Revisiting 23 UFOs

  Some thoughts on revisiting 23 unfinished projects.

1. There should be at least 23.
2. These do not have be unfinished quilts. I'm sure I have something else unfinished to work on. 
3. I think 2 weeks on each project should be just enough time to have some fun without creating unnecessary stress to complete. 
4. Completion is not the goal.
5. Having fun is. 
6. And if I liked the project enough to have invested that kind of money and time in the first place, then I should enjoy myself playing with it again. 
7. No pressure to finish anything. 
8. Playing is the goal. 
9. Linking up with some of the encouragement parties in blogland is a great idea if that will keep me motivated. 
10. Okay, I like to make lists and could spend the first month just writing and re-writing my goals and to-do lists, but I already did that. 
11. That is not the goal.
12. Having fun working on the projects is the goal.
13. Two weeks per project times 23 projects does not equal 52 weeks.
14. I guess that's like working on 2 projects each month.  
15. Working on more than one at a time is okay.
16. As long as I am having fun. 
17. Starting new projects is not forbidden. 
18. This is for revisiting ufos. 
19. Unless I start a new project early in the year and it becomes a ufo by year's end, then it counts.  
20. Writing up an elaborate list of ufos is a great idea.
21. Checking it twice is nice and so is colour coding. 
22. But completion is not the goal.
23. Having fun is. 

Blessings,

Chris

23 Plans for 2023

 

I like planning. There is something about writing them down and seeing them in black and white. 

I woke up this morning around 4 am coughing for about an hour. My thoughts bouncing back and forth with ideas for writing blog posts. So I got up to get a drink of water and crawled back into bed. Could not get back to sleep so considered just getting up. The house was quiet with all the family guests gone. But 5 in the morning? That's the time farmers get up to start morning chores and we are retired. And I had not gotten to sleep until after midnight. 

My Sweetie slept on after I exited the bedroom and I went to my desk and took up a pen and wrote for the next hour. It was so satisfying considering I had laid down my pen nearly a month ago. After a while, I started to write down a to-do list. That is not the same as a goals list. To-do is to remember to do some banking, water the plants, change the bedsheets. That kind of thing. But this is a Planning Party. 

Here we go:

1. Revisit 23 ufos in 2023. I have 33 on the list on my sidebar. More on this later.
2. Build a Son Room onto the house. It has been a dream of mine for like most of my life. The contractor is supposed to be here this week to make plans.
3. Take part in To-Do Tuesday because I have to be writing to-do lists. 
   
4. Stitch for at least 15 Minutes a Day. 
5. Blog weekly. I have so many ideas. 
6. Meet with my writing accountability partner. This time remember to pray for each other as we share our writing goals each week.
7. Take part in monthly Virtual Writing Retreats with Christian Book Academy.
8. Write some simple words (profound eludes me most times I try). Maybe the most profound words really are the simple ones. I have 3 unfinished manuscripts. 
9. Launch the How to Stay Married for 50 Years blog. It is set up and ready to go but I still have to finish editing the posts. Cannot do that with a house full of guests and while I am on an airplane. Maybe for April? But then what do I do about comments while out of the country? 
10. Lead my Women's Small Group well. We will be doing a workbook called Hearing God this winter. 
11. Keep a Gratitude Journal. This will be the homework for my women.
12. Participate in an online 34 Day Rhema and Movement Challenge from Rhythms of Colour in January. 
13. Take Ava to Garmisch Germany for a Christian Women's ReAlign Retreat in March. How exciting that it is during her spring break. Still have to book the plane tickets. 
14. Go to Scrub Stitching in Baradine Australia with my Sweetie in April. Still have to book plane tickets.
15. Visit the Royal Easter Show in Sydney as guests of the Guernsey Cattle Society of Australia. My Sweetie agreed to go to the quilt retreat after he had been invited to judge the cattle. I plan to find some quilts to look at.
16. Cataract surgery in May. Have to wait until after our flights. Then cannot fly for 2-3 months after. 
17. Women's Retreat in June on the shores of Lake Erie. I am the group leader and organizer. I have ideas and plans. It is going to be amazing. I anticipate using ideas from the Retreat in March.
18. Vermont Quilt Festival in June. That will be a road trip with sisters, meeting friends, workshops, and shopping.
19. Take 3 for our 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration. The date is set for July 1-4, 2023 long weekend. The venue is here at the Farm. We are planning a tent, a bouncy castle, a live band, an open house for neighbours and friends, a BBQ for family, games and adventures. 
20. Launch Bertha's Flowerpots SAL possibly in July after the houseguests are gone.
21. Take Devan to visit family in Poland in August when it is safe to fly again after my eye surgery.
22. Shipshewana Quilt Retreat in November.
23. Ministry trip to India for Christmas.

