What, Me Quilting?

It's 6 am, and I'm ironing.
What is wrong with that sentence? EVERYTHING.

Let me back up. Why am I ironing? There's no point trying to hide it anymore. I was...I was...quilting. Oh, the shame of it! I have strategically avoided everything near quilting for years. It's my mother-in-law's chosen craft, for starters, and I don't want to step on any toes. (Don't I have enough crafts?) There's the problem of straight lines and me being the least perfect match since Sid and Nancy. And the not insignificant fact that I know nothing of quilting.
It all started with a blanket. (doesn't it always?) We had one of those machine knitted blankets on our bed, the kind you can purchase at any Target for 14.99. It's our summer blanket. However, this summer it had become a mess. Something to do with pugs jumping up on it, and jumping off of it, and their little curly crochet hook claws dragging huge holes in it.
It was time for a new summer blanket. Of course, a new knitted one was right out. So was microfleece. (Dan hates the texture.) Regular fleece was a possibility, but I work with fleece all the live long day. I longed for something different.
Enter the idea of the thin quilted blanket. Of course, I wasn't calling it a quilt then. I was still in denial. My thoughts were: I had fabric. I like to use what I've got. Why NOT make a giant quilt? (I'm four and a half months pregnant. This is as much thought as I've put into anything lately.)
Everything went really well for awhile. Hundreds of little squares were carefully cut, and then carefully stitched into long strips. I even used the seam guide things on the sewing machine! And there was ironing. Lots of ironing. I was doing everything right. As far as I knew, anyway.
Things started to go awry when those long strips needed to be attached together. Not a single one lined up with another. Despite the hours of careful, painstaking cutting and piecing, it appeared that every "perfect" square was a slightly different size. Sometimes a very different size. I still don't know how this happened. Clearly, there was to be no reconciliation between me and straight lines.
What could I do but continue? I hate unfinished projects, so I plowed on. Many hours later, the finished quilt top, while hardly perfect, was actually sort of charming. (I have a huge tolerance for imperfection.) But now what?

Stay tuned for part two...the finishing.

On learning to be brave

I am now, and have always been a chicken. Here's the thing about chickens, though: we either see them as scared little creatures or chest-puffed-out, strutting, crowing things. It's always one or the other. Well, I am here to tell you that being a chicken is actually both of these things.

I've been drawing, "seriously" drawing, since I was 12. Or writing. Or painting. Or silk dying. Whatever. I did all these things and more. I knew that I wanted to do something creative with my life, but I lacked the guts to actually share my work. I became an expert at getting just about proficient in one media, just to burn out, drop the ball, and jump to another. And then repeat. Repeat. Repeat. For years.

Right. So jump forward a ways. I'm 23ish. I need to find work. I'm not qualified for much except office work, which is so dull it makes me want to die. I answered an ad in the paper for "Design Consultant - No experience needed!". It turned out to be a commission only closet design job. The job was far away, and quite frankly terrifying. I knew I had to take it. I wanted to learn to be brave.

After a week long training course, they started sending me out on sales calls. It was scary. During this time period, the economy started to slow down. Sales calls were few and far between. The pressure to sell on these few precious calls was enormous. I threw my back into it. I read everything I could about sales. I had goals. Affirmations. Palm pilots. Loafers. Everything. I tried my hardest. It was semi-terrible.

I would come home from a sales call, flop on the couch, and cry. Oh! The stress! (I was selling about 3 out 5 calls, if anyone's counting. Not good enough!)
It was one of the most intense learning experiences of my life.

I did not become a sales virtuoso. In fact, I had a breakdown and went back to being a secretary. But somehow, little by little, I did learn to be braver. That was the start. I'm still learning. There's a lot of backsliding. There are also a lot of leaps forward.

A year-ish later, working at a horrible (yet not scary!) temp job, I discovered Etsy.
After the sales job, and during the temp job, I founded Absolutely Small.
Tomorrow, February 12th marks my third year anniversary of having an Etsy shop. Obviously, lot happened in between TEMP and CHICKENPANTS, but that's another long, photoless blog post.

Really Great Posts For Getting It & Keeping it Together

Okay. It's the second week of 2010 already. How are you doing?
Me? Oh, I'm okay. Thank you for asking. Actually, I find winter insanely difficult to deal with for many reasons. So I'm always on the look out for inspiring blog posts & books to give me a nudge. Here's a few that I think you might enjoy, too. (And please, post your own suggestions below! I love to read them!)

The Crafty Chica herself wrote a most inspiring blog post:
How to Keep Calm & Carry On
You've all seen the signs...but how exactly does one do that? Thanks Crafty Chica!

The Etsy forums have been bursting with super useful posts lately.
The questions in this one: Taking Inventory of 2009 I found particularly helpful. Even though it's *ahem* 2010 now. Still, those questions are great for a fresh start.


The Good to Know zine is completely amazing. Past issues have been devoted to topics such as "What goals have you set for your business? How do you measure success?" and "How do you manage your time? What's your secret to tackling the mountains of work that never seem to end?" It's chock full of tips and perspective by creative folks, for creative folks. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

And finally, Christine Kane's blog is full of inspiration and helpful articles on just about everything related to living a creative, conscious existence.

What are some of your favorite blogs and books? I'd love to hear about them.