Easy Street and something not so easy

My progress this week on Bonnie Hunter's current mystery quilt, Easy Street is not photo-worthy, so I'll spare you. I re-stitched some of those step one 4-patches, but I'm still not happy with them, sooooo, I'm going to get back to basics--cut again, stitch my twosies then 4-patches all over again, being as precise as I can. This is not Bonnie's fault or her pattern or instructions--it's all me. It's a simple, basic 4-patch for Pete's sake! All I can figure is my original cuts must have been skimpy and it's gone downhill from there.

In the meantime, have you seen the video Bonnie posted yesterday with the bed turning at the AQS Quilt Show? Beautiful antique quits there. When I saw Baby Baskets, I fell in love! (This is a screen shot from the video.)

I want to make this! Probably the baskets will not be as small as those on the original quilt, and I think I will do a more traditional on-point setting--maybe not--but I definitely want to make this. I think it should be a leader and ender project.

First for the pattern--I did a quick draft this afternoon and made the two blocks in the picture. Cute, but see how different they are? The larger basket is squatter and the smaller basket is taller. And I had to trim them down to odd sizes. The larger one is a skimpy 4.25" and the smaller one is 3.25". This is tougher than you might think at first glance. I'm going to work this out, and when I do I'll post a tutorial here on my blog. If you haven't ever drafted a quilt block, it will increase your appreciation for people like Bonnie who give us patterns for free...

I will be using Inklingo triangles for this little project, because it is really hard to get an accurate 1/4" seam on the little bitty triangles at the base of this basket. If I go down to a 3" block or less (not likely!), those triangles are less than 1"! What am I thinking? AND, and, and, and then I'll need to applique or embroider handles on every single little block. Really--WHAT am I thinking? But I really love that quilt!

Two steps forward, one step back

Step 3 of Bonnie's mystery will have to wait another day or two. I didn't like my Step 1 four patches--too many skimpy ones, too many wonky ones. So I saved a couple dozen of the best ones, and ripped seams on all the rest as well as the twosies I handn't sewn into four patches yet.

I've got them all pressed flat again in pairs. Re-sewing will commence AFTER a couple gifts are completed. I need these gifts for a get-together Thursday evening, but hopefully I can complete them tomorrow. Pictures will be forthcoming then...

Step by Step on Easy Street

Today is linky party day on Easy Street at Quilville's Quips and Snips!

We are on Part 2 of Easy Street! Bonnie included a very helpful video tutorial on using the EZ Angle ruler and Companion Angle ruler to help make our flying geese--192 of them!--for this step. Visualizing the hinge (check out the video--you'll understand) is such a simple thing, but such a HUGE help. Thanks to her son, Jeff, for helping Bonnie record this for us.

So here is where I am now. All parts cut and sub-cut. 42 gray 4-patch units complete with spiraled intersections on the wrong side, and 28 flying geese. Over the next few days I plan to finish these and to get the rest of my fabrics ready to just cut and go.

I am following Bonnie's suggestion that when a new step is released to stop where you are on the last step and do the next step, so even if you have to go back later to finish the right number of units in some (all) steps, you will have a chance to try each unit out so you can ask questions if need be or get the benefit of the conversation for that step at the Yahoo QuiltvilleChat group or any other group you are participating in.

On a side note, my "new" 404 stopped performing so beautifully after a short time on the strip sets for the 4-patches last week. I set the machine aside in the interest of getting stitching done, but I REALLY want to get a hold of her and get her in good working order soon. In the meantime, my little Featherweight, Dorie, is doing her usual beautiful job.

Hope you're enjoying our stroll down Easy Street!

Machine rescue

Yesterday while visiting thrift stores with a friend, I spotted what I thought might be a sewing machine in a large trash bin between two buildings of a thrift store. Staff confirmed they considered it "trash," and they didn't care who took it.

