Why I blog ---

I’ve been traveling around the internet from time to time, visiting blogs, following links, seeing who is in other people’s reading lists, trying new venues, seeing what is out there.

There are times when I even end up questioning myself, why I do what I do at all--- at the end of the day, what drives me to post and post and post?

There have been comments --- not necessarily about me, but about those of us who have ad sponsors, and it is something I’ve thought long and hard about – even before agreeing to have ad sponsors on my blog.

I’ve even found derogatory comments on friend’s blogs that have made me feel pretty awful. “Ad free zone” “no ads blog” “Oh, those ADS!” And I try to suck it up and move on and just tell myself that they really don’t understand the situation here.

I don’t blog for glory.

I don’t blog for cash.

I do blog to promote a business, but it is more than that. This is my livelihood, but it is also my life line.

I blog because this blog is a scrapbook of *MY* life. And it’s going so fast. I’m at the age where I want to capture it all. A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but if I don’t write the 1,000 words to go with it, 6 months or a year from now I’m not going to remember what that picture was for or where I was or where I took it.

I don’t feel the need to scrap book with die cut paper shapes and bits of ribbon and bows in acid free pages, but I do feel the need to scrap book my life here with pictures and words.

Yes, there are buttons and images for awards on my blog. This is my life scrap book. There are links to lots of things, this is my space, my memory box. This does not make me a glory-seeker.

I’ve always been a communicator…my internet life started by joining several different email lists all revolving around quilting in one way or another and I was active in it daily. Words just seem to flow from my fingers…..I love being able to express myself! And when blogging started, and the ability to add pictures, and to share…wow!

When I moved to North Carolina 3 1/2 years ago, I left a full time massage practice that I had built from the ground up-- behind. I basically walked away from my job. I had no idea WHAT I was going to do, but working in an office 9-5, 5 days a week had ZERO appeal to me.

Writing for magazines pays little to nothing, but the benefits were so great, I accepted the job of writing a regular column for Quiltmaker. I love it! Can I live on it? No.

I received a book contract from Kansas City Star and I am now busy writing my 4th book with them. I love it too! But let me tell you, book royalties are NOT all that they may be cracked up to be. Selling books on my website and via this blog and at my lectures are what KEEP me going as a self-employed woman. Can I live off my book sales? No.

Traveling and teaching is HARD work --- no matter how fun it looks. It’s taxing beyond anyone’s knowledge, except maybe those who have traveled to teach before --- and if you divide the pay by the number of hours on the job, and realize that that pay also has to cover what days you are NOT working, because you certainly can’t take a “regular” job and ask for these kinds of days off so you could DO your traveling quilting job! Who would hire you? No one! Missing family is also hard! Can I live by my teaching earnings? No.

Yes, there are ads on this blog. I am aware of a whole group of bloggers who have pledged to avoid blogs with ads on “principle”. What PRINCIPLE?!

These ads also allow me to take all the time I do --- hours and hours---- to design and publish quilts for you, here on the blog, free of charge. They cost you nothing --- thanks to the wonder of these little ad sponsors in my side bar.

They pay me so you don’t have to.

These ads support a self-employed woman. And any self-employed woman should applaud whatever effort it takes to BE and remain self employed in this economy.

Does this make me greedy?

No. It makes me realistic. Something has to give! I want to keep writing….but something has to pay the bills. I want to keep sharing my life ---and this is how I choose to do it.

You may disagree with me….but I’m hoping this will help you understand just a bit more.

And in the mean time, I’ll keep writing ---

PS -- and just for the record, it astounds me that people who read me in google reader will even THINK of emailing me asking me to change MY format so that they can get the whole post in google reader, rather than just a few beginning lines to let you know the new post is up.
I've been told by people that they will unsubscribe unless I "CHANGE" it --- for them.
Think about it! I want my readers here ON the blog! If the post is fully shown in google reader, You don't have access to ANY of the links in my side bar, nor to the tabs at the top of the page where all the free patterns and tutorials are. And yes -- *gasp* I don't get credit from my sponsors unless readers are actually ON my page instead of just reading along in google reader.
I'm sorry that some people feel it is so difficult to click a link to open a second tab to read this blog. REALLY!?

Evening Edition --- Free Kindle Cookbook!

Those folks at Gooseberry Patch are at it again!

