What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Welcome to Free Motion Mavericks. Since I'm running behind on absolutely everything, I thought that I would take advantage of this post to also participate in Quilting Jetgirl's very popular and fun Planning Party! 

2021 - A very long year

2021 was the year of Slow Stitching and "Calm" was my word of choice. 

Keep Calm & Stitch

To get ready for this post, I re-read last year's planning post. I'm afraid that almost none of my priorities, which were to quilt my son's quilt and work on my daughter's, happened. I did have a productive ...

Finding time to be creative and crafty may be easy for some, but it’s a challenge for many of us. I designed the Quilting Life Planner & Workbook to help quilters be more productive so they can spend time doing what they love most. In today’s post I’ll begin sharing my ideas on How to […]

The post How to Use a Quilt Planner to Accomplish More appeared first on A Quilting Life.

Hello, friends! Holiday planning can be stressful to say the least. So use this Organized Holiday Planning Guide for Quilters to make the most of your time now for a relaxing and enjoyable holiday season. Soon I’ll be sharing a video with details of my holiday decorating with quilts, so I wanted to first provide […]

The post Organized & Stress-Free Holiday Planning Guide appeared first on A Quilting Life.

I hope that May is treating you well. It's still cold and rainy in Ottawa but then it is only May

 My first resolution is to try to keep up with the dates in my calendar - sorry I'm late to the party Carla

If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you know that I'm a huge fan of planning. I love making lists, making plans, tracking my progress... So at the start of every year, I write down my goals and my plans for the upcoming 12 months and then toward the end of the year, I look back and celebrate my successes. I already blogged about my review of 2020 here so now it's time to look forward and start planning 2021.  

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl is hosting her annual Planning Party over on her ...

The end of the year is often filled with planning activities. For many creative people, though, the thought of planning is beyond boring.

It can be black and white — after all, it does involve looking at numbers. When you get right down to it, though, getting your big dreams and goals down on paper and figuring out how to accomplish them is creative. Especially when you get out those colored markers and pencils!

For more than ten years, I have hosted an annual Planning Day. We always start with looking back.

Instead of jumping into what next year looks like ...

So, what have I achieved for the week

 Hi everyone! How are you today? The last couple of days we've been having amazing weather, so much so that I've managed to get several miles worth of walking in. I even considered wearing sleeves one morning because it was a bit on the chilly side, relatively speaking, when I started out. I warmed up plenty, don't worry. But it's been just a lovely late summer these last few days, which feels fantastic. We even ate outside last night! And they made progress on our renovation! Happy spots in the midst of this weird year.

Do ...

One of my favorite practices as a creative arts entrepreneur is to keep a business journal. As the leader of your business, you have so many hats to juggle that it helps to have a place to track those ideas. It also helps you make decisions about where to grow your business and yourself.

I know that my clients who keep a business journal, find it extremely valuable, a real difference-maker in their businesses. This is true regardless if journaling is done in a pretty book, on an iPad, or with our weekly Success and Strategy Summit tool.

Have you ...

With nowhere to go, and a stash of fabric and supplies on hand, it's like being on a never-ending retreat; these are the days we quilters have been stockpiling for all those years! But-- I need to slow down and sort this out. I have always been that person who's thinking of the "next quilt" before I finish what I'm working on now. With this current situation, for me, it's worse than ever. I

With nowhere to go, and a stash of fabric and supplies on hand, it's like being on a never-ending retreat; these are the days we quilters have been stockpiling for all those years! But-- I need to slow down and sort this out. I have always been that person who's thinking of the "next quilt" before I finish what I'm working on now. With this current situation, for me, it's worse than ever. I

My fabric haul~ five 5 yd. pieces selected for quilt backs.  I went on a fabric shopping spree last week; oh, what fun I had! I went by myself, but encountered many, many people already there when I arrived. The sheer number of other shoppers who beat me to the sale did get in my way. I had some items snatched right out of my shopping cart! Did I practice social distancing? You betcha-- my

My fabric haul~ five 5 yd. pieces selected for quilt backs.  I went on a fabric shopping spree last week; oh, what fun I had! I went by myself, but encountered many, many people already there when I arrived. The sheer number of other shoppers who beat me to the sale did get in my way. I had some items snatched right out of my shopping cart! Did I practice social distancing? You betcha-- my

Take a look around your studio or home office.

How much fabric and paint are lining your studio shelves? Or packed away because you ran out of room?

How many books do you see? Do you house even more on your Kindle?

How much more do you think you need before you can start to create what your heart is calling you to create?

I know all about hunting and gathering all the information you can.

You think if you learn more, you will know more, and what you create will be even better.

You think you are missing that ...

Ready or not, it’s 2020. For the past two weeks, my mind has been simmering on 2019. Recalling the good, the bad, and the lovely. I have been thinking about what I did and how I feel about it. My conclusion is… it was a good year. My achievements were more than I could imagine. I possibly took on more than I should have, but I got through it and I am back for more. The big thing I learned this year is how important planning the next year is; working ahead is essential. 

My word for last year ...

When was the last time you took a vacation?

I know it can sometimes be hard for those of us who are entrepreneurs to let go. After all, will your business run without you? Can you trust being partially or totally unplugged? When can you possibly find the time to go on vacation with all you have to do?

Truthfully, you need time to relax and recharge. If you don’t allow time for that, I believe in the end, you are not as effective at our businesses, and it is ultimately detrimental to your overall health and well-being.

For ...

Although I had an amazing 2019 production wise, I did what I promised myself I wouldn't do - I over extended myself with my art quilting. It was great to know that I could do all of this art, but I haven't done an art quilt since. So with these famous last words in mind, here are my goals for 2020.