OMG Just Under The Wire

My one-monthly-goal  for January was to compete the last applique blocks and assemble the top of my Dear Daughter quilt. And I got it done tonight. 

But how did I manage to do this??

Not only did I miss that seam by a 1/4 inch,
I put 2 of the same red prints together. 

Devan had one final block 
switch the other night.




I will fix that then give this a really good press as soon as I find my really big ironing board. And an iron that the steam works on. I dropped my favourite iron and cannot steam with it. 
Then all that needs doing before I quilt it next week is clearing off a gzillion bits of thread. Where are the little girls with the scissors when I need them? 

Blessings,
Chris 

Going Rogue

I have made a decision to not make my Dear Jane 2, or Bright Jane as I call her, exactly by the patterns in the book. Pretty radical for me. I have already made one Dear Jane quilt in civil war reproduction fabrics. All 169  four and a half inch blocks and 54 border triangles and 4 corner kits. So why do I need to make another just like it although in bright colours. After all, the fun part of making sampler quilts is to make samples of different blocks not the same one over and over.

I am making different blocks this time because I can and it is my quilt. Well, at least until one of the grand children claim it since they all love putting the blocks up on the wall. For some reason, I had printed off many alternative block patterns from dearjane.com and copied them onto that washable stabilizer stuff to use for foundation piecing and not have to remove all that paper. Speaking of which, I have discovered that I can do paper foundation piecing without stitching through the paper.

This is as far as I got this month with red. I do not especially like doing the foundation piecing with the stay in fusible stuff. After doing all those tiny bits, it is very stiff and will not lay flat.

I will have to give it some time.

Linking with scraphappy  a few days late.

Blessings,
Chris

Taking Control of My Schedule

This week I am taking part in Shelley Hitz Seize The Day  5-day challenge. The plan is to see how I spend my days then change  how I manage my time and thus be more efficient and productive. We have assignments every day and a live teaching to spur us on. It is kind of fun interacting with others from around the world that are also taking part and the teacher responding to every comment. It's not too late to join in. But hurry. It starts today. And it is free.

My to-do list this week will not be quilt related even though I am working on completing the Dear Daughter flimsy.

To-do this week:

• download and print off worksheets each day
• do the assignments
• listen to podcasts
• no computer games 
• eat clean

In the meantime, I am stitching up the final Dear Daughter block today and will get the final layout decided before stitching all the sashed blocks together and the rest of the sashing strips. 

Blessings,

Chris

Mid Winter Stitching

This was one of the first blocks I started back in March when

 Gay at sentimentalstitches 

invited us to join her in making this reproduction quilt from 1850 

called Dear Daughter. 

It was a wedding quilt for a family named Dunham. 

My husband's middle name is Dunham after his mother's family.

I tried several options for the corner details

but nothing seemed to want to go with that red Baltimore Album repro print. 

I finally cut out plain red hearts from block 37 and like it. 

I have only stitched on 2 blocks this month. 

Seriously. 

But I have to get it done for the big 90th birthday party next month. 

Just one more after this then I can start assembling the blocks. 

In the meantime,

 I wanted to work on some Dear Jane 2 blocks 

but 

could not find the bobbin case for my Featherweight. 

So

I went through all the boxes of stored small stuff and looked

and looked 

then found this when I was not looking. 

How did I miss it?

Those are bobbins for the Brother so did not expect to find it here since

the Brother lives on the other side of the room. 

And

I when I opened the baby food container I use to store really small stuff

when I wanted to use one of those tiny clips

I found this nestled in among the clips. 

However

that is a button hole presser foot 

and the 1/4 inch foot is still awal.

View from my window this morning. 

Blessings,
Chris

Check List

I write to-do lists all the time. More as a reminder of things I want to do but also as motivation to get some things done other than house work and regular daily stuff. I seldom add write a blog post. I just do those on the spur of the moment. I do not add listen to worship music or read blogs or check emails or play games or snack or take a shower or eat lunch. I just do those things. I should add comb my hair to the list. I usually forget unless I am leaving the house but not always then.

