Yesterday, I listened to the Retire Sooner podcast while out running errands. This week’s episode (#173) was about the how much good health contributes to a successful, happy retirement. The guest discussed how the USA pays the highest amount per capita in the world for healthcare, but our health stats are near the middle to lower tier of developed nations. He went on to list several reasons why he thinks this might be the case. Very interesting reasoning. Our country is more apt to “take a pill” to fix whatever ails you rather than doing preventative things that take more time and effort like eat a healthy diet and exercise. Of course Big Pharma, the food companies and the government all play a role in our health outcomes. He reasoned it would take politicians willing to do the hard work needed to fix our healthcare system and not be concerned about re-election before anything meaningful got accomplished.

So what can we do? We don’t know when our last day on earth will be, but people have a lot of power in their own hands to make sure they are as healthy as possible up until that time. The average age before aches and pains start to set in is 66. The average life expectancy is about 77. If you eat right, maintain a healthy weight. exercise/move and enjoy meaningful social connections, there’s a much better chance you’ll be enjoying a longer, active life in retirement.

This message really hit home. My recent physical was a mixed bag. I knew something was off going in, but couldn’t tell exactly what it was (menopause, BP meds, general aging). Side effects from my BP meds were reflected in some of the bloodwork, so we changed it. It’s taken two weeks, but I finally feel more like myself again. Increasing my water intake and getting outside for about 1/2 or more each day seems to have helped in addition to the BP meds change.

Don’t know about you, but I plan to be active and independent for as long as possible. My primary care physician told me a lot of that rested in my hands. Losing 30# and incorporating more movement (walking, yoga, dance, etc.) would have the greatest impact for me.

I write many of my own patterns and instruction sheets for the kid’s classes that I teach simply because most project patterns are written for adults – not 9-12 year olds. When I ran the Stitching Stallions maker lab at my previous school, our Friday sewing club members served as my unofficial pattern testers. I was able to tweak designs before teaching classes at Stitch N Quilt or the SQTM.

The students who sew with me in my home studio on a regular basis are referred to as my CraftLAB kiddos. Working with them gives me a really good idea of how long it will take to complete a particular project. They’re scheduled to make the READ pillow around the same time that the kids at the SQTM will in December. Fortunately, one of my CraftLAB kiddos wanted to make the pillow early. I am so glad she did! With everything precut and fused, it still took 90 minutes to complete the pillow and almost as much time to do the applique letters. Yikes! My “pattern tester” definitely informed my decision to contact the SQTM and advise that we needed to revise the schedule by extending the December project into January and rescheduling the January project to a later date. There’s no way I can reasonably expect the 6 students at the SQTM to complete this project in 75-90 minutes. To ensure student success, I’ll modify the project so the girls can cut their own applique letters using the SQTM’s die cut machine and use any extra time for them to make/stuff their own pillow inserts! A win-win because the SQTM has an abundance of polyester fiberfill!

My bee group has several new quilters in our ranks. A couple of them asked about learning the basics for those just starting out. Here are my thoughts:

Machine: (1) Learn to use the one you’ve got. Get out the manual, take a class from a local dealer, visit the manufacturer’s website for tutorial videos or check out sewingmastery.com to see if they’ve done a video series on your particular machine. You can also check out YouTube and search by your machine model. (2) If upgrading, buy one with at least an 8″ throat space. Budget friendlier: Brother PS500 or PS700 can be had for under $700.00 and has straight stitch needle plate option, adjustable foot pressure and scissors function. Baby Lock offers similar machines at similar or slightly higher price points. Pfaff and Janome were frequently mentioned as reliable machines, but come at a higher price point.

Skills:
(1) Master 1/4″ seam and scant 1/4″ seam settings for your machine. Experiment with different feet, thread, needles, tension and stitch width/length settings. Write down the settings that give the best results for your particular machine. (Example: Elnita EC 30: standard 1/4″ foot, 80/12 Microtex needle, Aurifil 50 wt thread, center needle position with 2.0 stitch length. For scant 1/4″ – same settings, except move stitch width 1 click to the right (2 clicks if sewing FG blocks together).

(2) Learn how to use a rotary cutter and ruler accurately. Try out different handles in the store (or at a show) and buy the 45mm version you like best. If you can only get two rulers, start with a 12-1/2″ square and a 6-1/2″ or 8-1/2″ by 24-1/2″ ruler. A 2-1/2″ x 6-1/2″ is also mighty handy, if you can add it to your ruler purchase. Creative Grids rulers are my personal favorite.

(3) Learn how to read quilt and sewing patterns. Always read through the directions 2x before cutting the first piece of fabric.

(4) Learn how to construct the most common quilt block units – half square triangles (HST), hourglass (QST), square-in-a-square (economy block), flying geese (FG), and snowball. Learn at least 2 different methods to make each of these units (except snowball). Make sure you understand the stitch n flip corner method. Once you have these units down, you’ll be able to tackle most any pieced quilt pattern out there.

(5) Learn how to press properly. You don’t need the most expensive iron out there – onee from the big box store will be adequate. A clapper, a bottle of spray starch/Best Press and a pressing cloth will be helpful. The types of sewing you do will determine if it’s worth investing in a sleeve board, tailor’s ham or applique pressing sheets.

First Projects:
For a first quilt project, search out one of these classic designs: (1) rail fence (2) disappearing 4 patch or 9 patch and (3) bricks. Plenty of free tutorials and patterns are out there. Try Pinterest!

Once you are comfortable with simply pieced quilts, up your game by choosing a quilt pattern that incorporates at least one of the common units you learned how to make in step 4. Suggestions: make a sampler quilt through a local quilt shop or an online tutorial series from your favorite designer. Sherri McConnell from A Quilting Life offers a free BOM that starts every January. She’s a former teacher, so her pattern instructions and the accompanying video tutorials are really well done. Missouri Star Quilt Company is known for its weekly quilting tutorials. Fat Quarter Shop offers a ton of free patterns and video tutorials. Moda Fabrics and Riley Blake Designs also offer free patterns and educational video content.

This post only begins to scratch the surface that is the quilting rabbit hole. I started a Quilting 101 Notebook on Pinterest to serve as a reference for my beginning quilter friends.