Category: Karla’s Corner (Page 4 of 8)

Image of Karla's CornerStep into Karla’s Corner for a peek into her thoughts, her favorite shops, her adventures in fabric, quilt, and merchandise design and more!

This special corner is filled with all kinds of creative thoughts, ideas, family traditions, favorite things, magazine reviews and a whole lot more!

Family Traditions

See the Wild Goose Chase quilt under the Christmas tree and learn about the Geese-a-Layin’ family tradition.

Summer, Winter, and Beach Quilts

See Karla’s favorite quilts for all kinds of occasions, locations, and seasons.

Favorites

Karla’s Corner is where you’ll find her favorite shops, books, quilts, magazine reviews, and more. You’ll also get favorite tool reviews and

The World of Design in Karla’s Corner

Additionally, you’ll learn more about Karla’s adventure into fabric and merchandise designs. See the quilts she designs for Hoffman California Fabrics.

See the process from sketches to fabrics and sketches to quilts. Find fabric collections and different colorways in Karla’s Corner.

Moreover, get a peek into the fabrics designed especially for Karla’s quilt patterns and matching merchandise, too!

Sundry

See quilt show reviews, gifted quilts, guild challenges, quilt retreat memories, inspirational posts,  family memorials and more in the Sundry section.

 

Image of Homespun Quilt

Quilt Week Faves

May 3, 2019 /

Quilt shows are packed with fabulousness!

One artist, Mary W. Kerr, had a featured spot during quilt show week in Paducah, Kentucky. Her fantastic quilts, featured in her book, Twisted, hung in the Rotary for Quilt Week.

First, its difficult to know what quilts to share when it comes to quilt shows. There are just so many! Therefore, this time, I chose to focus on an artist. Mary W. Kerr’s collection was outstanding in concept and variety. Here are just a few that made me stop, take out my phone and grab a shot. Hope you like them, too!

Mary likes to use vintage fragments in her quilts.

She’s always been drawn to antiques and orphaned blocks. Mary also likes the colors, designs and quilting of the modern era of this craft. In her book, Twisted, the culmination of the two styles are on beautiful display.

Oje De Dios by Mary W. Kerr, quilted by Candace West

Oje De Dios by Mary W. Kerr, quilted by Candace West was featured with Mary’s whole series at the Rotary. She takes pieces of old quilts, blocks, or parts of quilts and incorporates them into new works with a modern flare. She gave each quilter freedom to do whatever they wanted for the quilting.

Below is Homespun, quilted by Donna Ferrill James. The wonky star was made from a worn quilt with lots of various designs in it. Mary was able to salvage parts by hand-piecing the star points. She used other workable parts as part of the backing.

Homespun by Mary W. Kerr, quilted by Donna Ferrill James

Similarly, Fan Flower, shown below, is a combination of individual vintage blocks made modern through quilting. Vicki Maloney quilted this piece. Mary purchased three fan blocks at an antiques shop and came up with the flower concept. Vicki worked her magic using those three blocks!

Fan Flower by Mary W. Kerr, quilted by Vicki Maloney

Additionally, I like how Mary combines the old with the new. Not only does she combine old blocks with new fabric, but also the color selections and techniques, too.

With this in mind, I recall having a book about how to combine hand and machine quilting. Seems like another interesting concept to explore!

See Mary W. Kerr’s work and get her book Twisted HERE.

Maybe I should take a look at it and see where it takes me. Quilt show aren’t just about prizes, ribbons, and vendors, are they?

Without a doubt, quilt shows are about inspiration, aspirations, goals, achievements, sparking ideas…and happiness.

Kate’s Bouquet by Karla Kiefner

Learn more about Kate’s Bouquet HERE.

Enjoy your quilting journey!

Image of Tucker Trimmer III and LEDGLE Book Light

Totally Cool Quilting Tools

March 18, 2019 /

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Table of contents

I learned about some totally cool quilting tools at quilt retreat – thanks to friends who like to share!

For the first year EVER, I had my retreat projects planned, cut, packed, and ready-to-go to retreat one whole month before we left. What I didn’t plan for were some unexpected opportunities to pop up! I had not brought two totally cool quilting tools that became highly necessary. The new opportunities took priority over all that great planning of mine! But, who cares!

I didn’t even get my projects out of their neat, organized cases!

Me, under duress

First, you can see the outcome of these opportunities in the following link:

One Block Quilts

Next, in spite of all my planning, I wasn’t prepared!