I am looking forward to 2023 as a year of amazing adventures with God and family and friends. A year of celebration and travel and quilting.  

Blessings,

Chris

Lucy One Year Later

 I have been reading Nina's posts on composition in art work. Now I get a glimpse of why Lucy Boston's Patchwork Of the Crosses so appeals to this left-brain thinking quilter. Lucy is totally and completely symmetrical, balanced and straight - sort of. The initial elongate hexagon shapes had me challenged as I did not then know how to approach putting them together. But putting them together I have been doing for an entire year. And loving every minute of it!

We were home alone Christmas Day 2021 and Chooky challenged me to gather my papers and the book and start. So I did. Nearly every blog post for 2022 made mention of that journey. I have loved it. The same kind of love I had for working on the Cherries Quilt for 6 years. I will get that one quilted some day. 

I will soon be cutting out the next 12 sets of elongated hexies to continue on into the new year. But I told myself that I had to complete the Wedding Quilt first. That hasn't happened yet but progress has. Until we had a family wedding, surprise 60th birthday party, 18 for an impromptu sleepover during the pre-Christmas blizzard and then Christmas Eve dinner for 22 was here instead of at our daughter's since their town was shutdown because of 3-4 feet of snow during the same blizzard and 100 mile and hour winds, and we had most of the family here anyway in their Christmas jammies. It was awesome. And both my Sweetie and I were sick so it was nice that there were other adult people here to make sure no one starved. Power flickered off a few times, but stayed on, even though the washer and dryer almost never slept but the hot tub did get accidentally put on sleep mode so was about 60F when we dressed up in our swim suits to go in. So Christmas Day was rather quiet since there were only 13 of us. Oh, and I had no Wi-Fi in the upstairs quilt room where we had relocated the desktop computer since my nephew and his family from Saskatchewan were occupying the parlour. Actually, the Wi-Fi was rather sketchy the whole time. Cannot imagine why with all those cell phones being engaged all at the same time. I had also taken all the lego creations in progress up to my sewing tables to protect them for the toddlers who were here all week. 

The goal will be to get those sewn together then make more corner squares after fussy cutting out more 2 inch squares for the centers. 

But wait! I ran out of papers!!! So I start sewing units together so I can remove some papers to re-use. I do like how this is coming together. I did meet my Dec OMG goal and then some. 

So my Jan OMG goal will have to be determined. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with:alyciaquilts.  ninamariesayre.off-wall-friday.html

23 UFOs for 2023

Call me crazy if you like. Or join me in the New Year as I set my quilting goals. Meredith had a challenge back in 2017 to revisit 17 ufos for 3 weeks each. The goal was to move projects forward. If a completion took place, well that was a bonus. That year I completed about 5. Probably the most I ever completed in a year. I did, however, pull out 17 old projects and took photos, and wrote up 17 blog posts. It was great fun, and I even added a few stitches to some of them. But that year I did quite a bit of traveling (I was in Poland and Rwanda and Indiana) then the little boys showed up 4 days a week for a year with diaper bags in tow while there mama went back to school, so little got accomplished in the quilting area.

I do not like the stress of a deadline to finish something. Never have. Probably never will. Well, I do like to finish the food on my plate. Except the pumpkin soup when I was 9. I did not finish it. Although I sat in front of it all day. I don't care for pumpkin anything, especially pumpkin spice. Give me chocolate and caramel any day. 

I have been participating in WIPS-B-GONE this fall, and I set my goal really low. To complete 2 smaller quilts that had minimal work left to do. And then there was the Wedding Quilt. The pressure I put on myself, with a bit of help from my Sweetie, kept me from enjoying working on it. Okay. Family commitments, health issues, and house guests kept me busy. This one is still a work in progress with progress. 

I have had several other crazy quilt-related ideas, like going to Australia for Scrub Stitching In April. Wait! I am going to Scrub Stitching in Australia in April! And my Sweetie is going too! It should be great fun. We have made a few short road trips together, but it's been about 14 years since we both got on a plane together and flew off somewhere for the fun of it. And since he is retired and has no cows to milk, we can stay away as long as we want. It's not that he is afraid of flying. We had to plan that trip a year in advance to breed cows to not calve while we were gone. That was my ingenious idea, and it worked. 

I will be back with more thoughts on this Crazy Goal to revisit 23 Quilts in 2023. And, no. I am not setting up a linky party. That is too much like work, and I want to quilt. Making comments would be n ice if anyone wants to participate. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking to: texasquiltgal.to-do-tuesday

Morrell Revisited

I first read about the Sarah Morrell quilt in Sept 2013 then ordered the pattern Nov 2013. The pattern arrived Feb 2014. Then I bought several French General fat quarter bundles on a ridiculous sale from Craftys Nov 2014 and prewashed fabric Oct 2015. Can you tell I had been planning the thing for a while? I officially started Nov 2015 at the Shipshewana retreat and have taken blocks with me every single one of the 6 retreats I attended over the years. I actually thought I might make some progress during the 2017 challenge. 