I am not normally a dumpster diver, and that bin was kind of smelly so I wasn't going in, and though my friend offered, we did the best we could reaching in from outside. The machine was resolutely attached to a broken cabinet. We got it maneuvered around so I could see the plate on the back saying made for Janome in Japan and the front said "New Home." The weight and style told me it was probably all metal inside and possibly from late '60s or early '70s. The wheel turned smoothly, the needle bar moved well, and the bobbin case looked intact. The cord and foot controller were attached and appeared intact, so I figured it was worth saving.

While we were still wangling the thing around trying to figure out how to unscrew or otherwise detach it from the cabinet, a man and woman drove up and offered to help. A very brief conversation revealed that they both sewed, but didn't have a machine (or much else it appeared). I do not need another machine (except one or two special ones I still want--that's another story!), I just couldn't leave a good one behind, so I was happy they arrived to save me from possibly having to get in that bin...

Nice to know a machine that needed an owner to make it useful again and a person who wanted to sew but didn't have a machine found each other. They will both be better for it I hope!

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

While a friend and I were running around today hitting a few thrift shops, I asked if she would mind if I ran in to buy a presser foot for my "new" 404 machine if we saw a sew 'n vac shop or other likely spot. That's all that was missing when I found the machine yesterday.

What turned up in the very next thrift shop but a sad, broken plastic box with "Singer" emblazoned in the center. It contained not only a slant needle presser foot, but several other slant needle accessory feet, and the whole shebang was a whopping $2!!! How easy was that? I did have to borrow a screw from another Singer machine to attach the foot, but I am now set.

Easy Street part 1

As you know I have become a really big fan of Bonnie Hunter and her Quiltville's Quips & Snips!! blog. Bonnie has inspired me to finally haul off and quilt--something I have loved to think about, read about, plan, play at, buy fabric and patterns for, forever. But I produced only a few quilts--a couple for charity, a couple baby quilts, and a few small items.

Until now.

I am currently hand quilting a king-sized quilt I made as a gift. I have started a Hello Kitty inspired quilt for my GG. AND I am going to be quilting along with other Bonnie fans on this year's mystery quilt, Easy Street. You can read all about it, and even join in, here.

Bonnie gave us information a couple weeks ago about choosing fabrics for this mystery quilt so we could make decisions and pull together our choices. She will release a clue to the mystery each Friday, and we will each do as much as we can of that clue before the next Friday's clue is released.

On Mondays Bonnie has a linky party where we share a link to our own blog posts telling about our progress. That way we can see how everyone else is doing, too. Here is the post for today's linky party. There are going to be a LOT of gorgeous quilts!

I'm getting a late start on this first clue, but I do plan to get it done. In the meantime, here is my progress--fabric for step 1 washed and ready for a quick press before being cut and sewn, possibly this afternoon.

And this morning, on my way home from the dentist, I popped into a Goodwill store even though it wasn't senior discount day or $1 tag day or anything else. Silly me, of course that is when I find the treasures! I found a really sturdy chair just the right size for my sewing desk AND this wonderful Singer 404. She shows a little wear and doesn't have a presser foot, but she does have a bobbin case, electrical looks good and works, and underneath is clean as a whistle. Her serial number puts her being allotted in December 1959. All for $17.99! How could I not bring her home?

I think Easy Street may be sewn on my new little friend.

Two Steps Forward...

...And one step back. I started hand quilting on my gift quilt, but have decided I need to take it out and start over. The design, Baptist fans, could turn several ways, so of course, now I want it the opposite of the way I started out.

After I put the last basting stitch in this quilt, I still wasn't sure how I wanted to quilt it. I considered all kinds of designs, but since I am hand quilting, I wanted it simple, and the closer the design could come to the 3-1/2" inch spacing the batting needs, the better! I considered wonky concentric circles, large spirals, Baptist fans. Baptist fans appeal to me because they would be fairly easy to mark as I go along, but that's a lot of quilting. I wasn't sure how they would look supersized.