While shopping for fabric one day, Justin (Hancock’s of Paducah), who understood the concept of using both beautiful sides of fabric, suggested we collaborate on some quilts!

Image of Hancock's of Paducah sign

While I was super excited about this opportunity, I hadn’t brought the right rulers to do the tasks at hand. Back at the cabin and with only a few days to vet my ideas, this led me to ask (frantically), “Does anybody have a squaring ruler?”

The Tucker Trimmer ruler became my new best friend!

These new projects included lots of half-square triangles, quarter-square triangles, and flying geese. I quickly fell in love with this ruler! Thank you, friend, Nancy, for introducing me to this trusted sewing tool! Click HERE or on the picture below to see more of Deb Tucker’s tools.

Image of Ruler on Block
Notice I #usebothsides of the fabric in this block?

Here’s another view of the ruler.

Image of quilting tool

The second tool I find indispensable I borrowed from friend.

Retreat roomie, Peggy introduced me to the LEDGLE Rechargeable LED Book Light.

Image of Quilting Tool
LED Light

What makes it so great for me are the re-positionable arms which let you guide the light to any angle. It rests around your neck so it is hands-free and perfect for hand-stitching in a dimly lit room. It also works great for reading in bed or even walking back from the neighbors or feeding the dogs in the dark! You set the light to shine where you want it and it stays until you move it. And best of all, I’ve used mine every day for more than a week and I still haven’t charged it once! Click HERE for link to book light.

Image of Ohio Star Quilt Pattern
“Ohio Starburst”
Image of Variable Star Quilt
“VariLovable Star”

To conclude, these two totally cool quilting tools saved my retreat and collaborate on two new quilt patterns with Hancock’s of Paducah!

Image of Quilt Block

Take One: Cool Tools for Quilters

January 26, 2019 /

Do you love quilting tools, gadgets, and gizmos? Once a month I’ll be featuring a new (to me) cool tool.

Here’s a new ruler I ran across a few months ago on my travels. I finally pulled it out and decided to learn how to use it.

It is called the “Quick Curve Ruler” by Sew Kind of Wonderful (click HERE)

I practiced with some scrap fabric, marked my ruler as indicated in the pattern directions, and off I went! It was fun to watch the curved piecing literally “come together”.

There are numerous quilt patterns available which use this ruler. Here’s the one I used. Stunning quilt, isn’t it? I love it when my brain can’t quite find one simple design, but jumps around to the various secondary patterns in a quilt.

Here’s my first try at a mix a fabrics. As you can see, I have a few bumbles for my first block, but it was fun to make! I do suggest using a fine marker to mark your ruler for better accuracy.

I think this quilt is now on my bucket list! What’s on your bucket list? Do you have a favorite specialty ruler?

See my Cross-over Quilting Tools (click HERE) post to learn about using the Brother Scan N Cut for quilting.

Shop Creative Bee Studios #usebothsides quilt patterns and kits HERE!

Image of Wreath Quilt Closeup

Designing Quilts with Panels

January 15, 2019 /

To the tune of “On the Cover of the Rolling Stones”, I feel like singing! At the close of 2018, I happened onto my pattern, “Holly”, featured on the cover of a Hoffman California Fabrics’ catalog!

It began with an email asking if I (along with four or five other designers) would like to try our hand at designing with a new Christmas line of fabric. It’s my understanding that other designers use digital fabric swatches and their computers to design patterns. But since I use BOTH sides of the fabric, I need the real thing!

Click HERE to see the Winter Projects 2019 Catalog by Hoffman California Fabrics.

We had a week for the deadline – but since I needed the fabric shipped to me and then I needed to ship the finished quilt back to California, I had less than that to design and make the quilt!

Frankly, I was in a hurry! Add to the mix that it was Thanksgiving weekend, I was driving six hours on Saturday, attending our daughter’s show, driving four on Sunday, and staying in a hotel (with terribly inadequate lighting) until Tuesday AND, until I could see and audition BOTH sides of the fabric, I had no idea if my idea would work!

Working with both sides of fabric means lots of value-checking. You can’t tell from the front of fabric if the reverse will work. Some fabrics have great reverses and some just don’t. Click HERE for “The Tricky Traits of Value”.

The Christmas tree panel is gorgeous on its own – who would want to cut that apart? I certainly wouldn’t cut it to make another tree. I was also pretty certain that other designers would be designing borders around the whole panel, so mine had to be different.

