Tag, I'm it! Around the world blog hop

 

I was excited to be tagged by Kris of  Kris Loves Fabric as part of the Around the World Blog Hop.  You can read all about Kris's creative process in her blog post.  Kris and I share a love of Blog Hops, text fabric from Sweetwater and making Doctor Who themed quilts for our kids!

The Around the World hop is a giant game of tag across the globe where quilters share a bit about their creative process and answer some questions.

1. What am I working on?

I love working on several projects at once. 

There is always a long term project like a block of the week/month in progress in my sewing room.  As soon as I finished Barbara Brackman's Votes for Woman,

I was ready to move on to a Farmer's Wife - I'm making 3 (paper pieced) blocks each week.

There is fun to be had each month with the Schnibble challenge from Sherri and  Sinta.   Here is my current project underway

I also love to participate in Sew We Quilt blog hops.  Have some secret stuff in flight right now

Anticipating Bonnie Hunter's next mystery quilt - just finished last years mystery Celtic Solstice.

And there are always have original work projects underway.  Busy putting the binding on my latest quilt (New Hampshire) right now.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

This seems to be a tough question for everyone to answer - me included.  I'm on a quilting journey and can't wait to see where it takes me next.

I learned to sew in High School in Home Economics - do they even have that class anymore?  I have been a quilter for a long time but an active quilter for about 15 years.  When I  look back at my early work, I would follow the pattern precisely (ok, so maybe not so much when it came to 1/4" seams) and often would select the exact same fabric as the sample hanging in the local quilt shop.  As my experience and confidence improved, I branched out and certainly now add my own twist to any pattern or quilt.

I don't have a particular style.  

I like the traditional - quilt called Spring -

... and the use of bright solids in modern setting - quilt called Sunburst - ...

to one of my all time favorites - my fractal quilt Infinite made for my son's college dorm.

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

I create because it makes me happy and it makes other people happy.  When I gave my youngest daughter her Doctor Who TARDIS quilt one Christmas morning her shrieks of joy were amazing!   (And yes, the quilt wasn't quite finished!!)

I create because it relieves stress.  I've got a stressful job in the corporate world and am the mom to three wonderful kids.  My girls are teenagers and son is in college - need I say more?  This is the quilt I made for my middle one - blog post here.  She has Down syndrome, my movie watching buddy and is my Celtic Woman.

I blog for me to record my progress as a record for myself;  I blog because of the thrill out of making friends through this wonderful world of quilt blogging.  I also love the challenge of creating for blog hops - you get a task and then create and get to celebrate the other creations from the other hoppers.  This was the quilt I designed for my cupcake picnic sponsored by Sew We Quilt.

4. How does my writing/creating process work?

Friday is the big quilting night.  My middle daughter watches a movie every Friday night and I join her in our bonus room and sew like a madwoman!  She often watches DVDs of Celtic Woman concerts so as she watches and I sew, we are signing away.

I usually manage to squeeze in smaller stretches of time in front of the machine on Saturday and Sunday between dance lessons (no, not mine!) and violin lessons (not mine either!).

Love the process of handsewing bindings and I queue those up for any tv watching I might do.  Rare but maybe a movie with my DH on Saturday evenings.

Creative process can hit at any time but often Sunday afternoon I take a cup of tea (iced or hot depending on weather) to the back porch and sketch out my ideas for new quilts.  Recently my creative juices are flowing in overdrive mode.  I want to start publishing patterns and have 3 quilt ones almost ready to go.  I dipped my toe into the pattern publishing with my first pattern for this Pretty Trash bag at Craftsy - my first pattern - check it out!

I have started a second blog and have my own dot.com - Elm Street Quilts.  This blog will be all about my patterns and my tutorials.  Check out my spiral quilting tutorial!   My goal is to turn this into a business when I retire from the corporate world.

Enough about me!

A lot of people I really enjoy spending blog time with have already been tagged so I want to instead send a blog hug out to some of my favorite blogs -

• Freda from Empress of the Universe - we 'met' during Friday Night Sew Ins
• Retromummy - Corrie blogs about her family of 5 kids and crafting.  I won one of her giveaways
• Sheri from A Quilting Life - we share a love of Schnibbles and Fig Tree Fabric
• Sinta from PinkPincushion - Sinta's positive outlook shines through her blog and we share the Schnibble love
• Bonnie Hunter - her mystery's are fun and such creative energy that come through her blog
• Amy's Creative Side - really enjoy her quilt cast 
• JEllen's House of Fabric - she also has a young daughter with Down syndrome so while I've never been to her store, love to follow her story
• Kris Loves Fabric - I love that she tagged me and love how much we have in common.  She her Doctor Who quilt here .... this one is my version.

My blog reading list goes on and on but those are my must reads - check them every day.

I am sending a virtual tag out to any of my readers that want to answer these questions next.  Just add a comment and post next Monday, Oct 6!!

Thanks for spending some time reading about me - all the best!

Happy Stitching!