Hello my lovely quilting friends and welcome to I Quilt linky party at Pretty Bobbins!  We had lots of new linkers last week and I apologise that I am still getting around to visiting everyone.  I will get there!  Please remember to add the linky button (found at top left) and/or a link to my blog and to visit 3 other linkers.  We all love comments!

I haven’t organised myself to feature a quilter this week, I will be back on board next week, I’m sorry!  This week what I have been doing is visiting local Canberra quilt stores and introducing myself.  Wow, that has been an adventure!  We are super lucky in Canberra to have a big quilting culture and I think the Canberra Quilters (the local quilt guild) is possibly the longest running quilt guild in Australia.  Don’t quote me on that but they have a great reputation and have been around the traps since way back  They haven’t had a meeting since I arrived in Canberra but I am looking forward to going along next Thursday.

Of course taking a queen size quilt to handquilt at a guild meeting is the best idea in summer!

As part of being a professional longarm quilter I feel it is important to introduce myself to the local groups.  Last Thursday evening I attended the Canberra Modern Quilt Guild meeting and had a hoot!  They are such a lovely, enthusiastic, talented group of quilters.  I shared two quilts and I must say I really appreciated the positive feedback I received.  Thank you lovely ladies xxx  It was also rather hilarious to have to ask everyone what their blog or IG name is because I don’t necessarily know their real names!

But back to this week.  What I can take away from this week is the belief that I want this dream bad!  I’m passionate, enthusiastic, committed, talented, kind, generous and possibly somewhat naive and sensitive.  Driving from one end of Canberra to the other, quilts in hand and business cards on offer I was somewhat taken aback at the reception that I received.  I was told that I would “never teach in this town without being accredited”, “we already have a longarmer, the owner isn’t in, but don’t come back because she won’t take your cards”, “you need to offer a discount to get any of our customers”, “wow! that’s a bit out there.”, “leave your cards over there” without even getting up to shake my hand.  It was soul destroying.  But after coming home and licking my wounds for an afternoon I realised that I want this, I want this dream, I am going to get there and I am going to do it with a smile on my face, in the knowledge that my quilting is awesome, my style is up there, my passion and enthusiasm is evident and contagious.  Building a business takes time, belief in yourself and a thick skin.  How much do I want it?  I want it with every fiber of my being!

The other big positive that I want to share with you is that I will be teaching later this year at a local quilt store!  I’m super excited to have the opportunity to teach others to machine quilt, to gain confidence and to get on board this fun, addictive hobby  If you’re local keep an eye out for more information closer to May  The world needs more quilters!

So, with all this waffle (which is completely quilting focused!), I ask you, what is it that drives you to quilt?  Are you committed to charity quilting?  Do you quilt for your kids or grandkids?  Is quilting your escape?  Why do you quilt and how do you overcome those mental hurdles when someone discourages you?

Happy quilting, happy linking and thank you, thank you, thank you for being lovely and encouraging to each other!  We need more of that in our community both online and in real life