Achieve Your Goals One Hour at a Time

Hello my quilting friends! This week I'm sharing a personal update podcast because I have so many things to share with you. I talk a lot about how I've reached many goals this year by putting in steady effort and just 1-2 hours of time into a project every single day. Watch the episode and see my messy Crafty Cottage in this video:

Thank you all so much for your super sweet comments about my flower hat in last week's podcast. Yes, we have a flower hat craft tutorial coming this weekend so be on the look out for that.

My big news this week is I finally wrapped up the first round of editing on Mally the Maker: The Queen in the Quilt. This feels HUGE! I'm so, so, so excited about this book now.

This first bit of editing took a lot longer than I'd anticipated and it wasn't much fun, but now that it's finished, I'm so happy with it! I've printed another copy for Josh to edit and now in the morning I've been drawing and designing and figuring out how the covers are going to look for the book.

Here's a little sketch of the fonts I'm playing with for Mally the Maker:

I'm also designing the major quilt from the book and learning as much as I can about cover art and illustration. I'm trying to not be in a hurry with this, but it's so exciting! I can't wait to be finished editing and jumping into the book design, layout, and finishing it all up completely.

Another big piece of news is another new book with C&T Publishing. Well, technically it's not a new book, but a perpetual calendar using the images from the book 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs.

This is a style of calendar that you can use year after year because it doesn't list the day of the week. Every day of the calendar will have a different quilting design, giving you a tiny bit of free motion quilting inspiration every day of the week.

I'll keep you updated as to when this calendar is ready and we're planning to start a pre-order so you can be the first to get one when they begin shipping.

Big news for next week - rulers! I've finally found the perfect ruler foot for the Eversewn Sparrow 20. I love this foot because it gives you the perfect high base to press rulers against, but it dips down in the front and the side for better visibility.

Even better, this foot is designed with a very thin slit on the side so it's much easier to tuck your thread under your foot while quilting. This foot is designed to fit the Eversewn Sparrow as well as all low shank sewing machines. If you're unsure if this foot will fit your machine, please contact us to double check for you.

Speaking of rulers, Grace Company has just shipped the first set of my new rulers: the Slice, Mini Slide, and Super Slide! Be looking for more information about these new goodies coming next week.

The last bit of the podcast was specifically focused on HOW I've made these things happen. It's one thing to want to live a creative life. It's another thing entirely to take steps to make that life happen.

This takes effort. Every day.

But you don't have to do it all in a day. I've written Mally the Maker during my early morning time. I wake up early and write from 7 am until 8:30 every day. On the weekend, I usually write a bit longer and sometimes wake up earlier so I might get in 3-4 hours in a stretch on Saturday and Sunday morning.

So writing this book has basically added an extra part-time job to my schedule. I haven't had long days to spend idly writing in my attic loft next to a crackling fire. I don't have an attic loft or even a private place I really enjoy writing. I like sitting at the kitchen table because sunlight can come in the window and I can stand at my countertop so I'm not sitting for long periods of time.

I've written this book sitting at my kitchen table in the morning before my family is awake. 1-2 hours at a time. Slow and steady does win the race.

I know I've been sharing lots of podcasts about goal setting this year. Even if you have no desire to turn quilting into a business, you are still embarking on big, several month long projects every time you start a new quilt. It might not feel that way when you buy a new precut pack or begin cutting the pieces for a new quilt block, but every time you begin a quilt, you are starting a long term project.

Question is - how much are you finishing?

Please don't be fooled by the easy fantasy that "you'll have time one day." Time is short. Life is unpredictable.

If you are making quilts so you can leave something amazing behind so another generation of children know what it feels like to be snuggled under a warm quilt, you need to finish those projects. Quilt it, bind it, finish it, and get it into the hands of your kids or grandkids.

This is also the way we keep quilting alive. I'm a quilter today because I grew up sleeping under quilts made by my great grandmothers. The mystery of how the pieces came together so perfectly was a big part of the reason why I wanted to make quilts since I was little.

So even if you don't want to design fabric, write patterns, or teach quilting to others, I bet you do want to finish your quilts so you can enjoy them, use them, and pass them on to your family and friends. Begin today. Pull out a project and put 1 hour into it per day. When you finish it, pick another, then another.

Put in 1 hour per day and you will get it finished. I promise.

Let's go quilt,

Leah Day