Plans and Goals for 2007 - February Progress

Personal Goals for 2007:

• Learn to drive.
• Not yet.

• Find a church and attend regularly.
• Done.

• Let go of what hurt me in the past and live the new life I came here for.
• Working on that.

• Write a letter to my parents at the end of every month, complete with photos.
• Doing that, January letter got lost in the mail for a while but has now arrived.

• Keep a journal (on paper).
• Doing that too.

• Find a balance between computer time and "real" time. ;)
• Still a bit too much computer time. :) But this is going to change now with the weather getting much nicer.

• Refresh my Spanish skills.
• Too busy with other things at the moment.

• Read at least one book per month.
• Still struggling with a thick but boring book from January.

• Exercise regularly.
• Going back to walking tomorrow! :)

Crafty Goals for 2007:

• Finish my Women of the Bible Quilt (top at least), which means also staying with the study.
• Doing good with that, I am caught up and current with the group. My blocks are here.

• Work on my other sampler quilts: Civil War Diary Quilt, Sylvia's Bridal Sampler, Dear Jane
• I decided to ditch the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler after something that happenedon the mailing list recently, besides, I really don't need another big sampler quilt. I am dedicating March as my Dear Jane month and will make at least one block or triangle every day.

• Finish one UFO (unfinished object - as opposed to WIP - work in progress, stuff I actually work on, whereas UFOs are usually laying around in all states of incompletion) per month.
• I did not finish the UFO I picked for February, too many other things got inthe way.

• Make all my cards.
• I made a birthday card for my friend Sabine and a Valentine's Day card for Del.

• Give hand-made gifts only (as much as possible)
• Made a birthday gift that has not yet been given.

• Finish all BOMs I started in 2006 (I am currently debating if I allow myself to start the new Debbie Mumm BOM).
• I am working on the RCTQ BOM and decided not to start the new Debbie Mumm BOM.

Productive Day

Today I made a pillow cover and a notebook cover. Both are going to be birthday presents. The pillow cover is from a pre-printed panel. I wanted to use the stripe that was on the panel as border but it was not enough, so I used the backing fabric for the bottom border. I quilted around the horse and around the frame.
The notebook cover is actually dark green (my camera seems to suffer from the same ailment as my scanner, they both don't do too good with green, very strange indeed), the horse pictures are from a panel and are machine appliquéd, I quilted a 1" grid into the top. The lining and flaps are made from the same fabric as the back of the pillow (I confess, it was the prettiest fabric I had a lot of ;) ).
Now I am tired and my house is a mess, but tomorrow is cleaning day and I am glad I got everything done today that I wanted to do.

Spring is in the Air!

The purple table topper is finished! I spent three very warm hours on the sofa last night with a happily snoring cat in my lap, watching TV and stitching down the binding and removing all lose threads, etc. She actually demands now that I go sit on the sofa in the evening so she can sleep in my lap. Why does every favor I do for Miss Kitty become a chore? ;) She will be disappointed tonight, the hockey game is not on TV and I will listen to it on the internet. The little quilt got the Miss Kitty seal of approval and is now gracing the coffee table. I plan to work on some more quilty things today and tomorrow will be cleaning day. It has been so nice and warm and sunny the past two days that I am in the mood for some spring cleaning.
The two flower stems are my first spring decorations. I got them at Michaels for $ 0.99 each and I think they look really cute, the got bulbs on the bottom and look pretty real. Since my dear Miss Kitty eats anything that is green and growing, I don't have a lot of real plants and flowers around the house. I also picked up more glass pebbles from the Dollar Tree, I really begin to like them. :)

WIP Wednesday - Update

The table topper is quilted and ready to be bound (which I will do while watching TV tonight). Here is a picture of the top before I quilted it.

WIP Wednesday (and Shrove Tuesday too)

I am planning to make a seasonal table topper for each month. But rather than using the shamrock one I had planned for March the whole month, I decided to make one for Lent and use the shamrocks only for St. Patrick's Day weekend. I chose a pattern from the Quilter's Cache, called Schoenrock Cross, it is paper pieced and makes a 14" block. I chose purple as the color for Lent but now I wonder if I should have chosen more muted colors. It is halfway done (I got sidetracked yesterday) and the fabric in the background will make the border.