I keep a check list of things I want to accomplish each month. Initially it was as a reminder to do them. Things like journal, treadmill, stitching, writing, etc. It eventually became a  did-not-do list with accompanying feelings of guilt but not quite shame. After all, it was my own private list. Most days I forgot to even look at it. Other times, I would look back at the month and see how often I forgot to check in. Or saw so many blank spaces. The plan was not to create guilt. Goodness knows, I have had enough of that thrown my way over the years. It was, in part, to help with my forgetfulness. And now I have forgotten where I was going with this rant. 

Writing up a to-do list publicly on my blog is kind of risky. What will readers think about someone who keeps not doing what she says she wants to do. I want to complete my doctorate. I know, I keep saying that. But getting into the writing is so hard most days. I know, I need to just do it. Fear of failure has haunted me most of my life. I have failed in many things. BUT, I have succeeded in many more! After all, I am a published author. I completed 2 university degrees in my 50's. I have traveled the world and back countless times by myself. I have spoken to audiences big and small around the world about the love of God and I survived changing diapers on, not one but 2, little boy grand children for nearly a year. AND I have stayed married to the same man for more than 47 years. He definitely is a keeper. After all, he makes me breakfast most days. 

This blog has been my place to write and share and encourage mostly about my quilting journey. And, my goodness, that has been amazing these past 5 years. It has also been a place to share about my life experiences. I am, after all, in my 7th decade (that sounds older than just 66). I plan to write more about my faith journey. That has been quite a roller coaster ride but I am a survivor. Also, since I have started the book study with Jenny of elefantz on The Gentle Art of Domesticity, I will be writing more reflectively in response to her thought provoking questions each week. 

My to-do list for last week was short 

• finally finish the rest of ITPAC and submit
• birthday party for David turning 3 on Friday
• waterfit 3 x
• start whole30 clean eating program after the pizza and cake on Friday
• finish final blocks for Dear Daughter and assemble the top. 
• and clear the stuff off my table and put it away in neat containers. 

This week's will be even shorter.

• assemble Dear Daughter
• eat clean.

Blessings,

Chris

The Beginning of Domestic Arts

It's interesting that Jenny of ELEFANZ asked the question what domestic arts did  you pursue when you were young. Earlier today I was telling my granddaughters that I started baking when I was 11, same age as Ava my oldest granddaughter. I started reading a cookbook, because I always had to be reading something, and taught myself to make an apple pie to impress my sister's boyfriend. This in late July when the early apples were ripening and I climbed the highest part of the tree to get the ripest apples because I had to be climbing trees.

I joined 4-H when I was 12. This became the main social part of my teen years. My parents bought a brand new Singer Featherweight 222K (which I still have) to replace the treadle that I do not remember my mother ever using. I learned how to make my own clothes.  This was wonderful since being the third daughter, I grew up in hand-me-downs. But I fooled them all and grew taller than my sisters and besides, they both left home when I was 15.

When I was 15, we did an  4-H embroidery club. We made a very simple sampler with a few lines of different stitches. We had to create a picture to embroider and I copied a flower off a curtain - a Jacobean thing. This was way out of my element back then. But it inspired me.

I recall going to Toronto with a friend to stay over with her aunt for a few days when I was 16. Being a country girl, this was a great adventure. Not only did we take the city bus to the Canadian National Exhibition, I visited one of the first malls. This back in 1968. The thing I recall most about the aunt's modest bungalow was a basket sitting beside her chair with embroidery floss and a piece of cloth in a hoop on which she was stitching. I wanted one. When I got married 3 years later, I suddenly had much time on my hands as an adult and used my few embroidery skills to make up squares for a quilt I was eventually going to make, getting my inspiration from the array of fancy tea cups in my mother-in-law's china cabinet. I made enough for a pillow.

Life and babies came along. I found a whole bunch of patterns for embroidery blocks in the old farm house I have now lived in for nearly 48 years and stitched them up and made my first ever quilt.

Another 4-H club in embroidery I made this picture. It was my first applique. I found the pattern in a needlework magazine, enlarged it and made it all out of left over crimplene. Remember that stuff? I made many clothes over the years out of that. I even cut up a lot of squares and was going to make a quilt "some day". That all got donated a long time ago.

Looking forward to reading the next segment from The Art of Gentle Domesticity. 

