I don’t know about you but I spend more time searching for things in my studio than actually quilting. It can be so annoying when alls you want to do is sew or quilt. I have avoided sewing and quilting because my studio is such a disaster.
Here take a look and you will see what I am talking about.
See… Can you relate? I am determined to clean up and organize the room so I WANT to go into it and work. So, I started on my thread! This is how I use to store my thread.
Needless to say it really didn’t work and since my room is small… the floor space is very valuable so I utilized the door.
not done yet… but it is a great start. I got this at the Container Store.
These baskets fit Aurifil thread spools perfectly! They have other sizes so you can measure your spools or cones and get the ones that work for you. I have no affiliation with Container store.. just a happy customer.
It is Friday and I have to go back to reality today. I have been in Florida for the week with Jeff. He had a conference and I decided to tag along. I thrive on the sunshine and do not want to go back to the cold in Pa. Spring and summer can’t come soon enough for me. How about you? Do you like the cold or warm weather better?
While here I did two fabulous webinars, a mini trunk show and a heirloom feather tutorial. They were so much fun! Stay tuned as I have something up my sleeve for next week. This is all a lead up to my Design Academy which enrollment will be closing soon. Make sure to get on my email list so you don’t miss out at lisahcalle.com
ok… off to enjoy the last of the sunshine. Have a great day.
This past week was a little crazy with returning from vacation and jumping back into the 3rd launch of Quilter’s Groove® Heirloom Academy. I wanted to make sure I let you all know how thankful and lucky I am to have such a wonderful support group. All the responses to my blog post from last week and the personal messages are all so appreciated. Being vulnerable is not easy for me so sharing my journey with IBS was tough and you all made it all worth it.
Many of you have asked how I am doing after the divorce and I wanted to thank you. It has been 3 years and for the past 2, I have been dating a wonderful, kind and loving man, Jeff. I feel truly blessed to have found him and his 3 fabulous daughters.
I am getting ready to head back to Florida for the week with Jeff. He has a conference in Tampa and I decided to tag along since this week is mostly computer work for me. I am looking forward to getting back into the sun and warm weather. I have 2 free webinars this week and wanted to make sure that you all knew about them. It is a free mini trunk show and heirloom feather tutorial. Click here for all the information on how to register. I have done this in the past and it is always a huge success. To be transparent, there will be a short segment at the end of the presentation to talk about how you can work with me in the future through the Academy. Hope to see you at the webinar… if you can’t make those times… you can still register and you will get a replay link if you missed it.
Hard to believe it is the end of February already! It’s been a while since I blogged and there really isn’t a good reason except like everyone else, I’m super busy. I am in the middle of launching my Quilter’s Groove® Heirloom Academy, closing the enrollment period for my membership TRIBE, creating content daily for new classes and the membership.
I did just get back from my first ever 2 week vacation as an adult… and oh my… it was fabulous… highly recommend it. I was however very ready to get back to work… just not the cold weather in Pa.
I don’t get personal too often but thought I would today. For the past 10+ years, I have been suffering with IBS. For those that don’t know what this is… it is Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It gets really bad when I am under a lot of stress. Go back 3 years… divorce and a move and then Covid was the cherry on top…. all of that kicked it into high gear. The uncertainty of when I would be able to travel for work again was very difficult. While the thought of traveling and teaching with an IBS flareup was terrifying.
Why did I chose to talk about this now? I realize that there are so many people suffering with this and if you are … you are not alone. I might appear to have my shit together all the time, but just remember we only show people what we want them to see. Appearances can be very deceiving.
Here are 5 women that probably don’t know it.. but they help me stay strong when I don’t feel well and I can’t thank them enough. We all made the trip to Florida together but separate. Love these ladies.
Social media isn’t all bad. While in Naples, I posted a pic on Instagram and my best friend from 7-8 grade was like no way… I’m in Naples… so Jeff and I got together with Karen and her husband. I hadn’t seen her since 9th grade (not doing the math as to how long that is… but its long). We picked up right where we left off. It really made my trip that much better.
We also got to celebrate my love’s birthday while we were there. Remember the picture of the ladies above… well the SO’s were there as well… we were calling ourselves Spring Ford South… as we all belong to SpringFord Country Club in Pa. My brother and sister in law made the trip over from the east coast to join us. What an amazing night.
This past summer (2021) my family lost 2 very special people… my dad’s brother and his sister… within months of each other. Our whole family gathered and it was fantastic to see everyone. My cousin Jen and her fiancé live in Bonita Springs, so when George (my brother) came over, we made a point of getting together with Jen and Steve. Friends and family are everything and I cherish each and everyone of them!
I would love it if you left a comment, just let me know if you enjoyed learning a little more about me personally or if IBS affects you as well. I promise I will get back to quilty stuff soon.
When I first started machine quilting back in 2004, I looked all over for a mathematical way to figure out borders. Something that would work all the time on every border. Unfortunately, I could not find one. I thought I would share with you how I figure out an undulating spine that goes around the entire quilt. I have found that it is best to mark these before you load the machine on the frame.
