Latest / Loose Threads & Stitches: A Quilting Podcast / Episode 2: Lost Your Quilting Spark? Here's How to Get Your Inspiration Back

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Episode 2: Lost Your Quilting Spark? Here's How to Get Your Inspiration Back · Loose Threads & Stitches: A Quilting Podcast

• 0:09
  Hey there quilter.
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  Have you ever walked into your sewing space, looked at your fabric,
• 0:13
  maybe even turned on your machine and just felt.
• 0:19
  Like the spark just isn't there, no matter how hard you wanted it to be.
• 0:23
  Maybe you finally have time on your calendar and it's just me.
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  If that's you, first of all, you are not alone.
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  Every quilter goes through this phase at some point,
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  and today we're going to talk about how to get that spark back.
• 0:39
  Hey there friend.
• 0:39
  Welcome to Loose Threads
• 0:41
  and Stitches, the podcast where we chat all things quilting, creativity, and life.
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  I'm Christen from ISeeStarsQuilting, and I truly believe that quilting
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  should bring you joy, not stress.
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  Okay. That's what we're after, right?
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  We want joy.
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  We want fun.
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  You know, whether you're a seasoned quilter or you're just getting your toes
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  wet into this wonderful world, These episodes are designed
• 1:03
  like a cozy chat with a friend to keep you inspired and motivated.
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  Today's episode is all about getting your quilting mojo back.
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  If you've been feeling uninspired, overwhelmed, or just kind of stuck.
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  When it comes to your projects, you know, not a lot of spark left in you.
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  I've got some simple,
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  no pressure ways to help you fall back in love with quilting again.
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  So grab your favorite drink.
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  Curl up in your favorite quilts or your favorite chair.
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  Your favorite corner of the couch. Whatever it is.
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  And let's dive in.
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  Okay, so before we fix everything, let's talk about
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  why that like,
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  dimming of your spark happens in the first place.
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  Because I promise you that losing
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  your creative spark doesn't mean that you're not a real quilter.
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  It doesn't mean that you're losing interest forever.
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  And it's just part of the creative cycle, right?
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  So it's totally normal, right?
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  And I want to share with you
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  some of the biggest reasons that quilters will hit a slump.
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  Now this can apply to quilters.
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  It can apply to artists.
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  It can apply to other creative aspects as well.
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  Right.
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  So one of the things that can just kind of like guide you into that slump
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  is an overwhelm in general,
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  but possibly also an overwhelm from too many UFO's.
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  And we talked about that on the last episode
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  and how you can kind of get more comfortable with that number.
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  But too many projects that are staring
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  you in the face can make you freeze up instead of like, dive in.
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  And what it really comes down to is decision fatigue.
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  And that is a real thing.
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  And it's almost like you have
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  you could start on this project, but you have a lot of other things
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  that you need to decide prior to starting on that project.
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  And if you don't do it right, you're going to feel like you didn't
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  get any progress made or you're going to mess it up
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  and you don't really know quite what you want to do with it.
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  It just it gets to be over.
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  Whelm is what it happens.
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  And, you know, decision fatigue is a real bummer, y'all.
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  It really is.
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  another thing that can really take away that spark is perfection.
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  Paralysis.
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  Ever feel like if it's not perfect, then why even bother?
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  This has been a lifetime, work in progress for me.
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  And, Yeah, that one can sneak up on you even if you're working at it.
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  So you know, quilting, it's it's not about perfection, right?
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  It's not about perfection.
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  There are some amazing quilters out there.
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  And if you judge your quilts that you work on as a beginner
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  quilter, up next to the ones that are showing in the,
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  you know, national shows and winning awards and all of that,
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  I mean, that's enough to just make you put up your sewing needle
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  and never take it out again, right?
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  So you need to get comfortable with what is your best And what it is
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  that you love about quilting, stress and just regular life.
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  Exhaustion can be a bummer too.
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  When life is busy, creative hobbies often take a backseat.
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  But you know, quilting.
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  Quilting to me should be the stress reliever,
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  not another thing on your to do list that you just have to get done.
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  It shouldn't feel like a chore, right?
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  the last thing that I want to share is the comparison trap.
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  You know, social media is great for inspiration.
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  I could scroll Pinterest for hours and finding all of these amazing quilts,
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  but sometimes it makes it can make you feel like you're
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  not good enough because they got like the perfect angle.
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  And you know, I love social media and I hate social media, but
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  trust me,
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  the ones that you see on social media, the quilters that you see out there
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  and the ones that you admire, they have UFOs.
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  They totally you've seen rippers too.
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  Okay.
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  It's it's just a part of the quilting process.
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  And it's something that, you know, kind of humanizes us all.
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  But, you know, remember that what you're seeing on social media
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  is just a small portion of the big picture, right?