Blessings,
Chris

When I Turned 50

The year I turned 50 was a hallmark year in our lives.  I was menopausal, grieving the loss of my father, took over the family farm and gave up my vegetable garden. So I streaked my hair and did a low carb diet and lost 23 lbs and on my birthday flew out for the first of many visits to our daughter and her husband who had just moved to the east coast. I have been thinking about, talking about, writing about but not actually yet writing the story of my journey through those days. I do not know quite why I have been dragging my feet about writing this book, other than fear of failure and wondering if anyone would be interested in reading a book called Surviving Menopause: One woman's journey from anger, depressing and suicide to peace, joy and purpose. Perhaps revisiting all those emotions is part of the hindrance. And yet, God has given me the most amazing healing and wants me to share the journey. So what is holding me back? Recently, I have been given some encouraging words from God through a couple of new friends. Words that invite me to draw closer to Him and spend more time in His presence. I can do that. I was reading from Psalms yesterday while waiting for the pizza for David's birthday party.

 Psalm 27:14 says,

 "Wait patiently for the Lord. 

Be brave and courageous. 

Yes, wait patiently for the Lord." 

Interesting that I was looking for a word for the year. Last year's word was "Be Still." This year "Wait" had come to mind.

I was telling the little girls the plan for Dear Daughter - to gift it to Great-Grandma for her 90th birthday party next month and get all the family to sign it. As I was explaining that I was going to take the blocks off the wall for the girls to sign their names, Devan turned around holding a purple Sharpie in her hand and showed me this.

I was going to give her a black Micron pen but I guess purple it will be. Great Grandma likes purple. Now to complete the hand stitching on the block around the printing. 

Blessings, 

Chris

linking to: show-me-something-purple.

To-Do Tuesday Week 2

This was my to-do list last week and how I did.

• clear off long table in quilt room - again done but needs it again already
• water house plants  - there are about 30 of them and it takes at least 10 pitchers of water and many steps to get them all done. Three of them are hanging baskets and need to be brought to the sink of tub to get a good soaking without dripping everywhere. 
• finish book report for ITPAC - still working on that 
• write out psychology and theology comparison paper - should be done today
• complete these 4 Dear Daughter applique blocks - 2 done 2 to go
• submit ITPAC - soon
• red is the colour for RSC for Jan so pull out the red Bright Jane blocks
• located the Dear Jane 2 box (one of 4 of which one is still missing) and pulled out no less than 8 red blocks with foundation patterns ready and fabric chosen that still need doing.
• But then I could not find the bobbin case for the Feartherweight nor the presser foot for the Bernina.  

• not start anything new - was tempted more than once but have resisted so far
• waterfit 2 X  - done
• cut the grass - wait- it's Jan 1- we should have 2 feet of snow by now - its raining again today and the grass is looking kinda green. 

This weeks list will be shorter. 

• finally finish the rest of ITPAC and submit
• birthday party for David turning 3 on Friday
• waterfit 3 x
• start whole30 clean eating program after the pizza and cake on Friday
• finish final blocks for Dear Daughter and assemble the top. 
• and turn this 
  
• into more of this 
  

Lets see how I do this week. 

Blessings,

Chris

The Gentle Art of Domesticity 2019

Jenny of ELEFANTZ is doing a book study this year on

 The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket

I think I will follow along as I have a copy of the book and a delightful read it is. I need to get a new perspective on domesticity. According to the author this is different from domestication and minimalism is not my thing. 

I was a stay-at-home wife and mom, choosing to make my home and family the priority in my life as an adult. It was the example set by both my mother and my husband's mother. Living on a farm has given me a perspective on life far different from most women. I made our clothes and grew a very large garden every year. I canned and froze fruits and vegetables to last the whole year for many reasons besides economics. 

No promises that I will actually do any of the projects as I am working on completing my doctorate and finishing writing 2 books. I have been coached to keep this goal always in front of me. I even wrote a couple of pages today.

A few months ago our son moved back in with us and his 3 little girls live here half time. I like it. I get to see them more often besides babysitting and putting them to bed and family dinners. We get to hang out. Tonight they were preparing for some kind of show and put on their best dresses and "makeup". How does one clean red marker off the nose of a 6 year old? Soap and water and Vaseline and lots of elbow grease. Hers. 

The 11 year old is eager to learn how to bake and I have ordered a copy of Jane Brocket's Vintage Cakes for her to read and dream. Together we have made some amazing moist banana cakes. I think this could be a nice Gramma - granddaughter adventure as we read and drool and dream. 

