Have a Good Day… Quilting!

You love quilting, but you don’t have the luxury of being able to quilt all day long. You need to work a productive day job in order to finance your hobby, as well as pay all those other pesky bills. What is a dedicated quilter to do?

I used to scratch my itch for quilting while at work by going to a local quilt shop at lunch. This was just enough of a break from the mundane – as well as a good dopamine reward for the ol’ brain – to get me through a rough day. But then, that quilt shop closed. There were no other quilt shops that were close enough to squeeze into the lunch break. Things were getting tough, drastic measures had to be taken.

The holiday gift giving season was fast approaching and I had a deer panel that I was planning on making into a wall hanging. It was relatively simple; I just had to cut the panel out then sew on some nice contrasting fabric for a border, and finally a simple sleeve on the back for hanging. I technically could do that and get it done on time. Alas, that project seemed so lame. I knew I could do better.

I could spice the panel quilt up a bit by adding a border of half square triangles in contrasting fabrics instead of plain single fabric sashing. Since I was already doing all of that, why not sneak in two pairs of cute pinwheels in the corners and a second border with a nice leaf fabric print in order to make the wall hanging into a bigger quilt? Before I knew it, I had a full-blown lap quilt in the making, but I was running out of time to finish it. Fortunately, it was winter and a credible time for a sudden seasonal illness! I ended up calling in sick for the best full day of uninterrupted quilting in years.

I returned to work the next day in much better spirits with my creativity itch scratched and ready to face the challenges of the day. On my lunch break, I brought that finished quilt to the post office and sent it on its way. The recipient loved the deer lap quilt and later remarked that it was so beloved in her house that family members would actually fight over who got to snuggle under it. The next time you are feeling overwhelmed and under-appreciated at work, take a quilting mental health day!

Blog post by Jen Lopez.

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