January Intentions

Yesterday I wrote about my intentions for the entire year. Today, I'll get specific with my January list.

To get this flimsy quilted. I'm calling it Leftovers #1 because I'm using fabrics left from previous quilts. 

Make the decision to call this a flimsy or use it for the back of Leftovers #1 quilt pictured above. 

This is a flimsy that needs to be quilted. Snowman

Get my improv batik triangle pieces to flimsy stage. 

January pieces need to be made for this Mystery BOM QAL with Terrie. 

Batik Stars BOM flimsy needs quilting. 

Tequamenon Falls needs borders, quilting, maybe some thread work too. 

Dragonfly book needs to be made from all of the pages I received back in 2014!

Other things on the list include:   

House projects-painting, deep cleaning, decluttering, etc, etc. 

Healthier life style advocating-eating breakfast daily is the first step I want to become routine for me. 

Time with the Hubs at the beach. 

Putting in some designated time on my art courses. 

Etc,

Etc,

Etc. 

May God bless the work of your hands. 

2016 Intentions

This is the first bud getting ready to open on the camellia that we purchased 2 years ago. The flowers are a beautiful deep pink, and as they 'ripen' a lovely lavender and blue appear around the petal edges. We're hoping to get some pictures this year. It's been unusually warm and wet in our area. Hopefully we won't get an ice storm or frigid temps that make the buds fall off. 

On to the topic at hand. Intentions, resolutions, goals, or what ever you choose to call them by, we all tend to have them. Some of us are share ours with the world. We rely on accountability to foster the 'finish it' attitude we need. I have found that posting the 'big' list monthly has been a prompt for focusing on the doing part rather than the dreaming part. This has also been a place for me to put my thoughts into words and try my best to be understandable. Not always an easy thing for me.

Some of my intentions for 2016:

1-Seek God's guidance and purpose for my life. To quickly obey the promptings of The Holy Spirit. 

    *The first steps have been started for this adventure. 

2-Choose 12 specific unfinished projects to be finished by the end of the year. This list will be given to

    Robin at Cobblestone Quilters Guild. As I finish an item I will take it to a meeting for 'show n tell'

     time. I've not been bringing things in to show and it's time I get over this hurdle. 

    *The list has been made, I just need to move forward on the doing part. 

3-Plan 6-9 programs for Palmetto Fibers Arts Guild. As the Second Vice-President in Charge of 

    Programs for 2016, I will keep a journal/notebook for future reference. 

    *A list has been compiled for board approval. 

4-Follow the 12/1 schedule for losing weight, getting fit, and maintaining a healthier body. This will 

    include eating breakfast, the most difficult of intentions to follow thru on. 

    *The first 12 weeks will start on January 4, and the plan has been written. 

5-Utilizing the 12 weeks on, 1 week off routine will get many house projects completed. 

    *We discussed the first 12 weeks plan and are in agreement on the time frame. 

6-Creativity by Commitment. I will 'show up' for my appointments in my art studio and sewing rooms. 

    *I have put together a very doable plan for the first quarter of 2016. 

I've come to a spot in my life where I accept the fact that I am a list maker-line checker type of person. It is how I function at my optimum. Do I always follow the plan? No. Do I try to be realistic when determining what the plan will be? I'm getting better every time I do this. Have I ever just chucked it and vegged? Yes, but I have never felt comfortable when I do it. However, if you were to knock on my door I'd invite you in and make you a cup of tea. We'd chat for a while and I'd not fret a bit about what didn't get done! People are always more important than getting stuff done. 

I'll do a separate post for January intentions, this is getting quite wordy and only 1 picture so far. So, here's another good picture of me and the Hubs. 

May God bless you with loved ones to share your life with. 

2015 Accomplishments

I've been reading today's posts about the accomplishments that were achieved in so many of your lives during this year. I decided to take out the blog book I had printed and browse through it. I got quite a bit done this year myself! I believe this had a lot to do with posting my intentions at the beginning of each month starting in July. That was the month that I got a big fat ZERO for accomplishing anything intentioned. But, what it did accomplish was to motivate me into better focus on following thru. 

So, here goes with a recap on 2015:

7 wallhangings

1 afghan

5 quilts, ranging from crib to twin

7 table runners

20 mugrugs and placemats

2 mondo bags

6 pillow cases

1 journal cover

12 charity quilts. 9 only needed bindings to be attached, 2 needed backings to be made and the quilting to be done, and 1 was a QOV quilt that I used my longarm machine to do the quilting on

12+ quilts were quilted on my longarm machine using edge to edge designs for clients

I also have 5 more tops in progress (snowman, BOM batik, BOM mystery, improv triangle, leftovers)

So, it's been a very creative year for me. 

May God bless your new year with creative pursuits that energize you. 

A Few More Projects Done

Constructed a pillow insert for the Wisteria piece. It has triangle corners on the back top edge for being a Wallhanging when that's what I want. 

