Finding Strength in Crisis – Quilting Podcast #135

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Suddenly we have found ourselves in the midst of a global crisis – cronovirus. I hope you are all staying safe and healthy and finding comfort in quilting. This week for the podcast I decided to share an article The Crisis, written by Thomas Paine in 1776. I found strength in reading this article when my house flooded in February. I hope you enjoy it as well!

You can also listen to the podcast or download it to your computer using this player:

Jump ahead to time 38:48 if you want to get straight to my reading of The Crisis. This was recorded in my sound booth (bedroom closet) so there is no video for that second half of the show.

If you have suggestions for other public domain books or articles, let me know! I would love to hear your suggestion in the comments below.

Choosing to Respond Rather than React

In any situation we can respond, or we can react. When you respond, you have a choice in how you act. Instead of reacting in fear and anger or letting the stress make you sick, you can choose a better response.

Sometimes the best response is not to do anything. Many times since my house flooded in February, I have chosen to walk out of a room. I had to make a conscious choice not to react, but to respond in the healthiest way possible, which was often to walk away when I was getting upset.

It may help to identify the crisis ahead of you. Do you have a few bags of beans and a few bags of rice? Do you have some food stocked away in your freezer? If you do not have enough food to last a month, work to stock up in the next few days. That is a healthy response to the fear of running out of food.

A Quilter’s Toilet Paper Solution

It may be that you’re out of toilet paper. Or it may be simply the fear that you MIGHT run out soon.

I’m not making light of this as it’s obviously something that’s scaring lots of people. As quilters, however, we are uniquely blessed with lots of material. Please don’t fear running out of toilet paper!

Pick up a yard or two of cotton flannel. Cut it into 6 x 9 inch rectangles. Use these rags if you run out of toilet paper. Wash and reuse them daily or weekly. Here is the washboard/ basin I found on Amazon (affiliate).

Instead of shelling out tons of money on disposable products like toilet paper, buy extra soap.

Sure, this is distasteful to even think about, but cutting your own flannel fabric is a sustainable option that would last for months or years if needed.

If the power went out (unlikely) or some other crisis overlapped this crisis (yes, I’m currently dealing with multiple layers of crisis, so this can happen), you may find having a washable solution much better to having a stockpile of toilet paper.

Rise to the Challenge

The hardest thing to do in a crisis is the thing we MUST do. We must continue to seek joy. We must continue to find strength. We must rise to the challenge and support ourselves so that we may lend our strength to others when they need help.

Please take this one stitch at a time. One stitch. One step. One choice. One response. If you cannot take life one day at a time, take it one hour at a time.

You may find yourself being a caregiver to a friend or family member in the coming months. Please take the very best care of yourself. Caregivers (and moms) eat first.

News from Around the House

Cronovirus is adding extra crisis and difficulty to my already chaotic life. Everything that was already hard since our house flooded has just gotten harder. James’s school will likely move online and Josh is going to take over keeping James on task and focused on his classes.

Unfortunately the virus is making it harder to get some construction supplies, like respirators. So far the work we have scheduled hasn’t been pushed back, but it it has added an extra layer of uncertainty to the mix.

I’m finding a lot of solace and peace in hand stitching. I have a lot of bias binding to finish on my Dream Big Jacket and the simple act of stitching along the binding is exactly the kind of mindless, steady, peaceful project I need right now.

Click Here to find the first post for the Dream Big Quilt Along. We’re getting started by outline quilting the petal shapes and echoing them. In some cases I also added an extra petal shape to create a double petal effect.

Find the Dream Big Guidebook Here. If you’d like to see exactly how I quilted my panel and get ahead on your quilt, this guidebook was written for you! I’ve also included instructions for making both a Dream Big Quilt and Dream Big Jacket.

Dream Big Quilted Jacket

Other Posts and Fun Quilting Distractions

Click Here to learn how to piece a Four Leaf Clover Block – I hope you had a happy St. Patricks Day! This fun block will look more like a clover when you piece it to other blocks or strips.

Book of the Week – Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek – I learned a lot from this book and really enjoyed Simon’s ideas to be a better boss and leader. I understand what actions I can take to reduce stress for Josh, my husband and business partner.

This book also led to a fun discussion with a friend. She heard the name of the book and immediately said “But Moms should eat first!” and I completely agree.

As I said before, moms are caregivers. To care for others, you must first care for yourself. If you are on an airplane, you must put the mask on yourself first, before helping your kids.

Dealership Shop Update

My tiny little shop in Shelby, NC is also in a construction crisis! The office where I’m renting the space is changing the way the door opens so you can enter straight into my little shop. I guess I bring construction chaos with me everywhere!

I’m setting up this tiny shop because I want to carry another line of home sewing machines. This little shop will primarily be a machine dealership. I can also rent the conference room and teach small quilting classes.

I don’t know when this will be set up or when our doors will open. Of course with cronovirus this is very much up in the air, but I’m excited about expanding our dealership and offering more machines. Fingers crossed – I’ll let you know the brand only if it all works out!

We’ve also set up financing on our website for Grace Frames and Longarms through Affirm. Our newest Qnique 19 inch longarm is on sale this month for $5999.95. We now have financing options so you can pay this off over several months instead of all in one lump sum.

Whew! That’s a lot for this week! I’m continuing to move forward, even if it’s one stitch, one small step at a time.

If you have suggestions for other public domain articles, books, or passages that you would like me to read for a podcast episode, please share in the comments below. I really enjoyed this, got more experience narrating, editing, and mastering, and I’m back on track to record one chapter of Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt each week.

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day

Catch up on the most recent podcast episodes here:

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LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

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