Panda-Monium Mini Quilt

We are so excited to have Katie blogging today about a ridiculously cute project she just finished! Katie is our right hand at the shop (we often wonder what we ever did before she started!) As a newer sewist we love to get her fresh perspective on patterns and tutorials. Her long hours at MT and at her own small business can make it tricky to fit in as much creative time as she would like - just like the rest of us! I know you'll love her take on how to deal with balancing being a workaholic with craftaholic. Here's Katie: We are all super busy, right? It can be so hard to make time for ourselves and do something that makes us happy and brings out our creative side. Between working full-time at Modern Textiles, running my 10 year old photography business and keeping up with my new house and yard work, it never seems like I have enough time to actually sew and make all of the things I want to make. Recently I decided to find a quick but fun project that I thought I could finish over the course of a couple of evenings after work. A few months ago I had made The Kittens pattern by Elizabeth Hartman, the same woman who made The Fancy Forest Quilt. While it was an easy quilt to put together, it was a very time consuming thing to do because of all the cutting. I found the Panda-Monium Mini Quilt and decided I had to try it. First of all, it's a PANDA. Who doesn't think a panda is the cutest thing ever?! Second, piecing it is very similar to the Fancy Forest and Kitten Quilt (no paper-piecing, just straight lines) but the whole quilt is made from just one block that is about 20"x20". It was a very easy and fun quilt to make. It's certainly not perfect, but that wasn't the point. The point was to set aside time for myself, to make something that I loved and thought would be fun. To feed my creative side. Are you needing a project that isn't too time consuming, but is still fun and will kick start the creative side that you haven't had time for? Try the Panda-Monium Mini Quilt. We've kitted the project so it's all ready for you to jump right in. All you need to finish it is batting! This weekend, commit to making some time for yourself, even if it's only an hour. Sometimes you just need to start. Do you struggle to find 'me' time? How do you make time to be creative? Share in the comments below and lets help each other find the time!