"What would I do in my life without quilting?"

My friend Lee, a fellow guild member, recently asked me this question in an exchange of emails.  I wanted to comment on it, and I asked if she would allow me to use her story in my post. She was explaining why she couldn't attend our inaugural retreat; she was in New Mexico with two other quilting friends from IL and MI!:

"We sat in the courtyard and sewed all afternoon in the sun--that's where I finished most of the baby quilt I just showed at the guild. Then we would go out to dinner and after dark we sat around the dining room table and did our best with the feeble overhead light.  One advantage of hand-sewing--we didn't have to drag machines out west!

What would I do with my life without quilting?"

That statement sat with me. What WOULD I do in my life without quilting? Read more? Write more? Watch more TV? Exercise more? Do more dishes (lol)?... Throughout middle and high school, I looked for my crafty outlet. I was addicted to scrapbooking for a while - something my mom and I did together all the time. But then it became somewhat cumbersome (Example A: I have two whole scrapbooks that are sitting waiting to be started - all the pictures are even ready!). Now, sewing, fabric collecting, blogging, and quilting are EVERYTHING to me.

Every week day, this is how my day goes:
6:30am - get up and get ready for work
7:15 - eat breakfast and drink coffee at the computer, where I catch up on quilting blogs
7:40am - about 5pm - teach, plan, grade, and in between, think about latest quilt
While driving anywhere - think about  FMQing (something about driving a car reminds me of driving a sewing machine)
5pm-12am - take at least a half hour to sew. Rest of time: go to gym, make dinner with husband, grade, plan, and reading more blogs/type blog posts

Weekends:
Whenever I don't have much planned, besides the inevitable schoolwork, I sew. And it is FABULOUS.

(Check out my brand new design wall as of yesterday more soon!)

I've made so many friends just in the past three years through quilting. Of course, many of them are YOU, who I have swapped with, and chatted with online just because we love it all :) At first, I was SOnervous about going to the interest meeting for the Central Jersey Modern Quilt Guild in December 2011, because I didn't think there would be anyone near my age there. I was a senior in college at the time. That was naive because I learned that age doesn't matter when it comes to an art form. Now, I'm the webmaster and VP, and it is so fun to see my friends every month, in person, to talk about quilting and sew with!

I've made all kinds of things for my friends, family, and apartment. I've even shared my quilts with local first graders. I've sold t-shirt quilts and lanyards to people all over the country, and this blog has been a vehicle for my creative outlet.

It makes me happy beyond belief to know that I'll have quilting for the rest of my life. That is, until my new Janome takes its last breath. I'll probably cry a river. Then, I'll have to go buy another machine... but that day is very far away indeed. ;) Either way... I finally feel at home with my creative outlet.

I just wanted to share my thoughts about this. Thanks, Lee, for sharing your thoughts. What would YOU do in your life without quilting?

Linking up to: Let's Get Acquainted