Loading a quilt with zippered leaders and Tensionology!

I would like to continue a tutorial I started several months ago concerning attaching zippers to leaders on a longarm - this post is going to show you how to load a quilt using these zippered leaders. In addition I am including information on using A1's patented Tensionology - which allows you to keep the tension consistent throughout the quilting process as well as advancing the fabric with a click of a button. Even if you don't have an A1 I hope you will find something beneficial in this post - be sure and at least skip to the bottom to see the finished quilt (grin). If you would like more information on the A1 and Tensionology just visit my website Quilts 'N Kaboodle. AND if you'd like a PDF version of this post or the previous one just send me an email requesting it (use the feedback form on my website). Okay...lets' get started!

Tensionology™ 101: Loading a Quilt with Zippered Leaders

Zippers on your A1 Quilting Machine offer several advantages. If you have not installed zippers please refer to my previous tutorial on how to do so. Regardless of having zippers or not, pinning or using a chain stitch, this tutorial will share how to load a quilt using your Tensionology ™ feature on your A1 Quilting Machine.

Now let’s begin where the last tutorial left off…

Having zippers on your leaders typically means you have at least two sets to be able to switch out quilts with the ease of zipping one off and the other on. In the above photo I’ve shared how I marked my second set of zippers.

I’ve marked my zippered leaders to corespond with the take up rollers. On my machine the take up bar that is at the back of the machine is # 1, it’s easy for me to remember this because it’s a solo bar. The other two are on the front of the machine and may be ‘stacked’ or off-set – either way, the take up roller that is your batting access bar (the one that moves) is #2 and the other one is #3.

This translates to #1 equals the top of the quilt backing, #3 is the bottom of the quilt backing and #2 is the bottom of the quilt top. With Tensionology ™ you do not “float” your tops (you can, of course, but then you lose the purpose of keeping the tension on the entire quilt sandwich which is why you purchased Tensionology™ in the first place!)

For those who do not know what this looks like, here's a photo of an A1 quilting machine with the tall pole being the Tensionology. Tensionology is a patented design by A1 Quilting Machines and Stewart Plank.

On each set of zippered leaders I marked the corresponding center – doing so by actually zipping each one on to it’s proper location and making the mark according to the center that was previously marked on the actual take up roller. By doing all this labeling you have not only greatly reduced any opportunity for confusion as to what part goes where, but you have also guaranteed that your centers will truly be center. In addition I chose to mark one inch incriments with a zero center and going out to 60 on both sides, to save time I just labeled 5,10,15, etc. (See first photo)

With your zippered leaders properly labeled you are now ready to attach the quilt backing and top. This can be done by pinning or using a chain stitch. My photos will show attaching using my Janome Cover Pro, but again, pinning works just as well. For the record, I’ve pinned for 6 years and this is the first quilt done using the chain stitch. The choice is yours! The important thing is that you notice the proper placement of fabric to the leader. By the way, if you are pinning this can be done both at the machine with the leaders already zipped on or unattached as described in the photos.

With a batik backing it’s hard to tell which is the right and wrong side of the fabric in this photos, but it will show up in the next photo when you see a seam (grin), for now, just trust me.

I’ve started with the Quilt Backing Top, which is labeled as #1. For the sake of instruction the side of the zippered leader that is labeled will be called the RIGHT side and the unlabeled side will be noted as the WRONG side. Find the center of your quilt backing and place the RIGHT side of the backing to the WRONG side of the zippered leader, matching centers and working your way from the center out, place pins about every 10 inches in preparation to sew.

My example is a chain stitch from my Cover Pro – you may have a serger or sewing machine that does this. I chose to use two different colors of thread so I’d know which was the top and which the bottom to make it easier to pull out later. Again, you may choose to pin using the pins that came with your machine package, regardless, here’s the list of which side goes where:

Quilt Backing Top: Leader #1 Quilt Backing RIGHT side to WRONG side leader

Quilt Backing Bottom: Leader #3, Quilt Backing RIGHT side to WRONG side leader

Quilt Top Bottom: Leader #2, Quilt Top WRONG side to WRONG side leader

It is important that you predetermine how you will load the quilt top, typically you will attach the bottom of the quilt top to the #2 leader, but on occasion if something is directional you may wish to reverse this. For the sake of the tutorial we will be attaching the BOTTOM of the quilt top to the zippered leader #2. Again, WRONG side of quilt top to WRONG side of zippered leader.

