Boundaries are an essential part of self-care.

It is important that you stick to expectations you communicated. Too often, we “give-in” to assist the other person who requested our help. If it’s a genuine emergency, then absolutely help that person stat! Otherwise, you unwittingly set a pattern that you do not value your own time.

Case in point: I voluntarily spent 3-4 days at school in recent weeks helping a colleague and doing things that would benefit me if I took care of them prior to teacher pre-planning. Of course, once people realized I was in the building, people started sending all kinds of requests. I completed the last request on Wednesday evening and informed key individuals that I would be out-of-pocket until Monday at 8 a.m. (when the new contract year begins and we are finally getting paid again).

I wish people would read their email.

I received an email from a colleague with a request for help with a project that needs to be ready to roll Monday morning. It is an interesting idea. I responded with a couple of suggestions, but advised that I would not be available this weekend. Perhaps someone else on the email list will step up to assist.

I attended the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival a month ago. The shopportunity in the vendor hall was nothing short of amazing after 15 months of COVID lockdowns. Most every booth I visited seemed to have the turquoise Perfect Scissors by Karen K. Buckley, precut kits and the 3 yard quilt series books from Fabric Cafe, with assorted fabric bundles available for purchase.

The Fabric Cafe books are extremely versatile. I use them for teaching classes and making personal projects. In fact, I’m working on a baby quilt right now – Dominique from Modern Views from 3 Yard Quilts. I’d like to share 5 tips for working with this pattern:

1. Buy 1-1/4 yards of each fabric, especially if you prewash.
2. All over prints are your best bet. I used a directional print for Fabric #1. You can make it work, but it does require extra planning and revising some of the sewing instructions.
3. Read the instructions at least TWICE before you cut into any fabric.
4. Cut the larger sections first, then go back and subcut. LABEL the pieces.
5. For the flowers, take note of the placement of the Fabric #1 and Fabric #2 within the pieced units. If you use directional fabric like I did for Fabric #1, know that half of the units will need to be “redone” so that Fabric #1 is pointing in the correct direction.

Bonus tip: Use the same sewing machine to construct the inner portions of the quilt. It will be easier to match up the 1/4″ seams.

Within the past year, four Atlanta area quilt shops have announced closures. Only one was due to business being affected by COVID-19. One closure was due to health concerns and the other two due to the owner’s retirement. I understand one of the “retirement” shops has a potential buyer. Hopefully, we’ll know more soon. It’ll be interesting to see if we even have enough shops left to hold The Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop in 2022.

Only one shop in the area, Tiny Stitches in Marietta, is back to business as usual, 7 days a week. The remaining shops are open 2-4 days per week with limited hours. Stitch ‘N Quilt – long considered my “home” quilt shop where I taught kids & adult classes for 5 years – now closes at 3 p.m. No more stopping by on the way home from work! Now I’m basically limited to shopping at my LQS on the weekends. Part of summer break has been spent taking day trips to various shops in the North Georgia mountains to get a feel for each particular shop’s vibe. Along the way, I noticed a number of sewing machine dealers now stocking lines of quilting fabric and notions. It simply gives shoppers more options.

For me, where I shop depends on what I need and how fast I need it.
Weekdays: Hobby Lobby & Ashby Sewing
Saturdays: Stitch N Quilt, The Cotton Farm, Pickens County Mercantile & Quilt Shop, Atlanta Sewing Center (Duluth location)
Sundays: Tiny Stitches & Joann

I also dusted off my wholesale credentials and established accounts with certain suppliers. When I made t-shirt quilts, buying supplies wholesale made a noticeable difference in my profit margins. Now that I am regularly making project samples (and selling them) plus providing project kits for students, it was time to look at wholesale again. Saving money and time by having the essentials on-hand means I have more funds available to spend at my LQS and more time to create.