And in honor of yesterday being Shrove Tuesday I made myself pancakes for lunch. I made the Austrian style ones, they have no baking powder in them and are thinner than the American pancakes. You fill them with jelly and roll them. Yum!

WOBQ - Woohoo!

All caught up. :) This is my block for Miriam, the sister of Moses. It looks a lot more complicated than it actually was. I drew my own paper piecing pattern and it went together very nicely. I am now all caught up, although Leah is still waiting to be finished. I am doing hand applique but since racing season is about to start I'll have plenty of time to work on it. ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here is what my big Sweetie gave me for Valentine's Day. He knows that I am not the lingerie type of girl but I do love cute socks, baskets and have only met one chocolate so far that I did not like. ;) The card is cute too. I wish everyone a great day, be it a romantic or just a really fun one.

12 x 12 x 12 Challenge - February

My next favorite thing for this challenge is my favorite hockey team - THE PITTSBURGH PENGUINS. The background of my piece represents the team jersey for away games (the one for home games is black) - you can see a picture of my favorite players in the white jersey below. Instead of a smooth cotton fabric I used a waffle piqué that I bought a long time ago for a completely different project (a little girl's dress) that never became reality. It resembles the fabric for the hockey jersey a lot more than a smooth fabric would. I also used some gold lamé fabric for the stripes and found it easier to work with than I thought. I printed the team photo and a team puck on fabric and machine appliqued the picture and fused the puck to the background. For embellishments I used some buttons and a team logo pin.



I just have to add that my "Pens" are having a really good season and are second in their division and heading for the play-offs. Last season was really bad for them, but they have grown so much as a team and things can get only better. I was a fan of their's before I moved to NC and I refuse to change that, Hurricanes or not. :))

Valentine's Day

Last year I was not really in the mood for Valentine's Day, I was still dealing with stress from the move and felt just too exhausted for much of anything.
This year I feel a lot better and I decided to do a little decorating. Here are some of the things I have used for it. I like the table topper so much that I decided to make a different one for each month reflecting either the season or a holiday. The next one is going to have a lot of GREEN in it. ;) The candy jars I had before, the heart shaped bowl and the candle holder are finds from the Dollar Tree store (as is the candy). I used the golden glass pebbles from Christmas because the candle was just a little too short for the holder. I even baked heart shaped sugar cookies with red sugar on top. :)

WIP Wednesday

I must say, having something to show off on Wednesday really inspires me to work on things and actually finish something. ;)
Last weeks WIPs are finished, both the table runner for Easter and the table topper for St. Valentine's Day.



I am currently working on my UFO to finish in February, a wall hanging in sunshine and shadow pattern, done in 30s reproduction fabrics. I will hand quilt rising suns into the light triangles.

I am also working on a dark blue sweater for myself but I don't have any pictures of it yet.

I did finish some other things this week though. A red and a black hat, ordered by one of Del's co-workers and some doilies I made long ago (during my pink phase). They will fit nicely into my St. Valentine's Day decoration this year.



I also picked up a few inexpensive notebooks to make quilted covers for and give as gifts, but now I think they are almost too pretty to cover up (or to give away). ;)


And while I was taking pictures of my stuff I could not resist to take this one. :)

After several very cold and dreary days it was actually warm enough today to open the window for a while and Miss Kitty loves nothing better than that.

And because it is such a bright and sunny day today I decided to hang my Early Spring Wreath on the balcony door, which I made some time ago.

WIP Wednesday

My WIP from last week is finished. The UFO of the month for January is washed and ready to be hung in April. :)


Two other things I am currently working on:

A quilted table topper for Valentine's Day. It is basted and I will machine quilt it today. It is 18" square, the hearts are from a pre-cut collection from Keepsake Quilting (they have come in handy over the years) and are machine appliqued with a zig-zag-stitch.


And a table runner for Easter. I bought some cotton yarn on sale recently and made these three squares. I am going to get a coordinating yarn this weekend and put them together and make a border around them. The pattern is called Jesse's Square and comes from my 2007 crochet
calendar. The are 12" square and the yarn is called "sugar 'n cream". "My" Easter colors are usually green, yellow, orange and white. The yarn comes in white with a little yellow in it and I will use that for the border.


