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