But then, I am starting a clean eating program later this week, right after the pizza and birthday cake (chocolate) for 3 year old David.  

Blessings,

Chris

Saturday Morning

All I wanted to do this morning was to sew up one little block for my Dear Jane 2 quilt.
So, I pulled out the book where I had neatly placed 8 foundation patterns and red fabric ready to sew. It was supposed to be so simple. I have made hundreds of them. Ya right.
I have the quarter inch foot with the seam guide on the Bernina. No problem. I will just switch to the regular foot. Where is it?

Well, then I will set up the Featherwight since it is sitting right here on top of the Treadle machine that was moved in here last month when we started the cleaning lady clean up. It had been on the long table until I cleared that off yesterday. Plugged it in and wiped off the dust. Tightened a screw on the plate with the thread holder. Thread is there already. Need a bobbin. Where are they? Okay. Found several in a jar nearby.

But wait! The bobbin case is missing! Sigh. So I started looking for the bobbin case. Could not find it. Okay. I have 3 more Featherweights in this room. No bobbin case in the one on top of the bookshelf. The other 2 are in the bottom of another book case with the sliding door closed and the big table is in front of it. And to think. I sent all the left over chocolates out with the garbage this morning.  So, I started looking for the Bernina foot again. Not in the Bernina accessories drawer. That meant only one thing. I had to search through every one of the nearly 40 see-through storage containers - the ones from all those cookies that I stopped eating. And here is some of what I found:

• 12 quilt marking pens
• 11 coins
• 10 packets of pins
• 9 batteries
• 8 irons
• 7 pairs of glasses
• 6 pencil sharpeners
• a few $5 bills
• 4 seam rippers
• 3 dried up glue sticks
• 2 bottles hand sanitizer
• and 1 Baby Jesus button
• but no bobbin case 

Seriously. All I wanted to do was sew up one more little red block for the RSC

Can I count this in my 15  minutes stitching today? 

Blessings, 

Chris

BTW . . . I did find the missing box of Dear Jane 2 blocks right where I put them. This after going through every other box in the house at least twice. At least now I know what I have and where.
And I had looked in that closet several times. 
BTW 2 . . . I found just 1 bobbin case on one of the hidden machines after crawling under the big table after moving a bunch of boxes.

Middle of the Night

What do you do when you lay down for a nap at 6 pm and wake up after midnight? You quilt of course. I did my 15 minutes of stitching at the machine tonight adding the sashing to the almost last few blocks of Dear Daughter. I have 2 blocks half done then only one more to make. But which pattern to choose since I am only making 36 instead of the 42 like the original and I made several alternative blocks. So close. I have them all up on the design wall waiting for all the grandchildren to come over next week for little David's third birthday. We will have pizza and cake. I want them to help arrange the blocks for their great-grandma's 90th birthday present quilt. The party is next month and we will get all the family to sign the blocks then. But first I will have to quilt it. By machine of course.

I find signs all over the house

Blessings,
Chris

15 Minutes to Stitch 2019

One of my 2019 goals is to stitch 20 minutes a day. 

Well 15-20 minutes. 

I joined Deb in her a-heart-day-in-month-of-may.

and I did it. 

Now to stitch something 

(anything)

every day. 

I will even try to keep track. 

Blessings,

Chris

First Post of 2019

I did not get my One Monthly Goal done in Dec. I only stitched 4 days this past month and still have 5 blocks to complete for Dear Daughter. This will be my Jan 2019  OMG.
Gay is teasing us with a couple of new Block of the Month possibilities for this year.

I decided to join up with to-do-tuesday this year to help keep me focused on completing my weekly to-do list.

Tues Jan 1, 2019

• clear off long table in quilt room - again
• water house plants
• finish book report for ITPAC
• write out psychology and theology comparison paper
• complete these 4 Dear Daughter applique blocks
• submit ITPAC
• red is the colour for RSC for Jan so pull out the red Bright Jane blocks
• not start anything new
• waterfit 2 X 
• cut the grass - wait- it's Jan 1- we should have 2 feet of snow by now.

So even though it is the middle of Christmas vacation, the girls are at the kitchen table playing school. "Gramma, do  you have any books with no writing in them?"

New Year's blessings, 

Chris