Patterns By Jen 2020 Color Challenge coming soon!!

While I have yet to finish my blocks for the Patterns By Jen 2019 Color Challenge, it is with much excitement that I announce I am a blogging for the upcoming Patterns By Jen 2020 Color Challenge year! It promises to be a great year with fun blocks, wonderful colors, many bloggers, and sponsors.

Head over to Jen's blog post for the full list of host bloggers to see what they are currently up to and their interpretations of Jen's colors with the blocks as the year progresses. I will be sharing about a few of the blocks, but which ones?? That will be a surprise! My personal goal for 2020's challenge quilt is to complete the top, have it quilted, and donate it to my local Project Linus chapter.

Jen will be letting us in on sponsor and prize information soon, so stay tuned. In the mean time, start going through your stash for color selections. A fat quarter of light and a fat quarter of dark should be all you need each month. She has also created a file in the announcement post giving the option to have one background color for all the blocks in your quilt. Some participants choose to make two quilts, so this creates yet another block option to meet that need. Oh, so many possibilities this year!!

Anyway, thank you for joining us on a fun and colorful year ahead! 

Keep quilting!

Fawn

Where to start?

Do you find yourself stuck with the dilemma of which project to take on first? Maybe it's about taking the leap of getting started with that first project? Some have solid deadlines, but are workable. Others are personal projects with new to learn techniques. I have people tell me to schedule when to do this or that. Get it on the calendar, in the planner, up on that board, or whatever the technique may be. Yep. That's all fine until my health throws a wrench in the works and adds days or even weeks in there that I didn't have to give up. 

Here is what works for me - I make very few hard commitments throughout the year due to my medical issues. I have to come first so I can be present throughout all avenues of life. This, of course, applies to me and my specific circumstances. Take the time to think about what will work for you.

Be honest with yourself from the start. Then be honest with those around you. Communication is key, so be sure to ask for help wherever it is needed. 

On that note, starting this blog was one of my quilty goals for quite some time. The biggest hurdle is patience with myself. (Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth - is that still a thing?? Ha!) I will be posting projects whether they go well or not. Any experience is a learning experience! 

The photos above are a tiny glimpse of  "behind the scenes" around here. One of the photos shows fabrics for a jellyroll rug...kind of. I am taking the concept and turning it on its head. The true kicker? I have never made a jellyroll rug before. It will be a learning experience. Any positive vibes you have to send my way that this project goes off without a hitch is appreciated!!

The other photo? It's secret sewing to be revealed in the new year that I also took and turned on its head a bit. Patience is a virtue for that reveal.

Just these commitments take up a great deal of my free time outside of work and family, so I am particular with the projects I take on. Would I love to do more? Absolutely! Do I value my health - physical and mental? Absolutely!! Choose wisely.

On that stitch, thanks for reading!

Keep quilting!

Fawn 

What do you do?

It is true that everyone has bumps in that road called life. "How we handle them is what matters" is the mantra commonly spoken. Have you ever asked why a person just stops calling, texting, or backs out of scheduled engagements? Do you assume and make comments that they are always flakey? Do you know why that youthful looking person needs that handicap parking space though they walked into the store unassisted? A better question is, do you have the right to ask or judge?

I have a connective tissue disorder called Ehler's Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and number of other medical issues that provide daily challenges to living nobody can understand unless they are me. At least one of my children inherited this genetic condition from me and has another disorder called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) that has made her life challenging in a very similar way to mine, yet more so. None of these things can be seen unless we have to wear a brace or use some other type of assistive device. Others tend to reduce what we have to typical injuries or basic aches and pains. This is far from the case. The truth is that pain scale in the doctors office is not correct for patients such as us. The 10 rating on that scale is more like an 8 for us....maybe. Our tolerance to pain, tolerance to medications to regulate said pain, reactions/negative interactions to medications in general can be very tricky. The majority of doctors are not properly trained to understand or care for patients with our particular issues. 

So, why do I bring this up? Not a sympathy vote. I have been living this life all my life. Fighter from day one. But I will mention EDSin my posts from time to time as it is a part of my life. I want to bring awareness to a genetic disorder that affects more of the population than doctors know because they now understand it is misunderstood and misdiagnosed by medical staff. The medical world is slowly acknowledging it has a lot of catch up to do. 

I challenge each of you to look at how you react to those around you when they "can't" or you see an individual doing something you consider unacceptable. Ask yourself why you are thinking that way? It truly is not ok to judge a book by its cover. It is so much easier to empathize. Then get out there and spread some love for ALL!!