Ta Da, this part is done! Now let’s go to the machine!

Okay, this may look a tad confusing, but let me explain. The top take up roller (#2) is being held up by the batting access lever. I’ve zipped on the #3 zippered leader which holds the Quilt Backing Bottom and have all the fabric draping on the floor. Then I roll it up by hand, very roughly. I know this doesn’t look right, but trust me.

Next attach zipper leader #1 to the solo take up roller #1 at the back of the machine. It too is going to look rather unsettling – hold on, there’s a reason for this.

I know, it looks sorta woppie, but that's okay for this point.

Now it’s time to play with the Tensionology™

I sometimes have technical difficulties with blogger... turn your head.. the pole is suppose to be vertical not horizontal. I'm sorry!

This is the pulley end of the bottom take up roller #3. (Again, take up roller #2 is raised by the batting access lever so it’s not in the photo). Notice the arrow on the pulley near the connection to the bar. (If yours doesn’t have an arrow you can add one with a sharpie). This pulley needs to have the wire wound around counter clockwise. I’m using the wire/weights on the left, which are the back side of the machine or panto side.

Next add weights. I generally find that two weights give me the tension that I desire. Play around and decide what you prefer, 1, 2 or 3 weights realizing it can vary from quilt to quilt. One word of caution – if it is too tight you may experience thread issues during the quilting process.

Now take the fob that came with your Tensionology™ and advance the fabric to the top take up roller #1 by pressing B on the fob – I remember it as “B for back” because I am generally working from the front of the machine - although that line of thinking doesn’t work totally logically because you’d think “A for advance” and B actually advances … SO just think B to go BACK on to take up roller #1. Whatever works for you (grin). Again, this is a rough roll, it looks strange but don’t be overly concerned how the fabric is rolling. After all the backing is on take up roller #1 you will press A on the fob and now rewind to have all the fabric on take up roller #3 slowly, carefully, smoothing as you go until it’s all neat and proper. This technique is especially helpful with pieced backings. During this process the weights will go up and down as the wire is being wound/unwound on the pulley.

Photo above shows the fabric beginning to wind around take up roller #1. Photo below shows it advanced all the way around take up roller #1

Now it's time to re-roll it back where it belongs on take up roller #3, making sure it's smooth.

Now it’s time to load the batting and baste it to the top. I’ve not given you photo documentation on this as it was covered during your set up/training. For reference here’s a simplified explanation. With the batting access bar still holding take up roller #2 in the upward position, place the batting along the top edge of the quilt backing. Smooth out by hand; release the batting access lever to lower take up roller #2. Adjust the quilt by advancing or backing up the Tensionology™ to where the back of your backing and batting come to an area where you can push the machine to its further most point to create a channel lock and then stitch down the batting to the backing with a straight line – this will be your reference point to line up the top of the pieced quilt. (If this isn’t clear, refer back to the Attaching Zippers blog/You Tube to demonstrate how to create a channel lock). Some prefer to stitch from the center out to each side; I generally go from left to right. Again, personal preference.

Once the batting is in place it’s time to attach the quilt top. Zip the zipper leader #2 containing the bottom of the quilt top to the take up roller #2, taking care to spread the quilt top over take up roller #1.

If you notice in this photo I’ve begun to roll the quilt top onto take up roller #2. It is most critical that you take your time and roll smoothly. There’s no ‘back and forth’ process as we did on the backing. This is where you will want to make any slight adjustments due to fullness in the piecing, always maintaining a good horizontal placement of the quilt top, easing in fullness as needed. Once complete, baste the top of the quilt to the backing/batting. It is most important to do this step before adding Tensionology ™ weights (ask me how I know!)

Again, baste the top of the quilt to the backing/batting sandwich.

This is the most important photo out of the entire tutorial on loading a quilt with Tensionology™

The top pulley is connected to take up roller #2 ,the one that holds the quilt top; by the way, this photo shows the rollers in the “stacked” position, if you have the Horizon or don’t have your rollers stacked they will be slightly off-set, however, the placement of the pulleys and wires is the same. Take up roller #2 wraps clockwise using the wire on the front side of the machine and take up roller # 3 wraps counterclockwise using the wire from the panto side of the machine.

