Press *pause* on your creativity, please...

I just finished replacing a zipper and hemming two pair of pants for very good friends. I don't mind the occasional favor for buddies because I get paid back in spades.  The only time I resent repair requests is when I'm in the middle of a quilt project. I don't like having to pause my creative process to hem pants or whatever. And if it's a difficult alteration or repair I tend to procrastinate doing it, but I can't make myself do any other sewing until I finish the task I committed to. Ugh! (You know, when I write this stuff then re-read it, I realize how crazy I am. Ack!) I'm obviously not a quilter who has multiple projects in progress. Makes me nervous! Lol!

The friends who ask for clothing alterations don't sew. Not even buttons. It boggles my mind. Here are comments from non-sewers that are personal pet peeves:

*   Would you mind fixing this broken zipper? It won't take you but a minute!

*   Would you hem these pants for me? Thanks! Oh, I need them for tomorrow. It shouldn't take you but a minute!

*   My kid has a ton of tshirts! Can you make her a t-shirt quilt? It doesn't have to be fancy so it shouldn't take much time.

*   It costs how much for quilt supplies? Wow! I thought you could just use some you already have on hand.

*   Can you repair this rip? All you have to do is cut this, sew that, turn it wrong side out, then sew it from underneath. (WHAT?)

*   My gosh! Why do you have all this fabric? You're a...a...a hoarder! (Like that's a bad thing!?!)

*   Why do you have so many sewing machines when you can't use but one at a time? 

*   You sew??!? My grandmother sewed.

*   Can you teach me to sew this weekend? It can't be that difficult.

*   Can you teach me to sew? I'd like to make my daughter's prom dress to save money. 

*   If you love me you'll make me a quilt. (POOF! You're a quilt!)

My list of people for whom I will do alterations is very short. Verrrry short. I figure all of us who are sewists  have the same type of list, although I do know a few quilters who know nothing about garment construction and can avoid the alterations trap. 

Back to my friend with the broken zipper. She's very set in her ways, a bit OCD, and traditional style mostly tailored. This was the second repair on this zipper. I told her I would try to figure something out, to which she laughingly said, "Maybe you can just put Velcro instead of a zipper!" When I called to tell her I had completed the repair she was so excited to get her favorite pants back! She laughed and asked if I used the Velcro. I got quiet and then asked, "Were you kidding about using velcro?" * long pause * I knew she would never wear velcro'd pants but I let her think that was the case until she came by today. Lol!! She wasn't nearly as amused by me as I was. *giggle*  And I'm the woman who recommends kindness! *another giggle*

I'm signing off so I can get back to piecing and quilting. Woohooo!

-Angie Clemons

Choose kind! (Do as I say, not as I do. Lol!)

Fan Girl!

When I first began quilting I spent hours watching video tutorials on youtube, pinterest, and tv. Love of Quilting (Fons and Porter) on PBS, Leah Day fmq videos, Midnight Quilt Show (Angela Walters), and the queen...Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Company. My interest faded a bit on the first two but I am locked in on the latter two. Still.

I stocked up on precuts. I worshipped at the altar of half square triangles (in all five methods of sewing and cutting). I completely bought in that Quilting Is My Therapy and threads are my meds (Angela Walters). I would giggle and think to myself... "Yessssss. They are." For months I couldn't get "Hello my quilting friendssss" out of my head (Leah Day). Annnnd now it's back in my head. Grrrrr!! They made it all sound so easy! Surely I could do this quilt thang. And so it began...

BUT, just to be sure I was on the right track, I took a beginning class at Mineola League of Arts taught by Cousin Nancy (Gibson). It was an eye opener. I had to iron the fat quarters. I had to line up selvages and cut straight lines. Uh!?! And all with no wine or popcorn! Biggest lesson I learned? You can't use all medium color prints or you can't see the piecing. There were butterfly, windmill, and 8 pieces of pie blocks but it all just looked like a bright pink flower garden. I. Learned. A. Lot.

The video tutorials are great but they can't hold a candle to the helping hands of my friends in the TMQG! There's as much or more quilting knowledge in our guild than there is on youtube. And it can answer questions. Live! In real time! Lol! With snacks! I don't even have to ask anymore. It seems the guttural growls and pained moans I make when frustrated at myself, my sewing machine, or a sewing technique are a dead giveaway that I might need a bit of assistance. They speak, or at least can interpret, my language.

Now I'm a conglomeration of "stuff I've learned." To know how far I've come I'd have to show you my first quilt and that ain't gonna happen. I live by the words of my she-ro, Angela Walters..."Finished is better than perfect." Is that not the best? "Free your mind and the rest will follow!" (En Vogue lyrics from the 80s) Lol! 

Come hang out with us on Sew Day. You'll see. 

