I'm Not a Stalker ... I'm a Fangirl

I admit it, I was that teen girl who rolled her eyes when the others squealed over magazine stories of New Kids on the Block, I sighed deeply and wondered at the future of America when I saw a girl cry because she got tickets to the NSync concert and even now, I tease my niece when she does the same over 1 Direction and the other current boy bands. It's not that I didn't love their music as any others of my generation, I just knew they put their pants on one leg at a time like the rest of the world. 

Over the years that same ability to overcome "celebrity" awe was put to the test. As a journalist and Public Affairs Office staff member at military installations, I interviewed and escorted celebrities such as Aaron Tippin, Miranda Lambert, Destiny's Child and Gary Sinise (that one almost made my resolve crack and my knees buckle.)  It helped that my first interview ever for the Army PAO was a one-star general who was down to earth and make jokes to put me at ease when he heard it was my first story ever for the military installation.

But then, Quiltsmart came along and all that came tumbling down. I mean, I'd been there when a President visited and another time a First Lady, but this is Quiltsmart!! 

I have to admit, when my mom, who is a semi-celebrity in the quilting industry herself, first introduced me to Quiltsmart because Bear Thread Designs and Quiltsmart were working together on various projects, I was as hestiant as any other quilt teachnique or tool she'd shown be before. When your mom has the standing in the quilting community that mine does, you are either extremely well versued in sewing and quilting or you're hesiatant and unsure because she makes it look so easy and you're all thumbs ... and I am the latter. Sometimes I will ask her a question and the answer is half filled with sentences I don't understand. And I think, "I should know what she is talking about, it's been 20 years!"

So my first Quiltsmart projects were Wine Shades and small things using ZigZapps! I mean, seriously, even I can't screw up a ZigZapp! But when I worked at Bear Thread Designs, my mom would send me home with projects to do from home, like a 58" Lonestar and soon I was hooked. I mean, I trudged through her projects knowing I would only do a paortion of it before turning it over to her to finish for a BTD sample, but oh, boy, did I dream big!

I made lists of projects that I wanted to do, made extensive drawings a designs using Quiltsmart interfacing ... eventually I had a whole binder dedicated to these projects. Projects, patterns, color schemes and more. That list is what led me to deciding to start the "A Year of Quiltsmart" Project. There were so many things I wanted to do and I'd be halfway through a project when I'd get so excited about a new inspiration, that I'd start another.

Just when I thought Quiltsmart couldn't get any better,  I met owner, Mattie ... and Steve. While Mattie is the heart and inspiration behind Quiltsmart, Steve is the encouraging force and sounding board, telling Mattie that if she can dream it, they'd work to make it a reality.

Quiltsmart just makes everything so much easier. I mean to be able to actually start a project and finish it and then stand back and say "Wow, I never thought I could do that, but I did!", has a powerful impact on your project motivation. Pinterest is filled with people who "pin" things they want to do, but know they will never have the courage to try. Quiltsmart is that courage in the form of soft little sheets of printed interfacing. I don't even like traingles and I am working on a hexagon project right now! (As my little one would say in a botched British accent, "What!?! What!?!)

So I guess, I owe apologies to all those girls I rolled my eyes at or pretended to gag when they fell into turmoil over a boy band or celebrity, because I have become one of them. I'm not a stalker, I'm a fangirl. And the reality is, if Quiltsmart had a fanclub, I'd be the president. Is it wrong to want a t-shirt professing my status as a "Quiltsmartie"?

Well, those hexagons won't sew themselves. Until our next cup of tea ...