Stay tuned for next Wednesday, when I will reveal my UFO to finish in February. ;)

Super Bowl Plans

I heard this morning on the radio that 44% off all men in the US spend more time and energy on planning for the Super Bowl than they do on planning for Valentine's Day. :)

So I decided to plan for this great event too. Here are my plans for Sunday:

1. Turn on TV
2. Watch game
3. Knit sweater while watching
   

Now that was hard. ;)

Plans and Goals for 2007 - January Progress

Personal Goals for 2007:

• Find a church and attend regularly (looking good so far, we have been going to a new [new for us] church recently and it feels like it might be the one we were looking for).
• We have been attending Sunday School and Sunday Service at a Wesleyan Church all month and I think we will stay there. It has everything we were looking for in a church.
  

• Write a letter to my parents at the end of every month, complete with photos (whether they are interested in what we do or not).
• Did that. It was a report about Christmas and things we did in December. Have not heard anything from them.
  

• Keep a journal (on paper).
• I am using a daily planner for that and I am good at doing it every day.
  

• Read the Bible in one year.
• I am following the reading guide in my calendar (An Inspirational Daily Planner from Countryman Publishing) and have read Genesis, Matthew and Exodus 1-18
  

• Read at least one book per month.
• I am reading Legend of the Celtic Stone by M. Phillips. It is not as interesting as I thought and I am struggling a bit but I won't give up. :)
  

Crafty Goals for 2007:

• Finish my Women of the Bible Quilt (top at least), which means also staying with the study. I got behind a little but I am catching up now.
• I am almost caught up to the group, but since I am now 4 blocks ahead of them (I did them in another group) I have 4 weeks left to finish the last two blocks I was missing. Progress can be seen here: My Women of the Bible Quilt
  

• Finish one UFO (unfinished object - as opposed to WIP - work in progress, stuff I actually work on, whereas UFOs are usually laying around in all states of incompletion) per month.
• I finished "Bunny Trails" a quilt I made a long time ago and it did not really need much work for completion. It is my calendar quilt for April.

• Make all my cards.
• I made birthday cards for my friend Anni, my sister-in-law and my brother-in-law.
  
  

• Give hand-made gifts only (as much as possible)
• Made a key ring for Anni.

• Finish all BOMs I started in 2006 (I am currently debating if I allow myself to start the new Debbie Mumm BOM).
• Made the October block for my RCTQ BOM.

Homemade Granola

Yum, yum, I never buy cereal again. ;)

On Monday I made a batch of Granola. I googled recipes for homemade Granola Bars and came across this recipe at Living on a Dime. It sounded easy enough and all I had to buy was the dry milk. And I added a small bag of pecans to it. It tastes very good with sliced banana. :)

Homemade Granola

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
5 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup dry milk
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup raisins

Mix brown sugar, oil and honey in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Combine dry ingredients in a large cake pan. Pour syrup over dry mixture and mix well. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Let cool in pan. Add raisins and stir. Store in an airtight container. You can also add wheat germ, coconut, nuts, dates and other dried fruit but this will increase the cost of the granola. Makes 5 cups.

WOBQ - almost there

I have one more block to make then I am all caught up and can wait until the group gets to the blocks I have not made yet. Today I made the block for the Mothers of Moses and an additional block for the two Hebrew Midwives who disobeyed pharao's order to kill all male Hebrew children at birth.

WIP Wednesday

One of my goals for 2007 is to finish at least one UFO per month. For January I picked my calendar quilt for April, the pattern is called Bunny Trails and I made it a long time ago. It is almost finished, just need to tuck up the ears in different positions.

WOBQ

Yesterday I finished the block for Mrs. Potiphar. As she is one of the not so good girls in the Bible, I decided to use darker fabrics and I am not really happy with the block, the contrast is a bit too much for my taste. But since she was a bad girl I guess she deserves an ugly block. ;)

WOBQ

I am working on my blocks this week and hope to be all caught up by Friday. Yesterday I made the block for Tamar (Gen. 38), it was fairly easy compared to some others in that quilt. It is paper pieced.

Snow and Visitors

Yesterday it snowed quite a bit here and we had a lot more birds on the balcony than any other day, much to Miss Kitty's delight. I was lurking with my camera for a while but these birdies are smart, they know there is something going on behind that glass and at the slightest movement they took off. I managed to catch two Cardinals, a Chickadee and our two squirrels. I would love to get a picture of our Downy Woodpecker or the Northern Mockingbird , but so far no luck. Two of the squirrel pictures are from a few days ago.