Links

What strange weather we are having... It poured yesterday afternoon and night (and, sans brelly, I was soaked by the time I got home), and again this morning. Even with my umbrella my pants were wet nearly to my knees, front AND back. The whole morning was the colors of my fan quilt, grayish winter light included. But now... now it is 58* and sunny and beautiful. Who could wear a scarf now?! Aaah, New England.

I have nothing much to share on the crafty end. I am procrastinating on binding my big quilt. I've noticed that I've been doing this lately--attaching binding, then letting something sit for a week before I start hand-stitching. It's not that I don't have time... Not like I didn't sit on the couch with Bellow all last night while Rob was teaching and watch reality TV On-Demand and do nothing. I've just decided to listen to my body, not force productivity, and thus avoid crafter burnout, which usually hits me full-on following the holidays. I have a few projects in mind and this one to wrap up, but it feels really good to not have a dozen things in progress.

So, some interesting links for you:

• On Inspiration Boards there is an interview with Amanda Soule from SouleMama. It's always nice to get a peek into someone else's creative lifestyle, and Amanda is always inspiring.
  
• Crazy Mom Quilts has an entry and a video on free-motion quilting. She's using the pin-basting method, but I firmly resolve to never go back from my spray basting! That perhaps is an entry of its own... But this will give you an idea of what free-motion quilting looks like, though she's a very good stippler and doesn't appear to be having nearly the trouble I do.
  
• Today Softies Central has some really sweet elephants, including the first softie EVER. I particularly adore the vinyl one. Here's the elephant softie I made (from the Softies book) for my friend JJ for Christmas: