"RETARDED" GRANDPARENTS

The cows are sold. The $$$ is in the bank. Last cow was milked 3 weeks ago. So My Sweetie is officially retired. It is rather anti-climactic after doing this daily for 51 years. Transition is the word that was spoken to me today. You think? I found this on facebook the other day in the memories section. No idea the original source. 

RETARDED GRANDPARENTS - (this was actually reported by a teacher)

After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their holiday away from school.

One child wrote the following:

We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa.

They used to live in a big brick house but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Batemans Bay where everyone lives in nice little houses, and so they don't have to mow the grass anymore!

They ride around on their bicycles and scooters and wear name tags because they don't know who they are anymore.

They go to a building called a wreck centre, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now. They do exercises there, but they don't do them very well.

There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with hats on.

At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape. Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts!

Nobody there cooks, they just eat out.

And, they eat the same thing every night --- early birds.

Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house. The ones who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked centre for pot luck.

My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too.

When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will let people out, so they can visit their grandchildren.

PRICELESS!

Happiest of New Years to Everyone

Blessings,

Chris

Spoiled

We are so spoiled these days. We have central heat and thermal windows and electricity.

My husbands' grandmother Bertha lived in this house for about 35 years without any of those things. She hand quilted many beautiful quilts. His mother has a few of those she has been keeping safe for the past 50 years. Well, maybe more like 73 years since she moved into this old farmhouse when she married her farmer in 1948. Electricity was installed in the barn first, then the house in 1946 after Bertha died. The house was still heated with woodstoves and cooking was done on an old Gurney cook stove. It sits in the back kitchen.

I wonder when they put in indoor plumbing? The bathroom was installed in the mid-1950s. We replaced some of those rusted old pipes 5 years ago. The kitchen was renovated in 1963 when they put in lots of cupboards and a counter. Those were made to fit between the door to the back kitchen, the door to the basement and the door to the upstairs. There are 3 other doors in the farm kitchen. One to the outside, one to the living room which used to be the dining room and the other to the hall that leads to the other stairs, the parlour/quilt room and the laundry room and bathroom. 

The old quilts are in storage still after the fire last February. The renovations are not yet complete. Several years ago, Ava and I went to visit Great Grandma and took pictures of those quilts. I will locate them one of these days on a jump drive somewhere in this old 180-year-old house that not only has electricity and central heat but wifi, thermal windows, and many indoor plants. 

Blessings,

Chris

Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses

Is it a project if it is in a project box? I was not planning to start a new quilt. Nor was I planning to start a new project. But on a zoom party with Chooky and friends the other night, I got coerced into cutting out a few Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses pieces. Several of the girls there were working on their blocks as we chattered from around the world for hours and hours. 

I located the book I bought at the last Shipshewana Retreat I attended nearly 3 years ago. It was in the first place I looked. Fancy that.

Then I found the EPP papers I had purchased back in 2015 

For now I have cut out many elongated hexagons using left over fabrics from the Betsy Chutian collections I have. I like the softer look of these reproduction colours. 

So, it is not a new project started in 2022. Nor is it a Block of the Month or Block of the Week. I will work on it when I work on it. Probably on zoom meetings with friends from around the world.

Blessings,

Chris

linking with: ninamariesayre on-off-wall.   wendysquiltsandmore.peacock party

To-Do Tuesday

Last week's list:

1. Finish the invoice thing - done and picked up last Tuesday
2. Morning Pages - done most days
3. Daily blog posts -  missed a few over the long weekend when we went away
4. Review all my manuscripts and  make a plan to move forward
5. Enjoy a quiet Christmas weekend - amazing
6. Do the hot tub thing - a few times now
7. Water and deadhead the geraniums - cleaning lady is in today
8. Book covid booster appointment - still trying

This week's list:

1. Continue reviewing manuscripts
2. Clear my quilting workspaces
3. Eat all the rest of the holiday chocolate
4. Make more turkey soup
5. Make leek potato soup
6. Buy leeks
7. Hot tub again and again and again . . . 
8. Book that booster appointment
9. Zoom sewing

That should keep me out of trouble this week.

Blessings,

Chris

The Morning Pages

What are the Morning Pages you might ask? Well, let me tell you. It is writing three pages of whatever comes to your mind first thing in the morning. Simple and yet most profound. Julia Cameron, the author of the Artist's Way, teaches on this practice and millions have jumped on board and had their lives changed.

