Life – Quilt for Joy by Kathryn

Adjusting plans

Published on April 11, 2026April 11, 2026 by Kathryn StrasserLeave a comment

This afternoon I sewed the third tier onto the denim skirt and hemmed it. My daughter tried it on to see if it will be long enough and it will be if I attach a waistband to it rather then turning the top edge over to make a waistband like I had planned.

When I have to adjust plans I start to burn out on the project. The enthusiasm I had wans as I realize I need to perhaps spend more time on the project than I originally thought or I need to redo parts of it.

I don’t often follow patterns when I make things so adjusting plans happens frequently. Perhaps that is part of my sewing closet clutter problem.

In the case of the jean skirt, I realized today that I will need another piece of material to make the waistband. Instead of stopping right then because I was frustrated, I instead took a few minutes to look in the tote bag that has my denim fabric to see if I could find a piece that matches the color of the skirt. I found another pair of jeans in there that no longer fits me that is close enough in color to work for the waistband.

Now the skirt and the jeans are together on my sewing table so I can cut the waistband and sew it on the next time I sew – hopefully tomorrow afternoon!

Because I took time right away to locate the fabric I will need to continue on with completing the skirt, I hope I helped myself keep up the motivation to get all the way to the end of the project soon.

When choosing which projects to work on as I declutter my sewing closet I started with the pile to the right of my sewing machine. The dress I mended for my daughter last weekend was on top; under it was the bag of supplies for the three book covers I made this week and the partially sewn denim skirt.

Now that two of those projects are out of the closet and the skirt is nearly finished, I looked at the pile to see what was next. There were two pairs of pants of my boys that needed a very small amount of mending. I decided to mend those right away this afternoon before my youngest woke up from his nap.

Success! Two more items off my sewing table and back where they will be used again!

Now all that is left in the pile is a pair of hand-me-down jeans for my youngest that have a stretched out elastic waistband. I like the color and style of the jeans so I am debating whether it is worth the time to take the waistband off and put new elastic in. I think they would still fit him in the fall so I will keep them for another day or two to decide what I want to do with them.

Under the pants is a long-arm quilting design book that I need to return to it’s owner when I quilt at her house next week. By next weekend – or sooner – that pile will be completely gone! It is a small space to have cleared, but it is the first spot I see when I open the closet and look at my sewing table. It is also useful to have space clear while I am sewing so I can set my pincushion and seam ripper or small scissors there without worrying about them falling off the top of the project pile.

On the left-hand side of my sewing table is the pile that contains the queen sized quilt I am making for my sister and her husband (a now late wedding present). More updates about that project to come very soon, I hope!

The never-ending project list

Published on April 9, 2026April 11, 2026 by Kathryn StrasserLeave a comment

Another reason my sewing closet fills up so quickly with half-finished projects is because I can come up with a list of projects I would like to do with no trouble at all. In fact, there is just such a list hanging on the side of my fridge right now. It contains some of the half-finished projects currently in my closet as well as other projects I would like to start in the next few months.

The projects range from gifts for friends and family, items for myself, quilts for the kids as they move into twin beds, home décor items, and more. I have struggled with my frequent ideas for new projects because when I have so many projects already started, I have to say no to new projects. Or, I start the new projects and ignore the already started projects which leads to problems. The main problem is that my projects are often doomed to never make it to their intended recipient or location in our home and they just stay as clutter in my sewing closet.

I started writing these blog post updates almost a week ago. I have been more consistent about working on projects-in-progress this week then I have been for quite some time. And that is without a looming deadline to motivate me. I can get things done when I have a looming deadline, although I often wait longer than I should and then give myself a lot of stress that could have been avoided with more project consistency.

Speaking of deadlines, I do have a few projects with loose deadlines that I want to start working into my sewing time once I finish the book covers.

First is a queen-sized quilt that I am making for my sister and her husband as their wedding gift. They got married in February and although I had planned to finish the quilt for her bridal shower in January (and I must say I was working on it very consistently), responsibilities that I had for the wedding ended up crowding out the rest of the time I needed to get the quilt all the way finished. This is one project that I don’t want to let slide too far into the back of my sewing closet. I think a week or two of consistent work will be enough the finish the last rows of the quilt top. Then I get to do my favorite part of finishing it with the long-arm quilting machine!

Secondly, four ladies I know are having babies this year. Since these are their second or third (or fifth!) babies, they don’t need a lot in terms of baby stuff. However, I love to give baby gifts, so I like to include a little something when I take a meal to a family I know who has a new baby.

While it is fun shopping for baby clothes, it is equally fun to shop for baby themed fabric. Last year I started making flannel spit-up clothes as my go-to gift for my friend’s new babies. It is a practical (but also cute!) gift – and they don’t take too long to make. I usually make a set of four clothes.

I know for sure that I need to make one set for a girl and one set for a boy. The other two friends are not finding out the gender until the baby is born. I may make a couple extra sets in advance, or wait until the babies are born and then make the set afterwards. That also depends on how far I have progressed on altering clothes for the kids and finishing the wedding quilt.

A few last thoughts for this evening: I really don’t mind having a never-ending list of project ideas. I love to sew, knit, crochet, quilt, alter clothing, etc. What I don’t love is forgetting about the project I started last week because I am excited about a new one. This has ripple effects on my sewing space, my mindset towards projects, and my stress levels about making items for myself and others.

Consistency allows me to fully complete projects so that I can more easily say “yes!” to new projects. And I am discovering that writing blog posts about the projects I am working on is a fun incentive to make a plan for finishing projects and focusing on consistency.

{Quilt for Joy} The Story Behind The Name

Published on August 9, 2018April 8, 2026 by Kathryn StrasserLeave a comment

The name of the custom long-arm quilting portion of my business, Quilt for Joy, finds its inspiration in Proverbs 17:22 which reads, “A joyful heart is good medicine…” I have found great joy in custom long-arm machine quilting ever since I started as a high school sophomore in 2011.

I wanted the name of my business to reflect that joy I experience when long-arm machine quilting as I work with my own quilts, and quilts for customers.

There’s a deeper meaning to the name, though.

When I started long-arm machine quilting I was dealing with a two-year-old wrist injury that was un-diagnosed at the time. Using the machine didn’t worsen the pain, so I continued learning all that I could about long-arm quilting. Unfortunately, another injury to the same wrist in the summer of 2012 increased my pain.

I continued to quilt during this time, finding as Proverbs 17 says, that a joyful heart is indeed good medicine. Machine quilting was one little thing helping me have a joyful heart in the midst of intense pain.

I ended up having surgery on my wrist in April of 2013, and another surgery in November of the same year. I was unable to quilt during that time and during the surgery recovery process. At this time, I also discovered that I suffer from chronic Lyme disease which causes achy muscles and joint pain in various parts of my body. Initial treatment attempts for my Lyme proved ineffective and the wrist pain returned a few months after my second surgery leaving me with few options for treatment, and a whole lot of pain.

I returned to quilting following my post-surgery recovery mainly because of the creative outlet it provides me,. I still struggled with pain from my chronic Lyme disease, but I was able to quilt well, and kept expanding my skills and understanding of the long-arm machine.

I long-arm quilted several quilts throughout my time in college, but my health situation was worsening. I stopped long-arm quilting near the end of 2017; with a new Lyme treatment on the horizon, I needed to remove as many outside obligations as possible.

The health treatment is working as expected (a rarity when dealing with chronic Lyme disease), and as of August 2018 my Lyme disease is in remission. It will take several months to return to my full strength, and in the meantime I need to scout out an ideal place to resume long-arm quilting at since I recently moved.

~ Kathryn