I started to focus on the fat-quarter panel they sent. I had received a whole box of fabric to choose from and I knew if I wanted to use this panel, I couldn’t just use one fat-quarter of it or even half of them- I needed to use the whole panel. After auditioning many combinations, I decided I could use the panel – BOTH sides of the panel!

So…once again, it all comes down to fabric values. In classes, I have quilters audition many background fabrics and take lots of black and white pictures to see how their background fabrics “play” with their focus fabric. The smaller accents strips are allowed to be a bit “louder”, but the larger pieces need to provide interest as opposed to distraction. So take a look at this picture of the panel. Lots of dark fabric, right? Really pretty fabric…but more darks than lights.

Now look at a close-up of the quilt. Do you recognize those fabrics? …same fat quarters from the panel – just using the other side! Most of the accents strips are made from the front side. The bows, bells, stripes, plaid, and Christmas words make this an exciting background for the Holly wreath. One of the fat-quarters had two stockings printed on it. I used the one on the wreath and I embroidered the second stocking for the quilt label.

Image of Quilt Close Up
See the candy canes made from the reverse stripe?
Image of Back of Quilt
You can see the quilting, the extra stocking as a label, and the prairie point hanging method here.

The wreath is made using fused holly leaf shapes from the Christmas tree panel. Being a digital print, the fabric has a sparkle of light to it, making the wreath sparkle as well.

You might notice I didn’t have time to take great pictures – and apparently I borrowed my husband’s house shoes that day!

Even the pieced binding is made from the fat-quarter panel!

This is a fun quilt to make and so easy to shop for if you use the two panels! While I have no official timeline, my guess is that these fabrics will be in shops by summer!

If you have Christmas yardage in your stash – you can use it! I wrote this pattern to work with the panels as shown OR using your own choices of fabrics. The same method applies to both – it’s all about the value!

Here’s how Holly look inside the catalog!

I designed Phoebee 2.0 using BOTH sides of Hoffman California Fabrics “Electric Garden” as the focus fabric -it’s available in shops now!

Image of Electric Garden

Shop all my patterns at my Etsy Shop: Creative Bee Studios (Click HERE)

Don’t miss out – subscribe below! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and pin to your Pinterest boards, please!

Image of Bear Quilt

Winter Quilts

January 7, 2019 /

I love nothing better than seeing quilts in nature! You’ve seen “Summer Quilting” (click HERE) to see quilts both poolside and on the beach), so I thought it’d be only fair to share some winter-themed quilts and a few with nature.

First up is a McKenna Ryan quilt pattern. I purchased the kit from Missouri Star Quilt Company several years ago – the year of the bear in our yard (Click HERE to read “It’s a Bear Out There” and see the markings). This bear was supposed to have a red cap and scarf, but I changed it up by using the wool from a sweater which was in my late mother-in-law’s stash. It makes the quilt more special for me and I feel I can keep the quilt on display throughout the winter.

Next is quilt is called Winter Blessings and was kit I purchased from Shabby Fabrics. It was so fast and easy to put together – I highly recommend their kits if that’s what you like. Everything was labeled and organized beautifully. It was kinda like a paint-by-number, only a lot more fun and waaaaay better outcome!

Image of Winter Quilt

The next photo shows just a bit of a quilt (with a Buttercup bomb) that I made long ago in my second-ever quilt class. It was supposed to be bed-size and I actually thought I would finish it my first day in class! I only got it to the throw-size stage (and not during that class), but it’s a favorite!

Here is my latest version of JOY Quilt Pattern. I used a Hoffman panel for the tree (front side) and gifts (reverse side) on a scrappy, snowy background. See all my patterns in my Etsy Shop HERE.

Image of JOY Quilt Hanging
JOY Quilt Pattern

Snow makes a lovely background for quilt photography.

Image of Bed Runner in Snow
Image of Quilt on Swing
This is a Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt called Grand Illusion.
Image of Water Colours Quilt in the snow.
Water Colours

Hope you are enjoying some warm stitching time during these short winter days.

Image of Snowy Yard

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

December 13, 2018 /

Sleigh bells ring – are you listening?

In the lane, snow is glistening…

Want to experience some old style Christmas? There are a couple of ways here locally (Southeast Missouri) and in towns all across the nation – and if you can’t find one near you, grab a Christmas themed book – the one I’m sharing includes quilts, a Christmas Walk, and antiques in a quaint wine country town.