Add weights and you are done!

Again, the photo is taken from the front of the machine with the Tensionology ™ on the right hand side. Looking at the photo the weights on the left correspond to take up roller #3 (Quilt Backing Bottom) and the weights on the right attach to take up roller #2 (Quilt Top).

And good ole blogger is making me humble again...can't seem to make the photo go the right direction, but you guys are smart and can kindly turn your head to understand the proper orientation (grin)

On this particular quilt I wanted to stabilize it by doing all the continuous curve stitching in the double wedding ring "ring" before going back and quilting in the blue background. The photo below shows my take up leader #2 released from the quilt sandwich, which I will describe how to do...

It is MOST important when you get to the bottom of the quilt and the zippered leader #2 is exposed to take the time to remove the tension by removing the weights BEFORE unpinning or removing the quilt top from the zippered leader - otherwise once the tension is released by the removal of the pins the weights are going to come crashing down - not a good thing if you have a cute puppy in the room - poor Pixxie was scared out of her wits when I discovered this error (grin). If you think about it, it makes perfect sense, but it you are like me and you are quilting in the moment...well...enough said.

On the same token, once you have completed the entire quilt you will want to remove the weights from take up leader #3.

I can't tell you how much I love this A1 innovation! Having a fabric advance is wonderful, especially when you are trying to complete a design element and need just a little more throat space. Click of a button and the quilt advances to allow more room, click again and you can bring it back to where you were all the while keeping PERFECT tension on the quilt sandwich! No more puckers on the back from rolling or rerolling! If you don't already have one, I highly recommend adding it to your A1 - and if you don't have an A1, I can tell you how to get one!

Hopefully this tutorial has helped demonstrate how to load a quilt with zippered leaders, and that you have seen the value of rolling and rerolling the quilt backing to ease out any fullness.

As always, after a few quilts you'll be a pro at this - but if you are still new to longarm quilting, and perhaps Tensionology, you may find it helpful to print this out and have by your machine. Just visit my website and on the contact us page fill out the feedback form to request a PDF version of this tutorial and/or the one on attaching zippers. It's my thoughts that us quilters have to stick together and help one another!

If you've held on this long I want to share with you the completed quilt!

Double Wedding Ring, pieced by Dena

On display with the assistance of my Professional Quilt Model, Pixxie

The backing was pieced and had some beautiful batiks - I think the quilting really shows up more so from the back than the front.

Here's a close up of the front.

The wide border on the side had feather-like ferns that formed a heart shape as they came together.

Here's the border design element from the back.

Thanks for joining me in this continued adventure of longarm quilting.

Karen O in Texas

Wishing Talent was Contagious

Ever wish you could just stand next to someone full of talent and it rub off on you? That somehow what they possess would be contagious and you'd get a fatal case of it?

Those thoughts have certainly crossed my mind these past few weeks as I've surrounded myself with talented quilters, both on a local and national level.

Recently Cactus Quilts in Texas City hosted a workshop with Cynthia England, best known for her pieced landscapes which are highly published and have won numerous awards. Cynthia is a "home-town girl" residing in an adjacent community and has been an entertaining guild speaker at a couple of my local guilds. Her work is amazing with so many small pieces. When I discovered she would be teaching a workshop locally in a small intimate setting I jumped at the opportunity!

Pictured above is Carla, owner of Cactus Quilts, myself holding my class project, and Cynthia...okay, true confessions - that's HER class sample (sigh) and mine is only a work in progress...

This is how my project looked at the end of the workshop. Cynthia is an encouraging teacher and I can say that the entire class enjoyed our process of learning her technique. It's time consuming, but the end result will be rewarding! Ah, but another true confession, I was really wishing I could just take home the class sample - it would go so well in my beachie bathroom...

My pastor at Calvary Houston has been teaching on the Ten Commandments and wouldn't you know it, the day following my workshop the topic was "Desire to Acquire" ....

Exodus 20:17 (NIV)

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

How did he know that just the day before I was desiring Cynthia's talent and wishing I could acquire her little quilt (grin)...

Okay, as Pastor Ron explained, God is NOT saying that we can't have goals, dreams, desires (I want to grow up to be a talented quilter). In reality, He wants us to be the best person we can possibly be with the talents and abilities that He has given us. What He is warning us about is being obsessed with someone else's possessions (or as in my case, the talents of others). The word covet means to lust for what is not yours.