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  Routine is another factor when it comes to the loss of that inspirational spark.
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  Like if you are doing the same types of projects over and over and over again,
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  it can make you feel stale,
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  just like you know it's the same thing over and over again.
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  There's nothing new, there's nothing challenging about it.
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  I would say that creativity really, really thrives on variety.
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  You gotta throw something in there every once in a while.
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  So it feels like you're learning something.
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  It feels like you're really doing something amazing
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  and that you are topping yourself every single time you work on something.
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  There can also be really good comfort in doing the same thing over
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  and over again, if that's what you need in that point.
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  But if you're at the point where you are
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  not inspired anymore, it's time to shake things up.
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  Okay. So let's talk about solutions.
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  We talked about the problems.
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  How do we actually break the slump and start loving your projects again.
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  Start enjoying that creativity.
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  Start feeling that like excitement down in the bottom of your gut
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  when you're like, oh my gosh, this is gorgeous.
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  Could I actually make this quilt right?
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  What I want you to do is to start small.
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  Give yourself a quick win.
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  Because if you go off and you buy it,
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  you know, a $400 quilt kit that has a million tiny pieces in it,
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  that's not going to be the thing to pick you up.
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  Believe me, I've done that.
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  It's not going to be the thing to, like, cure your lack of spark, right?
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  Instead of tackling like a giant, big, overwhelming project, pick something small
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  a mug, rug, a pillow, a single quilt block that you've been looking at,
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  just finishing something can remind you
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  why you love to quilt.
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  Changing up your sewing space can be a really big help too.
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  Sometimes just a simple change of scenery makes the world of a difference
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  in your life, right?
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  Move your machine taken over by the window.
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  If your sewing room is really, really messy, take your machine
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  and go put it into the dining room so you have some room to work, right?
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  You know, take your hand stitching outside or you can totally rearrange
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  your sewing space.
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  But, you know, again, go back to that first one where you start small, right?
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  Don't just decide that, like
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  completely renovating your house is going to cure it, okay?
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  Just do something to just shake up the scenery a little bit.
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  And another thing that you can do is do a, what
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  I like to call just like a play project where it's no pressure.
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  This could even be improv quilting if you are interested in that.
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  But I want you to give yourself permission to just play.
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  There's no pattern, no strict rules.
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  Just grab some fabric, start sewing and see what happens.
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  Improv is really, really fun for this, but if you're not into improv,
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  just start mixing your scraps together
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  and so your own jelly roll strips.
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  Okay, so that you just have these long, long lines of beautiful scraps,
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  and then you can make a jelly roll quilts out of it.
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  And jelly roll quilts are great because
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  you don't get to control a lot of things on that jelly roll quilt, right?
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  Like you can you can control the size of the pieces,
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  but you don't get to control, like where they overlap in the end.
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  And I love those because because if you struggle with control, that's
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  that's a good one to, make you realize that you're not in control.
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  Okay.
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  So with all of that in mind, I want to do a little challenge together.
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  Just you and me.
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  Next time you go into your sewing space, I want you to close your eyes.
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  I want you to go
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  over to your fabric stash, and I want you to pick three fabrics at random.
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  You could do this with flat quarters, too.
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  If you want to do this like on a smaller scale.
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  And I want you to challenge yourself to make something with them.
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  No second guessing if all of a sudden you think about like half square
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  triangles, play with that.
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  That is a really good one too,
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  because half square triangles are easy and quick to make.
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  But then you can turn those around and change them
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  into all kinds of different patterns with using those half square triangles.
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  So it's a fun way to break out of the overthinking
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  and just create because it brings you joy, you know?
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  No, no other big, agenda or anything like that.
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  It just brings you joy.
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  Some other ideas that can kind of shake things up
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  for you is to sign up for a mystery quilt challenge.
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  I would say caution with that one, because mystery quilt doesn't necessarily
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  mean that it's of your style, but if it is from a,
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  instructor that you really like and you really trust
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  and you already like their style, then signing up for a mystery quilt
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  challenge with them is it's a good thing, right?
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  You can make a mini quilt using only scraps.
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  That's another one.
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  And that's something that, like most of us could do.
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  Like now. Right?
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  You just go grab your scrap pieces and start making something and,
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  you know, see what you create.
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  It's it's a no pressure project.
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  And you could also try picking a color
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  that you never use and make a quilt block with it.
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  You know, push yourself out of that comfort zone.
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  Sometimes we just get to comfort and we just don't quite know how to break
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  out of that box, how to break out of that normal little space that we're in.
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  But when you push yourself
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  out of that comfort zone, that's when things start to change
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  and you start to learn things new and you learn things about yourself to.
