I’ve been working at growing my blog since I started it over a year ago and am super excited about this GROW YOUR BLOG event! Thank you Vicki at 2 Bags Full for coordinating it!
My name is Zenia Rene and I am a quilter. I started quilting in 2011, thanks to my friend Mel who was so persistent in me going to “Quilting”. You can read more about that, here. I feel quilting is a gift from God. You can read about why, here.
I started blogging about quilting in 2013 to give my family, coworkers and non-quilting friends a break from all my “quilty” talk. And...I wanted to share this incredible, God-given, quilting passion with others who love and appreciate it as much as I do. The funny thing is, I hated writing when I was in school. However, when I start/finish a new project, find a new pattern/tool, or make a great fabric score, I just have to write about it and share it w/the quilting/blogging world!
I do work full time, but I’m looking to go part-time real soon. My 3 kids are all adults but my 2 sons still live at home. I have 2 grand-kids and my daughter is due to have her 3rd child in about 3 weeks. I’m still single, but very much desire to be married someday. I’m a born-again Christian and enjoy going to church. I recently bought a bass guitar and named it Ruby. If I ever take the time to practice, I might get good enough to play Ruby in the worship band at church…which is my goal.
My creating process is pretty simple. I keep two lists. An extra long list of Quilts I Want to Make and another list, not quite as long of Peeps to Make Quilts For. I choose a pattern and a peep then pick out fabric based on their favorite color/colors. If I’m not making a quilt w/a specific peep in mind, I choose fabric based on what I like and want to put together. A lot of the time, my choice is scrappy. I am quite fond of scrappy! (I also adore pieced backings and I don’t think they have to match the front of the quilt at all) I usually get all the cutting out of the way in the beginning, then I start piecing. I never get bored because I always have multiple projects going at once. I’m sure some would disagree, but I feel this process makes me more productive. I made 22 quilts in 2014!
My writing mostly coincides w/the progress of the various projects I’m working on. Rarely, if ever, do I write anything philosophical. However, I do like to end each post w/something encouraging; be it scripture, song lyrics or just words of wisdom from devotions or other quotes. I call it A Thread for Life.
This is one of my current projects which I’m in the process of quilting. I call it Walk Like An Egyptian. The pattern is Broken Chevron and written by the very talented Jan at The Colorful Fabriholic. It was an honor to be one of your pattern testers Jan!
I follow a bunch quilters via Blogger, Instagram and G+, many who are mothers of young and/or multiple children and it seems like they quilt and post constantly! I have no idea how the heck they do it! I think many of them are stay-at-home moms. But even then…how they juggle motherhood, homeschooling, quilting/crafting, AND still have time to blog and post so often, truly AMAZES me…and makes me a little envious. KUDOS to you ALL!
Several months ago I committed to writing 1x/week and had been meeting that commitment for quite awhile, but lately I’ve been slacking. On my honor I will try… to get back on the 1x/week blogging track soon.
Thanks for stopping by! If you are so inclined, follow me! I look forward to visiting your blogs too!
Until next time, Happy Quilting and God Bless!
A Thread for Life
What’s The Good Of Prayer? Lord, teach us to pray. — Luke 11:1
It is not part of the life of a natural man to pray. We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; the Bible’s idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.
When a man is at his wits’ end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get into touch with Reality. Be yourself before God and present your problems, the things you know you have come to your wits’ end over. As long as you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.
It is not so true that “prayer changes things” as that prayer changes me and I change things. God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of Redemption alters the way in which a man looks at things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man’s disposition.
– Oswald Chambers
A Quilted Passion 
Walk like an Egyptian is gorgeous!!!
Oh I think you and Ruby will make beautiful music together in that church of yours, Zenia. You and she will lift up many lyrical and harmonious psalms to the heavens, praising God! I am constantly chatting to my Heavenly Father…he has a very attentive and understanding ear. Wow….22 quilts in one year, I am very impressed! I adore scrappy quilts, there is something about using up li'l scraps to fashion a beautiful quilt. Your 'Walk Like an Egyptian' quilt is very striking! So, so happy to party along with you. I look forward to seeing what lovely quilts you stitch this year!
14 quilts! You have been a busy lady. I've always noticed that you name your quilts but just realized you are a “namer” when you shared your bass. I only name things that breath for some reason. I hope you expand your readership with this blog hop. I'd sign up but I've been following you for quite some time now. Blessings!
