More quilts done

Yes, I'm getting more of my UFO listing done. For the second month in a row, I have finished 3 of them. While I'm not winning any prizes for this, I am feeling like I'm getting things done.

This one is called "Birds out My Window" and is one that has been hanging around since 2007 when I started it in Grass Valley at Pine Tree Quilt Guild Show. I'm really glad to get it done as it was one of my older UFOs. It was a free little lesson in how to do the black grill work. I forget what it's called, but since the lesson and the fabric to make the top were free, my friend and I signed up. Haven't seen anything like that at their show since.

This second one is called "Yellow Rose of Texas" and was a free pattern on the Whimsys web page. I have a small group that I get together with once a year to work on our projects. We usually attempt to try one new quilting method per year and try to get at least one project out of our stash either started or done. I worked on this project, but didn't quite get it done. I started a Halloween quilt that I've been collecting fabrics for and got the top mostly made. Still have a couple things left to do on it before I can sandwich it. When it's done, I'll post a picture of it here.

This little quilt is a Patch Ability pattern called "Park It, Wanda". I bought it as a kit, something I rarely do, and finally got it finished. It's small, 6" x 18", but I really love it. Course, I really like the pattern company which is a good thing since I probably own about 45-50 of their patterns.

I'm working on getting more of my quilts done so you will see more of them as I finish. I signed up to complete 18 for this UFO Challenge in 2012. I intend to finish them all plus maybe a few more. Our guild as a whole has 34 people signed up to finish 665 quilts. I certainly hope we can make a big dent in that number.

Till next time - have a good day and enjoy!

Vacation's over

Yep, my vacation is over and I have some more marvelous memories to store in my head and my heart. There were 4 of us for a trip to the coast where we stayed at a bed & breakfast, walked on the beach, took pictures, tried new food & drink, and had a blast. Of course, it will be hard for some to believe, but we 4 women are related by the dearest of ties. My mom and myself, my Aunt & my cousin. There is a large number of years between us all, but when we get together, there is no difference.

We laugh, we talk, we play, we rest. We try different things and sometimes we even watch while part do something we wouldn't all do. For example, my cousin & aunt went horseback riding on the beach. I can no longer participate in this, but I can certainly wander down on the beach to take pictures, as is seen here.

While I was talking pictures, Mom stayed in the car as she can no longer hike in the sand. She did join me for a little while on the paved walkway above the beach area.

We enjoyed our time on the coast and will most likely try it again another time. We've traveled together before and will most likely do it again. Hopefully, the next time my sister will be able to join us.

I worked on some of my quilts while on vacation and have now completed another 3 from my UFO list, but that will be another entry.

Vacations

They are nice to have!  I spent the first day of mine taking care of errands. Got the oil changed in the car, deposited a check, made a couple of reservations, talked with friends, picked up my mail, mailed a card to Canada, and had lunch with my husband.

Then when I got home, I grabbed a cold drink and sandwiched 4 small quilts. Called my mom, got some dinner, read a bit of a book, and played games on my computer. Now I'm thinking seriously about heading for bed so I can enjoy tomorrow, my 2nd day of vacation.

Sleep well and wake refreshed. Sounds good to me!  Night all.

Traffic Woes!

Traffic usually gets crazy around Christmas Time. This year the crazy was this past week. Monday I was "stuck" in traffic on the freeway for half an hour. I should have been 10 minutes early to work and instead was 20 minutes late. Thank heaven for a cell phone that works! I was able to call in to let my co-workers know where I was. I thought once I got to work "okay, now things will settle down". Boy was I wrong on that count!

I went to pick up my mail at the Post office after work. The 10 minute parking spaces were full, so I parked in the lot. Went in, got my mail, came back out, got in car. Simple, right? Not so! A gal knocked on my car window to get my attention. Not knowing her, I rolled down the window enough to hear what she had to say. Seems while I was in getting my mail, one of the vehicles in the lot had backed into my car giving it a new dent. Well, it had to be a new dent, there wasn't one there before!

Suffice to say, I am now dealing with that vehicle's insurance to try and get my car "back to new" or as I like to say, undented. Will have to schedule the repair job with my favorite shop and then wait while they do their magic.

So at this point, I'm thinking, okay, no more accidents on the freeway for a while. Now that was a wrong thought! Sure enough, on Thursday, it happened again. Only this time I was in a position I could get into the right hand lane and exit the freeway and go through town. I got to work with one minute to spare. I had to share the drive through town with all those other people who did the same thing.

I'm hoping that this will be it for a while. I hate seeing munched up cars on my way to work. I always feel bad for the people it happened to, yet, glad at the same time it wasn't me! I think the car insurance people are busy enough now. Let's give them a break and drive more defensively. Slow down and leave room between cars so we all have stopping room. In other words, don't ride my bumper.

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!

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.

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.