When the world around you isn't kind, you can be. Always Choose Kind.

-Angie Clemons

"Finished is better than perfect. Finished is better than perfect. Finished is bet..."

A Group

In my perfect world I would make all the decisions and people would happily do what I tell them, and all of my choices would be perfect and correct. Since my world isn't perfect and I can't even get the best of my friends, or family, to buy into my plan, I'm in a constant state of trying to get along with people who function differently than I. Some days are real beatdowns! Lol! 

When I retired I needed to choose something I enjoy that would fill my days, be productive, and provide an outlet for creativity. Daddy had always stressed productivity and Mother was, as an art teacher, all about creativity. I was also leaving a workplace that was my social network. Turns out the saying "out of sight out of mind" is a real thing. Work friends are not necessarily life friends once the common bond is no longer common. So...I needed some more friends! I wish I could remember how I learned of the modern quilt guild but I can't. I got my friend Dee to go with me to our first meeting and we ended up joining. 

So here I am, a non-joiner, joining a group. Whewww. Joining is way out of my comfort zone. I'm still adjusting after two years. It's probably that old "my perfect world" thing. I'm learning. Slowly. It's easy to sit back and criticize or complain, much more difficult to jump in and provide help to leadership by suggesting solutions for things with which I disagree. Pfffft! The most difficult thing for me is acceptance that I'm not calling the shots, will never call the shots, and shouldn't call the shots. Lol! My other struggle is the realization that it's up to me to get along with others in the group, and that not everyone is going to want me as their bestie. (Even as I write this I'm wondering why ever not?) I don't want to become the Debbie Downer of the group, and I don't want to be the one sitting alone because all I do is complain. I would be creating my own hell! I'm learning to play nice with others. My first grade teacher is probably thinking (from the grave) "finally!" I guess this rambling paragraph is about personal accountability for where and how I fit into the group. I'm the only one on God's green earth who is responsible for my happiness, successes, or contentedness. Pretty sure I just made up a word. 

There are many benefits to belonging to a group with a specific mission. I've learned so much from my creative and talented friends! I have purpose (making quilts), I have creativity (making purdy quilts), and I have new friends! WINNING!

When you're choosing what to be...choose kind. And don't forget to be kind to yourself while you're at it!

-Angie Clemons

Oops

I heard some ladies discussing a sewing get-together. I committed a social faux pas and invited myself to join them, then immediately felt like a goob for doing so. This morning I ironed a bunch of fabric to take so I could cut pieces for my next project. I showered and put on clothes that aren't also pajamas, including a (ugh) bra. (A sure sign I'm leaving the house.) As I sat waiting for an appropriate time to leave I read a text from one of them that indicated that I might have the date wrong. A quick call verified I was a day off. Karma for being a party crasher. Ha! Bonus: I went ahead and cut all the pieces, something I usually procrastinate on for quite awhile. Moral: Hang out with friends when you can. Being with other productive people makes me productive.

Sew Day was fun(nish). The visiting and the time with my creative buddies was excellent. The frickin-frackin gravity blocks did not make me feel special. Grrr! I messed up some of the blocks because I got the colors wrong. I was trying sooooo harrrrrd to get them right but the (insert every expletive you've ever heard here) blocks will not look like everyone else's. In the long run it doesn't matter but it frustrates me. Moral: Relax! Things work out just fine in the end.

I tend to get very absorbed once the pieces are cut for a new project. I finished a quilt top on Sunday which snapped me outta my stupor and brought me back to reality. Good grief. Somebody came in and dirtied up my house while I was sewing! Hahaha! They left dishes in the sink and laundry to do. To avoid an outbreak of typhoid I decided I should clean up a little before allowing myself to begin sewing again. Moral: Hire a maid.

Keep sewing! 

-Angie Clemons

Choose kind.

Gadgets & Tools

I'm pretty sure I have most of them, if not all. I don't have all the rulers and templates but the other stuff...yeah...I have that. 

With my handy dandy thread cutter I could be chain piecing a mile a minute. With my bobbin holder thingy I can use thread right off the bobbin and never waste thread again. I have a rubber bobbin storage oval which is actually very helpful except when I pop the bobbin out too exuberantly and it goes flying. I have a magnet to clip on my person so I can attach scissors to myself, and a button with a pulley cord to do the same, and yet I never remember where I laid my scissors. Oh yeah! I'm wearing them! I have a thread stand, a bobbin winder, six kinds of marking pens, three styles of seam rippers, five types of scissors, thread snips, a magnetic wand to pick up pins that become invisible on my floor, and a partridge in a pear tree! Oh, sorry, I forgot what I was doing. 