The purpose is to unblock the creative within ourselves. For me, it was one way to stop the mental squirrels in my head from running laps distracting me from focusing on completing my doctorate. And it worked! It really did! It took me 7 years to submit 7 courses then 3 months to submit 5 courses. And now I am Dr. Christina.

I wrote 3 handwritten pages every morning as soon as I got up. It is writing from the stream of consciousness when I was barely awake and starting to think and be rational. I started a new morning routine. Get up around 5-6. Bathroom. Turn on kettle ( I took one upstairs for this purpose). Make my bed. Make my tea. Start writing. Take out tea bag. This all takes about 5 minutes. Write for 3 pages then stop, about 40 minutes (I do not write that fast). Breakfast then 10-12 hours of coursework. I even had time to take a nap and was in bed by 9 most nights.

There are a few simple rules:

• Write first thing in the morning before you are fully awake.
• This is called stream-of-conscious writing.
• Write 3 pages. No more. No less. 
• Write longhand.
• Use an 8 1/2 by 11 notebook. 
• No thinking. 
• No analyzing.
• No stressing.
• No censoring.
• No editing. 
• Just write whatever comes to your head.
• It does not have to be pretty.
• Do not read anything you have written for 3 months.
• Do not let anyone see what you have written.  

This may not be for everyone, but it has worked for me with my ADHD brain. Now to tweak the process a bit and complete my next book. 

 

Blessings,

Chris 

Thread

 Can we ever have too much thread? Well, maybe not. I usually work on 3-4 different hand stitcheries at a time and pull out the threads I need and put them into a small project box. but I seldom return everything when I am done. Still have a few days to get my Dec OMG organizing done. 

I was looking for the perfect turquoise thread for an Ella Block before we left to spend the weekend with the little boys for Christmas and pulled out all these see-through containers looking for the thread I had used on the last block I stitched on who knows when since it was so long ago. In the end, I did no stitching but lots of snuggling and eating. 

Now to get ready to spend the afternoon with Chooky and friends on zoom and some Slow Stitching. 

Blessings,

Chris

To-Do Tuesday

 This week's list:

1. Finish the invoice thing
2. Morning Pages - I promised a post about this
3. Daily blog posts
4. Review all my manuscripts and  make a plan to move forward
5. Enjoy a quiet Christmas weekend
6. Do the hot tub thing
7. Water and deadhead the geraniums
8. Book covid booster 

Last weeks list:

1. Daily blog posts - yes
2. Morning Pages - missed one
3. Print off invoices - still working on it
4. Pay CPP and WSIB - not yet
5. Cut more pieces for the Macaron Mystery. - yes but not all yet
6. Stitch 15 Minutes a day - nope
7. Make turkey soup - done  
8. Buy some more vegetables for the soup - done
9. Freeze the extra soup - done
10. Get a pedicure. Made an appointment for tomorrow - done done
11. Attend the boys' Christmas presentation. It was rescheduled
12. Sleepover at the boys' house - just went for the day because it had snowed the day before and we chose not to drive that far. 

The Little Boys

The calendar tells me that tomorrow is the first official day of winter. Snow and cold arrived a few days ago. We had to scrape ice and snow off the car yesterday before taking the 1 hour and 20-minute drive to join the little boys at their Sunday morning church service.

The concert they have been rehearsing for the past 2 months was postponed until Jan because of the increase of covid cases in their town. They sang one number and participated in object lessons for their dad the pastor's sermon. It was fun to watch little David stand there so still on the platform as his dad wrapped a rope around him as he explained how sin so easily entangles us. Then he unwrapped it explaining how repentance and forgiveness set us free. He invited David to jump for joy like they had rehearsed, but the boy just stood there and glared. As he came back to sit with us, he quietly stated that that was so embarrassing. Our David - embarrassed? Where did this come from?

Jonathan read the scripture in his best grade 2 ability and squeezed a globe beach ball to demonstrate how God loves the whole world not just some. 

After lunch, we played a great game of Settlers of Catan. The boys have been learning how and the little beggers won! David first (with a bit of help from Gramma sorting his cards and Jonathan next as we all took one more turn each. The game lasted a good 3 hours so kudos to the little boys. We hadn't played in several years and they chose the more complicated Fog Island version. There is only one rule. No crying. So Grampa and I didn't.