Celebrated author and creator of the popular Colebridge Community and East Perry County novel series,  Ann Hazelwood provides insight into a new community with her Wine Country Quilts series. I am currently reading Lily Girl’s Christmas Quilts (2nd book of the new series) and was fascinated to learn that the real town, Augusta, Missouri (upon which the series is based), is having a Christmas Walk (as depicted in the book), and the author, Ann Hazelwood, will be signing books at this Stone Ledge Antiques shop (I wonder if it looks like Lily’s) starting at 7 tomorrow night! Learn more about Ann’s books HERE. Take a stroll on the Candlelight Christmas Walk tomorrow night – find more information HERE. 

Image of LIly Girl's Christmas Quilt Book

A beautiful sight- we’re happy tonight.

Stone Ledge Antiques during the Candlelight Christmas Walk in Augusta, MO.

Another opportunity  for an old-style Christmas experience is to take the driving tour of country churches in rural Southeast Missouri counties of Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, and Perry. You are encouraged to tag your steeple-chasing buddies for this self-guided tour and travel the beautiful country-side to these decorated country churches where you’ll find music, warmth, treats, and the real meaning of Christmas. This tour begins today at 2 p.m. The tours run both today and tomorrow until 9 p.m. Learn more HERE.

I hope you’ll find joy and take a break from rush of the season by going walking in a winter wonderland.

  • Image of Blue Christmas Tree Quilt
    New JOY made from Hoffman Fabrics panel.
  • Image of Pattern
    Use both sides of poinsettia fabric!
  • Image of JOY Quilt
    JOY made using Hoffman Digital Spectrum fabric.

Need a last minute gift for the quilter in your life?Shop #usebothsides quilt patterns HERE.

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14.

Image of Box

Exploring Quilty Box

November 19, 2018 /

I’ve been intrigued by Quilty Box (click here) for some time now.

The combination of

a) them featuring Tula Pink and

b) me learning about the first-time discount was what it took for me to finally subscribe. I want to share my discovery with YOU!Image of Box

I remember as a teenager subscribing to a make-up club. It was so fun to get different products in the mail to try each month. I figured, what could be better than make-up? Fabric, patterns, notions, thread, and more, all mailed in a cute little teal and brown box and delivered to my mailbox!

Options: They state there is a Quilty Box for everyone – and there is!

Classic:  This is the original box which features a different artist each month, 2 yards of fabric, a spool of thread, pattern,  one or two notions or tools, and a mini-magazine. The price is $48.00 but if you prepay, you can get discounts on that monthly rate.

English Paper Piecing: In partnership with PaperPieces.com, this box includes a pack of 5 x 5″ fabrics, thread, templates and paper pieces for the pattern, and a mini magazine. This starting price is $34.99 with discounts applied for prepayment.

Mini: Inside this little package you’ll find a full-sized pack of 5 x 5″ fabric and a small spool of thread, the mini-magazine, three patterns, a mini-pattern, and an English paper-piecing pattern all for $23.99 (with discounts for prepayment).

First-time discount? Receive $10 off your first box!

So what are my thoughts about Quilty Box?

I loved it! It was so fun to get in the mail. I saved my box to open until I could give it my full attention! My box came with eight fat-quarters of Tula’s new line. This was especially fun because when we heard her speak this fall in Paducah, she explained how she designed that line of fabric. Also inside my box was Aurifil thread, a cute pattern for zippered pouches which I would actually love to make, zippers for the bags, and large piece of Soft and Stable for the bags. The Bundles of Inspiration magazine is high-quality and  I’m looking forward to reading it cover-to-cover. It features an article about Tula, several patterns, history and how-to’s for English paper piecing, and more!Image of Box Contents

Need a gift for a quilter friend? Send them a Quilty Box!

Shipping is free in the USA.

One thing you need to know about Quilty Box is that your order begins an automatic subscription. You can easily and promptly cancel your subscription with a simple email to hello@quiltybox.com . I did it and received an email confirmation of the cancellation immediately.

So why did I cancel my subscription? ONLY, ONLY, ONLY because I am already overwhelmed with projects, new patterns designs, my Etsy shop, and my teaching/program schedule! If I were wanting a fun way to treat myself, get inspiration, and learn about the latest in the industry, I’d definitely continue my subscription!

By the way, I hereby reserve the right to order Quilty Box again!

 In fact…maybe (on behalf of my readers), I should really order at least one of each TYPE of Quilty Box – so I can report back, of course. What do you think?

