Dirt Trails

Today was a beautiful day, the perfect day to take Katelyn, my mini me, out for her first mountain bike ride.  She's been wanting to go, I've been wanting someone to ride with.  Perfect!

Katelyn (L), Me (R)

Me and Mini Me

I prepared my bike and pumped the tires, loaded all the gear in the car, and picked up a borrowed bike from my brother (thank goodness he never had that growth spurt mom promised him because his bike was perfect for Katelyn).

I gave her a few instructions, like "don't freak out and crank down that left brake (the front break) or you'll fly over your handle bars."  Little tid bits like that.  And we took off for our ride.  Truly it was a gorgeous day, a day to be outdoors, out in nature, out on a bike.

Lake Hodges

One of the things I love so much about Katelyn is her exuberance.  I wrote a whole blog post about her on my life coaching site if you want to get a feel about her personality.  But, she gets a kick out of life.  Little things excite her and it doesn't take much to make her scream (in fear or thrill).  There was a lot of that today.

For a bit of time we found ourselves in a fairly technical area.  I should mention that, although I've been road riding, I'm fairly new on the mountain bike and I'm inherently a huge chicken, so we spent an equal amount of time off the bike walking around the rocks and up and down scary hills as on the bike riding.  

At one point Katelyn decided to just go for it.  As she whizzed past, I yelled to her to put her body weight forward, gear down, and just pedal.  And she did it.  She made it up the hill, navigating around all the rocks.  I couldn't see her at the top, but I could hear her, "Wooohooo, I did it," laughing and so proud of herself.

Katelyn, always full of life

What does any of this have to do with quilting?  Oddly enough, there is a connection.

As I was riding up a hill gasping for air, yet making it to the top nonetheless, I was reflecting on how I've been feeling about quilting since returning to it after many years off.  It's a whole new ballgame out in quilt land now.  I'm in awe by what I see.  The talent is phenomenal.  I'm also intimidated by what I see.  I sometimes wonder if I'll ever measure up.  Will I ever be as good as….<fill in the blank>.  It's a weird mix with quilting just like on the bike today…my legs were burning, my heart was pounding, I was sweating, and yet the scenery was absolutely beautiful, I was feeling so blessed by the fact that my body works well enough to ride, I was in full appreciation of the moment.  None of this was about anyone else.  It was simply about what I was doing in that moment, what *I* was accomplishing.

Cruisin' and comtemplating

Isn't it the very same way with quilting?  It's about enjoying the process, doing things the way that work best for you, about creating, and pushing yourself to try new and different patterns and techniques and colors.

I know it's a weird analogy, but I think like this when I'm out riding.

Seam Ripper AND Magnifying glass

Whether on my bike or at my machine, it doesn't matter if I'm as good as, or as fast as, or as famous as.  It really doesn't.  What matters is that I'm plugging along at my own pace, pushing outside my comfort zone bits at a time, learning and teaching and creating a track that works the best for me.  I'll hit some rocky spots, but if I breath, relax, and don't over think things, I'll come through the other end exhilarated, proud, feeling successful.  If not, there's always a seam ripper.


Although I'm not new to quilting, I am new getting back into it and back into business.  I'm finding where I fit in, what my niche is, what direction I ultimately want to go in my business.  But here's something that has not changed…I'm still who I am.  I quilt because I care.  I quilt because I love.  I quilt because I want to make a difference.  I quilt because I'm passionate.  I quilt because I love where my mind goes when I'm creating.  I quilt because I am meant to.

Being out on the dirt paths today
reminded me, just like with machine quilting, I need to relax my hands and arms, I need to breath, and I need to trust the process.

Newest Large Lap Quilt for sale

When I complete a quilt, whether as a gift, as a commission, or up for sale on my Etsy site, I want to always remember to look back fondly at the process and give a big yelp, "Woohoo…I did it!"


Until next time...

Green With Envy

I bet you were expecting to see some fantastically wonderful green quilt I'm working, huh?!  Nope…the only thing green around here is ME.  Totally envious of all the people who went to Houston Quilt Market over the weekend and the accompanying show Quilt festival this week.

I contemplated going when I first starting putting together a business plan for Gotcha Covered Quilting.  Then I used some maturity and wisdom (these are 2 newly acquired attributes, I might add).  Did I really need to go to quilt market to see every last wonderful gadget, pattern and newly announced fabric line just as I'm getting started in business?  Is that really a wise choice for someone who might possibly be a little impulsive and impatient?

No!  And so I opted to stay home this year.  I know it was the right decision.

 But I've been feeling a bit like this…

Totally feeling left out of all the fun and excitement.  The girl who wasn't invited to the party with all the cool kids.  Waaaah!!!

I could have hung with all the really popular bloggers and phenomenal quilters who I stalk regularly.


