Are you happy?

I mean really happy???

Well Quilting is one of the fastest ways to get there!

According to the PERMA model of happiness, designed by Martin Seligman, there are five core elements of psychological well-being and happiness… and Quilting will help you check all 5 off the list! These five elements can lead you to a life of fulfillment, happiness, and meaning.

PERMA model of happiness

Let’s look at each element:

Positive Emotions

This is more than just smiling and acting happy… You have to have a positive outlook and be optimistic. This positive mindset will inspire you to be more creative and take more chances. Now you know we need and use a lot of that in quilting! Positivity keeps our minds moving and thinking which is just one of the health benefits to optimism. Now there is a difference between pleasure and enjoyment… Pleasure is meeting our basic needs, Enjoyment is evolves from intellectual stimulation and creativity. Quilting brings us much enjoyment and positive feelings.

Engagement(Flow)

We need a hobby that requires our full engagement to grow our happiness. It must totally absorb us in the present moment…. creating Flow. I don’t know about you but when I have a day to totally commit to quilting, I am totally in my Flow…. it feels awesome and I am definitely happy. Everyone is different and we find our own Flow.

Relationships

We are social people that thrive on connecting and interacting with other people. Having positive relationships is important for many reasons. They provide support, joy, love, intimacy and many others. It is even proven that pain centers in the brain are activated if we are at risk of being alone or isolated… mainly because being alone ultimately doesn’t protect your survival. Quilting is just full of social connections! I absolutely love all the friends I’ve made through quilting and blogging. There is nothing better than connecting with someone who loves what I love. I’m a dental hygienist and schedule extra time for all my quilty patients… I need to talk longer to my sassy friends:)

Meaning

Having purpose on this earth is essential to having a fulfilled and happy life. It gives us a reason to live. Taking the time to understand why you do what you do is important. I believe Quilting is like anything else that gives us meaning and purpose. Not only does it make us happy, it lets us show love and meaning to those around us. You only get a free quilt because someone loves you! I quilt because I love the physical tasks involved, sometimes tedious, sometimes not. I love sharing my love of quilting with others and helping them grow. I love how finishing projects makes me feel and last but not least I love giving someone I love a quilt. It’s like wrapping myself around them, a never ending hug! Our hobby has great purpose!

Achievement

Goals, ambition… these things provide us a sense of accomplishment. Making quilt goals and meeting them helps us thrive and grow! The feeling of finishing that difficult quilt or piecing those difficult blocks shows us we can do anything we put our minds to. I love to check things off  my list and my quilt goals list is no different. Make sure your goals are realistic so that you can see yourself grow and become the person you want to be.

So get out there! Find what makes you happy, be positive, dive in, engage with friends, and challenge yourself! Enjoy your quilting and take pride in how it makes you feel…. even if your friends still think you knit and or make blankets, lol.

Information for this post was found HERE.

Sweet Escape…

This quilt finishes at 80 x 80.

Pattern is Sweet Escape by Thimble Blossoms.

This quilt was a slow fun quilt to work on….

Took some time but chain piecing made it go quicker.

Keep it Sassy♥

You can find and follow TheSassyQuilter  on Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin’, Instagram, Twitter or by email updates(form on right sidebar)!

The “logs” are from a honeybun(1.5″strips), so they are skinny!

The quilt has a very soft feel to it and for some reason I feel drawn to hand quilt it.

My grandmother was a hand quilter so it makes me feel close to her when I always have a hand quilting project going. My last was the Wonky Christmas Tree you can see HERE.

Believe it or not… there are two blocks turned the wrong way in there! Dang it!

I am gonna fix them… mostly because they are on the edge. LOL.

No matter how long you have quilted!!! You STILL make mistakes. That is what is so perfectly imperfect about quilting. I love every mistake I see in my grandmothers quilts. Every wonky stitch or crooked piece is so personal and filled with love.

Maybe I should leave them that way????

Last posts Giveaway Winner:

Thanks so much my quilty friends for following along and leaving comments. It inspires me and I love to hear from ya!

Keep it Sassy♥

You can find and follow TheSassyQuilter  on Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin’, Instagram, Twitter or by email updates(form on right sidebar)!

So I finally finished my Christmas quilt!

A couple months late but its all good because this quilt is just for me:)

This quilt was made using the free block Modern Christmas Tree pattern at Diary of a Quilter HERE.

It finishes at 63 x 68. 9 blocks across by 8 blocks down.

I just love these wonky trees. They were super easy to make.

I decided to hand quilt this one using Big Stitch Quilting! This was super fun and goes pretty quickly. I uses a 12wt Aurifil thread. This really makes the stitches stand out. I think it adds a lot to the wonky feel with the folk style stitching.

HERE is a video on how to do Big Stitch Hand Quilting.

Keep it Sassy♥

You can find and follow TheSassyQuilter  on Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin’, Instagram, Twitter or by email updates(form on right sidebar)!