Good Morning, Quilters!
Where have YOU been? I haven’t heard from you in a while…
Or was it me?
(Yes, it was definitely me!)
I’ve been loafing on my blog duties. What happened?
After nearly 10 years of blog, I just stopped writing one day.
I can’t completely explain it myself. It was a confluence of factors. At first, I felt a need to step away from social media for awhile.
Then I started working on some other projects like cleaning closets (argh!) and making curtains (yeah!) and gelli printing and dyeing vintage fabrics, and making books, and baking sourdough and crocheting amigurumi….
I visited some very creative friends in Texas,
And a very creative friend came to Minnesota (in February!)
In addition, I did a lot of in-person teaching and wrote some articles for BERNINA and American Quilter Magazine…
Mix in two weeks with Covid,
Some amazing travel,
and as much time as I could fill with family….
Just like that, my good habit of writing vanished!
The Plan
So I have a new blogging plan to get me writing again and to keep YOU quilting.
My plan is to return to blogging a few days per week with short, simple blog posts.
Easy to write. Easy to read.
Keep it simple.
What about YOU?
I’ve missed YOU!
How have YOU been?
What have YOU been creating? (Please tell me you’ve been doodling…..!?!)
Have YOU taken any classes? read any good books? watched any fabulous movies?
Any weddings, babies, grand-babies?
(BTW—I really appreciated the notes inquiring as to my health and whether I was in witness protection or something….
Thanks for not giving up on me!)
Let’s get back to work!!!
Your Faithful (Though Occasionally Lazy) Quilt Sister,
Lori
PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy Quilts and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to LKQ. For all other purposes, please contact me at Lori@LoriKennedyQuilts.com!
Check out my books on Etsy: LoriKennedyShop
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141 comments
Susan Burns
SO glad you’re back!
Deb Peterson
Glad to see you back in my emails! I also was in Paducah recently and enjoyed the quilt museum very much.
Glenda Reece
SO glad you are doing well and back in my emails, seen your silent Sunday, it’s been awhile. I have also just returned to FMQ after moving and making my life Simpler than before. Beautiful family. Can’t wait to see your simpler posts soon.
Love ya
Glenda Reece
Susie
Hi Lori
Taking a break from work (and blogging is work) only makes it more satisfying when you start again.
I loved your visit in Texas and look forward to your next one.
agedcrone
Glad that (apart from the Covid) you have been enjoying non-blogging life, time with friends and family etc! Looking forward to hearing more from you this year
Pamela Meyers Arbour
I’ve learned a lot from you and have most of your books. I look at them often. I would like to take those techniques to a larger scale. I have a lot of fabric which means a lot of quilts. I don’t want to quilt as densely. It would be great if you could work that in.
Sue Moreman
Thank you!
Joan G
Glad you are back! It sounds like you have been having a lot of fun (apart from Covid). I am motivated this year to really, truly learning how to free motion quilt simple designs to actually finish my quilt tops. I have your books and am ready to move from planning to doing! Speaking of books, I just finished reading “Louisiana Longshot” (hilarious and first in a series) and am now reading Beartown for my book club.
Marilyn Gruffiths
It’s great to have you back but completely understand sometimes we have to step back and get on we living, catching up with friends family and the dreaded chores we keep putting off, sounds like you have been having a good time in your absence recharging your batteries , look forward to your blogs Happy Healthy and a Prosperous New Year to you x
Robbie
What a nice surprise this morning! Good to know you have been having fun!
Minnie Hol
Been sewing up a storm.
Went absent for a month when my daughters health determined I would abandon my home and travel to hers (no planning…just go).
Now I’m ready to experiment on my new machine.
Joanne M
Sometimes a breath of fresh air is just what we need…glad to hear you are happy and well. We have missed you too and excitedly look forward to your simple blog posts in the near future. Happy New year Lori.
Fran Larsen
I have missed your blog too! Where have I been? Mostly not at my machine either. That is my happy place! But as I like to say, “sometimes life gets in my way and diverts my path”. That said, this year my resolution is to find time space to do those fun things that I WANT to do and that are not a necessity. So far…two days this year!
Beth
So glad to hear from you again. My husband gave me a Q 20 last Christmas. But then my daughter got married in April, and we decided to move closer to her in May, so I am just now starting to play with it. My first grandchild is due to arrive at the end of February so the very first quilt on the Q20 will be for the little one . I am taking Karlee Porters Free Motion Quilting class virtually in February and took an awesome moulage class with Gina Renee Designs this past October.
