by clicking here.

If you have any questions about being involved in this event simply drop me an email and we can talk it through. I want to use this platform to help give you a voice and see our industry flourish.

This Friday night I have the immense pleasure of opening the Queanbeyan Quilters Members’ Exhibition at the Queanbeyan Bicentennial Hall. The Members’ Exhibition is held over two days (14 – 15 April 2018) and is open to the public. If you’re in the region I highly recommend popping in to check out the quilts, do some handmade shopping and meeting with some lovely and amazing quilters. For more details click here.

In 2018 I’m going to be travelling around Australia teaching people how to fussy cut and I can’t wait. If you’d like to take a class with me I have the follow classes currently available:

Fussy Cutting FUNdamentals @ Quilt NSW – Monday 14 May 10:00am to 3:00pm. Learn everything you need to know about how to fussy cut for patchwork and English Paper Piecing. We’ll cover Improvisational Fussy Cutting, Traditional Fussy Cutting and Fussy Cutting for Colour. I’ll talk about fabric selection (including how to work out exactly how much to buy), colour theory and where to find those unusual prints to make your work pop. To book click here. (Please note: this is the ONLY class I’ll be teaching in Sydney in 2018!)
Fussy Cutting FUNdamentals @ Hobbysew Belconnen – Sunday 20 May 10:30am to 3:30pm. Learn everything you need to know about how to fussy cut for patchwork and English Paper Piecing. We’ll cover Improvisational Fussy Cutting, Traditional Fussy Cutting and Fussy Cutting for Colour. I’ll talk about fabric selection (including how to work out exactly how much to buy), colour theory and where to find those unusual prints to make your work pop. To book click here or call the store on (02) 6253 0011.
Amazeballs Tote Bag @ Hobbysew Belconnen – Sunday 10 June 10:30am to 3:30pm. Using the Amazeballs Tote pattern from my book, Fussy Cutters Club, we’ll learn all about improvisational fussy cutting to make unique and one-of-a-kind projects. Participants will learn basic bag construction and techniques for adding fussy cutting to all their projects. To book click here or call the store on (02) 6253 0011.

I love a good email newsletter and I really love the weekly newsletter from Amy Lynn Andrews called “Useletter”. Not a week goes by where I don’t find something interesting to read in it. This week’s had a really great couple of links about slow social media and the current mood in the blogsphere about social media, online marketing and whether blogging is making a comeback. It echoed a lot of my current thinking and I’d be interested to hear your thoughts about it. Click here to read more.

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I’ve been seeing versions of Lee from Freshly Pieced Supernova Quilt all over the place recently and it’s got me thinking about doing a version of my own. The pattern is contained within the blog posts for the Supernova Quilt-along that was hosted a while back. Click here to read more. (This version is by Rachel of Let’s Begin Sewing. Click here to read all about it.)

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I love the bold graphic nature of this free quilt pattern from Hello Melly Designs on Craftsy. Click here to read more.

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I’m loving this tutorial for making a wonky scrappy log cabin block. I was only lamenting the other day that I have more scraps then I can handle in this house, guess it’s time to get my wonk on! Click here to read more.

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As the weather has started to turn colder I’ve become obsessed with soups. I’m going to be making this corn chowder recipe this week. Click here to read more.

I love to share the cool things that I find during my week of surfing the internet window-shopping and splurging. Here’s my top 4 from this week:

A. I’m plotting: The minute I saw this new pattern by Elizabeth Hartman (Penguins in Sweaters!) I knew which fabric bundle would be just perfect for it! Click here to purchase this on Etsy.

B. I’m chuckling: They had me at cats wearing rainbow jumpers and socks! Click here to purchase this on Etsy.

C. I’m obsessing: I think bringing two cats into our house is starting to influence my fabric selections… what do you think? Click here to purchase this on Etsy.

D. I’m pre-ordering: It’s no surprise that I love Alison Glass so when it was announced last week that Alison will now have coordinating solids and chambrays I knew exactly what I was putting on my wish list. Click here to purchase this on Etsy.

Have you got an event, a charity drive, a pattern release, a class schedule or something else that you think my community would be interested in hearing about? Why not drop me a line and let me know – I’d love to share it with my readers. Click here to email me.

The fabulous Lucy from Charm About You has released a new mini quilt pattern, Trenton Block. It’s an old school quilt block which I love and is perfect for hand stitching. You can purchase it on Etsy by clicking here.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a very small commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link, in fact in some cases I can offer you a better price via an affiliate link. I will not recommend something that I do not use myself. These commissions help me keep being able to provide you with great content for free. Thank you, in advance for your support!