Do you ever feel like everyone is yelling at you, and it’s impossible to decide who to listen to? Being bombarded with information is now part of our North American culture. How to filter out all the noise and concentrate on only that which really matters is the key to living well in this society. Living a long, healthy life is my goal (and no doubt yours). Recently, I’ve had to totally revamp my diet and I now choose to eat foods that are wheat-free, and as much as practical, sugar-free and dairy-free. Thankfully, I’m not a celiac, but I have developed food sensitivites and allergies over the years. With the assistance of a lovely woman, a naturopath named Dr. Angela Kirk I have adjusted my pattern of eating. It was painful at first; it seemed like every time I turned around another meal was due and I had no idea what to eat! I lost weight mainly because I didn’t know what to eat – except apples, of course. When in doubt, eat an apple! Gradually, I began to understand there was life after sandwiches and ice cream and I tried to focus on eating an anti-inflammatory diet (also known as the Paleo diet), with some exceptions. The result for me is a vast reduction of dietary issues – which have plagued me forever, and a general feeling of well-being. Now having said all that, I do struggle some days with emotional eating – I mean after all, chocolate is all but completely off my list now! A very difficult transition for a former sugar addict.

Often, I read Dr. Weil’s daily emails and check his website for information and recipies. His advice for a long and healthy life….

1. Be physically active. Even as you get older, daily physical activity should be a priority.
2. Positive. Maintaining an optimistic outlook is important to managing stress and preventing related health issues such as heart disease.
3. Social. A network of family and close friends is vital to optimum health.
4. Spiritual. Regardless of your religious affiliation, (if any) feeling a connection with nature, a higher being or purpose cultivates spirituality and is an important part of graceful agig.

all, I think are rules to live by.

I’ve been experimenting with new recipes and I will post some for you in the near future.  I can’t promise all the ingredients conform strictly to  an anti-inflammatory way of life, but I will do my best to include only those ingredients which apply.

Have a great Monday!  Happy Quilting everyone.

Kim

a quick and easy flannel rag quilt?  Well, I have just the pattern for you!  And it’s free.  Go to my website www.KimHansonQuilts.com/shop scroll to the bottom of the page and download it now.   Have fun!   Kim

since I’ve blogged. So much has been going on. I’ve been working very hard on some 2012 Christmas magazine assignments that were due in early to mid-March. It’s time to turn the corner now and experience Spring and all that it brings with it.

Here in Calgary, signs of Spring are subtle….neighborhood dogs get more walks, kids play outside without their parkas and stepping out of the hockey arena between periods means you’re going “outside” to warm up! That’s about it – there are no buds on my lilac trees, no crocus poking out of my flower beds and certainly no green of any kind serving notice that the seasons have changed. In fact in nearby Banff, Alberta, Kelly Ripa is in temporary residence broadcasting her television program, Live with Kelly! She’s extoling the virtues of beautiful Banff, resplendent in all it’s snowy, icy and wintery glory. It’s April 2nd and Kelly’s viewers would no doubt swear from the dog-sledding, snowshoeing and scenes of skiing that it was mid-December! But no worries for those of us who live here in Alberta…the subtle changes that Spring is actually on the way is more than enough.

Personally, Spring represents a change in direction for me. My business focus is narrowing just a little bit and I will be concentrating more on quilt design and freelance writing. Exciting prospect for certain. I’d love to blog more too – about all things quilting (of course!), some things yoga and maybe even a little about recipes and striving and struggling to live a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Hmmm….we shall see I guess.

I read something recently that grabbed my attention – “Charm is the ability to make someone else think that both of you are pretty wonderful”…Kathleen Winsor. It was a quote on the binding of RealSimple magazine, June 2011. Given the name (Charm & Whimsy) and nature of my work – an admirable goal indeed.

Kim

Hey to all!

I’ve had the privilege of writing a tutorial that is posted in the Cutting Corners section of the Riley Blake website. My tutorial teaches how to make a rag quilt, using my original pattern and Riley Blake – Fox Trails flannels.

Just click on the cute little Riley Blake button. I hope you enjoy both the tutorial and your new “raggy” quilt!

Kim

Beautiful, spectacular Victoria, B.C.

All my life, I have wanted to visit Victoria, B.C. on the edge of Canada’s western coast. Despite travelling to Vancouver Island several times, I had never made it as far south as Victoria.

It’s hard to believe all this beauty of nature is just one hour by air away from my home.

A skiff of snow brought about a whole new vision.

Despite it being the middle of winter, grass and trees were green – waterways remained completely passable; no ice in sight. Each day when the U.S. ferry blew it’s horn and came into the harbour, I was thrilled!

A visitor to Fisherman’s Wharf – even though it was closed for the season.