Here is my Tula Pink version of Aria (expressive music heard in opera – she’s a “singer”…) Quilt Patttern. See Vintage Machine Quilt Pattern for more information.Image of Pink Sewing Machine

Shop Aria and 22 more #usebothsides patterns  in my  Creative Bee Studios Etsy shop.

 

Image of The Second Sister Book

Quilt Author Meets Hallmark Christmas Movies

October 15, 2018 /

I just love it when two of my favorite things come together! Best-selling quilt author Marie Bostwick’s book, The Second Sister, is being filmed now as a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie! Image of The Second Sister Book

The movie is titled, “Christmas Everlasting” and premieres November 24th at 7 p.m. central.

While I enjoy a number of  quilt-themed (and not) books and series, I’ve often referred to Marie as “My Favorite Author” – mostly because her witty comments and clever nicknames for her family members are endearing and inspiring. (I’ve often thought we could be best friends if we were neighbors, but in reality, I’m one of many fans who exchanges about two minutes of conversation with her once a year (if I’m lucky) at book signings.)Image of Signed Book

Of course, I love her books, even those not completely engrossed in the quilting themes and I read each one more than once! I suspect Christmas Everlasting will be another staple during the holiday season!

Click here to read here about her “on set” experience!  Image of Patti LaBelle and Marie Bostwick

How cool is it that she made quilted gifts for the actors? See more pics and posts on Marie’s Facebook page! (Yes, that is Patti LaBelle!)

Image of Marie and Actors with QuiltImage of Marie Bostwick and Tatyana AliHere’s a list of some of my faves by Marie Bostwick:

Standalone Books:

The Second Sister

The Promise Girls

            Just in Time

Cobbled Court Quilt Series:

A Single Thread

A Thread of Truth

A Thread So Thin

Threading the Needle

Ties That Bind

Apart at the Seams

Too Much, Texas Series:

Between Heaven and Texas

From Here to Home

Marie has also written three historical novels and three novellas in Fern Michaels Christmas Anthologies.

Mark your calendars and hit “record”!

Subscribe below to get a weekly post delivered to your email. Stay tuned for more #usebothsides reveals!

Shop patterns HERE!

 

 

Image of quilt or blanket meme

You might not be a quilter if…

October 1, 2018 /

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Table of contents

Which is it, a quilt or a blanket?

Are you buying a quilt or a blanket? Troublemakers on social media sites seems to go through phases where they like to confuse the unaware buyer.

Buyer’s beware…

Oftentimes, companies will promote products that show in our Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest feeds based for things or subjects we like and follow. Sometimes social media learns these details when we simply talk in front of our phones. (I’ve had things show in my feeds that I’ve only THOUGHT about – how’d they do that?)

A popular trend for a while was what appeared to be beautiful appliqued quilts for sale. Not only were these “quilts” were priced was too low. Furthermore, they were way too pretty to be true.

You and I know the difference between a quilt or blanket!

While they are marketed as quilts, how does a non-quilter know if they are buying a quilt or a blanket?

First, the biggest clue for you or I is based on the fact that we KNOW the amount of work and time it takes to make one of these works of art. Mass production is highly unlikely. If fact, for many of us, an intricate quilt like one of these is a “one and done”!

Beware of themed quilts.

These people like to prey on unsuspecting parents or grandparents. For example, they might feature a quilt with a music theme. If one’s child or grandchild is into music, it’s an easy sell!

What was my next clue?  THEY CALLED THEM BLANKETS!

Furthermore, which is it, a quilt or a blanket? In the photo you see what appears to be intricately appliqued quilt. Their mistake: calling it a blanket!

You likely won’t get either!

The problem is they are fake companies stealing real quilters’ pictures and using them to cheat other people. It’s unfortunate. Quilters need always be aware that their photographs can be hijacked.

Image of quilt or blanket meme

Next clue: $59

You couldn’t buy the fabric for a quilt (or maybe a blanket, these days) for $59!

Last Clue: Selling MANY different quilts (or blankets)!

It’s amazing (and kinda sad) how many people respond excitedly to these posts by tagging their friends and loved ones. You can read the comments to see how many people are tagging others to show them this great buy. One such post which was being massively shared was for brilliant pieced, appliqued, and quilted musician-themed quilt of a cello – all for $59!

The personal story behind the quilt or blanket dilemma.