Welcome back and glad you were having fun away (except for the covid part)
Suz K
So glad you are back, and with the exception of COVID, glad it was a productive and fun time for you! I get the walking away from social media part – my last year was a whirlwind. My rented home for 35 years went up for sale, my son moved 8 hours away (the only family still living near me) and I found out in Thanksgiving 2021 that I was (finally) going to be a grandmother…to twins! So I had to downsize and pack 35 years of living, move to a much smaller home (why do people think older people want to live in tiny houses?), find everything and get adjusted to a new way of life (this isn’t New England!). My wee ones were born 2 weeks after I arrived, so there was baby cuddling time that became the priority. I’m finally settling in and have set up a schedule of sewing and stitching (cross stitch and embroidery) and I hope to sew and stitch away, in addition to baby cuddling, this coming year!
Margaret
What a nice surprise to find your email in my box this morning! Thanks for the update. You’ve been busy! Congrats on taking a well-deserved hiatus. Welcome back!
Barbara
I missed you, but I do understood that everyone needs a break, now and then.
Ping
Lovely to hear from you again. I too, took a long break from some things I loved doing due to burnout from my health care role following the start of Covid. I’ve finally managed to take some time off work for Christmas and New Year and was so happy to sit at my sewing machine again. I completed two table runners and your books were the ones I reached for to help me complete the quilting on them. Nora’s Rose and Open Leaf With Spiral worked perfectly on them. Despite more than a two year break from quilting, the “muscle memory” must have kicked in! Thank you, Lori, for all your teaching, encouragement and inspiration over the years.
Liz Horgan
So happy to hear that you’ll be back!! Glad you’re doing well and looking forward to spending time with you again!
Gilda
It was so nice to see your blog post today. I appreciate the time and effort it takes to write blog posts. I’ve taken a break from making quilts back to sewing clothes which I did before learning to quilt.
Bobbi
What wonderful surprise to find your post this morning. There’s nothing like the feeling of hearing from a friend who’s been away for a while. It made my day.
megen
Are you and your sister twins?
Pat knight
I wondered if you had retired! Glad you are starting back again. Sometimes restarts are good for the soul!
Patti Kaplan
So happy to hear you are well( except for COVID) . I fully understand stepping away from Social media, it can suck you in to wasting way too much time, i trying to spend less time scrolling and more time creating. Looking forward to hearing more about what you’re creating
Arlene Head
Nice to have you back! I’ve missed your blog and your Silent Sunday. Happy to see that you have been having fun. Breaks are not always a bad thing. Looks as though you used your hiatus to rejuvenate your creativity, energy and friendships!
Margaret Harmon
You were missed Lori. Glad we will hear from you again. I did see free motion posts from you in the online quilter magazine from Australia but missed your posts. I do use the free motion quilting book of yours. Now people are asking me to quilt their quilts. I have only agreed to do so for one elderly friend though. I have trouble enough finding time to quilt my own!
barbmorgan24gmailcom
Hooray for you! I am glad you are back!
Thank you.
Jean W
Glad to hear witness protection wasn’t the reason…glad to see you’re back.
Patricia Evans
I was thinking about you last week when another blogger recommended your website to a quilter new to free motion quilting who was looking for deas. So glad you’ve decided to return to the masses. Your cheerful, encouraging posts have been missed. But good for you for taking the time to live your own life.
Margaret Harmon
But I have been quilting and piecing a lot. Recommend your site to those of my friends who think they want to try free motion.
LaNan Eldridge
Great to see your email this morning!! I seem to be busy sewing, embroidering and sometimes quilting! But as of late a lot of time has been spent with babies…three in one year and that includes a set of twins! So our grandchildren number exploded to eleven. What a blessing. So lots of time being spent rocking, changing, walking, feeding and repeat!! My big challenge right now is to find my sewing room…what a disaster…then I can become creative! Happy New Year!
Gail
So good to hear from you! I thought your blog had somehow disappeared into the pit of junk mail, never to be found again. I live in MN too, and now that it’s cold and snowy (lots of snow!), what else can you do, but quilt? I’m actually working on a quilt and using one of your flower designs. I can’t believe how easy it is to make these beautiful flowers!