It's easy to fall into the "If I Only Had" syndrome. Y'know, if I only had a bigger paycheck I'd be happy, if I only had a nicer home, if I only had a better car, if only I had the right clothes or the right look, if only I had the right spouse/kids/family, OR translating it to my life as a quilter, if only I had the right tools (and there's an abundance of notions and machines out there), if only I had the right fabric, if only I had the talent and imagination of so-n-sew, if only....I had all these things THEN I'd be happy.

Luke 12:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵ And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

It's been said that multi-millionaire JD Rockefeller was once asked "How much money would be enough? and his answer, "Just one more dollar."

Truth of the matter, we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we carry nothing out. And so having food and clothing, with these we shall be content (I Tim 6:7-8)

Okay, so how does that translate to my life, specifically to my life as a quilter...I'll share as I share more quilting photos!

The very next weekend was our quarterly gathering of the Bayshore Longarm Quilters. My favorite part is show and tell!

Debra is sharing one of her quilts quilted on her A1 Quilting Machine that she's only had a few short months. I love our group - not only do we appreciate the color/design of the piecing but we KNOW to look at the quilting too! And we celebrate together the success of others.

Grace is sharing her success of this beautiful Texas quilt, one of her first "big ones" and "one of her own" done on her new A1 Longarm Quilting Machine. Grace unselfishly quilts a lot of charity quilts for the Mainland Morning Guild in Texas City. We all marveled at her creativity in her design elements, especially the hearts which she carried on to the backing fabric (deep in the HEART of Texas).

Lisa pieced this beautiful black and white quilt for her son and his wife, and since her longarm frame isn't as large as mine I was given the opportunity to quilt it for her (it's a King). She saw the completed quilt for the first time during our show and tell. It was fun to share a little of the lime-light with Lisa. I had posted on facebook that this was one of those quilts that I'd like to say "oh, I don't know what happened to it, it must be lost" (grin) and then keep it for myself... oh my, I'm coveting again! Even jokingly.

Pastor Ron shared the application of the 10th commandment...(1) learn to be content (2) enjoy what God has already given you (3) cultivate a gratitude attitude (4) hold lightly to the things of this world - as previously mentioned, we can't take it with us! Or as Job put it "the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord" and (5) be a giver - share and bless others.

That's what I hope to achieve in my quilting life (my personal life too, but this is suppose to be about quilting). I want to hold on lightly to the things of this world. I enjoy my quilting "things", I get pleasure in making my quilts, but they won't go with me...my desire is that they be inherited by my family, and the abundance shared with others (and there is an abundance, how many blankets can one person use here in hot humid Houston area). In the meantime I want to be grateful for the possessions I have, to be wise as I acquire, to be appreciative of others who will share their talent with me, who can teach me, guide me, inspire me...

Our little group of longarm quilters was blessed by the sharing of one of our talented and inspiring members, another "local" celebrity, Tom Russell who lives just north of us in a neighboring community. Many quilters recognize Tom from his Simply Quilts TV sessions with Alex Anderson or his nationally award winning quilts that have been featured at quilt shows (including the International Quilt Festival held annually in Houston) and in magazines. I've had the privilege of hearing Tom speak at area guilds a couple of times already and I have to tell you he weaves a spell-binding story that has you intermittently laughing at his stories of a man entering a quilt guild and everyone thinking he's in the wrong room and then being totally awed by his creations as he shares them one by one.

The Bayshore Longarm Quilters meet quarterly in my studio - I can honestly say that this gathering had the most positive responses concerning being inspired to explore and develop our individual talents. Tom, thank you again, I hope you know how much we appreciated your willingness to share with us!

Yes, I still wish that talent was contagious. I think in a good way, it is. Not if you envy or covet what someone else has or does, but when you celebrate their successes and when in turn they inspire you to do your best. Being content with what you have and still reaching for your dreams, sharing your dreams along the way so that others can help you and encourage you. I just love my quilting friends!

Okay, for the record, Tom got to enjoy all of five minutes in my favorite chair on the deck under the tiki hut (grin).

Then I whisked him and Kathy away to my favorite "vacation destination" - our local escape, La Brisa for a wonderful lunch and time to visit..

