note: I actually wrote this about ten days ago. On an actual piece of paper. With a pen. It was kind of a breakthrough moment for me, and I want to share it with you.
One of the reasons I started quilting again a year and a half ago was that I wanted something in my life that no one could take away from me. It's the same reason I started volunteering with GENaustin. Whatever might come my way, whether I lose my job, have a falling out with a friend or get dumped — those outside things didn't define me.
No one but me could take those things away. Today, I realized I had taken something away from myself. It had been more than two months since I turned on my sewing machine; my desk was covered in a fine layer of dust. Hemming those jeans, taking a step back and seeing tangible results of my time and effort, made me realize all I had been missing.
A lot has happened in my life over the past few months to make me rearrange my priorities. But in the rearranging, I lost balance. I lost part of myself. So I've started a new blog with the intent of finding balance. Balance between work and play, academics and creativity. It won't be just a quilting blog, but if you're solely interested in that, there will be a separate RSS feed and archives page.
I will be double-posting in this blog as well, at least for a while. And I'll still be posting updates to Flickr. (My next post will be about this project I've been working on.)
It's been almost a week. I make no apologies. I'm adding two buttons to my sidebar today. Here is the first:
You can click the button to learn more about Blogging Without Obligation. Here's a sample:Because only blogging when you feel truly inspired keeps up the integrity of your blog.
I've had a rough week, and I've just been in a funk. I missed the April Friday Night Sew-In, which sucks, but I just wasn't feeling it. I finally got back to my machine the other day, and I'm working on some smaller projects this week. More to come later this week, since one is a birthday present for a friend, and I don't want him to see it here first.
Here is the second button:
I have been stressed lately with all the projects I'm working on. Most of them are pretty small, but they all need to be done in the next 1-3 weeks! Jacquie at Tallgrass Prarie Studio is hosting this challenge. It started Monday and lasts six weeks. I'm breaking up my to-do list into two sections, one to be done by the halfway point May 10, and one to be done by the end of the challenge on May 31. Divvying up my to-dos was easy, because everything in the first part has a deadline! Luckily, only one of those things is a quilt; the rest is a bunch of little sewing projects. Here's my list so far:
I have a lot on my plate! My reward for finishing this enormous list will be to actually buy fabric and start a new project. I'm resolving to only add small projects to this list. I'm hoping to have my first finish ready to show in the next day or two! Are you joining Jacquie in the Spring to Finish Challenge? What's on your list?
