How to Say NO! Quilting Friends Podcast #133

This week I had to say No to teaching a quilting class and it made me think a lot about saying no in general. When we say “yes” to making one thing, we are also saying “no” to making other things, possibly more meaningful projects. I share thoughts on this throughout the podcast while I stitch on my Quilst landscape hoop quilt in this episode:

Listen to the podcast or download it to your computer using this player:

Saying No is Actually Saying YES!

I usually know it’s time to say “No” to something when I get an itchy feeling about it. Whether it’s a personality conflict, or things have gotten too complicated, or I’m not getting enough communication, I tend to feel it early if things aren’t working out.

I’ve learned to always pay attention to that itchy feeling. It has saved me a lot of time and hair-pulling stress and anger management classes. I try to always walk away from things like this BEFORE I sign a contract. A contract is a commitment that shouldn’t be broken. For this reason, I’m very careful to work out the big details and try to identify pitfalls before the contract is signed.

But saying No is more than just a verbal skill. We say Yes and No to projects too. I’ve made many quilts that have very little meaning to me. I gave most of them away over the last two weeks. I made most of these during a time when I was saying Yes to making super simple quilts with precut fabrics just to make a quick video.

Turns out, all of these quilt tops had fulfilled their purpose – to be a quilting video. I didn’t need or want them, I couldn’t use them, and I didn’t want to waste another second saying Yes to them.

I’ve decided to say No to making things that don’t mean anything to me. In doing this, I’m also saying Yes to making harder projects, projects that fit my needs, or fulfill me in some way. These are projects like my little Quilst landscape hoop quilt which made me so happy to work on during the podcast!

News from Around the House

The renovation took a major turn this week as we had two contractors come through and analyze how the water came in during the flood. Turns out, it wasn’t the gutters and landscape as we thought last week.

Instead it’s things we can’t control – the water table in my area and what naturally happens when we get excessive amounts of rain.

So the solution is much bigger, more expensive, and chaotic than we anticipated. We have to install a french drain system inside the house. This requires jackhammering up the concrete around the walls, laying pipes and setting up a sump pump to pump out water when it comes in.

This is also changing our demo and rebuilding plans. Last week I thought we would have rebuilt some. Instead we are going to tear out everything, bathroom, office, and pipe room all at once to make room for the Dry Pro crew that will install this drainage system.

I know for a fact I won’t have water problems after this, but it is really hard. We’re already at Chaos Level 50. Just the word jackhammer and the idea of the concrete getting busted is taking it to Chaos Level 100. Crazy crazy crazy.

Quilting Tutorials WILL Continue

Part of how I’m coping with this is forcing myself to focus on quilting. Quilting tutorials WILL continue and I am making that happen every day. This is how we make a living and this is the only way we will be able to afford these repairs.

So please share our videos! Like, comment, and share them and that helps me know you’re enjoying them and want me to continue putting in this work every day.

Click Here to learn how to piece a Square in a Square mini block – Learn how to piece tiny triangles around and around to create a beautiful square in a square effect. I rely on trimming a great deal to make sure this block finishes exactly the right size.

Find the Rose is a Rose Quilting Design tutorial here – This super cute flower design would look great in the center of quilt blocks. I surrounded it with a bit of Open Heart and that worked great!

Dream Big Quilt Along Coming Soon – I’m working on a guidebook this week because this quilt along has gotten a bit more involved than I originally planned. I’m quilting like a mad woman to begin the tutorials on March 13th.

We will be using rulers from the Basic Ruler Kit and Feather Ruler to complete the Dream Big Quilt and I’m including instructions for turning your quilt into a garment as well!

Easter Basket Pattern – Turn two mini blocks into a super cute Easter Basket! The Carolina Lily Block on my Easter Basket is a new mini block tutorial coming soon.

If you are a member of the Quilt Friends Club, you will still get the Mini Monthly patterns as part of your membership!

I’m also working on a book, The Mini Book of Mini Blocks, which will be ready in the next few months. I’ve had many (MANY) requests for written patterns for the Mini Blocks and decided to be flexible about my writing schedule to make this happen!

Finally, Qnique 19 Longarms are on sale through the month of March! This is Grace Company’s newest longarm and it fits the perfect size for quilters wanting more space for quilting without a huge, intimidating machine.

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day

Check out our latest podcast episodes:

• #132 – Stay Flexible! Change, Bend or Pivot so You Can Keep Quilting
• #131 – Don’t Wait to Create!
• #130 – Epic Flooding Disaster
• #129 – Stitching Myself Out of Jail
• #128 – Keep it Simple Sweetie!
• #127 – Crafting Through a Limbo Time
• #126 – What will change in quilting in the next 10 years?
• #125 – Studio Tour 2020!
• #124 – My Word of the Year for 2020
• #123 – Living Without Regrets and Making a Memory Quilt
• #122 – How to Design a Goddess Quilt
• #121 – Experiences vs. Stuff
• #120 – Working Through the Messy Middle
• #119 – Stitching Myself Back Together
• #118 – Pros and Cons of Precuts
• #117 – Make Your Dream Achievements Come True
• #116 – How Much Time Will This Quilt Take?
• #115 – Ten Steps to Finishing Your UFOs