Still mulling over the thoughts of being content and being grateful for what I have... the next afternoon I pulled out a UFO to work on...it was actually cut out in early 2008 from left over fabrics to test out a version of a pattern called Jack's Chain only this version is called Ferris Wheel from the Vol. 6 book on hexagons by Marti Michell whose template I used to cut the pieces.

This was all I had completed in 2008, besides all the cutting and planning that is! By the end of "my day off" last Sunday I had pieced all the little circles and partial blocks and have the quilt laid out on my "design floor" in the studio.

Were it still is a week later! Lots of set in seams with this, but I'm working through it and enjoying the process. I've having to ignore that the colors aren't turning out like I envisioned (sigh) and it looks more like someone threw little squares of color on a busy piece of fabric...oh well, not everything is a perfect plan. But I'm grateful to have the opportunity to "practice" and perhaps I'll actually take the plunge and do the original version of Jack's Chain with 9 patch squares and SOLID hexagons (grin). In the meantime, I'm holding on to this loosely knowing that I can't take it with me!

I'll end with a few critters from my backyard this week....just another reminder of God's creativity in His creation and how He provides for "the lest of these"

Knowing that He will provide for you and me too!

karen

The Little Quilt That Grew

I find it interesting that some days aren't according to the "to do list" - you know what I mean...you have certain things planned and think you have it all figured out and it's anything but!

That's not always a bad thing. Unless you are some what of a control freak (grin).

Take this past weekend for example. One thing that went according to plan were my plans to attend a women's conference at my church, Calvary Houston, Friday night and all day Saturday with the theme Abounding. What didn't go as planned was this quilt...mainly because there wasn't a plan!

Well, that's not the absolute truth, there was a goal at least...a goal to try to use some left-over parts and fabric from a previous project(s). Ya'see, several years ago I decided to re-do my living room moving from blue to these colors. I don't even know what color family to call this because it's so foreign to my color pallet of brights and more brights...but it fits my living room nicely. I'd made curtains, pieced a borders quilt wallhanging from a class sometime back in 2008 (it's still waiting to be quilted) and even covered one of two rocking chairs (the other is a UFO)...and oh me oh my, there's still fabric from this beautiful collection! What to do, what to do?

Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

I Corinthians 15:58

Abounding. Means overflow, over doing it, abundance. Yep, I had an abundance of fabric that for sure, so Sunday afternoon while mulling over some of the topics from the conference I decided to work on turning my parts and pieces into something useful.

I wish I'd of thought to take pictures of the process, but didn't think of it until the little parts had grown....

I started out with the diamond in the center that has the rose, added the flying geese next to it and then just went about playing on the design wall - The diamonds in the rectangles were previously pieced as were the flying geese and the half square triangles and tri-triangles used for the pinwheels. The interesting part was piecing them all together.

One of the Abounding themes was Abounding in Service with the key verse the one quoted above. Our speaker was Kym Hindt, pastor's wife from Calvary Houston and founder of our women's ministry. She shared that what we are doing will matter now and in eternity, that we should work hard doing things God's way and not just being busy and burdened. That we should live our Christian life with future vision, to see needs and move to meet those needs. She also stated that to have vision for the future you must be strategizing during the present, preparing and planning...

In a way, that's how I approached this little quilt. Trying not to make it a burden by just being busy working in the fabrics, instead envisioning something useful. As each part was added I'd plan for the next...hum, if I add squares to the pinwheels that should be about the same width as the diamonds and flying geese...gee, I think it needs a little something to separate the design elements and that stripe will work nicely...oh and then why not add the scrappy collection of leftovers...now what about a long strip on the side to give your eyes a place to rest before adding the diamonds...and so the process went as I reflected....

Kym went on to share that abounding in service also included a sense of flexibility, being willing to shift our plans to His plans, in other words, live with the attitude of "if the Lord permits" or "God's will" and recognize that living in Him means to give Him permission to change my plans, and then exercising the choice to be flexible, to just keep moving - allowing God to lead, accepting His opening or closing of doors as He sees fit. When He says move, be flexible and move.

Abounding in service also means doing a job to the best of your ability until its done, commitment to follow through to completeness as well as being faithful in the present. In other words don't quit what you are doing now or become discontent because you look at everything as a stepping stone to what you want to do in the future. Just be faithful in the little things. Keep working.

