Quilting a Social Affair - Off the Wall Friday

I have a confession.  With all the good things about working from home, I find it kind of lonely. You wouldn't think so since my job is talking to customers all day, but still I do.  So that's why in the last couple of years, I've made an extra effort to keep in touch with my girlfriends.  I really think that its important to make sure in our busy society that we cultivate and maintain a nice inner circle of friends.  Now, I'm not talking about the kind of social media "friends" where these days we've created a new verb from the noun.  No, these are people that have your back, keep your secrets, forgive you when you're petty and share an hour of laughter.

With that in mind, I've started a new quilting project with one of my best friends.
 She doesn't quilt but she "gets" my passion for it and is very creative. She thinks she'd NEVER be able to do what I do. But we know she could. How many time have we heard that - "I could never make that. You're so talented" So untrue. But that's another blog post!

 Anyways, we've decided to start a quilting pattern, The Gypsy Wife by Jen Kingwell. We were looking for a project that we could do an afternoon at a time and where we would feel a sense of accomplishment as the blocks began to add up. Plus I needed something that I could easily put away between visits and pull back out when I saw her pull up.

So how do you quilt with a NQF (a non-quilting friend...grin)? First you chose the pattern together that's hard enough to be interesting and not to hard that it  will drive you slowly insane.  Then chose the fabrics together and trust her not to laugh at your obnoxiously large stash.  Then you teach her how to cut accurately with a rotary cutter and rulers and the difference between  "Press" and  "Iron" with your new Rowenta.

THEN you spend the whole afternoon talking, laughing, making a couple of blocks - you sewing  - her ironing and feel all refreshed and tired at the same time by the end of the day.  5 hrs later the fabrics were picked, pressed and one whole block done.  Grin.

Now she thinks that she's only ironing and cutting this quilt. But sooner or later I'll get her behind my Janome.  You wait.  I promise I'll share our progress as we go.

So remember this summer to reach out and connect with your friends.  Life is too short not to take the time.

So What Have You Been Up to Creatively?