Sunday, January 29, 2012

UFO Challenge

A UFO challenge is not a spaceship race, it's a quilt guild challenge to finish members' quilts that are UnFinshed Objects. And so starts a year with projects to work on that I want to finish. I have a list of 18 that I want to finish this year. And as of yesterday, I have finished 3 of that list. They are small, but they are done. They have labels on the back telling what they are and when they were finished.

I am going to post them here for you to see. The first one reminds me of a summer day when I was younger and used to wait for the ice cream man to come buy so we could spend a quarter getting a cold confection of our choice. Did you do that as a child? The beach ball could remind you of the beach as well since most of those beaches had a snack shack somewhere along the way.

The second one is more of a garden quilt as it reminds me of the scarecrow in the garden that was meant to represent a person to scare away the birds and animals that would try to eat the goodies from the garden. He was always dressed in a dapper fashion and the clothes didn't have to match. He wore a hat to keep the sun off his head and a jacket to keep him warm at night.

The third one is for October and reminds us of Halloween with its pumpkins and Witch's hat & broom. Do you know which witch will be riding tonight? Or any other night for that matter? Even the topper on the frame gives an added mystery to the whole picture.

I have more on my list to do and so you shall see more that show here. With these three done, I only have 15 more to finish this year. My goal is to finish all of them and maybe more. A list of 18 may sound like a lot, but when half of them are only 12 x 14 inches, it really isn't much of a list. So, you get to stay tuned and I will keep working on my quilts!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Rainy days

Well, we thought the rain was going to keep passing us by. The last few days it decided to visit us. We've had roads with chain requirement due to snow. We've had water everywhere and finally puddles. The farmers are thrilled because now they won't have to water for at least a few days. Ranchers are hoping that the young grasses will grow in the fields so they don't have to feed as much hay. Sounds like a win win situation.

While I dislike being wet and cold, I can just hibernate at home and get some of my projects done. Today will be working on quilting and household chores. I have a challenge with my quilt guild, a UFO challenge, in which I listed some of my quilts that need finishing. There are 18 on that list and I'm determined to finish the list. Last time we did this, I put 37 on the list and only got 13 done that year. While I've finished another 10 done from that original list, I think if I start with a smaller list I will get more done. Worth trying anyway.

Will post pictures when I get them done. Kind of like a log of what happens. Till next time.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Family is Important

Family IS important!  Yes, you say you know that. But how many of your relatives do you stay in touch with? Just the local ones? Just your own immediate family? Parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles?

Well, I've decided that my family is all inclusive of the above. I e-mail most of my relatives. Some I still send snail mail to. I visit with my family members whenever I can. I have a trip planned with my mom, aunt and a cousin for February. July will see some other cousins. I will always love my family and the older I get, the more of them I want to see. Seems like as a kid, I always thought they'd be there for me whenever. Now that I'm a grown up, I realize that having them close is much more important than I thought.

If you family is spread all over the USA like mine is, then you have to rely on e-mail or letters. But do keep in touch - they are your life line and we can love them now and really enjoy the time we can spend with them. I bless God every day for my relatives and my friends.