Blessings,

Chris

Back Basting and Muffins

 My handwork for Slow Sunday Stitching. 

The retired framer made potato leek soup earlier this week and banana muffins last night. I think it will be fun to have him around the house more.

Blessings,

Chris

Respondiong to Comments

 One of the fun parts of blogging is connecting with quilters around the world. One of the challenging things of posting daily is responding to comments in a timely fashion. Since I am hovering here daily I look for comments and approve them. I had to set comments to be approved because they were not showing up. And yes, I have had spam.

I have met some of the most amazing quilters from around the world and I even flew to Australia one time and went to a quilt show with one. Fun. Fun. I visited several quilt shops too. 

I have had interesting dialogues with many quilters and others we just exchange a comment to two. I could sit here all day and communicate with every single one and never get any sewing done. My blog list has over 100 names and I try to read every one of them. Then I see others and consider adding them. But how many can I realistically keep track of? 

I love the linky parties where I get to link my blog post with others and receive many more comments. Sometimes I have had 200-300 page views. That is fun to see. I love to have comments from new viewers and read their blogs. 

I have joined Chooky and Friends on zoom meetings quite a few times in the past couple of years. One of the positive things about the whole covid lockdown has been meeting quilters online, face to face. Sometimes I get lots of mindless work done, like tearing papers off the back of foundation pieced blocks, and other times I have hand appliqued or done prep work. I cannot talk and sew, so I have enjoyed just hanging out and listening to the conversations. I have a group I host. Some of us used to meet here in person at the Farm to quilt together. Now we meet some Saturday mornings. 

I don't always respond to comments right away. And why is that? I don't have time? I don't know what to say beyond a simple thank you? I do not see the comments right away? They have to be approved? Answering a question gives me an opportunity to explain it in the comments on the blog post?  If I do not comment or see it right away and wait, I totally forget to go back and reply? 

So for all the people who have made comments and I have not responded I apologize. One of my 2022 goals should be to correspond more promptly and more frequently. 

Blessings,

Chris

PhD in 2022

I have not taken part in Quilting Gail's PhD program before because I could not commit to trying to complete 12 ufos. I did complete my own Doctorate in Ministry Christian Counseling this past year. The rules state that you have to complete 12 unfinished projects including binding and labels. Not just tops. And any new starts must be completed within the year otherwise they become more ufos and who wants that? And, since I am not exactly planning to start any new projects, I stand a chance at some completions. 

This is the same list as the Quilting Jet Girl's 2022 Planning Party. 

1. Bright Jane
2. Corn and Beans
3. Summer QAL
4. The Curves
5. Disappearing 9-Patch
6. Disappearing 4-Patch
7. Dolls of the World
8. Ella Maria Deacon
9. 3030 Sampler
10. 1857 Album
11. Serendipity
12. Bricks and Mortar

Blessings,

Chris

Buying Milk

So the retired dairy farmer went to town the other day to buy milk. Yes. He bought milk. For the first time E.V.E.R. He brought home the 3.25% Homo milk. 

2022 Planning Party

 

This past month I have decluttered nearly half of my fabric. I also donated more than a dozen unfinished quilts reducing the ufo numbers.

In no particular order, my quilting ufo completion goal for the coming year will be the following: 

1. Bright Jane
2. Corn and Beans
3. Summer QAL
4. The Curves
5. Disappearing 9-Patch
6. Disappearing 4-Patch
7. Dolls of the World
8. Ella Maria Deacon
9. 3030 Sampler
10. 1857 Album
11. Serendipity
12. Bricks and Mortar

blessings,

Chris

linking with /quiltingjetgirl./2022planningparty/

To-Do Tuesday

 Last week's list:

