Quilting. Every. Day.

It's the second day of the rest of my life. Yesterday was my first day of not being employed with McCall's Quilting in well over 12 years. I spent it feeling sad, and free, and optimistic, and lost, and grateful, and all kinds of things. Because it was also the first "real" business day for Hill Street Quilts, I also sent in a bid on an editing job, caught up with some correspondence about other possible gigs, and made my first decision about how I'm going to conduct my new work life.

So this is it - here at Hill Street Quilts, we sew every day. This is because of one of the main regrets I have about my time working for McCall's. Most quilt magazine editors are so busy writing and editing patterns, filming video, and doing a thousand other little things every day that the only time they get to actually make quilts is on the weekend. And we all know how little free time actually occurs in most weekends. I'm determined that will not happen at Hill Street Quilts. I have at least a short time of being able to control my own daily schedule, and it's going to include quilting. Every. Day.

So yesterday I pulled out a UFO that is close to my heart. It's a double-sided quilted yoga mat. I pieced and appliqued both sides years ago, but never followed through with the quilting. One side was designed for days when it's hard to "get on the mat", when I'm feeling low energy and need a boost. That side is all Kaffe Fassett fabrics. The other side is meant for days when I feel on edge and need to calm down. All the fabrics on that side are from an old collection by Bunny Hill Designs for Moda, in tones of taupe, very soothing. Each side also has a one-word applique, "breathe" on the side meant to energize me, and "namaste" on the calming side.

What had halted progress on this project and turned it into a UFO was not being sure about how to quilt it. I want a two-sided mat, not two one-sided mats with backings. And I've never tried to quilt something with two feature sides layered together before. But yesterday I just dove in and layered the two sides with some Warm and White cotton batting:



I designed the grid on these mats to make best use of fat quarter cuts of fabric. Each side takes 11 FQs and most fabrics occur in 2 or more spots in the grid. It was just an idea I was playing with at the time, but I still kind of like it. Maybe I'll turn this into one of my first Hill Street Quilts patterns!

Today I'll continue quilting this UFO in an overall swirly design. I've decided not to worry about running over the appliques - I'll just quilt all over. I can't wait to start using the finished mat!

If you have a moment, let me know what you're stitching today in the comments, and thanks for visiting!