Taking The Week Off
- Karen
- Apr 11
- 3 min read
Last week I did something that I have never done before. I looked at my March videos: 4 regular, 2 Karen’s Quilt Circle Podcasts, 1 Q&A and 1 class in my Boost Your Sampler Skills series…and then decided that I could use a week off.
I know that there have been weeks when I have not posted anything. But in the background I am still trying to. And when family visits and/or a holiday arrives there just isn’t any time to go off and film. But in both of those situations, my brain is still working hard, sorting through video ideas trying to find the one that I can form into a script. And I'm still hopeful that there might be a break in the day or I get a second wind that would allow me to patch some content together and post it online. Even thought I know that a video takes from 20-40 hours of work to pull together, the fantasy is alive and well and living in my head. And it means that I never really relax because I feel like I am letting people down.
So last week, it was extraordinary for me to make the call on Monday that I was not making a regular video. And it was amazing what that permission did to my brain. The guilt and shame that I normally feel was gone. I played in my sewing room every day, and often, flitting from one project to another. So what did I do?
I made three blocks for my 100 acre wood Block of the Month
I made one block for my Christmas Block of the Month
And I cut all my papers for Month 1 of my Jungle Magnolia Block of the month.
I made three more blocks for another Kaffe Fasset half square triangle quilt…great to do in 5 minute bursts!
Finished two Lucy Boston blocks for my EPP project…I had to go backwards a bit, which I was avoiding. But now I’m ready to make more!
Finished putting all my remaining Disappearing 9 patches together.
And, the final project, was a baby quilt for the first grandchildren (twins) of our next generation.
All guilt free.
Karen's Quilt Circle
Since I am heading this October to Indonesia for a textile tour, I want to know more about them. Tammy Silvers, not only loves to use Batiks in her making, she is now the design director for Banyan Batiks, a division of Northcott Fabrics. I had a thousand questions and Tammy graciously answered them all. You can watch my interview here.
Listen to any of my Karen's Quilt Circle podcasts on the YouTube Music app here.
Upcoming events
It’s not too late to join in my Boost Your Sampler Skills BOM. At 12:00 pm (NOON) EST, April 13th; we are covering flying geese. (Zoom Link is the same as the StitchNChat...we just start 2 hours earlier.) If you are a member of Karen’s Quilt Crew, you can find the videos and links to the patterns on the community page of my channel. There is also a members-only Playlist to access all the classes.
My next Stitch’n Chat with Karen’s Quilt Crew is on Sunday, April 13th at 2:00 pm EST. If you are a channel member, you will find the zoom link on the Just Get It Done Quilts community page.
Travel with Karen
The cruise to Indonesia in the fall still has a couple of spots left. Go to the website for more information if you are interested.
And, I have been asked to give two lectures at Festival of Quilts in Birmingham in the UK in early August! The lectures will be: 535-The Joy of Symmetry and 542-Be the Best Quilter You Can Be. You can purchase tickets at thefestivalofquilts.seetickets.com I hope to see you there.
I'm heading to Scandinavia on May 3rd and will be gone almost 3 weeks. So I will not have a Live Q&A in May. Just know that I will be thinking of you and planning! There are usually many, many squirrels after I've had a trip.
Take care
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Wow! You are indeed an active lady! ME time is vital to all of us and I'm do glad you took time off! Big kudos to you for doing so!
Karen,
I'm SO Thankful you took ME/Self-care time.
Your future trips and interviews sounded amazing!
Take care,
Love
Susan
Karen, thank you so much for sharing this honest reflection—it truly resonated with me. First of all, huge congratulations on the twins! What an exciting (and surely busy!) new chapter ahead for you. Wishing you all the joy and support as you prepare for double the snuggles and laughter.
Reading about how you gave yourself permission to pause really hit home. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of constant productivity, especially when you're passionate and deeply committed to your community. But what a powerful reminder that rest is productive too. That feeling of guilt melting away when you let yourself just be—it’s inspiring.
Finding balance is such an ongoing journey, especially when creativity and family life are both pulling at…
Sounds like you had a recharging and productive time off. I’m glad for you. Maybe this will convince you that you should do it more often! I love your content but it will be even better if you get more chances to relax and fuel your creativity. :) Perhaps you could get help with some of the more technical parts of creating a video, or accept a little less finesse in post-processing for some videos so they don’t take quite so much time and brain-power to create? You definitely don’t want to drift into burn out!