• ALL the prep work for a turkey dinner for 15-20 people. With head colds and double shifts, we ended up with 10. Let the left-over eating begin! Well, we did that already.
• Shopping for some of that dinner. I forgot the cornstarch. 
• Not whining about the work it takes to do this. I did not whine. Neither did I do a lot of housework. That is what the cleaning lady does.
• I have a cleaning lady coming in Thurs to do the cleaning so I do not have to do it. Canceled her because one of the girls got sent home from school with a positive covid in her class. She ended up going to mom's for the weekend and miss the dinner but not the leftovers.
• Make sure the clean-up gets done after the party. I just went into the other room and visited with those who had come early and helped with preparations. 
• No stress here since the guests usually roll up their sleeves and clear away everything and wash up the dishes. 
• I could use paper plates like we did for the anniversary. I bought Christmas paper plates but forgot to check to see if we still had plastic forks. Nada. We used stainless.
• Print off all the rest of the invoices in my inbox for the bookkeeper.  We are doing taxes after Christmas. Nope. Not one.
• Remember to do a blog post every day. Done.
• I am scheduling posts so should have that under control. Am writing them up daily now.
• Virtual Writing Retreat Friday before the dinner. I could write up blog posts since I can write on whichever project I want. I did not log in but read another Elm Creek Novel.
• Finish cutting out the rest of the fabrics for the Macaron Mystery. I cut out the focus fabric squares and put everything away for now to make room for people. 
• Do 15 minutes of stitching each day. You know that is not likely. I did manage this twice.

This weeks list:

1. Daily blog posts
2. Morning Pages
3. Print off invoices
4. Pay CPP and WSIB
5. Cut more pieces for the Macaron Mystery. 
6. Stitch 15 Minutes a day.
7. Make turkey soup. 
8. Buy some more vegetables for the soup. 
9. Freeze the extra soup. 
10. Get a pedicure. Made an appointment for tomorrow. 
11. Attend the boys' Christmas presentation.
12. Sleepover at the boys' house. 

That should be enough accountability for this week. I do meet with two accountability partners every Wed for my online writing group. My goal, for now, is daily blog posts.  

More Ella Blocks

 I had intended to sew up the last of the foundation pieced Ella blocks way back in June. 

I copied the foundation patterns from the downloads that I purchased monthly for half price. Four blocks a month for 21 months at $2.50 USD. But I am only making 50 of them.

And Yes, I made a royal mess more than once choosing fabrics for these blocks. I was determined to not use turkey red, chrome yellow, and poison gree. I chose my pallet from the Sussanah Scraps collection by Betsy Cutchian from Moda. 

I redrafted a few on EQ7 and was able to save and print them before whatever happened happened that I cannot find my files. 

During some of the online quilt meetings I took part in, I cut out the units and the fabrics. I decided that saving them into individual file folders would keep them together and save losing them like I am prone to do. 

I even tried sewing some of the units together, but realize that I cannot talk and sew at the same time and not make mistakes. Speaking of sewing mistakes, 8-year-old Elly has learned to use the seam ripper very well without even being told she has a mistake or crooked seam. Got to love OCD grandchildren. More on her new quilt another day. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with: smallquiltsanddollquilts.design-wall-monday

Hand Stitching for Today

 It is Sunday and very quiet here this morning so far. I have been up for about an hour and a half and wrote my Morning pages. What is that you may ask? Come back later this week and I will tell you. 

I was looking through my Ella project box looking for something to stitch by hand since it is the day we slow down and do Slow Stitching. 

Here is what I found. 

 Five blocks started and not completed. Three of them were partly stitched back in the spring and are just waiting for me to do some more back basting. Somewhere along the line, I placed each of the blocks and the extra fabrics in file folders to keep them nice and flat and together. One of the things that slow me down is continual rummaging through the fabrics and creating a mess. Now I know how to make a mess, but I am trying to get more organized so I can be more productive. 

I wonder how much progress I will make today?

Blessings,

Chris

EQ7 and Reading

 Years ago I invested in my first Electric Quilt software. I could not believe the price but bought it anyway and took time to learn how to use it. I often drafted layouts from quilt pictures I found online. In my head, I was thinking I would make every one of them someday, but in the real world, I just had a lot of files. I even designed some original, at least to me they were original, blocks and colored them up filing them to make someday. Nearly 10 years ago, just after I finished my masters, I did a lot of playing in there and drafted out all the blocks for the Farmer's Wife Sampler and printed off the foundation patterns for those 6 inch blocks because I did not want to make them the way the book suggested. Then my laptop screen went lights out. There were still 2 weeks of warrantee so, I got new lights for the screen and a new hard drive. But, in the process, I lost every document that I had not backed up. I did, fortunately back up everything three months earlier so I had all my research papers and school files. But, I lost all the EQ files. 

Now fast forward nearly 10 years and I am trying to download the EQ7 updates and cannot. But, the computer keeps trying and does not let me into the program easily. I want to call the number on the box, but you have to remember to do that during business hours. In the meantime, a window keeps opening and I cannot get rid of it. Eventually, after pressing cancel a dozen times, QE7 opens up. But, there are no saved files. Where did they go? Even before I tried the update, I could only find a few saved projects. And all those gorgeous layouts I drafted up? Missing. 