This pattern was reproduced from a 1842 sampler quilt by the late Di Ford-Hall. 

As I look at what I have accomplished so far on these blocks, I get excited to consider continuing the journey. But, there are only 24 hours, 1440 minutes, 86,400 seconds in a day. Tara of Tazzie Quilts has the pattern and is planning to start hers. We can work on them together. 

Since my discovery of EPP, I have decided to make block #55 next. I just happened to have a thousand 3/4 inch hexie papers and I only need 19 to make it. I will do the fussy cutting thing and see how I like sewing together hexagon shapes. There are 3 radiant star blocks, but I am in no hurry to attempt  those just yet. The 3 Saw Toothed framed blocks each need to have some Broderie Perse arrangements added. There are still a lot of Broderie Perse blocks to do. I think I will do a blitz of prepping and arranging. 

But. alas, Christmas is coming and so are a lot of houseguests for my brother's wedding next week. But first, the bookkeeper is due again today and then the accountant to do the year end books for the farm. Since we sold the milk quota earlier this year, that is more complicated than most farming years. 

Freezing rain yesterday warmed up the soil in the flower beds and the rest of the tulips finally got planted. Well, all but the few I decided to give to the grandchildren to plant in pots. 

Blessings,

Chris

On Putting My Pen Down

 December 1st I was meeting with my writing accountability partner, and as I was about to identify my writing goal for the coming week, the words, "I am putting down my pen until after the New Year" came out of my mouth. What does that mean? To literally put down my pen or to stop writing altogether?? 

I do have a lot going on this month of December. 

1. Women's small group Racklette potluck tomorrow.
2. Pre-op then surgery to remove a polyp from my uterus next week.
3. Pre-op for cataract surgery the following week.
4. Houseguest for 2-3 weeks after that.
5. Family wedding - why the houseguests are coming.
6. Christmas.
7. Ignoring the Wedding Quilt - as if I could.
8. Plant the rest of the bulbs.
9. Have fun stitching on Lucy. 
10. Oops - I forgot all about the Churn Dash blocks.

I have been writing Morning Pages almost daily for nearly 2 years now. It is a part of my life. As I have been decluttering and rearranging stuff, I have come across more journals and notebooks I have kept over the years. This is fascinating! I have been doing morning pages for years and years. It just wasn't called that, and it wasn't every day, and it wasn't 3 full pages of stream of consciousness writing, but it was pretty much of what I do now. 

Seriously, writing is what I do. I process thoughts and intents by writing them out. It often looks like a to-do list but only if I do it point form and maybe write a number in front of it. I have stacks and stacks of notes for the books I have been writing. And now, I have insights how to bring all that together. But I am laying down my pen.

So, instead of handwriting this morning, I spent several hours on the computer booking travel arrangements for a women's retreat to The Black Forest in a Baravian Alpine resort for me and Ava for March. It just happens to be her spring break week. Retreat venue is included, and I booked 2 nights in a chalet place with a balcony and now to get flights for the correct days. Did I mention this is in Germany? I thrive on stuff like this. 

My Sweetie and I are going to Australia in April, but I have to wait until after the next Visa statement is processed before booking our flights and rooms. Most of that trip is already pre-booked. Just need to fill in the gaps between international flights. Oh, I am excited. 

I have 2 other overseas trips later in the year figured out in my head but have to wait for a bit. And the Vermont Quilt Festival in June and Shipshewana Retreat in November.

But putting my pen down. I will not be writing Pages, nor will I be journaling which is what I have been doing while online with a writing group. Do you think I like writing? Some Decembers I have blogged every day for the whole month. Not going to happen this year. The writing part is easy and fun, but it takes time to respond to blogger's comments and that is what it is all about. Connecting with readers around the world. And I do have a lot going on this month. And I have several posts already written up. I guess my 23 UFOs for 2023 will have to wait to be announced. And my Bertha's Flowerpots BOM will also have to wait. But that is okay because, you see, I have a lot going on this month.

My Sweetie just drove off to pick up a carload of Caesar Salad kits that got dropped off at our son-in-law-the-pastor's church so we could share them with folk around here. I have a dozen ladies coming for lunch tomorrow and they could all use a gift. 

Blessings until the New Year,

Chris

Lucy Update

 I find such gentle encouragement from Jennifer at Elefantz. I am one of those that compares myself and beats myself up for not accomplishing all that I want to do. I thank God daily for allowing us to live in this incredible old farmhouse in the country away from the hustle and bustle of the noisy world.