This time it’s Savory Pies!!

Book Description:

From Flaky Chicken Pot Pie and Spaghetti Pie to Upside-Down Mexican Pot Pie and Slow-Cooker Sausage Pie, this new collection features 25 savory pies that are sure to get mouths watering and tastebuds tingling!

Yummy Yummy, get it while you can! There is nothing like a warm and comforting main-dish pie to satisfy! I’ve got my eye on the Upside-Down Mexican Pot Pie! Doesn’t that sound good?

It was free when I downloaded it, check before clicking, you know the drill – what was free earlier may not be now!

Yes I should be packing! I’m leaving on Wednesday evening when DH gets off work for our cruise that sails out of Baltimore on Thursday . THIS is when I get really bummed at this time of year --- It’s going to be dark in the car, how can I do handwork?!?

I’ve already downloaded a book from the digital portion of my library for us to listen to on the way to/from. We listened while driving through Alaska in August, and enjoyed it. We're ready to do it again.

Am I all set for this trip?! I sure hope so! Boxes and bags and suitcases have been stacked in the living room for days!

We return on the 13th, I’ve got pet sitter ready, and folks from DH’s office coming by to check in between times too—I think I've covered ALL the bases!

The blog queue is stacked too! There will be things to keep you busy the whole time I’m gone, including my turn at the 100 blocks by 100 designers vol 4 blog tour ---

Keep checking back, you never know what the next post will be!

Intro to Mystery 2011! Orca Bay!

**Click HERE for printer friendly version!**

It’s here! It’s finally here! And I’m so excited that you are planning on following along with me!

A lot of thought and planning and sewing time has gone into this year’s mystery – and over the years the mysteries have grown in popularity! There are new quilters joining us every year, some who have never done a single mystery before, so I want to take some time to lay some ground rules here!

Those of you who have sewn along with me before KNOW what my number one rule is, right?

NO WHINING!

((This picture was taken in Cordova, Alaska in Val’s office! My guess is she has need of this sign too! LOL!))

If you want to play, play, if you don’t – don’t! I’ll tell you right up front that I do intense piecing…..lots of pieces, many of them small. This is a labor intensive quilt. One WORTH the piecing!

I can not guarantee how YOUR personal fabric choices will turn out. I am not able to personally approve your fabric choices and/or your colors. We do have a great Quiltville Friends group on facebook, and you can post your pictures and questions there, and I’ll help where I can. We also have an active email list on yahoogroups called Quiltvillechat. There are quilters world-wide there who are in the same boat as you are. There is help there.

This year’s mystery quilt is “Moderately” sized for me! It’s 74.5” X 84.5”

I will not give additional yardage requirements if you want to change the size. If you want it smaller, do half the units required. It’s a place to start. You might have to make MORE units once you decide on a layout, but you’ll be well on your way --

If you want it bigger? Start with the recommended amount before you forge ahead. You might decide that 74.5” X 84.5” is sufficient after all!

I am reminded of how some quilters last year, deciding the first two or three steps were “SO SIMPLE” decided to do TWO quilts….uhoh! Then things got really intense! Just because a step is easy THIS week, doesn’t mean it will be NEXT! :c) In other words, do two at your own risk! LOL!

If you are not sure how things are going, wait it out a week....see how things are progressing, and then make some choices to change what you are doing. I'm sure there will be lots of pictures around blogland of what other people are using and that might inspire you!

This quilt,---as were the others--- is NOT a race. Some may finish the assigned unit, and post it on their blogs within 4 hours of release. Some will take longer. Just do what you can. If you don't want to know what the mystery is going to look like however, do NOT go blog hopping. I can't guarantee that you won't have it revealed by someone else if you are browsing. If you see it, you see it. It's not the end of the world! Keep sewing.

On my trip to Cordova, Alaska, I was BLOWN AWAY at this view outside of Teri’s window…just there off her deck. This is her backyard, Orca Bay, part of Prince William Sound. As I worked on this quilt, I couldn’t get the colors of this photo out of my mind, and so I’ve named this quilt Orca Bay.

Choosing Fabrics:

I am suggesting 3 bold colors that stand out against each other, plus background.

In my case, I’m using:

Reds! from pinky-coral red to orange-y red to fire engine cherry red all the way through to the darker spectrum of purpley-burgundy reds. Look at the sunset colors above!