I am on the third computer since purchasing the first program. Not sure how often I can load the program into new computers. Come to think of it, when I was drafting up some blocks for the Biblical Blocks quilt last month to make by foundation piecing, it never asked me if I wanted to save the document before closing. HM.

I have somewhere around 14 people coming for a turkey dinner tomorrow. The numbers keep changing depending on who has been exposed and who has a head cold and who has to work. It all comes down to how many potatoes go into the pot. 

And what have I been doing all day? Reading of course. A book. A really paper pages book. I carried up all the Benni Harper books today and started re-reading the Elm Creek Series starting with the Christmas Quilt then the Quilter's Apprentice. What a great storyteller she is. 

Blessings,

Chris 

Quilting Goals for 2022

No, I am not going to try to complete 22 quilts this year. I plan to complete 47. Just kidding. I moved a lot of my quilting stuff over to the new quilt room back in the summer and had an idea to revisit several quilt projects and aim for some completions. 

The shelving unit was already in the corner of the new bedroom, so I just filled it up with project boxes from the endless quilting cupboard in my old bedroom. Don't tell my husband of 50 years. I don't think he has noticed them yet. The boxes are 2 rows deep. Not all of them have projects. Some projects are sorted into 3-4 boxes. Those in the top right have completed squares. The thin ones are blocks in progress. The deeper ones have all the rest of the fabric. And the really big ones have fabric collections. On the very top, out of sight, are packages of batting. 

Some of the boxes have fabrics and patterns and are labeled but not yet started so they do not count. There are a few more under the table I use as a desk in my bedroom where I try to write every day. 

Remember the 23 large bins in the back of the hall? They are in the closet now. And they have already multiplied. 

And then there will be the month of May. Time for a challenge of, say, complete a block a day for the month of May. Or, more realistically, complete 31 blocks for May. I did that one year. 

This could be an interesting list of quilts to attempt to complete. After all, I completed 5 courses for my doctorate in 3 months. I can do anything. More realistically would be to choose one closest to completion and complete it.

One of the hindrances to completing my quilts, besides starting more new ones, is that I have chosen some complex, rather large projects. Like the 100 x100 inch Beyond the Cherry Trees. This one was a hand applique project I carted along with me on many trips around the world including India, Australia, Rwanda, England, Poland, and at least 7 different States, and airports in France, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Adis Abba over 6 years. I have yet to quilt it. Another is the 100x100 Ben Biggs Wedding Quilt. I started this one before the BTCT and have been doing it by machine applique but not in recent years. 

Back in 2017 (was that really 5 years ago?) there was a 17 for 2017 Challenge, to revisit 17 ufos and progress them by a few stitches and if a completion took place, well that was a bonus. Well, I spent more time putting them up on the big design wall, taking pictures, and writing about them than actually working on some.

I like the idea of revisiting ufos. But completions would be nice also. Usually, having a deadline or purpose like a wedding or graduation inspires completion. But my projects are so big, broken down into smaller doable units. I just keep making blocks. Maybe I am in denial and don't really know how to complete them. But I still struggle to finish the dishes every day. 

I have looked at the criteria for Quilting Gail's PhD program. But the rules state that there be one completion each month and a new start must be finished in the same year. 

I have finally, after a few tries, decided on 12 ufos to complete. Will I get each of them quilted? And why wouldn't I? Could I? Should I? And Quilting Jetgirl's  2022 Planning Party kicks off on Mon Dec 13. That gives me a few more days to finalize and post my list. 

Blessings,

Chris

No New Quilt Starts (Maybe)

 I am seriously considering no new quilt starts for 2022. I managed to go 2 whole years between starts back in 2018-2020. I was determined to complete the Cherries Quilt. In that time I also completed the 1857 Album and the Dear Daugther Sampler. 

Well, that is not entirely true. I started Dear Daughter in March of 2018. Then nothing new until Ella Maria Deacon in April 2020. So I actually went only a whole year without starting something. 