And yet, I continually bring that noise into my home by continually having my face in the computer checking messages, reading blogs, researching many things. 

We put the snow tires onto the car, and I took the hour drive to a church camp to consider renting a location for our Women's Small group retreat for the spring. We have had our first taste of winter this past week and looking forward to at least 4 months more of ice and snow and cold wintery blasts where I do not have to drive anywhere that I do not want to. I can stay home and enjoy home. 

It is November and one of the things I recall learning in grade 11 Geography with Mr. Woods was to enjoy the sun in November. And sun we have now. The other thing I recall him teaching me was to read a road map. I love reading road maps. There is so much "scope for imagination" to quote Anne Shirley from The Green Gables. did I mention I bought the entire Lucy Maude Montgomery kindle  collection for $0.75? Then read her biography, twice and The Emily trilogy this weekend. 

Christmas is just a month away and we are looking forward to a family wedding and a house full of guests. And yet, I stopped doing all the mad planning and prepping for a storybook Christmas. Blasphomous, I know, but I do not put up a tree of decorate or buy hundreds of presents. I have instead, chosen to have the focus on family and a simple (if cooking a turkey for a crowd of 20-30 is ever simple) turkey dinner. I have learned how to delegate and not stress over a lived-in house that has dirt and clutter, and lots of love. In our empty nest years, I started to give each of our children a large cash gift to purchase a non-specific gift of their choice. Sometimes, I suggested something. Like our daughter needed a new laptop to go back to school to do her masters. Another year, I said her father told me I was not getting them a snow blower, but here is an envelope with some cash. Merry Christmas. This year I will not buy a piano for her boys who are taking music lessons. 

I turned 70 earlier this year and that caught me by surprise. It is no wonder that I do not move as quickly as I used to in decades past and do not accomplish all the crazy things my imagination conjures up. We started receiving a pension this year. Crazy, I know. That is for old people. 

I did not accomplish my November OMG goal. Fact is, I did not even try. Instead, I have been having a lot of fun with Lucy this month. Too much, in fact. And I plan to continue that for December. 

My OMG quilting goal will be to make at least 8 more sashing units. And I plan to bring out the bin of pre-washed fabrics and cut out the next 12 cross block hexies. That one blue one with the stripes stands out of place right now and I want to add a lot more colours, especially some with whitish backgrounds for more contrast.

I already have a lot of random neutral hexies basted just waiting for exciting fabrics to bring them alive. In my uneducated starting place, I chose random fabrics and quickly made and basted a lot. Now I choose deliberately. I kind of like it. But I may want to make at least a thousand more. But I have other goals in mind for 2023. More about that later. 

I did complete some of my To-Do Tuesday goals last week. This week's will be short. Prep for the Small Group Racklette Potluck luncheon this Saturday. 

Linking with Linda at To-Do Tuesday. 

Gone Stitchin'  myquiltinfatuation.

inquiring quilter.wednesday-wait-loss 

alyciaquilts.finished-or-not.

ninamariesayre-off-wall-friday.  

party-patchwork-quilts-

kathysquilts.slow-sunday-stitching.

quiltingismorefunthanhousework.

Blessings,

Chris

Almost the End of November

Last week's list:

1. Complete three Lucy sashing strips. I completed 5 and 1 corner square. 
2. Ignore the Wedding Quilt. Tried but failed again. I cut out fabric for foundation piecing but have to put all that aside for now to hem up my son's referee pants. 
3. Work on the Churn Dash blocks. Nothing here. And this is my OMG goal for this month. 
4. Write something. 
1. Morning Pages - a few times but we went away for 5 days and I did no writing then. 
2. Devotions - got a few in. This is the homework I gave my Women's group. I better get mine done. 
3. Manuscript - Nada. But I have a scathingly brilliant idea for yet another new short book. Why are new ideas so much more exciting than old ones?
4. To-Do lists - Every day I write one. Every day I check off some things. 
5. Blog post - Writing it now. 

This week's list:

1. Hem up those referee pants and taper the inseam. I cannot believe how much equipment the hockey referees have to wear to protect themselves. 
2. 
   Hem up a dress. I really do not like sewing with black thread on black fabric, but this is the plan and I said I would do it today. Sigh. I have a luncheon date with my Sweetie then going to visit a friend who bought a cow from us a year ago. It has been exactly a year since the cows were sold and moved off the farm. Life is sweet. 
3. Continue ignoring the Wedding Quilt. I took the blocks off the design wall so I could take them upstairs to check colours. I am about to run out of the one green I have used a lot so far. 
4. About those Churn Dash blocks. 
5. Put away Lucy out of sight, possibly in another building. 
6. Plant those bulbs now that we have had snow and a bit of freeze up. It is supposed to be above freezing for a few days. Now to wait for the ground to thaw enough to put a shovel into the dirt. The squirrels are not going to get my bulbs. 
7. Do not turn on Netflix. I binge watched The Crown Season 5 the other day when my Sweetie went to visit the boys for 4 days. They got serious snow there, like 8-10 inches while we got 3-4. Buffalo, USA, across the river, got a mere 3-4 feet. Nothing new there. Lake effect they call it. That means I got exclusive use of the remote control for 4 whole days. 
   