I have five cutting mats. A big one, a small one, a travel one that is a cutting mat and ironing surface, and two that rotate. There's a trashcan/cup holder combo that attaches to the table. A mini fan I can attach to the table to blow directly on me for those days when my sewing machine and I are en fuego. Plastic head straight pins and glass head pins so I wouldn't melt the plastic ones with the iron. Oh, and a regular iron for home and a travel iron for random sewing sites. There are multicolored clips and pink breast cancer awareness clips. (Pet peeve-all this breast cancer awareness stuff. I had kidney cancer and it's my thinking that you can live without boobies but you have to have a kidney to live. So why aren't there renal cell carcinoma awareness clips? You know I would have some.) And there's more, and even more gadgets that have been thrown in a crowded drawer and forgotten. Several haven't been used. Yet.

With allllll that you would think I'd be turning out a quilt every few days. It should be easy, right? But, no. I have yet to find a quilt shop that sells antiprocrastination gadgets. And neither does Amazon. Seems like there'd be a spray for that. I could put it on the shelf with my two kinds of starch and my flatter.

Happy quilting!

Angie Clemons

~Choose kind~

Am I a joiner?

As I sat at the TMQG table last Saturday at the Quilter's Guild of East Texas quilt show I was tickled by the irony. Me, who has never been a "joiner", recruiting others to join the TMQG. *giggle* I enjoyed visiting with the ladies who stopped by the table. We were all on a "fabulous quilts high" with extremely beautiful quilts everywhere we looked. Heck, I even enjoyed visiting with the guy who told me about his gallbladder and how his bad one reinforced his belief that he has native American blood. Don't ask...it's a very long story.

So, about this joiner thing... Yeahhhh, I don't usually. I'm not sure if it stems from my aversion to taking on responsibilities, or my desire to always get my way in all things. Neither of those traits work well in a group setting. I get frustrated because it's so obvious to me that my way is always so right! Hahaha! I started thinking about our current members and who needs to change to better fit what I think they should be in the group. There's Rhonda, the president. The organizer. Always planning and doing. Ugh! She needs to lighten up! Well, wait. Better rethink that since nothing fun would happen if somebody didn't plan it. How about Kate? I'd change her name to Pollyanna because she's always cheerful and positive. Gag!!! But, that sure did help when I messed up my gravity quilt cutting. Hmmmm. Maybe having a Pollyanna isn't so bad. And as I went down the list of members I realized we all bring different strengths to the table, and different talents. Individually we're decent folks with different paths, but together we're a force of creative nature! My favorite trait of the members of the TMQG is their patience with my kind of crazy. 😁 Whew!!!

That brought me back to me. (But, it's always all about me!) I was welcomed into this group at a time when I needed a new interest and new friends. I've made some lovely friends, learned so much I didn't even know I didn't know, and had great fun. I look forward to time spent with (as my family calls you) my "quilty buddies." The TMQG just gets better and better! If anyone reading this is considering being a part of TMQG but afraid you might not fit in, visit us three times and then decide. Because, we've been waiting for you!

-Angie Clemons

Choose Kind...

Choices

We all make a bazillion choices every day. From the mundane (what's for breakfast?) to the important (is this fabric best for my next quilt?) to the life altering (how do we treat this cancer?). Sometimes there are consequences to our choices. As members of an organization or group it's imperative to remember that choices made regarding the group will affect the entire membership. There's no room for personal agendas, negativity, or selfish decisions. The Tyler Modern Quilt Guild has made choices we can live with...we choose inclusion, we choose fun, we choose kind.

It's important to be kind. Not just to others but to ourselves. I don't know about y'all but I can be hard on myself. I have a hard time living up to my own expectations. It spills over into my quilting and I start judging my own work based on how I see the beautiful projects my friends do. It's true that I'm not as skilled as some others, but it's also true that I really enjoy the creative process. Completing a project gives me the feels in my soul. I will continue quilting and sewing. I do it just for me. I can already see improvement since joining the Guild. Turns out those ladies so much more skilled than I are also teachers, helpers, and morale boosters! Yea!!!!

The TMQG is a safe place where we can learn, practice, experiment, and grow as quilters and sewists. Don't let the word "modern" throw you off your path to this group. We support and promote ALL styles and types of quilting. We encourage you to visit if you want to spend some creative time with like-minded people. For instance, you may want to be a member of the Big Guild but can't take off work for morning meetings...join us! Several of our members belong to both. You interested in art quilts? Cool! You teach us what you know about art quilting, or we'll add you to that bee and you can learn with us! In addition to quilting I've learned about bag making and how to use my serger for making garments. 

Oh, by the way, I may need to borrow some matches to light a fire under my...uh....self so I'll start sewing these gravity quilt blocks! Ack!!! 

Until next time, happy quilting!

-Angie Clemons

Choose kind.