Blues! from light sky blue all the way through to royal blue. Love those brighter shades! If I had my druthers, I’d avoid a “lot” of dark navy…it might disappear against our next fabric:

Blacks! I raided my 1.5” , 2” and 2.5” bin for the blacks needed for this quilt. Where I ran short, I ran to my FQ drawers and pulled more variety.

Neutrals! You know by following previous mysteries that my idea of “neutral” is a wide one! In this case, neutral means anything with a white/cream/beige background…but it can have little printed doo-dads on it. It might have green leaves and blue flowers, it might be white with black music notes on it. Look at the background color of the fabric…if there is enough “neutral” showing through, you can use it here. Dig deep and use it up! I avoided any of the really "TAN" kinds of neutrals in this quilt..keeping them toward the lighter spectrum.

Wanna see my variety? These are my Fat Quarter drawers, and some of these fabrics have never seen the light of day since I bought them and stuffed them in here. It’s time to make them play!

Reds and Blues in every variety!

Neutrals and Blacks!

How much are you going to need of each? Well, this is what we figure to the best we can….

Reds: 3 yards

Blues: 1.5 yards

Neutrals: 3 yards

Blacks: 2 yards

These are GUESSTIMATES and I’m guessing them to be more than ample. If you want to know how hard it really is to guage yardage for scrap quilts, listen to what EQ told me we needed..it came to 17.5 yards---for just the quilt TOP--- which is a bit OVERKILL! LOL!

The Big Question!

The one thing that everyone has asked, is if this year’s quilt will include “STRINGS” like last year! Why, yes it will! And that’s all I’m going to tell you!

If you “HATED” the strings, never fear, I’ll give you dimensions when we get to the putting the units together to cut these areas out of whole fabric, but I’m hoping that you’ll consider playing along! We had so many last year who fell in love with the string part, and it really makes for a unique looking quilt!

To me? The string units "MAKE" the Quilt!

If you want to get your strings ready…….you might want to do some sorting. I’m using strings in two color families:

Here is my bin of red strings..and a bin of blue strings.

**Note** These strings are included in the yardage above, they are not additional!

For me, the definition of a string is any strip of fabric that is still wide enough to be used! That said, I like my strings to be at LEAST 3/4” wide. If I take a 1/4" seam on each edge, there better dang well be 1/4” showing in the center for my efforts! I prefer strings in varying increments from 3/4” all the way up to 2” and everywhere in between, but I don’t think anything wider than 2” qualifies as a “string”. It’s too bulky, chunky and makes it look like you were trying to get off easy! 2.5” strips can be cut in half to be 1 1/4” strings. I’m much happier with the smaller scale.

Strings don’t have to be even or straight….they can taper from wide to narrow…they can bubble out on the edge….let’s use this stuff up! I’ve had a ball with it and I know you will too.

Other things required for this mystery:

Specialty Rulers.

You will need the Easy Angle ruler and the Companion Angle ruler for half square triangles and quarter square triangles. Most of my mysteries USE these rulers with great results. Get them. You won’t be sorry! If you prefer any other method, the finished size of the unit will be given, and you can use whatever method will give you that finished size.

An old phone book!

I do my string piecing on paper, and then I remove the paper. These units need the foundation removed because of the thickness a foundation is going to add to the seams. It is not hard to remove paper. I kind of enjoy it! You are free to do these as you wish, but I don’t want interfacing, dryer sheets, extra muslin or any other kind of foundation in my quilt.

How this runs:

Every Friday, starting November 18th, 2011 I will release a new clue for the Orca Bay mystery. I’m thinking there will be 7 to 8 parts depending on how I divide it up.

My suggestion is to keep up with the clues each week, doing SOME of each, even if you can’t do them ALL. Stay with each step. You can always go back and do more later, but this way you are staying involved with the project and watching things come together.

Print your clues as they are released. This project is going to be featured in my next book to be released in July of 2012, so I need to pull all the directions on May 1st. They will not be available after that date until they are in print. Start a binder, put all of your steps in there, keep them together! I will be unable to send anyone spare missing parts after May 1st!

Most of all, have FUN with this project! Quilting should not be so stressful, it should be something that fills us, not something that frustrates us!

I’m happy to have you along for the ride! Are you ready? First clue goes live on Friday, November 18th, 2011!