Kathy Fletcher
I was wondering what happened….glad your back! Went to site a few times and got different fmq help. We all need down time.
doreensherk
Sometimes you “gotta do what you gotta do”. Glad you are back and we can continue to enjoy your posts.
Thank you
Doreen
Mary Northway
You made my day! So happy that you are back. I am so ready to learn more of your fabulous techniques.
Taking a break is good for the soul. Bless you
Jacqui VMS
I was just wondering the other day if you had blogged and I had been off the notifications! Glad I’m not the only one who has fallen off the map. As usual, I’ve got too many UFO’s and have started a few new projects of course!! lol Glad to see you back!! I haven’t been doodling either! Back to those disciplines!!!
Bette
So happy to see this in the morning email!
rmimiloweRuth
So happy you a the break you needed! Will look forward to your blogging return!
Janet
Glad everything is ok. I wish there were just a “like” button for your blog. I just don’t usually write on people’s blogs, but I do read them. I am looking forward to your occasional blogs.
Jackie Belton
Glad you are back. I’m still quilting and got news at Christmas that I’m going to be a Great Grandmother.
Jenny Garcia
I’ll echo all the other comments…so glad you’re back but I’m also glad you’ve been taking care of yourself! I have a new (first) grandbaby so I’m looking forward to some quilting projects for him.
Thanks for all you do!!
Sally
So great to “see” you again! looks like you had a terrific time away from the blog.
Charlotte Gueho
So glad to see you again 🤗
MaryJeanne Bruce
Good to hear from you! Don’t ya love how life gets in the way of our quilting. Just know we are always here living life the same. Happy New Year!
Cindy Clark
Soooooo glad you are back. I have been a busy beaver since our online 25 Days (weeks) FMQ class during the pandemic. I’ve taken two classes online with Ricky Tims..Kool Kaleidoscope and an awesome class on curved piecing. I entered my Kaleidoscope quilt into the state fair, but no ribbon this time (boo!). I came within a hair’s breadth of purchasing a Q-16, but not this time.
I’ve read a lot of books, hiked a lot of trails, crocheted and quilted a lot of blankets for Project Linus, and spent quality time with the grands, attending choir concerts, musicals, plays and adaptive t-ball games among other things..You may notice that cooking and cleaning were not among the highlighted activities. I’ve also submitted a few choice items to Bulletin Board in the SP Pioneer Press Sunday Edition
Good to have you back!!!
Cindy, aka CeeCee of Mahtomedi
Joyce Smith
So glad you are back!!! I’ve been making quilts, but not doing the quilting much. I golf in the summer, so don’t get much done. Looking forward to more of your fabulous posts. I have all of your books. Now to practice more!
Sri Poedjastoeti
I’m happy to see you back. I have been “following” you everywhere. Looking forward to your blog and tutorials.
lilmama1001
My BFF is a former hairdresser, and every time she cut someone’s hair she said “new head [outside], new head [inside].” So welcome to your New Head, and please let us know where you’ll be teaching next…I’m on the east coast and would love to show you around!
Norma
So glad that you’re back. I have missed you. I definitely need your reminders to doodle. Because of you and my new stationary quilting machine I am now quilting all of my own quilts.
Sandra Kay Taylor
10 Years!!! You deserve a break!!! I wouldn’t have last a week. Please don’t feel guilty about taking some time off you need a break. And it looks like you have found some inspiration for yourself along the way. I have your Craftsy classes to review and your books that I refer to often. Also, every day I have the beautiful closed umbrella FMQ your sent me with your book just to look at for the beauty of it and for inspiration and motivation. I do doodle often, something I would never have done without your teaching. I will look forward to your blogs whenever and as often as you decided to send them. I love your work and passion for FMQ. God bless you! Sandra Taylor
stripeyquilter
Missed you! So glad you took time to enjoy a different rhythm. I look forward to the new insights you’ll be sharing.
Sally Stobaugh
It was wonderful to see your email yesterday! I’m so glad you have been busy with creative experiences and enjoying time with your family. I finally cleaned out my quilting closet and was able to let many fabrics and patterns go after asking myself if I still really want to make a project or do I even like this fabric or style anymore. I have a lot of fabric, quilt magazines and patterns to donate to a senior citizen sponsored thrift store. I hope these items will bring some pleasure to someone else. I feel like I have a fresh start- no guilt anymore as I sew and relax. I hope to spend lots of time doodling and planning quilting designs this year.
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