It's Been Awhile...

They say that it's better to just jump in the pool instead of gradually wading in. Kind of like ripping off a band-aid. Just do it. 

Apologies first. 

I never meant to just bounce out like I did. Life got completely crazy and hectic and I got so overwhelmed that I went into hibernation, for lack of a better word. I was in full on quilting mode for over a year. That's all I did with all of my free time. If I wasn't working, cooking, cleaning, or putting on my taxi hat to cart my kids everywhere, I was quilting. Every.  Spare.  Minute. 

I was burnt out. Seriously burnt out. Quilting was supposed to be fun and it nearly turned into another full time job. That's not how I ever intended it to be. I was having so much fun creating new tutorials and patterns, but along with that came the editing of pictures and actually creating the tutorials. If you've never done one, they are a ton of work. 

I am not complaining. I enjoyed it. It just got to be too much and I wanted to be able to do other things. I'm pretty sure my kids were sick of me always quilting, too. 

So long story short, I wanted to take a break with out really announcing it. I just wanted some time. But that time turned into weeks, then months, then *gasp* over a year. I kept saying that I'd post and then I'd forget or something would come up or I just didn't feel like it. 

Sincere apologies for skipping out for so long. I honestly never meant to. If any of you are still around, I hope you will understand and forgive. 

On a different note, I do plan on posting again. Perhaps not as often. Probably not like I used to. Maybe. I really don't know where this will take me. All that I know is that I have missed crafting. I miss sharing exciting things that I come across. So I am going to give this another go and see where it takes us. 

I hope you'll come along. :)

All this got started because Christmas is coming and I was thinking of gifts. My new baby niece was born January 23, 2012 and I hadn't even made her a quilt yet. ACK! Her brother and sister each have two. I felt terrible. Yes, I know she has no clue but that's not the point. 

I started looking for a quilt to make. I kept coming back to the string quilts and fell in love with the baby lattice quilt that Ashley made from Film in the Fridge.  So after about a week of obsessing over Pinterest (that's a whole different post...lol) I decided to do this string quilt. It's such a happy little quilt! 

I went to my craft room in search of fabric to use because I knew I had more than plenty. I finally settled on a favourite called Pick A Bunch by Nancy Mims for Robert Kaufman and off I went. 

Five hours later I had this...

And during most of that time I also had this...

A very happy kitty in a box full of fabric. Silly kitty :)

Hope all of you are well...and until next time....

Much Love!!!

P.S.  I have to laugh at myself because I have completely forgotten how to edit my pictures, add watermarks...etc so I hope these come through ok.