It’s been a “thing” in my family for years that when one of them asks me to pass them the blanket, I stand up and yell, “They’re quilts, not blankets!” (like Harry Potter, only with a pretend wand). Then, I add, “I am not a Blanketer!”

Karla

I’ve recently joined a pattern-maker group and, sure enough, they are suggesting you search these sites to see if these companies have stolen your pictures. (I have no idea what you do if that happens.)

What to do about the sites?

I try to report the company, when allowed by Facebook. I also comment on the post that the company is a fraud. The only other thing I know to do is to tell as many people as I know not to fall for something that looks too good to be true.

By the way, even if you ask for a blanket in my house, your’e going to get a quilt!

SHOP more than 50 patterns that use BOTH beautiful sides of fabric!

Image of Quilt made with Pioneer Woman fabric
Felicity Quilt Pattern

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Image of Bitmoji

Stitch One, Curl One.

September 24, 2018 /

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Table of contents

Here are some fitness ideas for quilters who want to combat sore shoulders and other complaints commonly caused by repetitive movement.

First, we likely all agree that we are often driven by goals…goals to get our projects FINISHED, that is! Let’s explore some ideas for how to continue to work through our aches and pains with these fitness ideas for quilters.

Quilting MuscleImage of Machine Stitching on Binding

Initially, as a new quilter, I got real excited about setting up my sewing work space. I didn’t trust my instincts. However, I had already mastered the art of buying quilting books, so I bought the latest title on the topic.

I devoured that book, studying every picture and reading every word. I set up my sewing space just like the author suggested.  I really liked how productive I could be  in my little sewing station, everything within reach…until I started to hurt.

Consequently, I began looking for fitness ideas for quilters, because I had found that the more I stitched, the less I like it. I had to take breaks.

I’m not saying there was anything wrong with the suggestions for optimum quilting output. They just didn’t work for me…or my back.

Image of goals for fitness ideas

Mostly, I tend to keep lots of tension in my shoulders and upper back.  Improper chair height, table height, poor posture (very me) are all contributing factors for tension in the upper back area. But I had noticed some changes in the lower half of my body, too. Maybe it was just the aging process–or was I just sitting on my backside too much? 

The first of the fitness ideas involves your iron. Move it!

Granted, I may lose a few minutes of stitching time walking to and from my ironing board, but that’s okay because that little walk gives me a chance to reach up, stretch backwards, and roll my shoulders. Sometimes that’s all it takes to keep me from stiffening up over a day of stitching.

Think of extra movement as a chance to stretch, instead of wasted time.

Therefore, I no longer have everything within reach. It’s a different mind-set, really. Now I try to think of the extra movement as an opportunity to rev-up.

Secondly, consider fitness ideas like “creative movement”.

Whether you are getting up to press seams, cut fabric, or grab lunch, try to throw in some steps you don’t normally do. How about a side-to-side step? Or step-touch (like walking down the aisle for a wedding). Sometimes when I am loading a quilt on my long-arm, I move from one end to the other by doing small plies or squats. Now I’m not talking about deep, hurt-your-knees- or-lose-your-balance kind of movements, but small movements that wake your body up and warm up some cold muscles.

Find fitness ideas that YOU enjoy.

If you like creative movement, take a look at this set of dvd’s: Body Groove. Admittedly, I only do this video when no one else is home, but it’s quite fun! I can’t say it’s a hard work out, but it’s so enjoyable and freeing that I look forward to that time every day! These are simple movements to music (not aerobics) that you do at your own ability level.

Next, turn on a tracker.

As much as I talk back to my fitness tracker some days when it fusses at me to move, it really helps me to realize how sedentary my life can be.  Your phone may work to track your steps, also. The down side to tracking steps is when you forget to take your tracker off it’s charger and feel like you’ve wasted all of those steps you took (crazy)!

Stitch One, Curl One…or something like that.

I keep a small free weight (a full water bottle works, too) near me so that when I take a break I can do a few bicep curls, shoulder presses, or tricep curls just to keep the blood moving and my muscles awake.  I feel like my brain works better, too, when I am more aware of my whole body while I’m stitching.

Image of Creative Bee with Fitness Ideas
Please keep in mind that I am a quilter, not a doctor or trainer. Please don’t hurt yourself. Seek medical advise before starting any exercise program.

Discover how to use BOTH beautiful sides of fabric.

SHOP more than 50 quilt patterns that use BOTH beautiful sides of fabric!

Enjoy YOUR quilting journey.

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