   
   
8. Get into the hot tub. We had some serious winds over the past few days and the lid blew off several times. We bought the thing a year and a half ago and set it up and filled it a year ago. In August, we drained it and moved it while the patio was being built. Then the contractor insisted on moving it and placing it on point in front of the bathroom window and he filled it. And since he removed several trees and all the sumac, there is a wind tunnel through the back yard now and they sent the wrong lid holder thingy and the new one has not yet arrived. The water dropped to 77F the other day. We have weights on it now. And the water feature? The water is flowing, but rather slowly. 
   
   
   
9. Deadhead the rest of the geraniums and begonias. I brought in some of the planters I bought in the spring for the wedding to over winter. 
   
   
   

Look who snuck in with one of the hanging baskets. 

That should be enough to keep me out of trouble for a few days. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with: texasquiltgal/to-do-tuesday 

It's Tuesday Again

 Last week's list was to:

1. Write something profound. I wrote fewer days than usual. I try to write Morning Pages - 3 hand written ages of stream of consciousness writing first thing when I crawl out of bed. But then, I slept in several mornings because I was up half the night reading. Then, we impulsively went away for the weekend (5 days) to visit family so I did no writing then either.
2. Do not gloat or boast. So, is it boasting to say I am not boasting? 
   
   
   
3. Complete one Lucy corner square. I completed several sashing units. I also basted piles and piles of white hexies as I joined not one not two but three quilting zoom parties the previous weekend. This past weekend while we were away, I stitched all those white hexies into threes. And I glue basted lots of one-inch squares. But I did not complete a corner unit.  
4. Plant bulbs. Nope. Not yet. The weather is still pretty nice, and I like to plant them just before freeze-up so the squirrels do not dig them up. One time I was out there on New Year's Day planting. Another time, it was Jan 4, and I was out there in my bare feet planting. A week later it was -29C. Freeze-up could come petty soon now. 
   
   
   
5. Ignore the Wedding Quilt.   I succeeded in ignoring - no that is not true - I did no sewing on it but it is in my face all the time. I have it on the big design wall and it is the background for every zoom meeting I am on. I probably should have fixed my hair before taking the picture. 

This week's list:

1. Complete three Lucy sashing strips.
2. Ignore the Wedding Quilt.
3. Work on the Churn Dash blocks. 
4. Write something. 
1. Morning Pages
2. Devotions
3. Manuscript
4. To-Do lists
5. Blog post

That should keep me busy for the coming week.

Linking with Linda at texasquiltgal. 

wednesday-wait-loss-

myquiltinfatuation.

Blessings,

Chris

November 2022 OMG Goal

 I did not meet my October goal. Fact is, I hardly even tried. And why?

Besides a long weekend filled with family and people and food, I ended up with covid and lost a week of being productive. Well, that is not entirely true. The week we were sick, my Sweetie and I made not one, not two, but three big pots of soup and two crock pots of stew. Just because we could, and we had a lot of vegetables that needed processing. Like, someone dropped off a half bushel of brussel sprouts so they now live in the deep freezer. So, we now have lots and lots of meals in the freezer in case we get sick and do not want to cook. 

Also, I got a message from my daughter that 6-year-old David was missing me and was snuggling up in a sweater I gave his mom to sleep in because it reminded him of the good memories he had with Gramma. Not sure what was going on in his head, other than I had covid, and so did his dad and mom at the same time. He said the sweater smelled like the farm. How wonderful! So, I went over for a few days to snuggle the boys. 

Alas, I recovered from the covid. It was a mild case, and I was out of it for about 4-5 days, then the nasal congestion. I had to cancel the surgery that I have been waiting 5 months for. It will be sometime next month. Something about anesthetic and congestion not going together. I did get lots of handwork done on Lucy because the prep work and thinking part was done. Just got to sit and stitch my heart away.

I am struggling with using the fancy-dancy laptop that I just had to have. I bought it nearly 2 years ago and do very little writing on it. And why? Because I cannot see the letters on the silver keys. My fingers know where most of the letters are, but they miss often, and I have to continually go back and edit. Hence, I use the desktop which has a black keyboard with white letters. Easy to see. But I still make mistakes. Sheesh. 

