Almost done

Well I am so very happy to say that the applique on the quilt is done!  Yay!!!  I just have to embroider some antlers on the reindeer and a face, and then I'm done.  I can put the borders on ... yay!!!  So glad to have that done.

I have a couple quilts loaded on my Innova right now and my goal is to have those quilted by Friday.  I have a busy next couple weeks and I'm getting a little freaked out about it.  This usually happens; I think it's from years of being a stay-at-home mom and not having a lot on my schedule.  When I do have several commitments, I tend to get overwhelmed.  Today I forgot an appointment to meet a friend and pick up her quilt!  I couldn't believe it ... yikes!  I called her and it was fine; we were meeting at the store and she just left the quilt there.  I still felt terrible.  This is a sure sign that I need to chill out.  So today although I was really tempted to skip the gym and get busy on my sewing at home, I didn't.  I went to the gym and had a good workout.  40 minutes of cardio and 25 minutes of weights.  After I was done at the gym, I was walking out with my friend, Helen, she teaches yoga.  We had a really great conversation and she reminded me of why I love to quilt.  She was saying that there aren't a lot of people that knit, quilt, etc. anymore and that it's so important to feed our souls.  I know that sounds kind of corny, but I can't think of a better way to say it.  She reminded me that quilting is meditative, and when we're sitting at the sewing machine humming away, we are relaxing and enjoying ourselves.  I bet if I took my blood pressure when I was quilting it would be a lot lower.  But it's true ... you know, we get in that zone and hours just disappear.  Not only are we relaxing and in our zone, but we are creating something that is beautiful and that will be treasured ... maybe in years and years, someone will look at one of our quilts and talk about the workmanship, and the style, and maybe try to reproduce it ... so feed your soul!  Knit, quilt, whatever makes you happy ... it's about being relaxed, and also getting together with friends and enjoying what we love!