Yesterday I stumbled across this picture, so of course I had to look closer, and there they were--GIANT BAPTIST FANS! And they look great. Also, the quilt happens to be absolutely adorable, and I think this will be my next quilt project for my GG. Amy (aka Sukie) at sukiedontyaknow.com blog designed this pixelated version of Hello Kitty. How smart is she? Thanks, Amy.

I won!!

Woo Hoo! I won this generous pile of goodies from the people at Quilty Pleasures blog. I got a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks vol. 6; "Quilt Batik!" by Cheryl Brown; "Clearly Perfect Angles" and 5 patterns by Kari Carr; four more quilt patterns by Curlicue Creations, Clothesline Quilts, Calico Carriage Quilt Designs, and Amanda Murphy; and a charm pack of Ty Pennington Impressions!!! Pretty good haul, huh?

The Quilty Pleasures blog tour showcases blocks in vol. 6 of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. I entered by making a comment on the blog on Monday, was notified I won on Thursday, and here it is in my hands on Saturday. THAT IS GREAT SERVICE! And they don't have a clue if I'm a customer or not, they just delivered excellent service to a stranger/opportunist/quilting enthusiast because they can!!

The goodies are sitting on the almost-finished-being-basted-on-the-dining-room-table quilt I'll be working on most evenings for quite a while. This is just a sneak peek, because it is a gift, and the recipient, who has seen the fabric and pattern, doesn't want to see the whole quilt until it is finished and in her hands.

BTW, I am using a hand basting method I learned from Sharon Schamber's video on YouTube. Sharon Schamber is a master quilter--the list of those who have earned that designation from National Quilting Association since 1980 is only 27! Sharon, who lives in Payson, AZ, is one of that short list. Wow! And I just got a free lesson from her how to hand baste my giant quilt. And it is easy and works beautifully!

Okay, enough exclamation points for one day. I'm off to finish basting that quilt so I can have it off the dining room table so I can start setting up for Thanksgiving dinner.

I'm ready to spool around!

Lookie, lookie! I have been having a bit of fun as I fold and organize my stash and cut up old shirts for fabric. I've been cutting little 3-1/2" x 1-1/2" rectangles and 1-1/2" squares to keep next to my sewing machine as leaders and enders. I didn't count them, and I think I have more backgrounds than spool parts, but I can always cut more of either one.

Leaders and enders are a very smart thing/tip/habit that Bonnie Hunter figured out, and I'm looking forward to getting bonus blocks, maybe even quilts, just by being prepared whenever I sit down to sew, AND actually using all the thread that runs off my spools instead of tossing several inches every time I stop or start stitching.

Check out Bonnie's blog. She's so smart and has all sorts of good ideas to make your quilting time more productive, more efficient, more FUN.

Long time no talk to. That's because there has not been much to tell, just daily life and little bit of fabric folding and scrap cutting. Since finishing my DD and SIL's king sized quilt top, I have been contemplating whether to machine quilt it myself (too little experience and probably too small machines) or to send it to a long-armer (too much money right now, though I do believe they are worth the price), or rent time on a long arm and take the lesson and do it myself (same $$ as having it done, so better to go with a pro) or hand quilt it. I would love to do that, but figured there is no way it will be finished for Christmas.

And just for a chuckle, this pic shows you exactly how much thread was left on my top spool when I stitched the last stitch on the quilt top. As a matter of fact, it was no longer on the spool--it was ready to go through the first little eye hole guide on top of the machine!!

On with my tale... DD asked for the quilt based on a picture she saw on a blog a couple years ago. So, though she doesn't want to see the quilt in progress, she and I can talk about it. She says she doesn't care if it is not finished in time for Christmas, but really would like it to be hand quilted. We agreed upon a quilting design. She also measured their bed to let me know the desired measurements, so now I know how wide the borders need to be. They will get added before I can go any further.

In the meantime, I've been trying to figure out how I am going to wangle a big ol' quilt around to get it sandwiched and basted. I do not see how I could do a really good job of it if I were going to have to crawl around on it laid out on the floor. I know people do it, but it just doesn't sound like something I want to do if I can avoid it. I just know I'd end up with bubbles to work out and wonky edges, and I do not want to crawl around on the floor that long!

