I packed up my quilting supplies this week.

I love to sew, but not enough to do it on my kitchen table like some moms I know.

With the exception of this tiny box, I put away my quilting supplies.

It’s a far cry from the entire dining room turned sewing studio from just 24 short months ago!

This might be for the next eight months (as my logical sister Savannah says) or maybe for the next fifteen years (as my radical all-or-nothing self says).

This change started because we had to make more room for Joslyn. I finally gave up my sewing room/office in our house. Now, it’s our living room.

We temporarily moved my computer to the bunk house and we are working on coming up with a long term plan for my/our offices. Although I can attempt to gracefully give up quilting, I can’t quit writing yet. I love it more and it happens to be my current job.

I didn’t quilt or blog much before I moved to South Dakota. 

I had girlfriends and four sisters and we ran around and did things together. Then, I moved here and for lack of a better, softer way to say it: I had nothing to do.

It was negative twenty degrees outside. I didn’t know anyone very well yet. I didn’t really like watching TV. I lost my job before it even started. To cope, I started quilting and blogging…

Two years later, I have a baby and nice girlfriends in Kingsbury County to do things with. I built up a small, but steady stream of writing, blogging and social media clients. I also discovered Amazon Fire TV so I have shows I like to watch now. I’m currently on Season Four of The Good Wife. #NoCommercials

Quilting got me through transition periods of life from college girl to farmer’s wife. Then, from nesting and nervous pregnant lady into motherhood.

I am so thankful for quilting and the joy it brings to my life creatively. I’m also thankful for the nice quilty friends I met at my guild and online with this blog. I’m still going to keep in touch and I still love seeing your quilts!

• I’m still going to squeeze in hand embroidery and binding a few of the quilts that I’m backed up on.
•  I’m still going to make sure that each of my future children gets one baby quilt made by me. Luckily, I have a boy and girl quilt already done. I could be off the hook for a long time in theory.
• If you have suggestions for tiny, tiny projects that take up no space…send them my way!

My friend Lucy has some sayings that I like:

“I only have time for one hobby right now.”

“I don’t have time for any hobbies right now.”

“If you give it up, you’ll get it back. Usually, it’s even better than it was before.”

***

With those things in mind: writing is my current job. I have time for it. I’m aware that I might eventually take this step with my writing someday, too. Scaling back for a season, but never quitting entirely. I’ll always be a quilter. I’ll just come back to it later.

But, right now, God has given me many other things (and people!) in life to love on and enjoy.

So, I’m going to give this one thing up entirely. That way there is more room (literally, we were out of rooms) for enjoying the rest.

Right now, I have this vision of getting out my four big totes of fabric when my last baby graduates from high school. Then, I’ll start to quilting like mad again for my grand babies.

But first I will do what I always do: cry, call Lucy and Savannah, and then write a blog post about it.

(If blogs even exist by then.)

(If they do I will certainly hyperlink back to this post as proof that life is just one giant circle!)

XOXO,

Sierra