Challenges come with many faces – it could be not biting someone’s head off on Facebook for skewed political statements, song lyrics, etc.  I enjoy challenges – like doing the crossword puzzle with a pen, baking a new and somewhat complicated dessert or even trying to come up with a budget that works.

In one of the AQS brochures, there was a picture of two quilts looked like it was more than straight seams.  The quilts were designed by the Guilty Quilter in Portland Oregon.  And it had my favorite saying on it “No Y seams”.  For non-quilters think of putting another fabric in a 45 or 60 degree angle.  You stitch to 1/4″ from the edge, stop, pull the fabric out and start 1/4″ on the other side.  If not done correctly, you can get a pucker or a wavey mess.

The first one I did was Labyrinth.  It is a wonderful 3-D effect,  One thing I found challenging on this was you need to cut two angles – top right and bottom left.  I should have quilted it first and then cut the corners off.  The challenge was getting it  placed on the long arm correctly.  The first try at it was so off, I had to rip out 4 rows of stitching and start over.

The next challenge from the same designer came out like this.    Once you break down the pattern, relax a little, you realize “I CAN DO THIS!”  So my goal was to get this top complete prior to my week up in Oregon.  To quote Rebel Wilson’s character in Perfect Pitch “Crushed it”.

If it seems like you can’t possibly do it, remember to break it down into small bites.  It can be done!  It may take awhile.  The blue quilt fabric was purchased in 2014 and it sat in my sewing room for over a year because the I froze reading the pattern.  Not the right time for this one.  Then I remembered a sign that I use to have in my office cubicle ‘Time to put on your Big Girl panties”.  Sat down with a cup of coffee and read the directions from first to last page.  Got it on the first try……

Challenge yourself and reward yourself.