I discovered this video on YouTube showing a terrific method of hand basting a quilt on top of a table! It's by Sharon Schamber. It makes sense to me, and I feel like I have a better chance to get a good result.

My dining room table with both leaves in it and card table raised a couple inches by standing it on tuna cans will be just long enough for this project. Woo hoo! I have a workable plan for finishing this quilt. So I'll just keep rolling along, taking one step at a time instead of thinking and planning myself into oblivion.

Until next time!

Checking In

Hello! Checking in for Bonnie Hunter's 1 hour of needle and thread challenge for National Sewing month, which ended yesterday.

My last two posts tell it all. No hand stitching going on, but lots of sewing related stuff--completed piecing a king sized quilt (that I cannot show because it is a surprise for my daughter and son-in-law), cutting fabric strips and scraps with my new Accuquilt GO cutter, sorting and folding fabric stash, and this weekend I fixed whatever was wrong with my 1956 Singer 99K, took it apart, cleaned, oiled, and lubed so it's running like a champ, and cleaned and oiled my vintage Bernette 330. So now my entire "stable" of machines is in top running shape.

Apologies for boring post, but I'm on the run today. Can't wait to see what everyone else has to post today.

BIG Progress

I cannot show pictures because it is a gift, but I just have to mention that I just finished piecing my first king-sized quilt! I have made baby quilts and throws that might have fit a twin bed, but never one this big. I don't think I'm going to try and quilt it myself, so have to find a long-arm quilter. I cannot wait to see it quilted.

There was 14 inches of thread left on the spool when I stitched the last stitch!

Progress

Fifty minutes of hand stitching last week and zero this week, so my total for the month so far—there are still a couple days left!—is about 12.25 hours. Guess I’m not the best participant in Bonnie Hunter's hand-stitching challenge for National Sewing month—but at least I DID participate. And I am late in posting my progress, but I AM posting.

Okay--I fell off the wagon for hand stitching, but I have been sewing. And cutting. And folding. My fabric has not been neglected.

I worked on my ongoing project of organizing my fabric stash. In my old condo I had a room dedicated to craft crap where fabric piles grew, teetered, got moved and re-piled, and I could just shut the door and leave things as they were. Although I also have a dedicated room here in our new home, I don’t want to close the door. The room  has a nice, big window, and the room is at the end of the hall; if I close the door, the hallway will be pretty dark.

So I have been washing, folding, and organizing fabric. I’ve accomplished a good bit in the last couple weeks. I love being able to see what I’ve really got, and that will make planning quilts a bit easier.

The best thing I did this week was to start assembling the blocks for my daughter and son-in-law’s king-sized bed quilt, based on a picture of a quilt DD saw online that she really liked. Of course, the focus fabric was discontinued a while ago, so I kept my eye out for something similar and began collecting fabrics to coordinate with it. I've finally got it all together and decided on a pattern. It won’t take long to get the top assembled, then I think I will send it out for quilting. They should have it by Christmastime.

I’ve also started using Bonnie Hunter's scrap users' system. I sound a little like a Bonnie groupie, but really, she gets so much done in the course of a day, and you can see how much fun she’s having all the while. She makes me feel like I really could finish something, too, if I just do a little each day. I know her leaders and enders method will be fun to do and help me get quilts built more often than I thought I could.

Due to very lucky timing, I got a very good deal on a new Accuquilt GO cutter on Craigslist last weekend. So fabric is getting cut for future scrap quilts.

Okay, got to get busy doing something—lots of things on my list!

I Am the Journey

Today Bonnie Hunter shared a phrase she kept seeing on the bottom of a travel poster in her hotel on a recent trip to Bali--You Are the Journey. As she said, the journey doesn't happen without you, so really, you are the journey.

It reminds me of a similar quote that I read back in high school--something like, "It's the journey that counts, not the destination." You know, take time to smell the roses, go with the flow.

