Quilt Blogs

When I began blogging 6 years ago, my main topic was of course my first child, Keira.  I wanted to share photos with my family back in Hawaii (parents, siblings) and include commentary.  My family didn't really catch on to the blog thing and I was still working then, so had little time to blog.  I hadn't begun sewing yet.  When I started sewing a few months later I came across some sewing blogs and fabric designers which have now become become gurus of the sewing and quilting worlds.  Sites that got and still get me inspired:  Heather Bailey, Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, Sew Mama Sew, Sew Liberated, and countless others sewists' blogs.  These sites made me want to show my creations to the world and maybe make some connections with other sewists who were trying to sew the same things or just had a nice thing to say about my creations.

Initially, my sewing consisted mostly of using quilting fabric to make baby stuff like nursing covers, mei tai baby carriers, and baby clothing.  Check out my Flickr 2008 photos of my creations here.

My fabric stash in 2008

My sewing slowly evolved into sewing clothing for myself using patterns, refashioning, and tracing clothes I already had to reproduce them.  I never really got into quilting until I made my first quilt 2 years ago.  Since then I've had another baby and have been busier (more tired) and less likely to pull a late night to finish a project.  However, nowadays I find myself more drawn to quilting than before.  Quilting has become a breath a fresh air into my sewing life for a few reasons:

• I sew less for my children now that they are less 'baby' and more 'kids.' 
• The clothing I've made fore myself, both using a pattern and not, have been more or less disappointing in the end and they end up in the back of my closet.  (Let's face it, shedding a few pounds would alleviate that problem!) 
• I have a 6+ year old fabric stash that I've been more apt to pull from and whittle down than to add to, and a quilt is, well, the best use for quilting fabric, ain't it?

With that said, let me get to why I've even chosen this topic to write about.  Since moving a couple of months ago, I've been more drawn towards sewing and even my blog.  Our master bedroom is large enough that I've fit a 5' long table at the end of our bed and set up shop there for all my projects.  No longer is the family forced to eat on the couch because my fabric and sewing machine are dominating the kitchen table.  Also, it's freezing here, like, in the negative degrees more than in the positives for a month now, and we are more homebound than ever, which, owing to Netflix, sewing, and preschool lessons by Mum, we are able to put up with for another couple of months till Spring. 

Swimming out to the minivan in a foot of snow a couple weeks ago

So, to get my blog more exposure, I've added it to a couple of lists of quilting blogs:


Quilter Blogs is a site where you can read other quilt blogs' posts all on one feed.  Like Google Reader and other readers, it's updated as blogs on the quilter blogs list post them.  Pretty nifty!


Quilting Bloggers is another site that helps you promote your blog on a list, as well as links you to quilting resources for quilting shops, organized swaps, and classes.

I'm also trying to get more involved in Sew Mama Sew scene.  I've participated in their giveaways before, but that's about it.  Their site has helped put me in touch with other sewists and provided many a tutorial when I was in a crunch. 

Also, if anyone is on Instagram, please come follow me @nanceykl (my personal feed) or @nanshoo (my wannabe professional photographer feed).  Check out my link in my sidebar.  Aloha `oe for now.