You can use this spine for ferns, flowers, feathers… really any thing or maybe just to divide up your border or space to do different fills on either side. I’d love to know how you measure and mark your borders. Leave it in the comments below!
We will get straight to the good stuff. I had so much fun putting together a MetroRing quilt as a gift. Of course that quilt is still unquilted but I had some left over blocks and made this little sample for a class I will be teaching in March at the BERNINA creative center! It is a 2 day class… called Full on Feathers and Fill Folly. Can’t wait as this will be the first time I travel to teach again.
Now what you may or may not know… I have taken up the hobby of cooking. Is that even a hobby? I mean it is a necessity so I hesitate to call it a hobby. But any whooo… I have been enjoying it immensely. Last weekend, I tried my hand at cooking Red wine braised short ribs with mashed potatoes.. omg… they were delicious.
My other new thing… homemade pasta! This is so much fun and tastes amazing. Here are some pics from that adventure.
Once you load your quilt, you may think that’s all that is needed to keep your quilt top square, however that may not be the case. When you quilt and depending on how heavy you quilt…. the top can pull in on the sides… this is why we have those side clamps!
My fabulous student, Janis, gave me and the other members of Quilter’s Groove® Tribe her secret and I thought I would pass it along to you.
This is a piece of bungee cord that I got on Amazon. My frame is 12′ so I bought the 25 yards. The little pink things, these are cord locks. I line these up with the seams in the quilt as well as the outer edges so that every time I advance the quilt, I can make adjustments if my quilt has shifted.
At first I tried to just tie the cord to the end of my machine but when I advanced the quilt it would drag. So off to Lowes to try and figure out what to do. I have a BERNINA Q20 on a frame and this is how I attached it.
Bought two of these, they were around $2 a piece.
I pulled back the black piece on the end of my machine and slipped the nut through while it was attached to the bolt. I then tightened it all up. Once I found what I needed, it was a very simple process.
Let me know in the comments how you keep your quilts square!!
I missed my FB live last week as I was on a much needed vacation to South Carolina! For the most part, I completely unplugged from work is a first in a while. It felt great to sit in the sun, play some golf and get to know my significant others family! Took a beautiful walk along the inter-coastal waterway.
Back at work this week…. who doesn’t love feathers??? I know, it isn’t me but there are some who don’t. I have had many requests for another video on how to do the Jelly Feather Fill, I did not want to disappoint! So here ya go!! Enjoy!
I’ve been in this business for a long time… I started piecing in 1997 and started longarming in 2004 as a business. It quickly became a love… I couldn’t wait to get my piece on the longarm so I never really stretched my piecing skills. Now my longarming skills… that’s a different story. It didn’t take me long to start teaching…. 2006 and I love every minute that I spend with my students. With that being said… I do suffer from Imposter Syndrome at times. More so when I first started teaching but there are still times when I’m waiting for people to realize that I am not as good as they think I am.
When we first start on this journey most of us have no idea what we are doing and you know what??? That’s normal! If you think I knew what I was doing, you be crazy! I had no clue and learned by trial and error. What I learned is that if you aren’t failing …. you aren’t growing, see we learn more from our failures than our successes. There are still days where I am waiting for people to say… hmmmm, she isn’t as good as I thought she was. The difference between now and then… I’m ok with that. I know I love what I do and I love sharing it with as many people as I can.
Fast forward to today…. as I sit here and type out this blog. My business sure has changed a lot since I started it back in 2004 and when the pandemic hit… boom… my business model was sunk. Since I traveled to teach… it came to a screeching halt. (now the timing couldn’t have been worse since I had just gotten a divorce and needed to support myself) Over the past year and a half there have been many ups and downs in my business, when the downs hit.. I wonder maybe this is “someone” telling me I should be doing something else. But then I would hit a high… and think… I’ve got this.
Imposter syndrome hit and it hit hard. I needed to figure out how to survive with trying to teach online. I am not a techie person so the amount that I learned this year while putting together Quilter’s Groove® Heirloom Academy and Quilter’s Groove® Tribe was astounding. Hard, yes but oh so worth it but I had to keep telling myself.. you can do this, you got this. Not always the easiest thing to keep that mantra in your head.
Why am I telling you all of this? Well, there have been many new quilters that have reached out with doubts… they have had their machines for a while and they use it as a coat hanger or some such thing. I want you all to know that whether you are new at this or experienced… we almost all go through the same emotions of “what am I doing”. I can’t do this… I don’t know what I was thinking. I am here to tell you… you can do this! If I can do this… you can too. Remember we all start in the same spot and the key here is to not compare yourself to anyone!
Your journey is unique to you. Embrace the ups and downs, figure out what you can learn when something didn’t turn out the way you thought it would! Most of all….. ENJOY yourself, be kind to yourself… the things we say to ourselves in our head matter!
So as Mel Robbins says…. look in that mirror and give yourself a high five today! YOU GOT THIS!
I would love to hear from all of you…. have you ever felt like an imposter? What do you do to motivate yourself when this happens? Leave it in the comments so I don’t feel like the only imposter out here. 💕
Lisa H Calle's Blog 