A Few Fun Places to Check Out

I follow a lot of different blogs and check in on most of them daily. Reading about other quilters or crafters brings such a joy to my life!

I feel less alone as a twenty something quilter when I read Generation X or check out a project from Freshly Pieced. These girls make me feel a bit less like a freak for wanting to spend more time quilting than bar hopping (which is what girls my age are typically doing I think).

For most of my life I’ve been told I was boring or weird for wanting to knit in class, or buy jeans from Goodwill I could alter to make more interesting. Finding so many like minded women just makes me happy!

I also stumble across blogs that are written by women on a journey and willing to share their journey as I do occasionally. Today I found a wonderful article on Beadlust that perfectly describes my struggles with spirituality and religion, addiction, and self love.

Of course, I do get emailed pretty often with sites to check out and blogs to read.

I was recently pointed to Jelly Roll Quilters, a site for quilters who just like to make quilts from jelly rolls! I really enjoyed the video created by Missouri Star Quilt Co. to make the Summer in the Park quilt. It’s easy, fast and creates a gorgeous quilt!

I was also introduced to Betterfly.com which is a site where teachers can list themselves and their local classes or services.

Already so many quilting teachers have listed themselves, they’ve created a widget just for us! If you’re looking for a quilting teacher in your area, or if you are a quilting teacher looking to get more traffic, check out this site and get yourself listed!

I also read blogs that aren’t about quilting, or really anything to do with crafting. Advanced Riskology is a blog about taking more risks to live a happier life.

While this might sound weird (more risk equals happiness), the author, Tyler, explains that the biggest risk he ever took with his life is going down a normal, safe path, and then getting laid off. He risked his happiness by following the crowd, and when he lost his job decided to make a big change for the better.

I’m pretty familiar with this sort of risk. I took a leap when I dropped out of college because I knew a degree wasn’t going to fit with my goals for the future. If anything the student loans I was amassing would have held me back.

I took another risk when I decided to focus entirely on quilting in 2009. At the time, it was a scary proposition with a 2 year old, a big mortgage, and a shaky economy.

Looking back now, I truly believe that following your passion is the LEAST risky thing you can do. Even if it doesn’t work perfectly, at least you’ll be happier and living the way you want.

I hope you enjoy these websites and blogs as much as I do!

Let’s go quilt,

Leah