When I took knitting lessons a couple years ago, when I had to "un-knit" mistakes, my teacher would always volunteer to remove the offending stitches for me. Mistakes were usually discovered many rows after they happened, and most students were dismayed at the thought of all the time lost undoing and redoing the stitches. They were always surprised when I happily did the "un-knitting" and re-knitting myself.To me, it was all part of the fun of handling the yarn and manipulating it and watching what it would do--all part of the journey I was enjoying.

The same applies to my quilting. Who likes to rip seams, remove stitches to separate parts painstakingly stitched together. It seems like you are not moving forward at the point, just losing time, but really it's a chance to let your mind wander a bit while you do something a bit less technical, a chance for your subconscious to review the plan for the quilt or mentally practice how to make it go right the next time you stitch, imagine the colors you chose all together. And really, it's all fun with yarn and needles, or fabric, thread, needle and machine.

It's too bad we usually seem to have deadlines so that we cannot just let it be about the journey/process. If I just had a succession of finished quilts, well I don't see that as fun--why not just buy them? I like thinking about the possibilities with this one fabric or color. I like thinking about the possibilities with this one block or layout. I like the actual measuring, cutting, aligning and stitching and watching it evolve. That I end up with a beautiful, useful quilt at the end is a bonus. All the time that brought me to that finished quilt--that's the part I like, the entire journey.

I AM THE JOURNEY.

Now if I could just apply more of that zen coolness into the rest of my life......

More Hand Stitching

Here we are in week 2 of Bonnie Hunter's challenge to us to do one hour a day of hand stitching on something, anything, as long as it involves a needle and thread in your hands, in honor of September being National Sewing month, and just in general her tendency to kind of kick us all into gear. Although I didn't do one hour each day this week, I did do enough when I stitched to get in 7.25 hours, so goal met!! Woo Hoo!! Here is the section of the little Christmas table runner I'm working on.

I started this table runner about seven years ago, I think, shortly after I started quilting. I had taken a three or four evening class during which I hand pieced an Ohio star, but I never quilted it--it languishes in my orphan block stash. But it did give me confidence to tackle more quilting. I found a pattern for a Friendship Star block and designed my little table runner.

In pulling together fabric for this project, I quickly discovered that a bit of yellow really sparks up a quilt no matter what other colors are in it. I used a golden shade in this block, you might even call it brown, but it is more yellow than red, so it works.

Thank you, Bonnie, for making me think about my quilting more often, so I will pick it up even if it's just for a few minutes instead leaving so much in the UFO piles. This little runner might even get to grace somebody's table this year!

Check out Bonnie's blog post for this week and scroll to the bottom to check out the links to other people who are meeting this hand quilting challenge. There are some wonderful projects being worked on, and it's fun.

Hand Stitching

I've loved quilts and quilting for as long as I can remember. To this day I've got quilt pictures and patterns that I ripped from women's magazines in high school and saved with the thought that "some day" I would make a quilt myself. I just knew it was a life long task, so I kept putting it off. Then I realized the pioneer women made lots of quilts for their family's comfort, and they didn't have the conveniences I did, so maybe I'd better get on with it. And now I have.

One of my favorite quilter/bloggers, Bonnie K Hunter, has been inspiring me to get more quilting done. First just by seeing that she manages to make huge beautiful quilts and travel to lecture and teach while having a family and social life AND posting on her blog, often several times a day, just to keep all the rest of us inspired and motivated. Made me realize how much I COULD be getting done if I would just do something every day instead of thinking it is such a big  project, why start?

Bonnie has issued a challenge to do some hand stitching, just needle and thread, for an hour a day this month. Now in reality, we know that is probably not going to happen, but at least it will help keep it in my mind, so I will definitely get more done than I would have without the challenge.