One of the greatest pleasures while away from home, is to seek out local quilt shops. I stumbled upon Satin Moon http://www.satin-moon.com/ in my travels and absolutely fell in love with its location on Fort Street/Antique Row in downtown Victoria. Unfortunately for me, the shop was in transition and was not yet open in it’s new location (grand opening was Saturday, February 3, 2012). Satin Moon was not only moving from it’s established and successful home of 34 years, but was also undergoing a change in ownership. In a massive leap of faith and a desire to flee the cold Alberta winters, Linda Rafuse purchased the iconic quilt shop and moved 1300 miles from Edmonton to Victoria to run her new business venture. Sorta makes jumping off a cliff tame in comparison!

Linda choosing to surround herself with antique shops, small retail businesses and bakeries is a stroke of genius. The shops’ location will definitely be part of its charm.

Working with the shop’s loyal, long-term employees, Linda will be focusing on providing exceptional customer service to both her long-term customers and to those venturing into her shop for the first time. Beginner’s quilting, color classes and art quilting are only a sampling of the classes Satin Moon will be offering.

Definitely, do not take my word for it! When in Victoria, take some time, walk down Fort Street and explore all it has to offer – including a brand new and re-vamped Satin Moon.

All the best to you, Linda. I admire your courage, your faith in yourself and your business acumen.
Kim

Good Thursday to everyone. I have a blog post featured today on Quilting Gallery .. here is the link http://http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fquiltinggallery.com%2F2012%2F01%2F26%2Fplanning-my-home-office-studio-kim-hanson%2F&h=tAQF3F95OAQFmuPo-K0LjoNKJO9IRsUoUu8BOKYQmAHIRGw”

You can hit the link, check out the blog post and leave me a photo of your fabulous or NOT so fabulous quilting space on my FB page. That’s it, that’s all! You will be entered in the giveaway and have a chance to win the book.

Whether you’re embarking on planning a brand new workspace for yourself, or if you are re-organizing an existing quilting space, this book is a pretty good resource.

Good luck and thanks so very much for stopping by.

Kim

Happy New Year everyone! I wanted to let you all know that Kaffe Fassett’s, Country Garden Quilts book has been won by Jane Miller Smith – on her birthday no less!

Congratulations Jane….I hope you find many projects in the book that you’d like to make.

Kim

Happy Monday to you all! Even though the snow is falling and Christmas is rapidly approaching, there’s still time to think about quilting! There’s always time to think about quilting.

I’m on a mission to increase my FB “likes” from 58 to the magical number of 100! You can help me by either liking me on my FB page http://www.facebook.com/pages/KimHansonQuilts/137040896361496 or leaving me a comment on this blog post. For your time, assistance and kindness, I will be thrilled to give away this beautiful Kaffe Fassett Country Garden Quilting book to the 100th person who likes me on FB…..

Thanks everyone.
Kim

It’s been one whole year since I launched my website, and I’ve been taking some time lately to reflect on the past 12 months. The highs and lows; the best and worst – what part of the work brought satisfaction and what part of the work brought feelings of being overwhelmed and some anxiety. It’s curious how the best of times are very easy to remember and reflect upon, while the less-than- perfect occasions recede into the background.

First of all, I was very blessed to have found such a great web designer – Shelly Caldwell www.toolboxmedia.com. It would have been pretty difficult to develop my site without her! Shelly lives in Portland and I happened upon her name via Alicia Paulson’s website www.aliciapaulson.com whose work I love and admire. Shelly helped me to shape and materialize the ideas that were romping around inside my brain; she’s a genius! I love her creativity and her exemplary work ethic – she really helped me a ton.

Now that its time for a review – I must decide what direction my work and the website should take. I’ve re-discovered that writing is my passion and I love getting both quilting and writing magazine assignments. (Creative Machine Embroidery, Quilter’s Connection Magazine, Quilting & Embroidery) I love working towards a deadline, a goal, building a story or a project from scratch – it’s very satisfying when there is a finished project on which to gaze! I will definitely work towards gaining more confidence in my writing and quilt designing with a view to snagging more magazine assignments in 2012.

Besides taking stock of the work and being grateful for the help and assistance of Shelly, I want to acknowledge a lovely online quilting friend that I have come to know. Her name is Dianne LaCasse, she’s a nurse and she lives 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) away from me in Vermont. I met Dianne when exploring the options of selling my products on etsy.com. We had countless online conversations about quilting, family, etsy, yoga – Dianne was so friendly and open and complimentary of my work; she gave me confidence that I was going in the right direction – something I will never forget. Dianne is a very talented, creative and established quilter – you can find her work on etsy by clicking on this link www.etsy.com/shop/bungalohill. She graciously purchased a yoga mat bag for her daughter, Rachel – it was my first “out-of-country” purchase! Thank you so very much Dianne.

So many projects, so many ideas – sew little time!

Kim