Thursday, December 31, 2015

Happy New Year!

I hope 2016 will be a great year for you...and me!
I bought myself a Christmas present the day after Christmas!  On sale and free shipping, and it arrived yesterday.  Mind you, the thing weighed 130 pounds, but I did manage to get it thru the front door, but then had to open it in the hallway, and carry each piece downstairs individually!  Started putting it together yesterday afternoon and had some problems.  Then had to quit and take another shower because I meet friends for dinner on Wednesday night and I sweat like a horse struggling with the thing!
I tried again this morning, and finally called my friend to help me -- took him very little time and thankfully he was already in Rockford, since he lives 30 minutes from me.  Thanks again, Bob.

I've had all this fabric donated and its been in bags and boxes and stacks all over the studio and I had no idea how much of what I had.  The four cubes on the bottom, and three on the next row are all filled with backing fabrics -- yardage enough for at least 1 quilt and in some cases for two, three or more.  I quilted two kids quilts while I was filling the cubes today and one of them was a shamrock quilt -- halfway thru the quilting I found a piece of shamrock fabric that would have been perfect for the backing!The second shelf from the top is smaller pieces to be used to make the fronts of the quilts, and the top row is scraps and orphan blocks and already cut strips and squares.  I still have a pile of scraps and cut squares to add to those cubes, but my back was killing me and I have some computer work to finish for church.  So, tomorrow I will be cleaning up my mess and getting the rest of the fabric in the cubes and sorted a little better.  I also have 11 bolts of fabric that was donated for backings, so I think we're good for both kids quilts and quilts for the homeless for awhile.  It is so much better being able to see what I have now - I'll have to have my piecers come over and pick out their own fabrics for the quilts!
I'm off to do my computer work.
Until next time.....blessings, and Happy New Year!

Friday, December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas!

Youngest grandson, Mikey, in his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles robe and slippers he got for Christmas today!  He's 5. Had a great Christmas with my kids and grandkids at my daughter's house, came home and took a nap!

Now it's time to start thinking about the new year, which 
I've actually been doing for the past month anyway.  I'm not doing new years resolutions this year, for the first time, but I am doing goals.  And some I've already started on.  Also trying to make new routines.

So, first goal is to lose 5 pounds a month.  Routine: make it a habit to exercise at least 3 days a week (I have a treadmill and weight bench in the basement - and hoping to make use of them in 2016!).  Also am going to make a new routine of making up menus every week, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and follow them!  They will be flexible enough that if I go out to breakfast or lunch, I will still be able to lose weight.  So, new routine is also to make it a lifestyle change and start eating much healthier than I do -- I'm not fond of cooking and cooking for one is not fun at all, so this will be a goal that I will really need to work at.

Another goal/routine, which I've already started and done the past few weeks, is to pick one spot that needs cleaning out and do it once a week.  I've done the cupboard in the kitchen that holds leftover plastics and cups (you know -- every time you open the cupboard door, the containers fall on your head!) - but not anymore at my house!  I've done my bathroom cabinet -- first week was just the two drawers and second week was the rest of the cabinet.  Found stuff I didn't know I had! Next week is the shelf unit in my closet that has cloth drawers in it that I stuffed with extra sheets, etc. because my linen closet barely holds the towels!  Week after that might be another shelf in that closet, or it might be something else that's bugging me!  Not making things overwhelming -- just one small area at a time.

I have quilting goals too. And for 2016 it's not just going to be quilts for the homeless and for kids.  I want to spend some time on my own projects.  I want to finish some ufo's, but I'm not going to put a number to how many - just finish some.  I'm forming a group with a couple of friends to get together once a month for show and tell, work on our own projects, including ufo's, and eat soup for lunch!  And maybe even work on a quilt together -- exchange blocks and each of us make our own version of the same quilt.  

And, of course, I'll still be working on homeless quilts and kids quilts -- I have 8 tops to be quilted right now for the homeless, and I think 8 for the kids too, but I'm going to try to not let them takeover all my quilting time.  

So, that's some of my goals for the new year, what are some of yours?
 
Until next time.....blessings.

Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Been Awhile

So, this is some of what I've been up to:  today I finished piecing the 9-patches -- 235 of them to be exact.  And I can tell you I am putting them away for now, but hope to make them into a homeless quilt sometime next year.  Right now I'm sick of 9 patches!

I also have been quilting kids quilts to be given away.  We've given away 12 to the kids at church, and aiming for 50 more to give to the Motherhouse Crisis Nursery in Rockford, IL.
It takes about twice as long to load these little quilts as it does for the Statler to quilt them!  I quilted 3 this afternoon, and loaded another one to start with next time.  They are only 36" square, but the kids at church loved theirs.

I'm done with therapy on my hand.  Still have some fine motor skills to get back, but I'm right handed and I don't have fine motor skills there either! (smile).  I have tried to knit a little and as long as I don't try to use tiny needles (like I was using for knitting socks), I think it's going to work.  I don't knit fast, or for very long, but so far I don't have pain - and that was the point! And if the fabric isn't too thin, I can hold pieces together for appliqueing too.

Last week I was down with a cold, so that put me out of commission for a week -- just couldn't even drag myself downstairs to sew or quilt.  I did read a lot.  I'm now half way through book 7 of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  One more after this one.  Sometimes the story gets a little bogged down, but I've been pretty good about perservering!

I'm making a list of projects/things I want to accomplish next year. It'll be a general list -- probably not any hard deadlines to finish, but I have so many things that are half done, or almost finished and a lot that have a long way to go yet, so I want to at least get them a little organized in my mind!  There will be a few things that will have deadlines on them too. 

Until next time....blessings.