So you can see above that I logged 3 1/2 hours yesterday. Okay, it was a holiday, but it helped me get a jump start on the rest of the week. I watched some "Storage Wars" on the DVR while stitching in the recliner in the afternoon, then I got another hour-plus done while sitting in front of the computer watching Bonnie sew a binding on a quilt on live stream "Quilt Cam." The picture shows just a bit of the little table runner I designed and made a couple years ago that I am now hand quilting. Everything I need is on the little table next to my recliner, mostly kept together in a box meant for large glasses--it has a flocked lining so snips of threads stick to it, and it closes firmly to keep everything together and handy, even a full sized wooden spool of thread. I have Linda Franz, inventor of Inklingo, to thank for that idea.

Thanks for the inspiration, Bonnie.

Gratuitous Blue Moon Post

In honor of tonight's blue moon, I am posting for the second time this month. I know--get the smelling salts out!

The "finish it Friday" item that brought me here for the second time this month--started AND finished in the same week, actually--is a large table runner for fall. I used the Spicy Spiral pattern by Patty Latourell. I bought the pattern and 10 degree ruler at my new favorite LQS (local quilt shop), The Other Quilt Shop, and a few days later, voila!


So here's where I started, my fabric selection and tools, and that spirally table runner is the result. Yay, me!


Now what to pick up and finish in September.  Hmmm...

And in honor of a new school year, a little lesson:

A blue moon, being the second of two full moons within any given month, is an infrequent occurrence; hence the phrase "once in a blue moon" indicating the rarity of an event. "Blue moon" doesn't refer to the color, so I'm not sure why it got that name, though since it was originally defined as the fourth full moon in a season maybe weather conditions caused a blue appearance often enough to be remembered.

This month there was a full moon on August 1, there will be another tonight, August 31.

Blue moons happen about every 2.7 years on average. The last blue moon was on Dec. 31, 2009. The next blue moon will happen on July 31, 2015. Another truly rare event is a year with two blue moons. The last time a single year had two months with two full moons was in 1999. The next time double blue moons will be seen will be in 2018.

Okay, putting down the teacher's chalk now... See you next month!

A Finish to Report

Hello again! I have a finish to report!

I made a quilt for the birth of my grandgirl who is now almost 8 years old. It was a simple quilt based on Kaye Wood's 6-hour quilt and was complete in plenty of time for her birth. But I wanted to add hand quilting to make it special. Once I started, I was committed. Since I had never hand quilted before, I had no idea how long it would take me to finish. Turns out it was not going to be done by the time she was born. So I tucked it away and  gave her other things, including a leopard print flannel blanket named "Sheba" (as in Queen of....) that she still uses to this day.

Sheba is a bit small for my GG these days, and she has requested a new blanket for around the house. She has a quilt I made for her full-sized bed, but it's a bit big and heavy to use while watching TV in the living room. So I pulled out her baby quilt again and began stitching on it almost every evening for several weeks.

I put the last quilting stitch in it this week. I removed all the markings, washed, dried, and packed it up, and it is now on it's merry way across several state lines to it's new home with GG. Yay!

Reverse side

My own little quilting design for the center.

The happiest place on earth

The happiest place on earth--that would be our house these days. Our 7-year-old grandgirl is staying with us for a few weeks this summer. The first week after her mom went home, we went to California to visit various amusement parks. Boy! Did we have fun! GG’s favorite amusements all involved water. As you can see, she is very happy here.

At SeaWorld, though we were deep in the soak zone at the Shamu show, GG got only one tiny drop on her nose, and I got none. DH was out of the soak zone taking video. We actually had to ride the rapids ride at the end of our day in order to get any water on us. GG found lots of opportunities to play in water at Universal Studios.

Her big interest at Disneyland the first day was to get autographs of some of the princesses. The second day, though, we really got into the rides. All in all a great trip, but at times, we weren’t sure we could walk another step!
Today she is playing with dolls and eating a lot, getting ready for a growth spurt, while I am making a sundress for her to match the one I made for one of her dolls yesterday. Tonight when DH gets home she has plans for us—go outside and soak each other with our new water guns—woo hoo!

Have to return her to her mom and dad next week. Our house is sure going to be quieter and not quite so much fun after that. Enjoy your summer!

