End of January

 

This is what my sewing table looked like last week. A place to hold the overflow of my books and stuff. This is the Bernina that the girls use because it has a half speed option and a 1/4 inch seam guide. And yes, that is snow out the window. 

This is what it looks like now. Well, it did yesterday. Who knows what it will look like tomorrow. I needed more light so pulled out yet another lamp. And this machine sits in front of a window.

What can I say? I find the most interesting things in my sewing room. Devan created these lovelies for me a year or two ago. She found some tulip shaped post-it notes and turned them upside down and drew pictures of herself and her sisters. I love them. They always make me smile.  

Just for the record, I did complete my January OMG goal of getting all the things on my first To-Do Tuesday list done. Yah me! I have not completed everything on all the rest of the lists. 

My list for this week list is:

1. Continue to write at least 3 times this week. 
2. 15 Minutes Stitching daily.
3. Lucy can come out to play but only for 1 block.
4. Organize my desk calendar for the month of Feb. 
5. Dust Off a Book Blog Hop is coming in March and I am scheduled to post on Mar 6. Come back then to see which of my 23 ufos I decided to pull out and which book it is inspired by. 
6. No computer games this week. Now this could be a tough one. 
7. Determine my February OMG goal. I have several ideas in mind. 

That should keep me out of trouble for the coming week. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with Patty at elmstreetquilts 

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Slow Stitching Sunday

 Friday I was on a zoom writing retreat for 6 hours. 

Then Chooky decided to have an impromptu get together. 

So I hung out with the Chookshed Stitchers for about 3 hours. 

And since Lucy is on vacation this week, 

I pulled out the TOMDO box and found some hand applique.

I will be putting in a few stitches again today. 

Linking up with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching. 

Frederique at party-patchwork

Cynthia at quiltingismorefunthanhousework.

Blessings,

Chris

Is it Tuesday Again Already?

 I got most of the things on last week's list done. Sort of. I did no work on the RSC blocks. And my tables are all still cluttered even though I had moved a lot of stuff. 

And what does Chris have on her tables in the Blue Room aka Quilt Room/Office?

Here is the FPP paraphernalia for the Wedding Quilt. Notice the vintage Singer Featherweight and 3 lamps 

Beside that is the 6 foot ironing board sitting atop the ends of both 8 foot tables. This is a pile of blocks that have been prepped for at least a couple of years. Some longer. I thought if I made just 1 block a day I would have noticeable progress. Did not happen.

This is the small design wall sitting on top of one of the 7 tables in the room. The Wedding Quilt blocks were up the day I took these pictures. It changes often. In front is the box of notes for the books I am writing. No progress on them either. On the floor behind are containers of photographs from the past 50 years. I have a plan for them.

Moving to the left is the big desk calendar I use to plan out and track my monthly goals. On top of that is a see through lid from butter cookies, which are quite yummy. I love using these as shallow trays to keep my hand stitching things from wandering away like onto the floor. I was working on a Morrell block.

Moving more to the left is my Morning Pages notebook. I have eased up on how often I write them. I no longer write them if I sleep in. Sleep in you say? Sure. I do that 2-3 times a week when I stay up half the night reading or playing, but seldom working. Sleeping in is getting up after 8 am. 

I keep a plant nearby to dump the left over water from my cup. It has thrived. The yellow one is plastic. What can I say? It was a gift from my Sweetie. It stays. I had been reading the Bible chronologically over the past few years and this week I finished it. Behind that are about a third of my journals. I was looking for some information from a few years back and ended up sitting up half the night a couple of times reading. I love reading my old journals! Besides having memories on a time line, I can see how far I have come over the years and how I am still writing up the same goals and to-do lists. Too bad no one else will be able to read my hand writing. It has not improved with age. 

What has in proved with age is my attitude about a lot of things. This book landed in my hands the other day and I am so excited about it! It is 40 essays written by 40 Christian women over 40 on aging, faith, beauty, and strength. It is right up my alley. I am giving serious consideration to doing a book study this summer with my Women's Small Group. It can be 40 days. Reading 1 chapter a day. 