As my Sunday afternoon of sewing and thinking was coming to an end I reflected on my work... I'd added the half square triangles top and bottom, figured the math for the floating strips to be able to add the drunkard's path blocks (quarter circles for my non-quilting audience) and was ready to pronounce it good. I'd managed to use up a lot of fabric. Loved using the Go cutter for the drunkard's path blocks, the accuracy in the cut made sewing the "pie" to the "L" so much easier. Yep. I'd used up a lot of scraps, actually running out of the green/yellow combo and having to improvise with the pinks to complete the border. Yes, there was still fabric left over, but there's always scraps, right? time to call it quits.

Kym admonished us to not waste time mourning over closed doors (the what if's of life) but instead recognize God as authority - when God closes a door you are at a crossroad - the choice is to go towards the open door or sit and fret over the closed door (which is truly just a waste of time). We should learn to look for the open door with eagerness, not ignoring it - because it may not always be open. What opportunities await? What you do today in service is preparing you for the service of the future, preparing for good work... so be committed to the present and seeing things through to completion.

An opportunity arose today, a window of time was provided....I chose to walk through this open door and embraced the challenge of working towards completing the work I'd begun....

Still reflecting on things gleaned from Kym's session on Abounding in Service...we should have forbearance with people patiently allowing God's spirit to work in their lives - this reminded me of song lyrics "I'm not who I was" - we all grow at different rates, learning things at different times, being patient with others as they too are working through things...and how we should have fruitful fellowship by being a team player, serving together, a co-laborer not trying to do everything in isolation....serving together, getting along...profound simple truths to pattern our lives after. As we all know, life is not always a picnic in the park.. but that facing opposition with challenge is not a reason for retreat. That adventure in ministry (life) is to get in the battle and face it with courage. The greater the challenge, the greater the victory!

Part of my challenge with growing this little quilt was what to do next... and then realizing that there wasn't enough fabric for my final border!...the solution to this challenge was a green corner stone (grin)...and you just thought I did that on purpose!

I certainly have enjoyed the process of this quilt. I had absolutely no idea what I would end up with as I began with parts, scraps, and a little knowledge of how to do a borders quilt. It was a challenge to think of the next part, to "do the math" to make it all fit. But I kept moving forward, committed to finish what I'd begun. Just like we sometimes encounter difficult people in our paths I encountered a few difficult blocks that weren't perfectly square or didn't want to lay flat (grin), but I knew the quilt needed those parts to be successful so we worked it out. All about growth isn't it? Either personal, spiritual, or yes, even functional as in quilting...

The Little Quilt That Grew....may it be a reminder of the need for growth in my own life...

There is so much more to ponder concerning the Abounding Women's conference... Abounding in Faith, Abounding in Hope, Abounding in Love, and Abounding in Grace...if you are interested you may want to visit the Pillar's of the Word website - CD's of the conference are available.

Focusing ...

Ever feel like things are a little fuzzy? out of focus? not sure of direction? discouraged? confused?out of control? anxious? fearful?

Fear. It's a funny little thing. Creeps up sometimes out of no where. I'm not talking about the good fear - the fight or flight fear that gets the adrenaline flowing that can possibly save your life, I'm thinking more about the fear that cripples your action.

Remember as a kid how you were sometimes afraid of the dark? The twilight hours are breathtaking but the fear of the approaching night would take your breath away in a negative way. Most of us have out grown that fear, unless you are caught out in the dark in a dangerous place, but then the good fear kicks in and you realize you need to get out of that situation.

No, I'm talking about the fear that sneaks in camouflaged and catches you unaware. Say for example the fear of failure, thoughts that can leave you afraid to try something new because you don't know if it will be successful or not - what will others think if you goof? Or on the flip side, the fear of success and that causes you subconsciously to sabotage yourself perhaps by not trying, not giving it your best, or just procrastinating long enough that the opportunity pasts because the potential resulting change scares you.

What about the fear of being hurt? for example earlier this week my shoulder and arm started hurting very similar to several years ago when it froze up on me... I became fearful of the potential pain to the point of not wanting to exercise for fear I would make it worst and lose my ability to use my arm in my chosen profession of quilting, I allowed my negative thinking of being hurt physically to keep me from a workout that potentially would strengthen this area ... or the fear of being hurt emotionally - relationships are risky business, but if you guard your heart to the point of not letting anyone in then you miss out on some of the beautiful moments in life...Fear can be so isolating.