I do use it most days in my quilt room, just not for writing. It has a touch screen. I love that. I can take it outside to use, as long as I remember to charge it. Nothing quite like it dying in the middle of a zoom meeting. And I discovered the link to write a new post. So that is why I am writing a new post on the laptop.

I rearranged the quilt room so I could have more table space to work more efficiently. I now have both the 8-foot folding tables set up in the middle of the room. I have my books spread out on one table facing north and the quilting on the other table facing south.

The table lamps are attached to the sides between the 2 tables, so I can easily turn them to whichever table I am working on. All this to say, I have one of the lamps hanging over the top of the laptop, and I can actually now see the keys. 

Since it is Tuesday, I have a To-Do-Tuesday list this week:

1. Write something profound.
2. Do not gloat or boast.
3. Complete one Lucy corner square.
4. Plant bulbs.
5. Ignore the Wedding Quilt.

My OMG for this month will be to complete 8 Churn Dash blocks. I did not get any done in October. I am planning to make 63 blocks and have 25 made so far.  

linking with: texasquiltgal.to-do-tuesday-

quiltingpatch link-party-patchwork-quilts-

design-wall-monday- 

wednesday-wait-loss-300 

midweek-makers-

wendysquiltsandmore.

stitchingcubbyhole.

Blessings,

Chris 

 

Lucy

 The hand stitching goes on and on and on.

Linking with Slow Sunday Stitching

quiltingismorefunthanhousework.oh-scrap- 

blessings,

Chris

Sunday Stitching

 I have progressed this far on Lucy. Friday night I joined the Chookshed Stitchers for 5 hours and did some glue and hand basting on the hexies and squares that will fill in those 4 corner squares. It should not take too much time to get those stitched together. Now the question is, do I stop here and find another hand project to pursue (the book is in the mail), or do I carry on with my last plan to make 13 more to double the size? The original had 56 crosses. I am aiming for 25. I still have so many interesting fabrics to fussy cut as well as a whole bin of already basted hexies waiting for some fussy cut show stoppers. I am loving this project.

This is what the backyard looks like right now. I had no idea the scope of that stonework. They would not let me anywhere near it while it was going in. I still have 400 bulbs to plant before the snow.

 

Linking up with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching.  

quiltingismorefunthanhousework.

design-wall-monday 

midweek-makers

blessings,

Chris

Slow Stitching on a Sunday When I have 18 Coming for a Turkey Dinner

 

I am a bit slow these days. I found a whole bunch of comments awaiting moderation approval. Silly me. I'm sure I had seen all of them in my inbox but did I reply to the comments? I will have to go back and see. Life has been full and busy. We went away a couple of times recently. I have been thoroughly enjoying working on the Lucy blocks. I have a system going now that makes it fun and not too messy. I want to get caught up on these before pulling out the huge bins of fancy fabrics and fussy cut more hexies. I am aiming for 25 crosses for now. But, alas, I have 18 for dinner later today. Lots of help so I can relax.

This has been my hand-stitching this year. What did I ever do before discovering English Paper Piecing? Oh yes. I did needle turn hand applique. I will get back to that in the New Year. That is only 12 weeks. Linking with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching.

Blessings

Chris

A Quilt Finish

 I want to shout it from the rooftops that I have completed a quilt!!!

This is the first WIPS-B-GONE finish.

Disappearing 9-Patch in 30s Repro fabrics

The backing is a novelty print from Joanns purchased 

many years ago.

And I finally get to show off a quilt roll.

The baby shower is on the patio in half an hour. Guess I need to get it wrapped. 

Blessings,

Chris

OMG October 2022

 So I did not meet my September OMG goal. No surprise. I did not meet it in  June or May or April either. So now it will be my October goal to finish the wedding quilt. I did make progress. Just not enough. In the meantime, we are hosting a baby shower (my Sweetie's idea to welcome new neighbours) this Sat evening on the patio. It is finished. Mostly. A few more shrubs will go into the ground in the spring. But for now, it is done and paid. 

The baby quilt is one of my ufos the Disappearing 9-Patch that I had intended to finish and give to one of my 4 youngest grandchildren, but they are all in school now and too big. This new little one should enjoy it. 

This is one of 4 ufos I am planning to finish up for WIPS-B-GONE with Leanne at Devoted Quilter. I still have to do the binding but have a couple of hours tomorrow afternoon to get that done now that the quilting is complete. Everyone else is posting progress on Instagram but I do not do Instagram so will post here when I have something to show. 

We have new neighbors on 3 sides of our farm. So my Sweetie thought it would be nice to get everyone to meet everyone and then he thought surprising the mom-to-be would be nice too. He has so much more time to think and play now that he is retired. My goodness, it was exactly a year ago that he announced that he intended to sell all the cows. And, we have such a nice patio to hang out on. Too bad it is October and a bit chilly. But that is what sweaters and jackets are for. 