And I got 17 rows, for a Row Robin, and 7 mug rugs put together and off to the post office. 

I used the method called Jelly Roll Racing to construct this quilt a while back. I quilted it with a gentle overall looping design using Glide thread in a golden color. The binding is actually a Christmas fabric. It harmonizes well with all those colors. I attached it by machine to the back, then did my pressing and brought it to the front. I top stitched it down with my 'heart beat' stitch. I already have an idea of whom will be getting this. 

While I was straightening up all my leftover fabrics I decided to get on with a project I've wanted to do for quite some time. It's to use up all the extra blocks, strips, cut offs, etc that I've saved from making many of my quilts. I determined that I had sufficient pieces from Myriah's quilt to make this 42" square. I may add another border. It would help stabilize the outer edge and give me another solid space for practicing quilting on my longarm machine, Abigail. 

Well this is how far I've gotten and it is 8:48pm Wednesday, December 30, 2015.

May God you with a peace filled evening. 

Luann

Merry Christmas

A Busy Time of the Year

It certainly has been a busy 9 days since my last post. I have very little to show from my sewing and creative activities. 

My snowman quilt top, from a panel I purchased years ago. I fiddled with those mitered borders for more time than I should have. I really don't know why I didn't just sew them on two sides at a time. What was I thinking? The aqua plaid that shows around it is the border from my Poppyfields quilt. I just pinned this to the top. I will enjoy it for the 'winter' season and then finish the quilting and binding. 

My friend Vicky showed us how to make button bouquets at our Wednesday Clubhouse Meeting. They were fast, easy, and fun. I may put these on my 'gifts for others' list. 

And I polished my kitchen floor. Now I need to get the energy to do the rest of the house! 

I had 7 days with some type of event happening. One day had three! I'm a bit worn out.  I enjoy being with all of these people. I just wish they hadn't all decided to have their event on the same week. I'm glad I have the memories, Thanks to everyone that invited me, I love you all!

Merry Christmas

Luann

Second Update for December

It's been a busy week around here. I've been cleaning and organizing in a couple of areas. I've also spent some time preparing a few gifts. 

The Lord's Prayer, a quilted wallhanging for my Secret Sister. 

Learning how to make fabric twine. I chose to zigzag stitch this little trivet piece together. Normally the fabric twine is used when crocheting or knitting, but  I'm always trying something a bit different. 

I received my first Blog Book. It has 205 pages and includes my first 114 posts. A very neat way to have a 'diary' of a blog. If you haven't made one for your blog, you really should look into it. You can choose which posts will be in your book. That helps if you're trying to keep expenses down. They are running sales now till the end of the year. If you need the site, email me, and I'll get the info to you. 

Mug rugs and hotpads just waiting for bindings to be sewn on. 

These are as far as I've gotten on my Improv Triangle quilt. There are four sizes, three within 1" of each other. Then 8 are quite a bit larger. I had this thought that I would just keep adding sides until they were all very close and then I'd trim them to one consistent measurement. My problem came when I realized that I didn't  have the amount of black that I wanted for a background. Now I must decide to go totally out of the box and just let what happens happen. Or choose a substitute, or many, for the black. I wanted the triangles to look as though they were floating. This will be put in a container and left to rest for a bit. I can put it on my list for the quilt guild's UFO Busting Challenge for 2016. 

More insertion lace pieces got to climb into the dye pot this week. Along with,

17 pieces all dyed serendipitously. That just means, I didn't follow the plan I started with. I know many dyers really try hard to get something specific. I usually have a written plan, labels attached, and everything thought out. However, this week I woke up one morning and it was as though someone else had taken over my body. I got to go along for the ride, and I totally enjoyed the entire process. I even shortened my batching time and was pleased with the results. I now have 17 pieces that are just shy of 48" by 40". I tear my cloth at 40" intervals so the shrinkage won't ever put me under a full yard when I'm done with all the hot water washing. 

A possibility for 2016, put these up for sale in an Etsy shop. Hardest part, parting with any of them. I just love the textures and interplay between the colors when I "free style"!  Now there's a new word for us cloth dyers. We can say we were 'free styling'. Works for me. 

And I did say I was cleaning and organizing. 

Packaged batting and a container of cut offs. 

Just a few of the thread choices. 

Larger pieces to be used for backings. And some emptied shelves! 

George and I went to lunch at Middleton Place this week. The weather has been beautiful and we are determined to enjoy it. This is a nice place to have lunch, take a carriage ride, tour the house and grounds, and stroll the property. And YES, I did get startled by an alligator, again! 

This wasn't the one, but probably a relative!

If you are in my neighborhood, drop by. I'd love to visit with you. My door is always open. 

May God bless each of you with happy memories and loved ones to remember them with. 

Merry Christmas,

Luann