One step closer

I just needed a couple of road trips to finish the appliqué on this. It is about 18 inches square. So it might make a good center for a wall hanging.  

Lost and found

If you read my goals for 2015 you know that one of my major goals is to continue to declutter my house from top to bottom.  DH and I have begun with the basement and it has been amazing what treasures we've been finding buried in boxes. I thought I was pretty well organized when we moved into this house 9 years ago, but obviously I was not because we've found some odd things packed together in boxes in our basement storage room. And I'm ashamed that any boxes have remained unpacked after 9 years. Shame on me!

There are 4 of these candle-wick on muslin blocks.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet, but I think they need to go into a quilt of some kind. And the doll quilt needs a bit of repair.  I'm not sure who made this, but it was in with some doll clothes so I believe it was probably a gift for the girls when they were little.  The binding is done with a technique that I have never used, but the quilting is all done by hand with red thread.  A little repair and it will go into the doll bed with the dollies for the grandchildren to play with when they visit.

Blue UFO project

Since the January color for RSC15 (Rainbow Scrap Challenge) is blue, I decided the first UFO I would tackle is this blue and green Trip Around the World.  It has lots of blue in it.

I had 16 blocks done already and the fabrics gathered for more.  On New Years Day I made 3 more blocks (along with some other sewing) and sewed the strip sets for 3 more.  I'm not sure how big I want this quilt to be, but should have enough fabric gathered for at least 36 blocks, maybe 42. 

RSC15 has begun

I really enjoy getting involved in some online communities to see what other quilters are working on, and also to "play" along with some of the online projects. 

So I'm joining in on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge again this year and am looking forward (RSC15) to playing along with http://superscrappy.blogspot.com. The whole idea is that we are challenged each month use up our scraps to make something - anything - using the color of the month. January 2015 is blue.

The host of RSC15 has also designed a sampler quilt for the year that will incorporate a whole lot of 6.5" blocks framed by a sawtooth star.  And I'm going to work on the sampler as well as other projects of my own.  She plans to post 2 or 3 block tutorials each month for this sampler.

Sampler block #1 is called Whirling Geese and used the partial seam technique to make those flying geese whirl around the center. And the host has a great tutorial full of pictures of every step.  I used some blue batik scraps and a white background, but I haven't really decided yet whether or not I'll stick with batiks or use up other blue scraps. The background - I think that will be scrappy too, using whites, creams, shirtings, etc. We'll see how it shakes out.

Making the most of 2015

Wow! It's a new year and time to set some new goals for myself. 2014 was a pretty good year and of course I'm expecting 2015 to be fabulous!  I'm not going to make any resolutions because I don't stick with them very long, but I am going to work on some broad goals.

Last June I finally managed to gather some will power and focus on getting healthier. My husband and I began walking - a lot - and trying to eat better. We both lost 30+ pounds, but the holidays have been tough. So Goal #1 is to get back on track with exercise and cut the self-destructive eating habits. I'm not going to focus on a specific weight loss, but think that will gradually happen with healthier habits.

Goal #2 is aimed at continuing the decluttering of my house.  I have too much "stuff" and the clutter is stressful.  I inherited some of the clutter from other family members, but have added to the problem steadily. I definitely inherited the pack-rat gene that makes it difficult to part with things. This will be a tough goal to reach, but every empty box or drawer will give me a huge feeling of satisfaction.  In addition to getting rid of stuff, I am going to better organize what I keep (like photos).  

And Goal #3 deals with the activities that make me happy.  I am promising myself that I will take more time to spend with friends and family, to read more good books, to play more golf, and to spend lots of time at my sewing machine. Life is too short NOT to have some fun, spend time with the people I love, and spend some time being creative. 

So, here's to making the most of 2015!  Happy New Year!!!

Winding down in 2014

Just a little end of the year sewing . . . and it was 4 more of these Traveling Stars blocks.  I still have quite a few of these to make from 6" squares shared by guild members.

Yesterday I prepped and sewed on several pillowcases from my stash fabrics. 3 of them have snowman fabrics, 2 pillowcases have motorcycles, 1 is bright yellow with kitties, 1 is butterflies, 1 is smiley faces, and 2 more are florals.  I have the tops on 5 of them, have 2 more pinned into the "tube" and ready to sew. The rest are cut and ready to go. 

And this morning I've been doing a little organizing in my sewing room and working on my 2015 UFO list.  I've found the past 3 years that having a list of UFOs to work on has helped me focus.  When I have a little time to sew and nothing planned, then I can check that list and choose something to work on.  2014 saw a LOT of projects checked off the list and that definitely made me happy.

We're going to spend New Year's Eve having supper and watching the kids open Christmas gifts at our older daughter's house later today. They had a house full of influenza over Christmas, but everyone is healthy again and we are looking forward to spending some time with them.

Happy New Year!!

House Warming Party

This is month 4 of the House Warming Party quilt and is actually the last of the border blocks. Now the fun begins with the large center section of this quilt.  

The little red birds show up again in that center section.  I think there are 10 of them total, with 5 scattered in the border blocks.