But what if Gay at Sentimental Stitches comes out with the reproduction of a certain applique quilt she showed us at one of the Shipshewana Retreats? I will have to decide. She has revealed 2 new quilt-a-longs so far in 2022.

potluck-block-of-the-week

This one has many blocks that I have already made in other samplers. But it is in 30s fabrics and I have so many. But then, I still have The 3030 Sampler on the go.  

little-blocks-365

She is offering a repeat of The Little Blocks 365. I did not start that one. I am already making some of those patterns in 4.5 inches to complete the Bright Jane quilt that has been languishing in a project box for years. I started that one in Sept 2014. That will be on my ufo completion list for the coming year. 

 uptown-applique-block-of-the-month

This one is truly unique. 

I don't have to decide today now do I?  

AND, bless her heart, Gay is considering extending the retreat for 2 more days !!!!! So, a whole WEEK of retreat quilting. I'd better get planning.

Blessings,

Chris

15 Minutes Stitching Daily

 I started out the year faithfully stitching at least 15 minutes every day for 3 months. Then I got side-tracked with completing my doctorate and did not get back into the routine again. Not at all. My stitching for the rest of the year was rather sporadic or nonexistent altogether. I have been dealing with a lot of pain in my right hand from the arthritis and then in the wrist. There was quite a bit of discussion about hand pain and carpal tunnel syndrome in blogland recently. My Sweetie is facing surgery on both of his wrists. Not sure of the timelines yet. 

But it is only 15 minutes. And that can include hand or machine stitching, prepping, cutting fabric, even just pressing, and printing off patterns, etc. I do draw the line at reading quilt blogs and quilt books. 

I have finally started doing all the precuts for the Macaron Mystery Quilt from Quilting Gail. I changed my plan for the focus colour after the measurements came out and my original plan would not work. I know I have way too many different solid colours to use, but it is a mystery after all. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with: inquiringquilter.wednesday-wait-loss-

To-Do Tuesday

I tried doing this a few times last year, but often forgot and sometimes I just posted a couple of times each month. It was a busy year part of the time and I totally forgot to do anything for the summertime. No promises that I will remember each week, but let's give it a try. 

It is the first Tuesday of December and quilting goals may be a bit scarce. My brother who lives in Saskatchewan will be visiting here for a week. He is flying in for the Grey Cup Game being hosted in Hamilton this year. The Hamilton TiCats will be hosting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Why anyone would want to sit outside on bleachers in winter and watch a football game is beyond me. It will be about 2 C. My Sweetie sits in the comfort of our living room and watches on the big screen TV.  Anyway, we will be having a family Christmas dinner on Sat. Come to think of it, our first date was to a football game in Hamilton. That was the night before my 18th birthday. I married him a year later. 

So my To-Do Tuesday this week will include:

• ALL the prep work for a turkey dinner for 15-20 people. 
• Shopping for some of that dinner.
• Not whining about the work it takes to do this.
• I have a cleaning lady coming in Thurs to do the cleaning so I do not have to do it. 
• Make sure the clean-up gets done after the party. 
• No stress here since the guests usually roll up their sleeves and clear away everything and wash up the dishes. 
• I could use paper plates like we did for the anniversary.
• Print off all the rest of the invoices in my inbox for the bookkeeper.  We are doing taxes after Christmas.
• Remember to do a blog post every day.
• I am scheduling posts so should have that under control.
• Virtual Writing Retreat Friday before the dinner. I could write up blog posts since I can write on whichever project I want. 
• Finish cutting out the rest of the fabrics for the Macaron Mystery.
• Do 15 minutes of stitching each day. You know that is not likely.

This should keep me out of trouble this week. 

Blessings,

Chris

Bright Jane

 Why oh why do I keep putting this on the back burner?

I think because 

1. the foundation piecing hurts my hands
2. tearing out the papers hurts my hands
3. the really bright colours hurt my eyes
4. I have no idea what to do with it when it is done
5. more interesting projects keep popping up 
6. totally forgot there should be a lot more appliques
7. I went off the grid a long time ago and am just making small blocks
8. 

Each month I eagerly look for the RSC colour and pull out my project box and bring those colours to the top. 

I have a check list of what is done and how many of each colour still need to be made.

  

Then I promptly forget all about it until the next month. Not going to have a flimsy anytime soon at this rate.

And then didn't I go and buy a wide back in the most interesting spectrum of colours just perfect for this quilt. 

Which grandchild's bed will it live on?  

Blessings,

Chris 

Linking with: smallquiltsanddollquilts.design-wall-monday

Sunday Slow Stitching

 I will be doing some needle-turned hand applique on this Ella Maria Deacon block. I started it around April. It is time to complete it. 