Good morning, I am visiting from the party-wow that is allot of quilts made in one year-I do some quilting too-nice to meet-enjoy the party
Kathyinozarks
Wow 14 quilts in one year. Happy quilting.
Hi zenia Rene! I enjoyed reading your post and getting to know ya even a little more! Ya know I'm a happy followe and an glad we met! Enjoy the hop! V
Fourteen quilts in one year! That is fabulous! Great blog.
Found you on the Grow Your Blog list and I'm so glad to stop by. How in the world did you get 14 quilts done in one year? I'm amazed! Enjoyed your blog.
Thank you for joining with GYB, Zenia. I know how it is when all you want to do is talk about quilts! Blogging is a wonderful outlet. Looking forward to reading more, and a new follower.
Julie
I'm visiting from GYB. I also love quilting but make bags mostly. I'd love to find more time for quilting. Yours are lovely. Btw you look way to young to be a granny LOLL
Good Morning and welcome to Grow Your Blog Party. I get to officially welcome you and I must say that I enjoyed reading your blog and admire your quilting. I can quilt but I don't have the time because my passion is hand embroidery. My mother taught me a long time ago. I enjoy looking at other people's passion. Family is special and god is with us as we journey through life and some of our most trying times. Have fun blog hopping and I hope you make a lot of new friends. Shirley@shirleystitches
Hello Zenia. My first visit to your blog via Grow your blog. It is my first time participating too. Love your work. Good luck with your musical goal. ;^)
I've so enjoyed knowing you Zenia and it was fun to read more about you! I always enjoy your Thread for Life at the end of your posts 🙂
Glad to meet you and great to see I am not the only one to quilt on a small machine! Can't wait to see what you do next. L
I like your selection process. I, too, have a list of quilts I want to make and have, in mind, people for whom I want to quilt. I need to link them up!
Hi Zenia, as I've been finding, your post are always a joy to read, full of energy, inspiration and beautiful quilts. I look forward to following you this year.
Blog hopping with “Grow Your Blog”. Its so great to meet you. Wishing you the best!!
I have been following your blog (and IG) for a while but I so enjoyed reading your story today! I saw from your Etsy shop that you live in Avondale. Small world! I visit about twice a year. My son lives in Avondale too along with his little family. I hope to head over there again in February or March. Would love to hear more about your church.
Katy, sew4given AT aol DOT com
Blog hopping from Grow Your Blog. Enjoyed stopping by. Love the photo of you and guitar! Do hope you find your way back to meeting your writing commitment. I enjoyed my visit.
hopped on over from grow your blog, and i have to say that the broken chevron quilt looks super cool! i am equally impressed with the 22 quilts you made last year. i did about 14, and that was crazy as well! fantastic 🙂
Hi Zenia Rene! On behalf of Vicki @ 2 Bags Full, welcome to the 2015 Grow Your Blog hop! I am a quilty blogger too. I love your Walk Like an Eqyptian quilt. I got an acoustic guitar for Christmas that I'm learning to play. I usually play a few songs right before sitting at the sewing machine or long arm. It's very relaxing. It is so nice to meet you. I'll be following. Have a lovely day!
following you now, i am a quilter from Ga. Came over from Vicki's list
Hi Zenia Rene! I found your blog through the Grow Your Blog Party! Your quilt is beautiful. I am a Quilter too.. I will be following your posts!
Your “Walk Like An Egyptian” quilt turned out real pretty. Hope to see you soon. HUGS!
What a lovely quilting blog! Found you on the Grow your Blog party! I am amazed at how you can manage so many open projects at a time! I loved seeing all the quilts you made just last year! So inspiring!
I look forward to seeing more of you and your writing….Your devotion was lovely and I can't wait to read more. I joined your blog and I found you at the GYB party! Thanks for posting.
I found you through the Grow Your Blog party. Congratulations on your very productive 2014! I am also a have-many-quilt-projects-going-at-once kind of quilter. 😉
I commend you for quilting. Needles and threads are not my friends but I envy those that get along.
I've become a Follower … because that's what this party is all about. I hope you'll find me over at SuZeQ Creations and follow me.
Happy blogging!
