Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Behavior Modification for Quilters

My husband and I have two sons, and we sometimes use incentives to encourage desirable behavior. Our younger son, for example, is supposed to wear hearing aids but doesn’t tolerate the sensation of having a little chunk of (very expensive!) plastic in his ears. So we started with getting him to hold a hearing aid in his hand for 10 seconds and rewarding him with a TV show or iPad time. We worked up from there ... holding for 20 seconds, for 30 seconds, touching a hearing aid to his ears, etc. The plan is working: Now he’ll tolerate a hearing aid—not turned on yet!—in his ear for several seconds. On my good days, I call this “positive reinforcement.” On my more cynical days, I call it “bribery.”

If that strategy works for a 5-year-old, surely it could work for that 5-year-old’s mama. My challenge? Not to eat any Halloween candy.

Perhaps other people could eat a piece a day or whatever and not fall off the deep end. I knew that for me, though, one Kit Kat would lead to two Kit Kats, if not half a bag of them. (And it really is about avoiding the Kit Kats—they’re the gateway candy to harder stuff, like Milky Ways, Almond Joys, and anything with dark chocolate.)

If I could endure an entire month coexisting with Halloween candy in my house, I would buy myself some just-because-I-like-it fabric. I’m happy to report I succeeded. I haven’t been an angel—I still ate my fair share of cake over my sister’s baby-shower weekend and had a Swedish fish here and there (Swedish fish are a staple in our pantry, not Halloween loot). But look what my self-control earned me ...


Eep—I know! I’m a big Basic Grey fan, and I’ve been very excited about the design house’s most recent line for Moda, Mon Ami.

I consider this one of the focal prints in the line. Isn’t it dreamy?


Ack! And these dots—they’re perfect for stashing!

Here are some other peeks of the line,
including Basic Grey’s signature Grunge in charcoal.

I rarely buy an entire line, but I didn’t stash enough of an earlier Basic Grey line—PB&J—before it went out of production and I didn’t want to make the same mistake with Mon Ami. I don’t have immediate plans for these 40 fats. They will have to “age” in my stash until I find the perfect project for them. : )

Are there new lines you’ve got your eyes on? Do tell!

Linking up to Let’s Bee Social, Sunday Stash, and Sew Cute Tuesday ...

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18 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your new stash additions! Those are some lovely pieces - well worth giving up the Kit Kats for. My mom has a little plaque in her kitchen that reads, "I would give up chocolate, but I'm no quitter!" But this would make any quilter think twice!

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  2. A fabulous idea - I do something similar with housework. If I wash the dishes, I can spend time quilting! :) Lovely loot.

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  3. This post...oh man. I'm totally giggling over here. Why??? Because I SO GET YOU. I have my own challenge going over here, and if I succeed, I'm buying some serious Tula business. :)

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  4. Well, to be honest, pretty much all of Moda's lines would be quite welcome in my stash! Oh boy, think I might have to put this one on my Christmas list. I like your incentive for getting it. :-) congrats!

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  5. dropped by to say "hi" from Let's Bee Social, good for you with the candy and fabric reward, I can't have anything like that in the house because I have to eat the whole pack, I've never been a 'just one' person, my 'that's enough for now/you're full' sensor def doesn't work. Good luck with the hearing aid, positive reinforcement/bribery, doesn't matter as long as your youngest happily wears it in the end - Chris @madebyChrissieD :D

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  6. You can call it want you want, but I call it just plain smart! As another BG fan, I can see why you would want to add this bundle to your sttsh. I've been eyeing the houses from this series, and the bikes in the tulip field are just too darn cute!

    One of the frustrations about living in Germany is how long it can take for fabrics to hit the market here, but on the plus side, sometimes you can still find fabrics once they've long been sold out States side. Here are a few fabrics that I found still from the PB& J series if you are still looking for them:

    Quiltmania.de and select the down arrow beside Kollektion/Titelreihe and then you will find a jelly roll and another pre-cut.

    Also here has a few fabrics for the collection.

    http://de.dawanda.com/search?q=pb%26j and then again here: http://de.dawanda.com/product/85632779-moda-patchwork-basic-grey-pbj

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  7. Love your fabric reward system...great payoff!

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  8. Congratulations on avoiding the candy. Great reward! Love those dots.

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  9. Ooh, I've been eyeing that bundle myself. Congrats on your self control AND your reward!!! :)

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  10. I really like that! Fabric for good behavior. I think I should try it. =D I've been so good nt buying fabric lately though... that collection is gorgeous!

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  11. Great stash additions, great positive reinforcement!

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  12. Behavior modification in our household is standard operating procedure. Not sure if it works best for 5 year olds, children with sensory issues, or just all kids in general, but if it works, so much the better. And for the record, my little 5 year old guy sounds so much like yours. We had to do that with clothing.

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  13. Congrats on avoiding the candy, and earning some lovely fabric along the way! I love those dots...they may need to find their way into my stash too :)

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  14. Yay! It sounds like yay's are deserved all around. :D I might have to find a behavior to modify with some Bright Sun fabric... :D

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  15. Thanks for sharing your fabric and your process! What if I need to modify the behavior "keep buying fabric when there is plenty in the stash"? Any help in that department?
    I want one of the Tula Pink wide back fabrics, in the glazed finish with the giant polka dots and the birds. 'Course, I would need a quilt to put it on the back of, right?

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  16. Congrats and have fun with playing with all that fabric.Love what you ndowith your sun.

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  17. Beautiful fabrics! I have my eyes on a few collections, particularly Good Neighbors and the new release of Medocino. There's just so much fabric to love!

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  18. Kit kat bars ARE a gateway to harder things! No truer words have ever been typed Michelle! Great pick with Mon Ami, those dots are to die for.

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