Do you ever walk into your sewing room and think
what the heck am I working on?
When was the last time I was even in my sewing room?
Sometimes life gets busy and life gets hard.
So much that quilting is just too much for us to juggle.
But the rough times don't last forever.
And when you're ready to open that sewing room door
how do you actually jump into quilting again?
That's when you need a reboot.
So stick with me and I'll show you how to do it.
Hi, I'm Karen Brown of Jessica Done Quilts.
I give you tips, tricks,
and strategies to help you make the quilt
that you want to make.
And if you like what you see,
please hit that subscribe button.
(electronic whirring)
When you love your hobby and it fills your bucket
it's hard to imagine a time when you would put it aside
but many things can suck the energy right
out of us leaving us tired and uninspired.
Personally, I've just finished the big project
of Maple and Eucalyptus,
leaving me with those post quilt blues.
But maybe you are suffering from quilt grief.
That is your project might be stretching your
skills too far
or you've chosen colours that make you feel blah or worse.
You've fallen out of love with
who you're making the quilt for
and combine that with the regular distractions of worry,
people coming to visit.
Life gets busy, life gets tough.
So when you lose your sew jo,
it's really important to be kind to yourself
and take the time you need to rest,
heal, and ask for support.
And when you make it to the other side,
you'll take one look at your sewing space
and realise it's time for a reboot.
(upbeat music)
If you have just finished a big project
that marathon stamina that you needed to
get that final stitch knotted,
likely meant that you were just dumping tools
and supplies aside in the pursuit of that finish line.
Or if you were interrupted bid project
you have likely tossed other items on top
of what you were doing,
so you might have a little bit
of excavation to do in order to find it.
If you have had to share your space,
chances are you have items packed up
in boxes or scattered around your home.
So for me, a reboot always starts with a tidy up.
Just grab your timer and set it for 15 minutes
and clear off your sewing machine.
When the timer goes off,
take a break, have a drink
or come back the next day.
Keep going until your sewing machine is clear,
then clean it, change the needle,
fill the bobbin and thread your machine.
Find your top tools and keep them near.
This way you are ready to sew when you're ready to sew.
Now, this is not the time to declutter.
Decluttering takes a lot of mental energy
and it's quite likely right now you don't have a lot of it
and we don't want to waste what little we have.
The declutter challenge will come back next January
and you can do the bigger job then for now
it's time to focus on what fills your bucket.
(upbeat music)
Fabric brings us joy,
and playing with them can allow a nice easy shift
from that logical left side brain
to the very creative right.
Here are some exercises that I like to do.
Take a random pile of fabrics
and organise them in a rainbow.
I start with red and I shift through to purple.
Next, take the same pile of fabrics
or another totally different one and organise them by value.
Take a black and white photo
and see how well you did make adjustments
until you feel you have it in the right order.
For the third exercise,
take a busy fabric
it's best one that has at least three colours
and a medium to large motif.
Then take two mirrors minor
from the dollar store and move them
across your fabric and see how different symmetries appear.
And sometimes I just like to refold my fat quarters.
There are no stakes.
It's not turning into a quilt.
It's just exercises and experimenting to see what happens.
Not only is it therapeutic
but it sparks possibilities for future projects.
We are looking for pairings
or groupings that give that little tickle
to the brain that Brandon Wulff was talking about.
So take lots of photos.
Note what colours make you smile.
I have several other fabric exercises in this video here
and I'll leave a link to that in the notes below.
(upbeat music)
Self-help books always talk about
how much time it takes to make a good habit
but never how little time it takes to forget one
Making a practise block is all about remembering
what to do and how to do it.
That is letting your brain find the archive
where all your skills are tucked away.
Your practise block might be making a bonus block
from fabric scraps
which I showed you how to do in this video.
It might be doing a block challenge,
like a block lotto
or a charity block for your guild,
or a tried and true sampler block
just to give you a moment to get back into the groove.
Now, I surprised myself
by choosing these flying geese to do,
I mean they'd only been in my stash as a UFO for five years
but they were easy, mindless sewing for me to do.