Fears of growing older, fears of being alone, fears of losing a job or other material possessions. Fear of not being able to "make it" or pay the bills. That's usually when fear turns to worry. Fear has lots of second cousins like worry, stress, giving up, being defeated, downcast, depressed...

In pondering these thoughts I turned to my Bible for my comfort . "The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid" Psalm 27:1 The verse could have just as easily said "of WHAT shall I be afraid" - fear is a lack of focus. Focusing on God to work things out in His timing.

I was also reminded of something my dad always said "Can't never could, I'll try always would"

So why not try something new? Why not risk a little? If you fall, then just get up again. What's the worst thing that can happen? They can't take your birthday away from you!

Speaking of birthday... (grin)...Don't you just love my birthday cake? My youngest son's girlfriend spent literally days making this, and it tasted ever'bit as good as it looks!

Okay, so I decided that I wasn't going to be afraid to try something different in my quilting. I've always loved bright bold colors and I dearly love scrap quilts...yet sometimes they seem to flop. I'm trying to get over that fear of 'what if I make an ugly quilt' Well, I've made some! I'm sure we all have at one point or another if we're honest. But it's only fabric right? and the quilt police can talk all they want but they can't take my birthday away!!

So I played in my stash. I pulled out my new AccuQuilt Go! cutter and started cutting out parts and pieces. I was inspired by two fabulous books, Collaborative Quilting by Freddie Moran & Gwen Marston and Adventures with Leaders & Enders by Bonnie Hunter. The first one helped me overcome some fear of color combining and the second one showed me how to maximize my time and sneak in a little piecing of my own personal quilts while working on customer quilts.

Here's the result of my fearless attempts - I call it Bodacious Birthday Kaboodle

And the fun thing, I quilted it ON my birthday! In fact, if you double click on the photo below to make it larger you can see some of my doodles in the quilting to document this. July 23 in the sunrise fabric, 50 in the fireworks fabric, and in the binding it says "today is the first day of the rest of my life"
I had complete freedom in the piecing, didn't matter to me what fabrics were next to the others, I figured they'd lived together long enough in my stash that they knew how to play nice (grin)

So I took that same freedom in my quilting. Butterfly logo here and there, feather puffs, swirls, whatevers

and little hearts to represent loved ones and the joy in my heart that today was my birthday!

Birthday's are a time of family celebration. And this was the big one! I celebrated with a backyard cookout! I've always thought that we had these birthday celebrations backwards, we should be giving gifts to our mothers for actually birthing us as well as all their love and sacrifice in raising us...

That's my side of the family above and hubby's side of the family below (with the nephews and niece missing - 3 out of 4 were either out of state or out of country)

And here's our sons with their lovely ladies. And Pixxie (grin)

Yep, family is a good thing to focus on. I John 4:18 says There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

Below is one of the quilts I was working on as I practiced the Leaders and Enders technique for the pieces of my birthday quilt - this t-shirt quilt is for one of my nephews, it's a belated graduation gift. I made another one for a customer in the past weeks also - so between the two of them I had all my parts and pieces for my bodaciously bold creation (grin)

I've worked on a few other personal projects recently. I've always liked the hunter star pattern and found a ruler to assist with the process, Rapid Fire Hunter's Star On a Sunday afternoon I whipped out this little quilt, it's really easy the ruler and pattern - but Pixxie has convinced me that it's just not big enough. I have enough fabric to make it larger so it's going in the UFO pile until I can get a round to it. Hard to tell but those are purple butterflies in the darker fabric...

I've also finally added the bottom row and border treatment to the lone stars class project I started this past spring...now it's waiting to be quilted! I think I'm overcoming my fears of color (grin)

Yep, I've done a lot of thinkin' as I've been quiltin' And I think my focus has gotten a little better concerning not letting fear cripple me...no matter what this life will throw at'cha, whether it be things out of your control like illness, loss of a job or things in your thinking - the solution is to realize that God is the one in control ...

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8

Looks a little better focused doesn't it? Living surely is an adventure! Embrace the journey my friend!