Your hobby can help you in your Retirement Kim Jamieson-Hirst is a YouTube superstar and a pretty big deal in the quilting world! I brought her on the show to not only talk about her hobby of quilting but how ANY hobby can help you in your retirement. Kim is the owner of Chatterbox Quilts in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She started quilting more than a decade ago and initially thought it was boring. But after her friends encouraged her to try and enroll in a quilting course, she became addicted and started her business in 2008. Her designs and articles have been featured in Quilter’s Connection magazine, Irish Quilting, The Country Register, and Bustle & Sew ezine. Kim is the creator of Unloved and Unappreciated: Finding the Hidden Value in Vintage Sewing Machines and is currently working on more online courses to help quilters reclaim their joy in the craft. If you think quilting isn't for you or might “boring”, think again! We talked about the various kinds of equipment used as well as the different kinds of quilts there are. It's quite fascinating! You will also discover during this interview, that I know absolutely nothing about quilting! We also discussed her YouTube channel called Chatterboxquilts. It teaches her followers how to quilt, how to use machines for quilting, and so much more! She's also a blogger, and Kim also works part-time at a French immersion elementary school. Busy lady! What started her project is her passion to share her knowledge with other quilters so that they could enjoy their craft more. Just like our previous guest, Ellen Williamson, Kim's quilting is more of a “jobby”. Kim goes into greater detail in her freebie, but her tips for reclaiming joy in your hobby are: * Join groups that have the same hobby as you! * Exchanging ideas and earning more friends that have the same hobby as you will help you a lot. * Don't compare yourself to others. * Everyone is unique. You may be good at quilting and not at woodworking. * Give yourself permission to stop working on a project. * Sometimes, you might feel like you're not enjoying what you are doing anymore. It's okay to stop. Time is too short to work on things that you're no longer enjoying. * Don't feel guilty about the time you spent in working on your hobby. * You can't buy happiness. If you love what you are doing, just keep on doing it! Also, hobbies are good for your mental and emotional health. * Stop, but don't quit! * You might feel that you're not having fun on what you're doing. Take a break. If you would like to download, 5 Steps to Reclaiming the Joy in your Hobby, it can be found at http://RockYourRetirement.com/Hobby Kim's contact information is: Email: kim@chatterboxquilts.com * Website: www.chatterboxquilts.com It doesn't matter whether you enjoy quilting, sports, cars, or even steam trains, it is important to find a hobby (or several) as your hobby can help you in your retirement. What is your hobby? Share it with us in the notes below. This post about retirement and Retirement Lifestyle first appeared on http://RockYourRetirement.