Linking up with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching. 
Blessings,

Chris

Dreamer

 It is no secret that I am a dreamer. Often I do my dreaming out loud, or more recently, I do my dreaming here, on my blog. To write about my quilting was a safe place to begin. I started blogging in Sept 2013. I love the process and I love the journey. I love using words to express myself. Some people use music or art, or physical activity to express themselves. I use words. 

I have been reading Julia Cameron's book The Miracle of Morning Pages again. The Morning Pages fascinate me. I have been writing them since Feb 2021.

I am a dreamer. I have scathingly brilliant ideas that come to mind and I want to share them with others in anticipation of them catching the vision and moving forward in it. 

Maybe I am more of a visionary. So what is the difference? When I write, I just start writing and it is interesting to see where the words take me. 

I am a dreamer. I set goals. I write daily To-Do lists and do them not. But it gives me a place to write things down so as not to forget them. But, alas, I quite often forget, or more realistically, I ignore the list. Does this, then become disobedience? Interesting thought. 

I am a dreamer. I was wondering what my dreams and ambitions were when I was young. My only ambition was to get married and have kids. Well, I did get married at 19 and here I am 50 years later still married to the same man. Our children have grown and they now have children. That makes me a gramma. That was not in my early ambitions. It just came along as a bonus and a delightful one at that. 

I am a dreamer. I have always been fascinated with the written word. I love to read. I have been writing for years and years. One does not complete a doctorate without a lot of reading and writing. But I am done with writing academic papers that someone else evaluates. 

I am a dreamer. Somewhere along the way, I got the idea of writing and publishing a book. I think I was still in elementary school when I tried writing my first autobiography. I wrote a title and about one sentence then realized I did not have a story to tell. Yet. 

I wrote my first book longhand two days a week for four weeks at a local retreat center. I knew it would get published one day. That happened 29 years later. But I had a story to share. It is the story of my journey with a profoundly handicapped child. It is the story of a beginning faith in a God who loves me, who created me, who knew what was going on in my life, who had chosen me to be the mother of a very special child. A God who gave his life that I might live. 

I am a dreamer. I had been given the idea to write and publish a second book and a third book by my husband. I guess he saw the potential for something in the future. But I guess it was his dream not mine. Maybe this is one reason why those two books are only half-written. But then, six months ago, I had a new dream to write a book about how to stay married for 50 years. That is half-written also. 

So, the dreamer part is good. The follow-through is difficult. I want to be known as a finisher. I want to be known as one who inspires. I want to be known as one who dropped a small pebble in the water and started a movement. 

Ya. I am a dreamer. The little boys have come over for the weekend. 

Blessings,

Chris

Let the Declutter Begin

 The first thing I had done to begin the declutter was to clear off the card table at the end of the bed, bag up the leftover fabric and scraps from the  Biblical Blocks quilt, and donate them. 

Speaking of donating. Did I ever donate this past week! 

Where do I begin? Five big bags went to a local guild for comfort quilts.

All the rest of the fabric got brought down from the endless quilt cupboard upstairs and sorted and bagged. The girls that came to help each took home some. Another 15 totes and really big bins and bags got donated to a Mission Thrift Store that supports donating Bibles to needy areas in the world. It helps that my niece works there.

That left a lot of empty project boxes so those are being donated also. The cleaning lady took some home.

Blessings,

Chris

December OMG Goal

 Now I know how to really trash a space. It is not a skill that can be taught or learned. It is a natural talent - part of who I am. But I also realize that I do not function well in clutter. You think? That is one of the reasons for so many ufo's and lost gadgets.

 With a lot of clutter comes a lot of distraction. And yet, I need to see my stuff to know it is there. My storage containers are all see-through purposely so I can see at a glance what is in them without totally ransacking to find that one specific thing. Like I could not find the battery charger for my camera. I looked everywhere I thought it might be. It had been in my downstairs quilt room but we all know that I took a lot of stuff upstairs to the new quilt room and it usually lives right beside the printer where it is not in the way and close to an outlet to plug it in. 

We were in the middle of the cow auction of a lifetime, and we had a dead camera. It always dies in the middle of really important events. But the following day, I went to get some thread for something or other, and there it was. In the box on top of the box of the box of coloured threads. I looked in all the other boxes and must have missed that one. And, the backup battery was in it just as dead. So now both batteries are charged up and the charger is back in its resting place and I am taking pictures again. 