That could have been me in the picture with Tula Pink. >>>>
It could have, I just know it.  I'm certain we would have become immediate friends because I'm cool that way and she's cool that way (or so I've heard).

Oh gosh, and Kate Spain could have gushed about my Ka-Bloom quilt and I could have gushed about…well, about everything she has ever created.  We would be besties by now.

And after browsing all the machine quilting done by Angela Walters (Quilting Is My Therapy) and Natalia Bonner (Piece N Quilt), they would have offered up tons of advice and introduced me to some of the big wigs in the quilting industry as their new protegee.

*Big Sigh*

It really is best that I wasn't there with my hands fondling fabrics and threads because I'm certain my credit card would be maxed out and I'd have to jump start the other part of my business that I'm not quite ready to jump start.  I really am using my new found maturity to slow myself down (I think my mom just shed a tear of joy)

Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and Instagram have been on Quilt Market overload just like my poor envious brain.

Here's a little taste (a very small taste) of what's caught my eye so far.

Fox Field by Tula Pink

Marcelle Medallion from Liberty Love

Garden Party Tango from Iza Pearl Designs and Windham Fabrics

Aardvark Quilts.  That quilt to the left
is the same quilt that I just made for KK

A little more Tula Pink

Dear Stella

If you want to get a glimpse of what we all missed, here are a few of the sites I follow on Facebook who have put together a nice array of photos.

The Fat Quarter Shop (She's my local favorite quilt shop…the nicest people you've ever met work there)

The Intrepid Thread

Pearl The Squirrel

Sarahs Fabric

Jay Bird Quilts

Piece N Quilt

Happy Monday to you all!

Until next time...

PS.  I hope I linked everything up properly, giving credit to those whose pictures I've borrowed for today's blog.  If I missed something, please let me know and I'll fix it promptly.

Welcome to Gotcha Covered Quilting!

Woot Woot!!!  My blog is officially up and running.

Welcome everyone and thank you for keeping me company here.

So what will you find with my blog?  A lot of quilting…ideas, projects, tutorials and inspiration with a spattering of life spread around.  After all, quilting doesn't occur in a vacuum in the real world so it won't here either.

For some of you who know me personally, this jump into quilting may seem a bit dramatic.  It isn't a leap though.  I started quilting back in 1998 when I moved from Santa Barbara to the San Francisco area.  After spending most of my life crocheting, needlepointing, and cross stitching, I had always been intrigued by quilting.  The move was the perfect opportunity to give it a try as I wasn't established in the community (ie: I had no friends and thus lots of free time).  Within my first week in this new town, I joined the Pacifica Quilters guild, and although I was the youngest in the group by about 25 years, the Pacifica Quilters took me under their wing and encouraged me on.  There's nothing like a group of older women oohing and ahhing over everything you make to feed the fabric and quilting addiction.  A passion was born.

After hand quilting my first few quilts, I really needed to speed up the quilting process in order to keep up with the pace I was making quilt tops, so I taught myself to machine quilt.  I quickly fell in love with the process and shortly after started a small machine quilting business.  I absolutely LOVE quilting for others, creating the finishing touches for the beautiful quilts they have put so much time and energy into creating.

And then came a back injury.  If you have ever hurt your back, you are very much aware that it will stop you in your tracks.  Oh yes, everything came to a screeching halt, including my quilting.  And then life took a few twists and turns and before I knew it, six years had passed.

A Few Of My Favorite People

Katelyn (aka "KK") age 22 and graduate from Chico State

Brody, age 18 and in college

Ally age 13 (with her friend's dog, Skylar)

Super Mark, my wonderful boyfriend of 3 years.

So here I am, many years later, finding myself immersed into the world of quilting once again.  Although much in life has changed, my passion for quilting hasn't, in fact, it's back with a vengeance.  Apparently my addiction to fabric hasn't slowed down one bit either.  My love for machine quilting is just as strong as ever.  What has changed though is the outside world of quilting.  Boy oh boy has that changed.  There was no social media when I stopped quilting.  The most fabulous and daring fabrics were batiks.  The concept of modern quilting was really "out there."  And now?  The sharing of ideas is only a click away.  Shopping for fabric (much to my dismay when my credit card bill arrives) is also as easy as a click away.  Written tutorials, video classes, quilt photos, endless ideas, online swaps and quilt alongs, sharing, encouraging, celebrating, helping, giveaways and blog shares…all only clicks away.  I'd be lying if I didn't say it can be a bit overwhelming.  So much quilting, so many quilting friends, beautiful quilt fabrics, new fabric lines coming out almost daily...Seriously, this new world of quilting is amazing and I am beyond thrilled to have jumped back in.

I'm so happy that you've decided to join me here.  I hope to make this a culture of community, sharing, and quilting fun, so please join in freely.

(Coming up next week…a look at a brand new pattern and what I've done with Kate Spain's Sunnyside).

Until next time...