December Intentions

First a picture,

it was taken by George H. Fischer, November 30, 2016 at Folly Beach. Beautiful image. 

December Intentions:

First, and most importantly, are our Christmas activities. We have Contatas to attend, family gatherings to travel to, decorating our house, get-togethers with friends, guild parties/meetings, and a possibility of company coming into town for a few days to stay with us. I'm looking forward to all of these moments for making memories. 

Second on my list will be to get all decisions made and work underway on our kitchen upgrade project.

Third is a yard project that will take a bit of our time and patience. 

Fourth will be getting my creative intentions together for 2017. With this in mind, I'm going to pack some things up, label them, and find a convenient spot for them. Getting the distractions out of sight helps keep my focus on the task at hand. 

I have no intentions for finishing specific projects.  I'll be enjoying the process of making progress. 

I will relax, enjoy time with family and friends, and be mindful of why we call it Christmas! 

May God bless you with love and joy in Christ 

November Final Review

Most important items have been shipped out today! Inside those two boxes are Christmas and December Birthday gifts. Below is the throw and pillow I got finished for Miss Molly's BDay. 

I had a real setback when I tried to piece a little quilt for her. The fabric I ordered to go with the pillow didn't have any foxes on it! 

I had cut and started to piece the top when I just knew I was not going to be happy with it. So I did some quick online looking, drove to Joann Fabrics, found the fleece throw kit and purchased it. When I got home I decided to trim the edges with a pinking rotary blade and leave it as one layer. She wanted it for wrapping up in when she's watching tv, and two layers would make her too warm. So, it was a quick finish. I now have these pieces to use in another project. 

I also took some time experimenting with Silk Fusion. I really enjoyed the process. Here are my first 3 pieces. I have to decide just how I will use each of them. I won't be using them in anything that would need to be laundered. I'm thinking prayer journal, art piece, hmmm. 

 

I decided to unravel my crocheted piece and wind the yarn into balls for future use. 

And the child size quilt top is waiting for quilting. 

All the other possibilities, well, not finished but progressing. 

Today my kitchen is being measured for updating. Hope to have that finished by mid January. 

We may have some company between Christmas and New Years. This is something that I would truly enjoy. I never have enough time with my loved ones. 

I first thought, 'gosh, I don't have much to blog about this month'. Then I realized how busy I've been with family events, concerts, meetings, get-togethers, gift shopping, wrapping and then shipping everything out. 

It 'was' a productive month. 

Almost forgot this one that I finished and gifted to Bob and Donna. 

May God bless you all with a Christmas Season filled with wonderful memories. 

Mid November Update

I have been working on these two projects this past week.

The first picture is of a child size quilt I'm working on. The top is pieced, backing is prepared, batting chosen, and all the pieces are hanging in the quilting room. I'm going to keep it simple and get it finished soon. Then I need to work on the quilt for the 'mommy'. 

Second picture above is of some of the beading I'm doing on my project for Kathy Shaw's Basic Crazy Quilting Class. I need to attach some lace, charms, and a personal touch before I can consider it done for the class assignment. Then I'll remove it from the stretcher bars and decide on how to finish it. 

I've also read Silk Fusion, watched the DVD regarding this method (2hrs), and unpackaged the tussah silk slivers I ordered. I can hardly wait to get started. 

And no, I'm not going to make myself wait until some elusive number of other projects get finished. Here's what those fibers look like, could you wait?

We also did a fair amount of fall cleaning around here these past few weeks. I'm ready to get back into my creative groove. Christmas is fast approaching and I'm getting into the spirit of the season. 

May God bless each of you with a heart filled with love for others. 

First Finish for November

I got that first intention out of the way, with a day to spare. 

I'm calling this one done! I thought I wanted more quilting on it, but have decided to leave things alone. This was a paper pieced Impatiens, Judy Niemeyer pattern,  that I appliquéd onto an improvisationally pieced background.   

And here it is with a flower sitting on top for added interest. 

This was going to be my entry into a President's challenge with my quilt guild. We drew envelopes that contained three color chips. 80% of your finished piece was to be those colors. You could add up to 3 other colors. It had to be a minimum of 30" on each side. 

My color chips were represented by the yellows in the flower, mottled jade in the background, and the pale green in smallest inner border. I added brown and fuschia. I think I hit the 80% criteria. 

Then it was time to quilt and bind it. Something went wrong, very wrong! I have learned my lesson, I need to stabilize the quilt top to maintain the dimensions. It doesn't meet the minimum of 30" on each side. I could add something to make it larger, like giant rick-rack or prairie points. But, to tell the truth, I'm ready to be done with it. I really liked what I did, but it took so long that I've lost my enthusiasm for it. It is time to send it off into the world. Giving it away gives me the most pleasure anyway. 

Hope your projects get finished before they become boring. Luann