I even have a small notebook I use to plan out my weekly To-Do Tuesday lists. This week:

1. Write 3 times. Already wrote today and taking part in a Virtual Writing Retreat later this week. 
2. Do not touch Lucy this week. I will to put her out of the way.
3. Sew one, just one Morrell block. I have had it ready for more than 4 years. It should take an hour. 
4. Sew one Bright Jane block for RSC. No point in pretending to be part of the group if I do not actually participate. One block? How hard can it be?
5. 15 Minutes a Day Sewing.
6. And my darling eldest granddaughter conned me into doing a Whole30 clean eating program with her. We started yesterday. That means no sugar, no grains, no dairy, no legumes, no additives or chemicals. Sigh. I probably will thank her for the prompts. She is trying to figure our her acne and I need to feel better. She is reading the labels and had Grampa take her shopping to buy some compliant foods. Basically meat and vegetables with a bit of fruit and plated fats. It's only 30 days. No, its only 28 more days. We can do this.

Blessings,

Chris 

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Tuesday To-Do List

 I appreciate this group where I can ramble on about my dreams and goals and plans. Even the ones I actually follow through on. I completed all the things on my last 2 to-do lists and feel pretty good about that. This week's list has a few more things on it.

1. The new EPP papers from Paper Pieces arrived so I can play with them by glue basting the pile of already cut white hexies for the sashing and corner units for Lucy. I also got three shapes for Winderemere. FedEx came to the door twice and I paid the import tax. 
2. Stitch together one Lucy block at the Q@F online meeting Sat morning. I did not touch her for a whole week. I am so proud of my self control. 
3. Write 3 times this week. This includes blog writing, journaling, and book writing as well as responding to comments and writing emails. 
4. Clear my tables of their clutter. Where does it all come from? 
5. Bright Jane. The RSC colour for January is dark blue. I have 5 blue blocks to make. These have been prepped and ready to go for several years. It's only 5 little 4 1/2 inch blocks. They will be foundation pieced.
6. Stitch for 15 minutes at least 6 times this week. That seems to be the pace I am doing right now. Need to have some wiggle room. 
7. Continue to ignore the Wedding Quilt. I succeeded this past week. Now to keep the momentum. 
8. Resist the temptation to join in the SAHRR. I put it on my 2023 calendar a year ago. But how can I put time into something new when I have so many other things I want to do?  Not going to go there in my thoughts. 

Need a picture. My next Lucy block. 

This one is a bit fuzzy but then, so are my eyes these days. I went for a pre-op appointment with the eye surgeon today getting ready for cataract surgery. I have been on this pursuit for nearly a year and will have to wait a bit yet. They will not do the procedure until after I get back from Australia in April since I will not be allowed to fly for 2-3 months after wards. I got that memo. But not being able to drive for 2-4 weeks after each eye? How can I not drive? I have been driving since I was 12. Okay. I waited until I was licensed to drive on the road. I have kept the entire month of May clear of commitments. I may have to forgo daily stitching. Sigh. 

No problem. I will just get a head of the game with my projects. Is that even possible? to get ahead? By this fly by the seat of her pants last minute girl? But then, I do have my 2023 calendar all marked up with exciting adventures for the coming year. I have learned to do this in pencil. 

Blessings,

Chris

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Slow Sunday Stitching

 Progress on a Morrell block. English Paper Piecing. But how do you remove the papers after gluing them?

Linking with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching.

Blessings,

Chris

To-Do Tuesday in January 2023

 

1. Charge the camera batteries so I can take pictures of my quilt progress. Yes once I found the charger thingy.
2. Remember to take pictures. YES! I did take pictures! 
3. Get the mouse and keyboard exchanged at Staples. Stupid thing decided to work again. Baffling. But I bought 2 new shirts while in town. 
4. Set my January OMG goal. It needs to be simple. I have a lot going on this month. Thought I would hold myself accountable and set completing this to-do list as my OMG. 
5. Organize my new 2023 Desk Calendar for January so I can see at a glance all that I have going on this month. When I pulled it out and put it on my desk, I saw that I had already done some preliminary organizing with appointments, and small group commitments. 
6.  Clear the big work tables in the quilt room to get ready to be busy. Ongoing task.
7. Put away all the pretty fabrics I pulled out to fussy cut a few more Lucy blocks. I could show pictures, but my camera battery is being charged. I pulled out a lot more first and found some that still needed to be pre-washed. 
8. Stitch for 15 Minutes a Day. This includes hand stitching, machine sewing, cutting, gluing prep work, ironing, unstitching. Yes. I do some of that occasionally. 6/7
9. Meeting with my local quilting friends on messenger this Sat afternoon so need to have the Lucy one inch squares, papers and glue sticks ready for a marathon. We  met in the morning since my other meeting got changed. I cut our papers for foundation piecing some Wedding Quilt blocks. 
10. Complete the 3 Palm Leaf blocks for the Wedding Quilt. I stopped ignoring it. Working on them. 
11. Locate the Di Ford-Hall fabrics and see what I have on hand to possibly consider maybe starting Windermere in the next year or two. I ordered EPP papers when I ordered more Lucy papers. Shipping was outrageous. What was I thinking? I found that I had the 1/2 inch hexie dies from Accuquilt. I found some more fun fabrics for fussy cutting, But that was what Di's contribution to the quilt world - fabric for fussy cutting and projects to use them in and instructions for how to use the fabrics. And then I get a call from FedEx requesting I prepay $25 to them so they can deliver this parcel that I paid that outrageous shipping to. Last parcel came through USPS with no extra charges. I never order from companies that ship internationally with UPS because they always demand extra for brokerage fees. and import taxes. 
12. Play with some of the 23 ufos. This is where my organizing started to take over my fun time, so I think I will report what I played with and progress, if any. with pictures. I don't have to revisit them all this week now do I? The battery should soon be charged. The battery did get charged and I did take some pictures. I did play with the Morrell. 
    
    
    I cut out and baste lots of 3/4 inch hexies for a Grandmother's Garden Block. Just one. I will EPP those things together then hand applique it onto a background square. 

One of the other things I want to do is to get some new regular routines going. I came across a list (are you surprised) that I came across years ago about being successful. 

1. Choose your attitude every day. 

2. Do the most important things first thing in the morning.

3. Do not check emails until afternoon. 

I forget the others. 

Nearly 2 years ago, I started writing morning Pages every day when I first got up. My reward, was a focused mind and a completed doctorate after 9 years of feast and famine work on it. Then I just sort of fell off the wagon. Covid did not leave us isolated. No way. We became the hub for others who were struggling with the isolation. And it continues. We love having family and friends come and go. It has been part of the ministry God has called us to. And we have a big old farmhouse with lots of rooms. I continued to write my Pages, but they are more like a journal now and that is the way I want it to be. I stopped writing for December. It was good. I joined with a group of writers internationally back in the fall. We get together daily at 10:30 my time. I will get back to that this week. I plan to join them at least 3 times each week. I want my writing to become focused rather than all over the place. I have been puttering with my fabrics, projects, writing, reading. But it is time to get some work done. Now I am writing again and have some fresh perspectives. 

Another routine I started last fall was not going downstairs until nearly noon each day. How can you get away with that you may wonder? I have a tea kettle up here and a bathroom with water. I often brought up a banana or something to eat in case I wanted to take an Advil. Mustn't take that on an empty stomach. Ok. I usually have a tin of biscuits here also. The thing is, I have my hot drink with my Pages and reading. I am retired and do not have to go places I do not want to. Health issues kept me off balance for the past few months with appointments, covid, surgery, more appointments, another bout with a virus and more appointments this month. 

 My reward has been some weight loss and a less stressed me. I kind of like me now-a-days. So does my Sweetie. I seldom do the cooking and grocery shopping, unless I have an appointment and pop in to pick up a few things. 

The thing is, once I go downstairs, I get distracted and it is game over for me. I check emails. I read blogs. I wash dishes. I may not cook much, but the dishes are my responsibility. Each person in this house is responsible for their own laundry. Even my Sweetie. Now I am rambling. I like to ramble. 

So a new routine I am going to try to implement is to shut the computer off earlier. I had a taste of that over Christmas when the wifi never got up here.  But then, I get comments on my blog posts and I need to be more diligent in responding in a timely fashion. In other words, as soon as I first read them. If I take time to think about what to write, I usually forget to go back. There are some boggers I have great conversations with. Others just a comment of thankyou. I am meeting up with some in Australia in April. So excited! 

And facebook. That is where I keep in touch with family and my writing groups. I meet with a writing accountability partner every week. We took a break and will resume this week. But now for me to get real with my weekly goals and follow through. 

My To-Do list for this week is short and simple:

1. Celebrate David's 7th birthday. He requested that we go to the Mandarin Buffet Chinese Restaurant like Mommy did, and Gramma did and Ava did for their birthdays. This will be a sleepover. Not at the restaurant. At David's house.
2. Prepare for the Hearing God Small Group starting Sat afternoon. We meet here at the Farm. I have the workbooks and the cleaning lady will be here Thurs to work her magic. 
3. Do not touch Lucy this week. She is already put away out of sight. 
4. Write 3 times this week. This blog post is #1. 

Linking with Carol  at To Do Tuesday. 

Blessings,

Chris

Slow Sunday Stitching

I fussy cut a few more hexies for Lucy. I found a tutorial by Luanne at Loose Threads for making those amazing frames. I met Luanne once at a Shipshewana Quilt Retreat.  

I now have to decide which colours to use for the outer hexies. I initially thought the orange gingham would work, but it so stands out of place with all the others on the wall. I may use the softer gold colour. Either way, I have to prep more so will wait until I have a few more colours on the wall to see if the orange blends in more quietly. 

I ran out of papers so had to start attached the Lucy units together. This is not for the faint of heart. I will try to sew together the next units differently to see if I can manipulate them easier. I thread basted everything up to this point, except the gold squares are glue basted. I find that as I get moving along, some of the papers are popping out before I get them encased.  

Linking up with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching. and quiltingismorefunthanhousework. and quiltingpatch. and smallquiltsanddollquilts.design-wall-monday-

Blessings,

Chris

First To-Do List for 2023

All I can say is, it's a good thing I have a sense of humour and paid the extra for the warranty for my newly replaced keyboard and mouse. How is a girl supposed to play games and scroll and copy and paste without a mouse??? But, good thing I have a touch screen. I am so spoiled. 

I started an elaborate to-do list for the first 6 months of this new year, but I guess I should just do it week by week. The kids do not go back to school until Jan 9 so we still have a whole week of holidays and the grandkids are away doing wintery things elsewhere. The major blizzard that crippled our part of the world over Christmas has melted into mushy puddles and I think I can go out and plant a few more tulip bulbs. Yup. I can do that in January. 

My first to-do list of 2023:

1. Charge the camera batteries so I can take pictures of my quilt progress.
2. Remember to take pictures.
3. Get the mouse and keyboard exchanged at Staples.
4. Set my January OMG goal. It needs to be simple. I have a lot going on this month.
5. Organize my new 2023 Desk Calendar for January so I can see at a glance all that I have going on this month. 
6.  Clear the big work tables in the quilt room to get ready to be busy.
7. Put away all the pretty fabrics I pulled out to fussy cut a few more Lucy blocks. I could show pictures, but my camera battery is being charged. 
8. Stitch for 15 Minutes a Day. This includes hand stitching, machine sewing, cutting, gluing prep work, ironing, unstitching. Yes. I do some of that occasionally. 
9. Meeting with my local quilting friends on messenger this Sat afternoon so need to have the Lucy one inch squares, papers and glue sticks ready for a marathon.
10. Complete the 3 Palm Leaf blocks for the Wedding Quilt. I stopped ignoring it. 
11. Locate the Di Ford-Hall fabrics and see what I have on hand to possibly consider maybe starting Windermere in the next year or two. I ordered EPP papers when I ordered more Lucy papers. Shipping was outrageous.  
12. Play with some of the 23 ufos. This is where my organizing started to take over my fun time, so I think I will report what I played with and progress, if any. with pictures. I don't have to revisit them all this week now do I? The battery should soon be charged. 

I have decided that I need to get some routines established instead of being all over the place. I have lists of what that could look like also. I think my OMG goal for the month should be to complete this week's to-do list. That should keep me out of trouble for a few days. 

blessings,

Chris

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