After talking about creating every day, I am going to sew every day. This is going to be easy! I have honestly always wondered how people do it. How do people keep their houses super clean, and their kids all cute, behaved, and organized, and also sew amazing quilts. We have to carve time out for ourselves, we carve time out to create, and to make stuff.

Look at some new (to me!) fabric! We got the mail this weekend (we don’t get our mail very often, it’s a couple of hours away) and I received some fabric I bought on instagram.

I have a rough schedule that I follow every day, because when you have kids you need to schedule! So on days when the kids all have school (four days a week) my schedule is something like this:

9AM – home from taking kids to school, have tea and breakfast (usually I have water and maybe a banana while getting ready for the day, so breakfast is an orange or a croissant, not heavy (just like the French!), with a cup of tea. I am either at the computer afterward or in the sewing room.

12PM – Lunch. Because we have been here for so long, I am used to eating lunch at noon. And I don’t grab and go, I sit at the table, read a book, or play a game on the ipad. I often take at least 45 minutes, the lunch hour is an hour and a half ‘normally.’

4:10PM – Alarm to get ready to leave to get the kids from school. It’s about a ten minute walk and I set an alarm so I can get shoes and a jacket on, check the tram schedule if it’s raining and I can’t walk.

5PM – Home from school, some chaos in the getting home, putting jackets and shoes away, getting homework out, having a snack, and thinking about or starting dinner.

7PM (or 7:30PM – the French eat late. They famously eat late? I don’t know. But after the snack at 5, eating at 7 or 7:30 is normal. Okay even eating at 8PM happens.

See all of that free time in there! I have some plans for sewing and my free time needs to be organized. We are coming off of the winter holiday (that’s a two week break here) so I look forward to making a schedule for me. I’ll be back in a couple of days with a report on how it’s going. I have another six weeks before the kids have their next holiday break, so I am going to think of some deadlines for myself and get stuff done.

So many amazing fabrics, so many fun patterns, and of course not enough time to make everything!

My Quilty Bucket List could be crazy long. I narrowed it down to seven patterns/quilts that I want to make. I have written a to-do list that is crazy long, so this is like in the next four years I want to do these, versus in the next year.

1. Dear Jane – Farmer’s wife – I have the Farmer’s Wife book and even picked out fabric to use on my own. But I didn’t feel the rush to start it right away. I didn’t even feel a connection some people say they have. I grew up in South Dakota, around ranchers and such, but I don’t have that tie to the history of the farmer. I do have a pattern for something like this of my own. I have a few blocks sketched out, so maybe my creation will be all my own. I also like the Dear Jane history, the curiosity of someone who goes for more information about the quilt. I love that idea. This is one of my favorites I’ve seen of the Dear Jane –

This is from the EQ Blog, I didn’t realize EQ sells Dear Jane software! I would definitely buy that if I were going to make the quilt. It’s an investment, but so is the quilt. I love the white background and the bright borders that frame the blocks.

2. Gypsy Wife – I can’t really explain why I love this, but I do. I have some fabric in mind but I don’t even have the pattern yet!

3. Mario Quilt – I loved this pixelated quilt when the QAL started! I have all of the fabric and materials and just need to get started.

4. Ticker Tape – I have all of the instructions for this saved and I am sure I have enough scraps to make a quilt. I think what has stopped me from getting started is the organization side of things. I need to sort my scraps and pick pieces out. Maybe this is one the kids can help with!

5. Hex On The Beach – I love this quilt. I love the idea of making a hexagon quilt. I say idea… I’ve made a lot of hexagons for other projects but not an entire quilt. I have this one started and after seeing this one that is finished, I can’t wait.

6. Dancing Stars – Another QAL! Maybe if I would start them when I find them, or when they start, I’d have these finished already. I have the background … but that’s it. I need to print some of the papers so I can at least get started. I decided to do a queen size quilt, which I think is why I haven’t started. I think I will work on this one next, I am great at breaking down quilting into steps and this is just one of those times I need to just do it.

7. After thinking about it – I think I’m leaving number 7 open. These quilts are among my favorite and I either have the fabric picked out, have the quilt already started. A bucket list is something to be a long crazy list of things to be accomplished at a certain date. I am a list maker but I haven’t thought about it in the quilt sense. I think I will work on progressing forward with this list – buying the pattern, cutting the fabric.

This is my first time entering Bloggers Quilt Festival, so welcome!

I struggle with naming quilts, but I settled on Falling Arrows for this one. I picture a group of Native people off to the far side, bows aimed high, letting arrows go at the same time and here is where they are landing. Every quilt has a story, that one belongs to this quilt!

Pattern: Lap of Luxe from Quilt Dad

Fabric: Dreaming in French plus some solids. Sidenote: Instagram is an awesome place to grab fabric. I got all of the Dreaming in French from someone destashing on instagram.

Size: 51 X 63

Quilted by: Me – I did a curvy zig zag and quilted diagonal lines across the quilt, using Gutterman light grey thread.

I pieced the back using the leftover fabric, my favorite way to do backings!