SuZeQ
I love the simplicity of your two lists. You've got a lot of quilting done in just a few years. I'm following with the GYB hop.
Good morning Zenia. I am visiting from the NSW Central Coast, (Australia) and I found you on the GYB list. Good on you for embracing the new challenge of learning to play Ruby!
Hi, Zenia! (Love your name – mine's Zenda!!!!) I've recently retired and taken up quilting, along with a few other crafts, again. I don't know HOW you made all of those quilts last year while still working!! You must be a DEDICATED quilter!! I'm visiting from GYB and am a new follower. Hopefully I'll get some great inspiration from you! Z
Hi, Zenia. I enjoyed reading your blog. I quilt and am presently trying to learn to play the mandolin, so I completely understand about practicing. I will follow and come back to check again.
You are awesome! The best.. 🙂
Great post, looks like you have lots of new visitors and followers!
Walk Like An Egyptian is looking great. Thanks for the shout-out and for pattern testing for me!
Hi Zenia,
I found you via GYBP. What a great post and those quilts….wonderful!
You must have a lot of dedication and ENERGY !! 🙂
I'm a Christian too.
I love the words of Oswald Chambers,
I read his meditations for years now and always
find new things in them.
The slideshow of your family is lovely. You are so blessed ! I hope you will find your farmer 🙂 !
Thank you for sharing !
I'm a follower now.
Blessings to you and your loved ones !!
Wilma. Shabby Royale
Hi:) I clicked on your blog from Colorful Fabriholic and this is the first I've heard of the GYB thing. I love your energy! Maybe if I follow you some of it will rub off on me? 🙂
Hi Zenia,
I come visiting by way of Vicki's Grow Your Blog party. I love your quilts! I tried quilting but discovered that I didn't have what it took to be so precise. I was amazed at how precise one needs to be when quilting. I do look forward to reading more of your posts.
Terry
wow 22 quilts in a year – that sounds pretty productive to me! I liked your note at the end – it is so true that we can get in line with God and that is the way prayer is answered.
All those quilts in one year? Wow!! I'm just mustering my courage to start my first one. Thank you for inviting us over!
Wow! 22 quilts in one year is quite impressive – and they are lovely! (I have spent the past 2 months working on just one quilt for a blog hop at Sew We Quilt. 22 really does amaze me!) I look forward to seeing more of your quilts in the future!
Zenia, I loved reading this post! I learned more about you. Love the way your posts end, too. I am already a follower, but will be reading more often. I am sorry I've been so lax in commenting on blogs. I've gotten so caught up in life and health issues, that I've fallen behind. Good luck on learning the bass guitar. My grandson got a guitar for Christmas and has started lessons. I'm wanting to learn, too! I'm also a Christian and sing in our choir. Hugs and God Bless
10 Minutes a day is a great habit! well done (from a GYB'er)
Sounds like you have a lot of irons in the fire.
You sure are one busy gal,
GROW YOUR BLOG
Laura
Great job! you do amazing work, GYB!!!
~Corrie
In your “My Makes” section I love the fourth picture down (third quilt down). You do beautiful work. I am currently learning to quilt. I am also a follower of The Lord Jesus Christ! I look forward to your posts. Have a wonderful day!
Wow, I am in awe of the number of quilts you can do in a year in your free time. Lovely! Visiting from GYB.
Ruby looks quite beautiful, and I'm sure you'll make her sound beautiful in no time!
I've also wondered how prolific bloggers do it all, but I secretly think that they don't. Something has to slide, sometimes, I'm sure!!! All we see are the pictures they want to show…we don't see the dirty dishes and the dust bunnies (or the cleaning lady!), but I'm sure they exist!
Hi there, nice to meet you. Decided to follow you on bloglovin. You have many pretty quilts
Hello Zenia, I am visiting from the Grow your blog tour 🙂 I am not part of the tour as I didn't find out about it in time but am always looking for new friends who have the same interests as I. I have enjoyed your post. We have several common interests… faith, quilting and sharing love through quilts. I am a bit slower than you but enjoy the journey of it all. My journey includes my 3 daughters and their families- making sweet memories with stitching in-between. I invite you to visit me at http://thegirlfriendgap.blogspot.com. I look forward to seeing more of your posts and quilts. Janita
Amen! Janet