A Quilting Weekend

This weekend was a completely different type of weekend for me.  Instead of working with the goats and making soap, I took some time for myself and had a quilting weekend with the girls.

In my “spare” time (all 5 minutes a week),  I love to quilt.  I am not a particularly skillful quilter.  I use patterns a lot, adding my own touches.  I  tend to use lots of scraps and rarely ever use a complete line of quilting fabric.  I sew in fits and spurts when I can find the time, and I love it.  I love the feel of the fabric in my hands, I love the way fabric colors play and dance on a quilt, I love the way the cut up bits of fabric come together to form intricate designs, and most importantly, I love the way it feels to cuddle up at the end of the day under a blanket that I have stitched with my hands and formed into a functional piece of household art.

So this weekend, I went to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival.  I enjoyed some time away from the house and the animals and drove to Hampton, Virginia, with 2 friends Mary Beth and Sharon, to stay in the home of Mary Beth’s sister, Teresa.  We spent a good solid day admiring the beautiful quilts of talented quilters, shopped in the shops at the venue, and generally had a wonderful time enjoying the sights and watching the people.

We also ate lots of steamed, spiced shrimp and sewed, sewed, sewed.  I had a quilt top all pieced together about 6 months ago, and this weekend, I had a chance to quilt the quilt sandwich together.  I love this phase of the process as I bring to culmination the hours of quilt construction. The only thing left to do before I use it or give it away for use is to put on the binding, the covering at the edge of the quilt.  And quilting is what I did for most of the day on Saturday.

Now my appetite is whetted for more sewing.  I would love to know how I will find the time to sew for the hours and hours that I would like to dedicate to that hobby.  I really simply do not know how I will find the time to take care of the animals or milk the goats or make chicken coop adjustments because I have too much sewing to do.

I do not have time to dedicate to the goat kids that will arrive in two week or the fences that need mending.  I do not have time to make or wrap soap or arrange baskets for the market, or turn shaving brush handles….. I have too much quilting to do.

Oh, who am I kidding?  Next week when the sweet faces of the goats look up at me and the kids are arriving and the sweet smell of lavender soap calls to me from the drying rack, all will come into balance again. But for now, I’m enamored with quilts.