My Mind is Blown – Outstanding Blogger Award

I was a bit behind in reading emails and blogs this weekend. We are back to our Friday night wine night sans wine. Saturday morning coffee with Sue’s Mom and then a wee bit of sewing. Sunday mornings belong to the littles so I started reading blogs around noon and my mind was blown. Blown to bits – I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Surprisingly enough, I received TWO nominations for the Outstanding Blogger Award. TWO blogger friends developed five questions and added us to their nomination list. What a complete honor times two. My mind is blown and boggled.

Mind Blown #1 – Quilting is In My Blood

What a fun nomination Mary surprised me with. She said in her Outstanding Blogger Award post that she has only been quilting since 2014. She has done some amazing quilts in those short few years! Another point she shared is that she would whine when her mom wanted to stop at another fabric shop when she was a teenager. I guess she has gotten past thinking that fabric shopping is waste of time! Here are the questions she would like answered by her five nominees (who include good friends like Diann, Rebecca, Chris, and Sarah). Gosh, I’ve got to put my thinking cap on.

Mary’s Blown Mind Questions

• What advice would you give to yourself as a novice quilter now that you’re a much more experienced quilter?
  • Take your time cutting out the pieces to the exact size recommended in the pattern; one-quarter inch seam allowance means a scant quarter-inch; and finally, don’t make 500 log cabin blocks for your first project because you will hate that block for many years to come.
• Is there another handcraft besides sewing/quilting that you enjoy doing?
  • Quilting has become a focus of our free time for several years but my bestie and I used to own a cross stitch shop. We offered custom framing and we still have the mat cutter in the basement. We lost our lease in 1992 and that was the end of our shop. Sue is working on a cross stitch kit that we picked up on an Alaska cruise, and we would like to make another picture called The Line Up for a sweet girl.

Mary’s Questions Continued

• What is your favorite part about making a quilt?
  • Gosh, the thrill of a new project, the hunt for just THE perfect fabric, the fulfillment of a dream? Any of those are great choices but my very favorite part is the hand sewing of the binding. It’s the last quiet time before sending it to its final destination. A time to reflect and enjoy the entire process and sew in some additional love and blessings.

• And your least favorite part?
  • Hands down and no doubt my least favorite part of the process is the layering. I hate wasting time doing that but it is a necessary evil. There is no way to avoid it!
• Where do you find your quilting inspiration?
  • Inspiration is just EVERYWHERE! My coworker’s lunch bag, the pattern a building makes on the sidewalk, the unique stonework driveway, and that is just a wee bit of where inspiration is found. All the quilting blogs share fabulous and inspirational techniques, tips, patterns, and projects that get added to the list so very often. Publications like Make Modern, fabric stores and websites, and often new fabric releases caught my eye and inspire me. It could be overwhelming but my bestie keeps me/us grounded so our to-do list is within reason.

An Extra Credit Question!

• What quilt project have you done that would you like to do again?
  • This question can have a two-fold response. Would I like a re-do because I’m not happy with the result OR a re-do because it was so much fun it bears repeating? I am fairly certain there are a number of projects that I would like to re-do because my skills have improved so much more over time. Conversely, there are very few projects that I would like to make again because it was fun. But one does spring to mind and that is our Confetti baby quilt. Not only did we laugh a LOT when making the quilt, but the pattern is no longer available and I wanted to write one that made it easier to construct. That hasn’t quite happened yet but we have the cute background fabric to use someday sooner than later for a re-do.

Mind Blown #2 – LC’s Cottage

Having caught up on my blog reading, I had one post to read. I knew that Laura (a.k.a. My Laura Cottage) was nominated, and she had some interesting questions to answer. Who knew that she had an online fabric shop when she started her blog back in 2011?!! I know her as a fabulous photographer but you never know what you don’t know about a person. At any rate, I could not have been any more surprised after reading her responses to see our blog in the nominee list.

Laura’s Mind Blown Questions

• Which lifestyle are you most comfortable living…cluttered or organized?
  • My bestie might call me out on this but definitely organized in all aspects of life. While my quilting and sewing area may be a bit cluttered, I do frequently stop and straighten up the mess! Somethings just don’t have a proper place to be stored or they have to be in my sight range or I forget about them. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.
• What is your favorite quiet place?
  • Oddly enough, I spend two hours a day by myself in the car. It provides me a lot of time to reflect, plan, and mostly pray for family and friends. I truly cherish that time alone although I am a social person by nature. I love chatting and laughing but everyone needs some reflection time, it seems to me.
• To party hearty or enjoy an intimate gathering?
  • Oh, definitely an intimate gathering. Many moons ago, Sue and I spent New Year’s Eve in NYC and it was crazy wild. CRAZY. Never again – I’m too old for that stuff now. Give me my family and friends for a small gathering any day.

Laura’s Questions Continued

• Early to bed or a night owl?
  • Can you say that 7:30 p.m. is early to bed? I am definitely an early-to-bed gal and an early-to-rise person. Is there anything better than the morning? I wake up happy and very awake and can chat your ear off. That didn’t pair too well with my night-owl bestie who never liked to talk in the morning. I’ve converted her now, though. Come 10 p.m. on Saturday night she heads back to sleep before me!
• What makes you accountable for your goals?  What keeps you motivated?
  • If I set a goal or make a promise, whether in writing or mentally, I have to keep it. Motivation ebbs and flows naturally but the weekly to-do list, the monthly OMG projects, and even the quarterly lists help keep us moving toward finishes. Sometimes though, it is a struggle and that’s okay. Reading a good book, taking the littles outside for a walk, and other non-quilting-related activities help for a reset of mind and body. Other times, it takes a new project to get the mojo going again.!

More Mind Blown Nominations

This quote for the Outstanding Blogger Award nomination rules seemed perfect and I borrowed them from (My) Laura at Laura Bruno Lilly. “To those nominated, there is no obligation to take up the challenge of answering and asking the questions. If you do accept, then please answer the questions, nominate 5 other bloggers and then compile a set of 5 of your own questions.”

• Sandra at mmmQuilts
• Brenda at Songbird Designs
• Melva at Melva Loves Scraps
• Cathy at Crazy By Design
• Carol at Quilt Schmilt

I thoughtfully nominate these blogger friends because I subscribe to their blogs so I never miss a single post. I hope they all accept the gauntlet and the nomination in the spirit with which it is offered.

My questions for these five are:

• Have you had any major quilting/sewing successes that you’d like to share with us? (Please toot your own horn!)
• Are/were you influenced by family members to get into quilting and have you passed on the love to the next generation?
• Do you have anything on your bucket list that is quilting-related?
• Do you have any short- or long-term goals that you are working toward that you can share with us?
• Have you done any pattern testing for other bloggers or would you like to? If so, do you enjoy it?

Gosh, that was harder than I thought it would be! I want to thank both Mary and Laura again. How touching to think that one person would nominate us, let alone two. {{Hugs}} I hope my nominees know how much I enjoy them and feel like a connection has been made. The quilting community as a whole is just so welcoming and warm that it is easy to feel like good friends in spite of a physical distance.

♥ ♥ ♥

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