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 ...