As I marked, sewed, and pressed.
You'll find you'll get your tools
in the right place.
Get your machine in the right spot,
adjust your seat, get the lighting you need,
and just find that comfort within your space.
I also advise you to use your timer here too
and when it goes off, take a break.
Again, it's about keeping a light load
on your brain so that you don't burn out.
(upbeat music)
Quilting is a marathon.
And following that analogy in step one,
we found our gear.
Step two, we started stretching.
Step three, we put on our running shoes.
And now in step four, we're going to go for a short run.
So think about small projects
or tasks that don't demand a huge time commitment
like finding a quilt or doing a block challenge.
Make some postcards, make a baby quilt.
Now I'm going to put up a big warning flag here.
It is so easy to take on too much too soon
and we can look at something and say,
"This is easy."
Just because it's easy doesn't mean it's effortless.
There are many stages in making a quilt
and that can fill your brain to capacity.
Then you stumble and fall right back to the starting line.
I was guilty of this this past month
when I got out my oldest UFO.
I spread it all out.
I read the pattern.
I organised all the pieces only to find
it was too much too soon.
It sat on my cutting board in the middle
of my studio for well over two weeks
before I finally realised I had to put it back in the box
and I had to regroup and just start smaller.
So I started with something really basic
fixing the hole in the bottom of this felt bag.
I got at my 12 weight thread and hand sewed the seam.
This didn't take me more than 10 minutes.
It was a fast and easy win that made me feel great.
So then I moved on to recovering my ironing board.
It was stained and unsightly,
and I was always embarrassed
when I had to take a photo on it.
Luckily, I found some remnants of this fabric in my stash
and it took me about 15 minutes to recover the old one.
I repaired my mother's favourite purse.
I can't tell you how long it's been in my house
but I finally got out those leather needles
that have been in my stash for 15 years.
The job was just a bit tricky
in that I had to open up the lining to make the repair,
but honestly, it was done before the timer went off.
I have recently purchased a stash of threads
for my embroidery machine,
but I had no place to put them.
So I made some custom trays out
of some foam board that I had lying around
and they perfectly fit the space that I needed.
Again, fast and done.
I sorted some of my scraps,
at least the solid ones.
I separated the crumbs and then tucked the remainders away.
I was really careful only to work one colour at a time
because scrap fatigue is real
and I have run out of pieces for my bonus blocks.
So I process some scraps and replenish my piles
and in my scraps,
I found some wide back strips
which I cut into two and a half inch strips
then splice them together to make some pre-made binding.
Completing these smaller tasks gave me such a feeling
of accomplishment, and I can feel my sew jo coming back.
(upbeat music)
There are lots of decisions to be made when making a quilt
and sometimes they're just too large a hurdle to get over.
So join others in a common project.
My so sisters like to make quilts where everyone contributes
like three to eight blocks.
You can join a quilt bee where members produce blocks
on a theme or a prompt.
There are round robin projects where you make a centre
or row, then you pass it
on to another quilter who adds to it
and then another and so on until it comes back to you.
Of course, there's online quilt blogs,
but remember, you don't need to commit
to a queen size quilt.
Stick with the baby and the cuddle cold size.
This past weekend, I was lucky enough to join my Sew Sisters
on an overnight retreat.
We all brought our own projects to work on
but it was the vibe in the room that was so special.
We shared stories and advice.
We did some shop hopping and made meals together.
We nurtured and cared for each other
and I was shocked to realise how much nurturing I wanted
which reminded me that I still needed to take it slow
and not rush into any big projects.
Now, as you work yourself through these steps,
your brain will be working
sifting through ideas and possibilities.
By handling your stash, you'll know what you have
while scanning through magazines and social media.
You'll get ideas, and by talking and sharing
you'll be inspired by other quilters.
Then you're going to bring it all together
and choose the next quilt that you want to make.
If you have ever thought about becoming a pattern tester
take a listen to my new interview with Kendall McCallum
who shares so many important tips.
And if you're looking for ways to use up your scraps
check out my scrappy playlist.
Take care, and I'll see you next time.
(electronic whirring)