Here I am again

Yep, I'm still here. I almost forgot I even had a blog, but here is an update on things I've been up to.

I got the Christmas decor sorted, boxed up, and managed to fit all that I kept into one shelf unit in one corner of our storage room. I rearranged the family room a little, moving an extra couch from there into the living room. That opened up the family room and gave us better access to the door out to the patio.

I've been working on the craft room. I put a shelf over the closet sliding doors that you cannot see from the hall, so less attractive stuff like batting is up there. Moving those things opened a little space for other stuff. Refolding fabric to use the shelf space a little better--that is an ongoing project which will allow me to unpack the last boxes of fabric. I also somehow found space to unpack 4 boxes of miscellaneous craft stuff recently.

AND I have been working on the hand quilting on my grandgirl's quilt, which I made when she was born--7 years ago!--but haven't finished hand quilting. She'll enjoy the surprise when she comes to visit this summer. I've also cut out all the pieces for the top of a quilt DD asked for a while back. I love the colors, so it will be really fun to piece and assemble. It will be a king-size quilt, and I'd like to give it to them for their 10th anniversary this year, so I think I will send it out to be quilted.

So I have been taking steps toward cleaning up projects and even found time to entertain a few times. Feeding friends and visiting and relaxing is always fun, and I am so happy to finally have a home that allows us to do that. AND DH and I have been walking in the neighborhood several mornings a week, and two weekends in a row now we have actually made it up this side of North Mountain. We are so lucky to live where we can walk to the trails and not have to get in the car to enjoy the preserve. Seeing lots of bunnies and quail on our walks, besides meeting a few neighbors and their dogs.

Take care.

Doing a little bit

Spent a little time in the living room today removing ornaments and lights from the tree, then disassembling the tree and packing it away. Yep, a little late, but I put the tree up a little late, too. Now I have space to unpack and get a good look at all my ornaments. So much of my Christmas decor has been packed away for a few years that I've forgotten what I have. So now I can have a good look and make some decisions. I don't need all of it, so there will be some stuff going to Goodwill.

Not an exciting post, but it's a start, and soon I may even start including pictures of what's going on.

2012 Here I come!

Not sure what I'm going to do with this, but I'm hoping it will help keep me aware of the passage of time. In turn, seeing in black and white how much time has passed since I last did something "post worthy", I might be inspired to pay a bit more attention to my projects.

I have been working from home the past 2 1/2 years with wildly varying volumes of work and no set schedule proofreading medical and financial materials for two companies online. I'm now also transcribing one person's memoirs and editing chapters of a murder mystery! I am grateful for interesting work.

Without a regular work schedule, I have not set a real routine for myself, so I easily sidetrack myself from my projects. I am going to make a concentrated effort to change that. My projects and interests include stuff I love to do like quilting, sewing, knit and crochet, among other things.

Projects on my current to do list, in no particular order:

1. Now that we're in a house with a little room to spare, I'd like to start entertaining a bit. Nothing fancy--maybe just have family over for dinner ever so often and, maybe, host a neighborhood dinner now and again, lunch with friends, things like that. You know, be a little sociable once in a while.

2. I'm going to lighten my load. I have too much stuff packed into every possible space. I've got to get it out where I can see it and decide which things I do not need. This will take a while and be an ongoing project. It probably will take several passes through everything to really do a good job. Hopefully that process will keep me mindful so I don't acquire more stuff.

3. Finish some WIPs--works in progress. I've got a few projects, mostly crafts, that were tucked away unfinished, then mostly forgotten. They also need to come out where I can see them and make time to finish them before starting more WIPs.

4. I have a couple of quilts in mind that I want to do this year. I read on forums and blogs of people who make numerous quilts each year--some make more than one a month! Wow! I should be able to finish one or two this year, right? Yep, as long as I keep in mind that's what I want to do, so I don't get sidetracked with other time-sucking stuff that I don't care about quite as much.

That's it. Now that it is written, I've got to make it so.