Comfort levels

As in, what makes you realize you’re in your comfort zone?

Last Monday night I started sewing down the binding on the Girl Gang DIY Sampler. I had already stitched down the hanging sleeve and while that was happening, I remembered just how much I love hand sewing. Just the rhythm of the needle and thread moving in and through and out of the fabric layers is very soothing to me. And it’s something I can do while watching TV, because I’m rarely paying that much attention to what’s playing (unless it’s a show I’ve never seen). We do a lot of binge watching. There’s a lot of comfort in that, too. 

And then there’s comfort levels when you’re working on a project and you decide, hey; what if I went this way instead of that way in the interest of saving time? I did that Tuesday with my ScanNCut. I was  cutting a lot of words using a script font to appliqué on the secret project. I love using the rotary blade, but it adds a lot of time to the cutting. For example, I’m cutting out several words on the 12” x 24” standard mat in a light color. My fabric on the mat has WonderUnder adhered underneath it. The time to cut with the rotary blade was projected at 49 minutes; with the auto blade, the cutting time was nine minutes. So why not go for the nine? Yeah, never again. The auto blade ate the fabric on the first word it cut. And the second word it cut. 

Oh, the horror. I'm glad I was watching closely.

I hit the pause button, changed back to the rotary blade, and the ScanNCut did her thing beautifully.

So my comfort zone here is the sure thing and don’t cut corners (or words) that you can’t save. Sometimes, attempts to save time only add more time (and frustration) to completing your goals. Learn something new every day!

Going back to the hand sewing, I chose to hand sew the binding because this quilt is for me. There’s no deadline to get it to anyone, and it’s mine, all mine. Between the hand sewing and my dipping back into counted cross stitch, I’m really enjoying my recliner time. The puptarts love it, too. Snuggle under a heavy quilt in the summer time with Mommy? Yes, please! 

It also serves to remind me that I need to do more for myself. Buying tons of fabric and stashing it was good while I was working toward retirement, but here I am almost two years into retirement and still buying fabric. Apparently, buying fabric makes me feel more comfortable. 

Our town’s Hobby Lobby moved this past week to new digs, and I had to pick up some WonderUnder for the secret project. I am always looking at their home decor pillows and saying, I could make that (and my camera roll holds many examples)! 

While waiting for the cutting of the WonderUnder, I glanced at the fall fabrics at 40% off and thought, those would be great for pillows and what fabulous colors. And then it hit me—I have loads of fall fabrics because fall is my favorite color, and I could make many fall-themed pillows with them. So glad I thought that before grabbing the bolts. 

Where I am physically when sewing and cutting is not comfortable, but we’re making changes to turn that around. It’s not happening fast enough, so I’ll be uncomfortable for a while longer. Just like with our high heat. I’m a big believer in being comfortable when doing what you love—it releases endorphins, increases productivity, and makes my euphoria soar through the roof. For me, anyway. 

On Thursday I was able to fuse the words to the secret project top, and Friday I raw-edge appliqued the letters using invisible thread. It took some adjustments to get to the thread and tension's comfort zones. I'm happy with the results of the invisible thread, not so much the WonderUnder. I spent Saturday afternoon tying knots and the secret project is now a flimsy. And as far as what I'll do with the remaining WonderUnder I have, let's say it may go to a good home. I'm planning on trying Hot Fix Adhesive soon; I hear it's wonderful.  

The next step for the secret project is to digitize and edge-to-edge quilting design. Yes, I'm back to that familiar sing-song "I'm gonna...". I have ideas that may (or may not) work. We will see. I have approximately six weeks to get this finished. The Mod Owls Revival class starts September 10, and there's loads of homework for it (i.e., cut cut cut cut cut cut). But the way my sewing area is set up at the moment would allow for me to cut the fabrics while the Luminaire is stitching out the quilting. Here's hoping that works. 

And I’m also thinking about starting my first Kimberbell project to see if I can reach a level of comfort in making them. I like many of their bench series pillows and have accumulated four or five of those designs. But for my inaugural project, I’m doing the “I just want to be a dog mom” mug rugs. Small, and hopefully quick, and maybe it will lead me to decide if I really want to do the other projects. As cute as the Kimberbell projects are, some of them are too cutesy for me, and wouldn’t necessarily mesh with my ideas for decor. 

I’m still doing my best to stay on track with this year’s plan of attack. Everything remaining on this year’s list are quilts I want to keep. I guess I’m going to be a little selfish for a while. We’ll see how long that holds. 

I hope you’re loving what you’re doing now and staying cool in this horrible heat. As I type this, our current temp is 100. We took the puptarts out for 10 minutes and I told the Hubs that was too long. We're supposed to have a cool front move in later in the week (temps of 95!) with some much needed rain. Usually by this time in August, we're already two weeks past the cool front that brings the rain.

In happier thoughts, I’m looking forward to a visit from my sister next week--she hasn't been here since Christmas--she's supposed to retire at the end of this year and I'm hoping we can do some house hunting. In the meantime, go make!