Blessings,

Chris

Some Hand Stitching

One of my summer quilting goals was to have 12 completed Lucy crosses. And I succeeded.    

Now my Lucy focus will be to stitch together several of the sashing and cornerstone units using the already basted white hexies. I took time to count them out and calculate how many I have and how many I need. Lots. I caved and am now gluing the one-inch squares. They are just too small to hand-baste. I did try.  

Linking with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching.

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Blessings,

Chris

Sunday Stitching

 

Friday night I joined the Chookshed Stitchers for 4 1/2 hours to hang out and do some stitching. I had dropped one of those red stripey hexies so could not complete this block for Lucy. This will be block #12 when completed. My goal for this project for the summer was to have 12 completed crosses. I will turn my focus on making sashing and corner squares for a while. I have lots of white hexies basted ready for the one inch gold squares to get caught up. I am using glue for those because they are just too small for my large arthritic fingers to hand baste. 

In the meantime, this has sprung up in our backyard. I wanted to stitch out there the other night, but the workers were still out there tearing the whole thing apart because the liner leaked. We wanted a patio for the hot tub and to place to entertain outdoors and this sort of showed up. Landscaping will happen soon. Then, I plan to plant 500 spring bulbs. They are on the porch waiting.

Linking up with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching. 

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smallquiltsanddollquilts.design-wall-monday

Blessings,

Chris 

September 2022 OMG Goal

 I participate in a monthly Virtual Writing Retreat with my online writing group Christian Book Academy. We meet monthly for 2 days and write. I have been part of this group for about 4 years. Sometimes, I have written blog posts, which is what I am doing now. Other times I worked on coursework for my doctorate. But I finished all that more than a year ago. But starting mid-September, I will be refocusing my attention on making significant progress on the 3 books I have been writing on and off for the past few years. There will be a week-long Christian Writers Conference and another retreat at the end of the month. 

Our retreat generally starts out with some encouragement about the writing, editing, and marketing process. Progress is the keyword this month. What exactly does progress mean to me? Duh . . . I had no idea. We are told that progress is taking one small step forward. Then doing it again. We are told we should take time to celebrate our progress. This in our writing. I celebrate progress in my quilting. I take pictures as I start, work on and complete blocks, and sometimes finish quilts. And that is what my blog is all about. Well. Mostly. It is also about family and farm and travel and ministry. And for me, writing about my quilting progress and successes is to celebrate them. Now to take that attitude into my writing. Quit whining and complaining about lack of completion. Instead, celebrate the progress. 

My writing goal for September is to make some progress on at least one of my book projects. Which one? I will pray about that and see what direction God gives me this month. 

My quilting goal is to finally and completely finish the wedding quilt. End of story.

Linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts.

Blessings,

Chris

To-Do Tuesday for All of September

Since my OMG for September is to complete the wedding quilt, I have broken the process into steps and written them down. This for To-Do Tuesday. There are 10 steps. Sort of.

1. Complete the Center Medallion. It does not have to be perfect, just done. There are 2 borders in the medallion that include no less than 12 mitered corners. I have unstitched and corrected at least 4 of these already. 
2. Make 10 more nine-inch blocks. Remove the papers. The foundation patterns have been ready and waiting since April. 
3. Decide on placement and sew them to the setting triangles. Sew these into 4 strips and attach them to the medallion. This is border number 3. Once this is off the design wall, it will not go back up again. That will free up the wall for other projects. 
4. Figure out the placement and sew border number 4 onto the center. This is a fancy-dancy Jinny Beyer border print with mitered corners to match to perfection. 
5. Calculate border number 5, the Rose of Sharon appliques, by centering it to the quilt, sew it on, and miter the corners. The goal here is to do it without any meltdowns. 
6.  Center and place the already prepped applique leaves and flowers that have been patiently waiting in the project box since about 2005. Sew them in place. I had sewn all the earlier ones by hand. But all that glue. Might do this by machine. 
7. Center and attached the final border. Miter those corners to perfection. You would think that by the time I get here, I will know what I am doing. We shall see. 
8. Book the longarm again. 
9. Prep the backing and press the top, removing stray threads.
10. Prep and sew on the binding. 

If I aim for 2 steps per week. I should have this put together by the end of the month. I will book the longarm when I am on the last border. 

