A New Year in ASG

I co-chaired my first ASG neighborhood group meeting Tuesday night. It was lots of fun.

Our neighborhood group will be hosting the Chapter Annual Meeting & Tea in November this year. We kicked around some ideas for table favors; several people volunteered to check out locations. We still need a theme. But it was good.

Our program was to share your favorite sewing book and/or DVD. I offered Sandra Betzina's Fabric Savvy and also Londa's Refined Embellishment DVD. One lady shared that her favorite book is Sewing 911. She said she found it more & more relevant in these economic times when you have to repair and restyle clothes more. I will check it out.

…And the Children Were Nestled All Snug in Their Beds…

I've closed the door on 2009. It's over, done, gone, in the past. I am looking forward to 2010.

I have done some soul searching the last few weeks. I'm not big on new year's resolutions. Rather, I try to look at me, my life, and decide what areas I would like to change or enhance. And this year I want to make better use of my time. At work, at home, and in my sewing world.
One thing I am doing to enhance my life is training to run a half-marathon in April. I actually started this journey in November. My oldest daughter, Jeni, is my trainer & coach. Jeni has run since high school and has competed in marathons, triathalons and numerous half-marathons. Check out my running blog.

I have accepted the position of co-leader for my neighborhood ASG group. I am pretty excited. I haven't been very active in the past, but attended several meetings last year. When they asked for volunteers to help out, I spoke up. I felt like it was a way to commit myself to the organization.

The other aspect of sewing that has been on my mind is how to do more of it. I read other seamstresses blogs and marvel at how they a) work outside the home; b) have a husband & kids; c) do volunteer work and still manage to sew 70+ garments a year. By comparison, I work from home (no commute time), have no kids at home, only The Love of My Life, and managed to sew maybe 10 things last year. What's my problem?

I have tried to master the "10 minutes every day" motto. But it just hasn't worked. Some days there are not 10 minutes for me to sew. I am out of town, I have customers to entertain in the evening, sometimes I just don't feel like sewing. So I've been trying to figure out how to do more of my most favorite hobbies.

Well, yesterday as I was shoveling 6" of snow off the driveway in sub-zero temperatures, I listened to the latest podcast from Grandma's Sewing Cabinet. (I know, I'm behind on my podcasts also.) But the topic was so right on for what I'd been mulling over. Dr. Julie had a conversation with Dr. Meggin McIntosh, a productivity specialist.

Dr. McIntosh used the visual of life as a tote bag. (Dr. McIntosh also sews so she was talking about all the beautiful tote bags we all sew. I could just see the most recent bag I made my granddaughter for Christmas.) Then she went on to explain that the most efficient use of your bag is not to just throw everything in the bottom. Rather, make lots of pockets for all the things you carry—your wallet, cell phone, photos, change, make-up, whatever it is. That way, when you need something you can find it quickly and efficiently. Life is like that, she said. You need to have "pockets" of time to do the things you need to do and want to do. In plain everyday language I think it is called "scheduling". Duh! How simple is that concept?

This conversation fit perfectly into my overall desire to make better use of my time in 2010. So I have started thinking in terms of "scheduling" my sewing time. Next week I have scheduled Monday evening and Thursday evening for sewing. I'll let you know how it goes.

Annual ASG Christmas Dinner

Here is the small wallet I made for the ASG neighborhood group Christmas gift exchange. I've never made anything like this before. I had trouble only because I usually peruse the guide sheet and take off. This project made me s-l-o-w down, read every word and not get ahead of myself. It was quick and fairly easy. I loved the fabric choices.

I made my own bias binding using the Clover Bias Tape Maker. I used the 3/4" tape maker and it worked really well. It gave just enough extra room to wrap the multiple layers of the wallet.

I have been busy knitting and sewing other Christmas gifts and hope to post some pictures soon. I decided it would be o.k. to post the DGK items since they don't read my blog. So I'll take photos and get them up in the next day or so.

A Visit to a Quilt Store

I need to make a small handmade item for a gift exchange in a couple of weeks. At the Sewing & Quilting Expo in Schaumburg IL last week I came across a wallet pattern to sew from quilting cotton. It seemed perfect. So today I visited The Quilted Fox in search of some great fabric. This was a delightful store with 4,000 bolts of fabric. Marsha helped me pick some great fabric. She was very warm and friendly. We chatted a bit; I told her my one and only quilting story (see previous post) and she laughed. I told her that I was strictly a garment sewer and a knitter. She revealed that she used to do both those things also. Now she quilts obsessively. She showed me the quilt you make in their Learn to Piece class and how you learn to machine quilt in another class. I ended up telling her I would definitely give the classes some thought. But even if I decide against taking the classes, I will definitely visit this store again anytime I need great cotton fabric.

Boring!

I was so bored at work today that I left 2-1/2 hours early (I work from home) and headed up to the sewing studio. I am usually a very neat and tidy seamstress but things have gotten out of hand while I have been traveling so much the last month or so. But I pretty much have things all tidied up tonight.

You Can Start Every Monday…

so says Dr. Rosenfeld. Of course, he's talking about making healthy choices in your life, but hey, if it works for health, why not for blogging.

I just returned from the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Schaumburg IL. I worked for my friend Londa @ Londa's Creative Sewing. We had a wonderful time! I love spending time not only with my friend, but all the people you meet and befriend at shows like this. The added bonus for this trip was I stayed with my daughter and son-in-law and four absolutely awesome grandchildren! I was very happy to share when my favorite youngest granddaughter preferred curling up on Londa's lap rather than mine. Londa doesn't have a granddaughter (just a very handsome grandson) so she reveled in all the little girl love.

I found the most awesome brand new vendor at the Expo, Textile Lifestyle. This is a brand new, family-owned business focusing on gift items for all kinds of fiber artists. They have coffee mugs, mouse pads, note pads, note cards, magnets--all kinds of cool gift items to give, or, better yet, buy for yourself! The thing that makes these items so great is the images they use. They are beautiful full color, professionally photographed images from different fiber artist venues, knitting, yarn, sewing, quilting, etc. Take a look. You will fall in love with these items just like I did. I picked up the mouse pad, note cards and a magnet at the show. And I just placed an order for some other things at their website.

I haven't been slacking during the past month. I have been busy knitting and sewing Christmas gifts. Unfortunately I can't reveal them here since some of the gift recipients read this blog. (Thank you, dear children!) I have almost all the gifts completed so I can get back to knitting and sewing for me! (You know, one of my very favorite songs is by Toby Keith, "I Wanna Talk About Me".)

Houston Quilt Festival

I leave today to travel to Houston for the Quilt Festival. I'll be working with my friend Londa at her booth, #650. If you are there, drop by and see us!