A New Year, a new quilt finish

Yes, it's a bit past the New Year's celebration, but I'm going to celebrate anyway! I've been busy working on getting quilting things done at my house. I currently have one finish to share. It's going to the Community Service Wall at my local quilt guild. The fabric kit was donated to the guild and I made it up. Even did the quilting myself. I admit the colors are not me, but they do work well.

In order to take a picture of it, I went outside and hung it on the clothes line. Yes, I should have done the yard work first, but I didn't want to miss the sunlight outside. Each square has a "flower" quilted into it. This picture really does not do it justice, but then most things look better than their picture.
I will do the pattern again some day using different colors. But since I'm trying to finish off my UFO list before starting too many new ones, this will have to wait. I currently have 9 of my small wall hangings sandwiched and ready to quilt. I also have a couple others that are sandwiched and waiting to be quilted. I'm determined to get them done. Don't think I'll get another done this month, but I'm certainly going to try.
I wish I could say the weather is keeping me inside because it's nasty outside, but we've been having the most gorgeous weather for this time of year. The calendar says winter, the weather says spring. I keep hoping for some rain as we need it desperately. Will be back when I finish a couple more. Till then, pray for rain!

Christmas Day

Today has been Christmas Day, all day long. It came without decorations, lights or presents. It came without all that fuss, without the hustle & bustle. And I think I like it this way. I had a very nice prime rib dinner with my husband and father-in-law, and 2 friends. I really thought about the reason for this whole holiday season. Yes, the Baby Jesus got gifts from the Wise Men. Perhaps they weren't the most useful to a child, but it was what they offered. In the song, "The Little Drummer Boy", the young boy has no gift, but offers to play his drum for the child, and then proceeds to do his best.

The Grinch thought that by stealing away the trees, the lights, the gifts, and the food that Christmas in Whoville wouldn't come. Yet his heart realized that when it came without all those things, that maybe, just maybe, he couldn't stop it. So maybe, just maybe, it's okay to celebrate without presents, trees, and lights. Maybe like the Grinch, I've developed a taste of I can do Christmas without all the fuss.

Don't get me wrong, I love the songs, the trees, the lights. I even enjoy getting a well thought out gift. But you know what, I didn't get a whole bunch of presents this year. I got only a couple small, well thought out gifts. That means more to me than presents just to make sure everyone on a list got one. So, maybe, just maybe, my heart, like the Grinch's, has grown over the years.

So, Merry Christmas to all and blessings upon you the whole year long.

Thanksgiving Day

Today is Thanksgiving Day. Many will watch the Macy's Parade from New York and usher in the Holiday Season. Some will still be homeless and try to find a free meal somewhere. Many will either travel or have traveled to see their loved ones. Some will travel to a spot to get away from it all.

I will spend it with family and friends. It's a time to be thankful for all we have and all we can do. My husband and I still have jobs and can still pay our bills. Our health is good - even if we could both stand to lose a few pounds (which of us couldn't?).

I have a four day weekend and plan to get some things done around the house. Little things but still it's something. I have to be ready for work on Monday so that will mean laundry and making sure I have enough in the fridge for lunches. But that's okay - makes my life seem normal.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! May your day be Blessed.

It's Official

Yep, it's official. I am no longer Worthy Matron of my Eastern Star chapter. Our new Worthy Matron was installed last night and I am thrilled with our choice. She is an awesome sister and will do a fantastic job. She has the privilege of presiding over our chapter for our 125th anniversary party.

Now I just have to get through the month of November with all the installations of new officers and I can kick back and relax. While I did take on a new job for my District, as Deputy Grand Matron, I can actually miss a meeting here and there. I will be able to take some quilt classes because I won't be planning a meeting. I might even get some of my UFOs finished. I still have my list going and will be whittling it away.

Today I am home and am doing the mundane things like laundry and putting out the recyclables and the trash. I'm not planning on any "big" things today. Just going to stay home and enjoy the quiet.

Am off to get a bit to eat and then start on those mundane things. Take care and enjoy your day.

November is....

November is a month of craziness for me. I belong to Eastern Star and November is installation month. Suffice to say all my weekends have something in them. Then on top of that, I've agreed to be my district's 2014 Deputy Grand Matron. Yep, that makes me one busy lady. But since I enjoy it all, it's a fun hectic month.

In addition to all of my Eastern Star functions, I'm also doing the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks blog tour. Yep, there is to be released on November 19, Volume 8 of the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks. I have the first seven and I will have the 8th either as soon as I win it or as soon as I buy it. The blocks are amazing and the colors are fun. Any quilter knows you can change colors and make it look totally different.

I should be working on my quilting this month, but time just seems to get away from me. I guess I will work on it in December instead. One of my Yahoo groups has a "sewing time challenge" going. The object is to stitch or work on something crafty for a minimum of 15 minutes per day. Not much to it, right? Well, yes, there is. Some of us just don't get there. I was hoping to do at least 15 minutes this past week and didn't make it. Maybe I'll have better luck this week?

Well, I'm off to get ready for work. I need to work to support my quilting habit but working gets in the way of my quilting. Kind of a quandary there. Oh, well.

Boston Wins Series

Okay, I'll admit it up front - I'm a die hard Giants fan when it comes to baseball. And we all know how poorly my team did this year. So when it was bantered around that Giants fans should root for the Boston Red Sox, my first reaction was "You've got to be kidding!" However, what the heck!

Now baseball season is over for another year. No more until spring training and then I can hope that the Giants can pull themselves together and at least get into the playoffs next year. Dreaming? Maybe, but stranger things have happened.

I'm off to work on a couple of my small projects and then head to bed early.

Judged quilt at show

Okay, I've finally done it. I had one of my quilts judged at a quilt show. I thought I wouldn't get anything and I was way wrong. I actually got an Honorable Mention. Not bad for a first try out of the bucket. This quilt is one that I made as a "mystery" - I knew what colors of fabric I wanted, but the pattern was a mystery until it was put together. Now I'm going to have to improve my quilt making. The judge thought more of the quilting than my piecing. But that's okay. I knew it needed some help. I was told by my friends that I should enter it. I guess they knew better than me.

I'm not ready to share the pictures of the ribbon, but I will share pictures of the quilt top before it was quilted.

This will give you an idea of the pattern. It is a king size quilt and I love the colors in it. The starting instructions were to buy 3 fabrics - a light, a medium, and a dark. The quilt shop where I bought the fabric and got the pattern parts from, thought I was crazy and that the fabrics did not go together. Personally, I figured that was a matter of opinion and used them anyway.

Once I took it back to the shop, the owner was of a different opinion. Some of the others were just as pretty, but I can't show them as I don't have permission from their owners. While mine was one of 6-8 that were king size, some made lap size and others made table runners.
I hope to share some of my other quilts before long, but since this was a work in progress form 2005, it might be a while before you see another big one. The shop it came out of is long closed. The finished quilt has the dark purple for the binding.

Off to work on some project or maybe read for a bit.