Wish me luck,

Chris

The Girls

 Devan is building a doll house out of cardboard boxes. This girl should really consider becoming an architect or engineer. She needed pillows for the beds so made 4 blues ones and 4 pink ones using some 2 1/2-inch pre-cuts. She is 9 now. So, it was time for her to learn how to wind the bobbin. She had to use some of the new coloured Aurifil threads I won here last year. And, had to have matching thread in the bobbin. I wonder where she learned that from? She also learned how to put the bobbin case in and out as well as thread the machine. She is using the Bernina because it has a 1/4-inch seam guide. The Jazz does also, but the Bernina is better. And besides, I was busy jamming up the Jazz. She is now using the iron and rotary cutters by herself. She tends to complete projects she starts. She goes into grade 4 next week.

Ellyse and I made a trip to the UK to support my sister whose husband of nearly 51 years passed away last month. We survived sharing a double bed for 8 days. She claims I pushed her out one night, but I don't remember doing that. She put in a few stitches on a cross-stitch bookmark. She got to play with newborn puppies and she went to London to visit the Queen, who was up north that week. So she petted the horse and went on a boat ride on the River  Thames. She is a great travel companion. She goes into grade 5.

I took Ava to several nurseries to locate a few things for the patio. She said it was the best shopping trip EVER. She found fancy teas, like Matcha green tea and grapefruit, sparkly earrings, a scrub brush as well as various kitchen gadgets. She plans to start making dinner at least once a week for us. Looking forward to that. She also discovered tiny succulent plants including a Venus Flytrap. She now has a grow-op in her room. I told her she would have to take the blanket off the window and let the light in for the plants. She goes into grade 10.

I have 9 complete Lucy crosses so far. If I behave myself, I could have the next 3 done by Wed. I corrected the offending corner units on the blue stripe block. I had sewn the pairs together wrong. My summer goal was to have 12 of these done. But then, summer is not officially over until Sept 21. I plan to focus on stitching together as many sashing strips and cornerstones as I have white hexies basted for my Sept Lucy goal. I caved and am using glue for the 1-inch squares. 

Blessings,

Chris

The Boys

 The little boys have been getting quite the education at the farm. They are learning how to drive the golf cart. Bandage bruised knuckles. Smack flies. Put them in water to make sure they are really dead. Collect eggs and leaving one for tomorrow marking it with a face or some such artwork. Sleeping in the same bed. Two blankets work better than one. Eating vegetables with Grampa and ice cream with Gramma. Going on adventures like mini golfing, shopping for new sandals, and taking the garbage out to the end of the road on the golf cart. 

No cows to milk and frequent rain keeping Grampa off the tractor, making more time to play Settlers of Catan and UNO. Watching movies after bedtime and making business propositions to earn some real moneys. A dime for sweeping the kitchen floor and another for straightening all the shoes. And then he discovered that the cleaning lady gets sixty dollars for doing that again. He can count money. 

And didn't one of them ask when they were going to learn how to sew. Sigh. I am not ready for that part of their education. Not yet anyway. 

The boys are now on a cruise ship in the Atlantic going to Bermuda. They return sometime this week. David is going into grade1 and Jonathan into grade 3. Where has the time gone? They were just here 4 days a week while mom went back to school for a year and I changed diapers and snuggled them at the same time. But that was 4 years ago and they are too big to sit on my lap. I tell them that it will soon be my turn to sit on their laps. For snuggles. 

I have 25 Churn Dash SAL blocks made. I think they will look just fine alternating the mirror images. 

Blessings,

Chris 

OMG Completion August 2022

 My OMG goal for August was, again, just having fun and enjoying my stitching without deadlines and pressure. And I succeeded!! 

The Churn Dash SAL asked for 8 blocks for the month. To date, I have completed 16. I used the 8 HST method and had enough to make 2 of each fabric. So I decided to do one mirror image. Will they both be in the same quilt? Who knows! 

I have 10 more ready to sew together. I hope to have them done by the end of the month.

I had an oops moment (for 2 days) when the presser foot on the Jazz slipped so that I could not lift it to put my blocks under to sew them, and I did not know how to fix that. So, today I found the manual and fixed it. I will have to wind bobbins again very soon. This time I plan to do several. 

Last night I found an email from Chooky inviting us to an impromptu zoom party just minutes after it started. So, I quickly got my Lucy stitching box and spent the next 2 hours happily stitching together hexies.

I stitched these hexies together in England last week. Ellyse went with me. We went to the local quilt shop twice, and I bought a bit of yardage. Some I bought 3 years ago and was glad to find more. It is a border print that I plan to use for a border. On some yet to be dreamed up quilt. A small one. 

I still have those 4 corner units to stitch on. Some of the blue balls go up, and some go down. Will I let it bother me? And now to get the dark lines to line up when sewn together without puckering. 

I did baste a whole lot of other hexies that I had cut out last winter. Lots of basic filler colours. Now to find some show-stoppers. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with: smallquiltsanddollquilts.design-wall-monday-