Goals for a New Year

Ugh.  My blogging has slowed way down.  The last couple of years took away a lot of steam.  At times, my self-imposed blogging deadlines helped me cope, I imagine, but at other times, they really added stress in an already tough situation.  I've already started quilting like crazy again, though, and I'm ready to rediscover the fun in writing!

Part of the solution is to stop feeling guilty about everything.  We women are the world's worst about beating ourselves up with guilt.  A little guilt can be a great motivator...  A lot of guilt can be a paralytic force of devastating proportions.

In 2013, there were some major guilt issues:
...not spending enough time with the children or not being engaged enough when I did -- perhaps the common lament of every parent everywhere since the beginning of time.
...not having the physical or emotional stamina to do everything for my mother I wished I could have.  (That guilt reached back to 2012 when Daddy passed, too.)
...not getting enough estate work done, or tax work, or house work, or church work, or well, you get the point.
I felt guilty about things I didn't even do wrong, thanks to a few rather harsh critics.

But as if those weren't enough, I even gave myself grief about small, inconsequential blog things:
...not blogging twice a week, then once a week, then once a month.
...writing anything that didn't relate to my blog's sewing and quilting focus.
...writing a blog posting without imagery to accompany it.
...not having time to compose lengthy, illustrated tutorials.
...sewing something for sheer enjoyment without stopping to wait for the right afternoon light to take pictures of the project in-progress.  (Shock!  Horror!)

Eventually, I didn't want to do anything at all, because nothing I could ever do would keep me from being overwhelmed, and therefore, I couldn't shut out the guilt.

And so, as we move well into 2014, I'm going to make a few resolutions:

1.  I'm letting myself off the hook.  It's not okay to wallow or be indefinitely paralyzed by stress and guilt, but it is occasionally okay to have a movie day, a sad day, a lazy day, an eat-all-the-chocolate-and-potato-chips-you-want day, a curl-up-under-an-OliviaFurryBlanket day, a sleep-through-the-rain day or all of the above at once.  There's no more room for guilt when it comes to the arts that have previously brought me comfort-bliss. 

Shark Costume Part 1: Research, Planning and Materials

UPDATE!  See this link for the Shark Costume Pattern

Life happened.

That's why I never got around to writing the tutorial for the shark and dragon costumes last year after Halloween as promised.  But it's time to finish what I started, and I am TOTALLY jazzed about it!  :)  Read on to get a better look at the shark costume...adorable, right?

Thirty-One Utility Tote Liner Sew Along Part 6 - Mission Complete!

The tote liner turned out FANTASTIC!  And yes, though I'm guilty of dragging out my postings, I did complete it and send it to my friend _before_ her baby debuted.  Gorgeous little K.T. joined us Jan 14, and I'm so pleased this reached her loving momma in time.  :)

So, are you ready to see the final step?

Thirty-One Utility Tote Liner Sew Along Part 5 - Homestretch! Liner Construction

 
We're almost there! All that's left is to construct the liner using the parts and pieces we've prepared -- what we're going to do today -- and then to attach it to the bag.  Let's get this puppy together!

Thirty-One Utility Tote Liner Sew Along Part 4 - Attach and Divide the Pockets

Hiya!  Well, after a few days away, I thought we might jump back into making the lining for our Thirty-One Utility Tote.  If you have one of these totes, you know that the outsides are usually beautiful and covered in lots of practical pockets.  From a quality of construction standpoint, they hold up really well to extensive abuse.  The only real problem for me is that the inside is a bare, plain white.  No lining, no pockets.  Here's one that was given to me a couple of years ago: 

Thirty-One Utility Tote Liner Sew Along Part 3 - Organizing Pocket Prep

Our tote liner's coming along fantastic!  If you're just jumping on board, be sure to check out the first and second postings in this series.  Thanks for joining me!

For this posting, I'm going to prep the pockets.  When you're first learning to sew, it may seem like the bag structure should come first and the pockets be an afterthought.  But the pockets actually have to be sewn and inserted before you sew any of the bag sides together --you can't insert them later.  Bags, like many garments, have to be constructed in a certain order for various features like pockets, linings, dividers and zippers to be incorporated.  That's why you should always sit down and really plan your bag on paper before you start cutting and sewing...at least, if you want to have any organizing features.

Remember how I told you not to fuse the pocket pieces along with the other bag parts?  I have something special in mind for these.  Read on to find out what!  :)

Thirty-One Utility Tote Liner Sew Along Part 2 - Cutting and Interfacing

Welcome back to the Thirty-One Utility Tote Liner Sew Along!  For the next step, let's focus on cutting and stabilizing our fabric.  If you're just joining us, welcome! ...and be sure to check out this posting to catch up.

Thirty-One Utility Tote Liner Sew Along - Planning and Fabric Prep

Another year gone? Really?  I don't know about you, but 2012 took my family for quite a ride!  In all the excitement, I didn't get a few things on the blog that I had promised, and even more that I had planned.  So here's a look at a few of the projects that were completed, and the tutorials will make it to the stage in 2013: