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

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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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We are Selling the Cows

 Who would have thought my Sweetie would suddenly, one day, announce that he was going to sell all the cows. This is no small matter. He has milked cows since he could walk and the Guernsey cows have been in the family for 92 years. But selling we are. 

Hence, my not completing my October OMG. Nor did I do any work on my book since that day. And the wedding quilt that was my OMG is still on the design wall in many pieces. The phone has not stopped ringing and I am on facebook constantly monitoring the sensational buzz we have created in the cow world. And emails have to be dealt with.

The whole selling the cows went from a simple selling 10 cows to one farmer, then he bought 20 more and we got a call and visit from a cattle auctioneer in Quebec and suddenly we are having an online video sale of 6 select cows and 45 heifers and calves and the rest being bought also. They have been clipping and grooming calves for days and the photographer is out there now taking portrait picture of all the girls. 

I took the Elly and Devan for a sleepover at our daughters this weekend and after the boys went to bed (they always go earlier than the girls), I pulled out the Rose of Sharon applique borders and had the girls pulling out the freezer paper from with the machine applique flowers. We will do the leaves today and tomorrow. I anticipate having the top to flimsy stage by Friday (I am such a dreamer), but the wedding is 12 days away and the long arm is booked. 

The online auction is only 10 days away. And I am playing games. Does not make any sense to me either. I have a clear schedule for this whole week and should get back to work. 

I think my OMG goal for November has to be completing the Biblical Blocks Quilt. And then I really should take time away from the computer because my eyes are starting to bother me as in everything is a bit foggy. I cannot make an appointment with my eye doctor as they have quietly been on strike for the past 2 months. I am on the priority list for appointments when they get back to serving us seniors who have OHIP. And the pain in my right hand has escalated in the past few months to the point that I have to do something different. Cutting back on sugar is the first thing and stopping playing games which requires a lot of mousing. Buying a new mouse and keyboard will certainly help since I often have to click and swipe 2-3 times for every function as well as certain keys refusing to cooperate. 

I will be back at the end of the month to let you know how I did. 

Blessings,

Chris

Change of OMG Plan

 So we got a phone call from an old friend inviting us to his wedding next month reminding us that I promised him a quilt. That means my OMG for October now is to have this quilt to a flimsy ready to get machine quilted. I can still do the Stitch for 15 Minutes a day thing but with this Biblical Blocks Quilt.

There are still 6 blocks to make. One is already cut out and ready to machine applique. All the borders are machine appliqued, just waiting to be sewn onto the quilt before adding the final flowers in the corners and between the swags to center them nicely. Fortunately, the teacher for this class had us cut ALL the borders and connecting triangles, including labeling them, first before making the blocks with the rest. Everything has been sitting in a project box for at least 15 years awaiting completion.

Wish me luck.

Blessings,

Chris

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