The Olympics are over and tv programming is back to normal. The members of my family are Olympics junkies. We try to watch every minute of the televised events. We love the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Remember that poor skier that wiped out when ABC had exclusive rights to cover all sporting events? That guy actually lived that fall. He looked like a rag doll that someone had tossed in the air.
I hate the sports that have wipe outs, big and small. I don’t watch boxing because the theory behind it bothers me; if you make your opponent unconscious, you win. Another part of the games that I wince at are the hurdles. The hurdles get knocked over and, invariably, someone goes down with it. There were some pretty big biffs on the hurdles this Olympics.

I finally got over a hurdle this last week that I have been working on for a year. It was one that I struggled with every time I came up to it. Here is a picture of the culprit:

The quilt has been done for months and it doesn’t look like it would give me any trouble now, does it?

While I was making the quilt, I had this thought: “If I am designing a quilt, wouldn’t it make sense to market a pattern? After all, that is what you have wanted to do for ages!” So the thought wouldn’t go away after the quilt was finished and every time I looked at it, I heard that little voice again.
So a couple of months ago, I started planning; a business plan. Kind of scary. I met a new friend in June and we immediately knew that we needed to be partner/vendors. One week later, she got a call from a quilt guild, inviting us to take the last available booth at the Sonora quilt show. The clock started ticking. So, in my regular style, I didn’t start in June, I waited until Robin went back to school, making my deadline very intense. But that is how I work best – under stress. It’s positive stress, the kind that motivates one to action – but it doesn’t leave room for life’s other necessities, like family members or a house that is calling you to clean it.

Designing a quilt is an incredibly creative process; writing the pattern for the quilt is like having a root canal that goes on for days. The quilt allows for changes in size, technique, color, pliable and is soul-filling. A pattern is rigid, precise, confining; the antithesis of the quilt. The pattern is first you do this, then you do this, make sure you don’t do that, and read the instructions. If you have read my previous blogs, you know that I enjoy writing. I didn’t enjoy writing the pattern, mostly because patterns need to be perfect with no typos, nothing left out. Usually while the text was flowing, midstream I got a phone call or a “hey, Mom…” which broke the trance. Ah, but that’s life, huh? My life would not be as meaningful if I didn’t have those little interruptions by those I love.

After all, the quilt was made for my son. Making a quilt for someone is like giving the deepest expression of love, in my opinion. It’s like giving birth. Once you finish the binding and put on the label, you get post partum. Time to start a new one!

The biggest hurdle is that something I have been working on, and dreaming about for years is finally done. I have completed my first pattern for sale. My business is real. I have deep satisfaction in the pit of my stomach; a feeling of accomplishment. Now, I get to start on the next set. “All Hearts” was only the beginning.

The pattern is available on this webpage. Click Here to go to my online store where you can buy a copy of the pattern. You can order it online by secure transaction, or send me an email if you would like order direct. More new patterns will be arriving weekly. Up next are the block of the month Baltimore Machine Applique patterns.