So about trashing a space. I was completing an old ufo for a wedding gift last month. I had four weeks' notice but I actually took just a week to finish it including going to the long arm quilter and a whole day to attach the binding. 

So that ufo was complete and it was time to clear away all the leftover bits so I could reclaim the project box since it was now empty. But what to put into it? 

I am sure I will find something. But in the meantime, I need access to that bed. What bed you might be thinking. 

I do not want to make elaborate plans and sewing commitments this month, but I do need to clear the space in case I impulsively decide to start a few new quilts in the new year. I have ideas. But I am also compiling a plan for completing ufos. I have donated several so the numbers are coming down. 

My OMG goal for December will be to organize this space and show pictures to prove it. And yes, I have a tea kettle and mug up there to make a nice hot drink. I also have hot chocolate for the little girls for when they come to hang out with me. 

blessings,

Chris

linking with midweek-makers

Blog-Post-a-Day Challenge

 It is December and time once again for the Blog-Post-A-Day Challenge. I thought about doing this last month, but there were other more important things like answering the phone, monitoring Facebook, and dealing with emails for the event of the century when we sold all of our cows. Oh, and making bank deposits. I have learned how to relax a bit and I know how to schedule posts so do not have the pressure of having to write every single day. 

So, sit back, grab a hot drink, and join me each day this month for some ramblings about whatever comes into my head to write about. It could get interesting. Most times it will be about my quilting journey, But you never know. Life here on the Farm is entering a new chapter with my husband retiring. Good thing I like him since he keeps hovering over what I am doing. 

There is still one lonely cow to milk twice a day and a few in the dry cow barn to feed. We have to rethink how the water will come into the house from the well since right now it is piped through the barn underground then to the house. With no cows in the barn, it will eventually freeze all the lines. I recall that happening one January and it was  May 16 when it started flowing again. We had a cistern for other use, but every day I took a bucket to the well and brought our drinking water to the house. I was making homemade butter at the time, so had to make sure I had lots. These days just walking that far is a challenge for me. 

See you tomorrow,

Chris

November 2021 OMG Completion

 An old friend called up early in October to invite us to his wedding. The next day my Sweet Farmer announced he was going to sell all the cows. My 90 Day Writing Goal was to have a first draft of my newest book by Dec 1. The pressure was on. I decided to choose one of the ufos from the endless project boxes that was nearest completion and make it my November OMG. This is Biblical Blocks by Rosemary Makhan that I started in 2005. The book writing was put on hold and Nov 11 the cattle were sold.

I had taken a class years ago the first time I made this pattern but I loaned the book and all the instructions to a friend who has moved 2-3 times since. Good thing that the first thing we did was cut out and label all the borders and setting triangles. 

But I still had to figure out how to put them together.This was a bit of a challenge. But I had a picture of the finished quilt so had a reference point. I only had to redo one. 

My machine was a bit sluggish so I thought I should check inside. Good plan. I cannot believe how much lint had collected in here. 

As a rule, I sew with bare feet. I want to be able to feel what is going on and have better control. But, what are the chances of dropping the scissors inches from my foot? 

I took me 2 days to make up the 6 remaining blocks. I had fussy cut many of the others, but chose to do foundation piecing for these. Another 2 days to assemble all the blocks and borders.

I had been helping my Sweetie with preparations for the cow sale so he rewarded me with his time and removed the foundation papers. He has decided that quilting will not be his new retirement hobby.

 I mitered both the Rose of Sharon applique borders and the fancy dancy Jinny Beyer border print. This technique is not for the faint of heart. Matching up all those stripes and designs. I sent the thing out to be longarm quilted. She had it back in 2 days.

The last thing to do was trim and sew on the binding. I chose to use a mottled blue fabric from the collection because I had enough and it matched perfectly. This is where the pain in my right hand really started screaming for relief. It took me the whole day to do a 2 hour job. So in all, it took 7 days to finish this quilt. 

 

Our friend told me that when he was living with us, he often noticed me working on quilts and asked what it would take to get one of them. Get married I told him apparently. Well, he remembered and now he has his own quilt.

You'd of thought we knew the bedroom colours before choosing this quilt. But I chose one from the archives of ufos nearest to completion. 

Blessings,

Chris

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