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  So I got a great question from a quilter recently, and
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  I wanted to take it and discuss it on here because I think it could be of,
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  educational use for, for all of us, honestly, no matter what level you're at.
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  And they ask me, how do I stop overthinking fabric choices and just start sewing?
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  Whooo!
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  Right.
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  Like, like that is a skill that can be taught.
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  And there's like a specific mathematical goal in, like, you know,
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  artistry of, like the color palette and why colors go together and all of that.
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  Some people have that ingrained in their body and some people don't.
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  Okay.
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  So it can be taught, it not everybody has it.
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  But my key advice in this is that sometimes, you know,
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  when we're designing a quilt, we get so caught up in
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  picking the perfect fabric that we don't even start.
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  That's that perfection.
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  Paralysis that's creeping in.
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  And, you know, here's the truth.
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  When it comes to quilting, there's no such thing as a wrong fabric choice.
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  There are ones that would look better, and I wouldn't say absolutely.
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  That Halloween fabric goes perfect with my Easter quilt, you know?
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  But if you love the color, then it's the right choice.
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  And the way that the fabric lines are designed now with the little color
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  blocks at the bottom of the selvage, that's a good way to see
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  exactly how you can match up and pull
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  those colors from other pieces of fabric and other colors.
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  And to match your original focal piece, you can also
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  try shopping within the same line, because again, they're designed that way
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  so that you have this nice, cohesive, gorgeous colors that all go together.
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  You know, if if you're not at the store and you're shopping your own stash,
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  you can try giving yourself a time limit.
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  Set a timer for like five minutes.
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  Take a big, deep breath, pick your fabrics and commit to them.
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  if if that's not your jam
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  and you're still stuck, you can start with precut bundles.
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  Those are already done for you, right?
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  I love pre-cuts.
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  The color coordination is just it's it's there.
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  It's done.
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  you just have to pick a pattern that works
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  with a precut fabric bundle and
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  you go to sewing right away. Right.
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  So that can also be a really good way to just skip that step and move into it.
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  I'm going to go ahead and put a link down in the description box down below this
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  so that you can check out a website that I really, really love
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  for precut fabrics and for, precut quilt kits as well.
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  If you don't even want to pick the pattern, you just want to pick like,
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  you know, yes, I want one of those and one of those,
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  and I want to make that quilt and that quilt.
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  And that's how you want to do it, because it's easy for you.
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  The Fabric Hut is an amazing small company that really cares about their customers.
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  And they have amazing designs that I absolutely love
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  as far as like quilt patterns and precut fabrics and all of that.
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  So go ahead, go check out their site.
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  I'm putting that link underneath this so you can check them out.
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  So today's been fun.
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  I hope that this chat helped you feel a little bit less stuck
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  and a little bit more inspired.
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  You know, if if you've ever lost your quilting spark,
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  you know that, like,
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  I know how you feel and it kind of it honestly kind of sucks because,
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  you know, you you lost a
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  a light and you for something that you used to love and,
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  you know, if that happens to you know, that you can absolutely get it back.
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  You got to work a little bit, but you can absolutely get it back. And,
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  I'm curious for those of you that have lost it in the past, or maybe those of you
• 14:00
  that are going through it right now and learn this, in the comments,
• 14:04
  would you just let me know what it is that helped you get your spark back?
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  Because I would love to hear your thoughts.
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  I have tried many, many things over the years
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  as far as like keeping an inspirational board
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  on my Pinterest account where like, I put all of these things that like,
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  I just saw it and I don't know why I love it, but I love it, right?
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  So, I would love to hear your thoughts on that.
• 14:27
  and if you want to keep this conversation going,
• 14:29
  come hang out with me and the Stitch Sister community.
• 14:32
  It is the best place for quilters to connect with other quilters
• 14:36
  who just get quilting.
• 14:38
  It is a group that is of the most wonderful women quilters that you'll find,
• 14:45
  and I will leave a link down in the description down below for this as well.
• 14:49
  Come check it out, see if it's the right place for you.
• 14:51
  If you are looking for a really good quilt community home,
• 14:55
  And if you haven't yet, please hit that subscribe button
• 14:57
  to follow this podcast and on my YouTube channel.
• 15:01
  You don't want to miss our next chat.
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  We've got lots of quilting inspiration coming your way,
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  I want to thank you for hanging out with me today. Friend.
• 15:08
  It's been so nice to just sit and have a moment to talk about creativity.
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  Have a moment to talk about quilting with you.
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  And you know, until next time, keep stitching, keep creating.
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  And most of all, I want you to enjoy the process of everything you do.
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  Let quilting be that joy in your life.
• 15:26
  So again, I'm Christen with ISeeStarsQuilting.com.
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  I'll see you soon. Bye.
• 15:48
  You.