No energy, no mojo

It's been a really rough week for me. I don't know if I'm just giving in to the humidity or I have a sinus infection. It's been in the upper 80s and humid all week. Monday, Rocky had to go to the vet. Wednesday and Thursday, I was dealing with a sore throat. Friday, I worked a half day and for the most part have felt like a limp noodle -

No energy

No mojo

So here is my goal report, but it's not very encouraging.

Goals for the week of 9/18/16 

1. Charlotte pin cushion - I've misplaced the entire project

2. Roman shade - no progress again

3. Christmas pjs - pulled the pattern and fabric, no cutting or sewing

4. Log Cabin - prepare the block for stitching - didn't even pull out my supplies

5. Farm Girl Vintage blocks - block 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

(drum roll please)

DONE !!!!!!!

AND . . . 

10 of 20 nine-patches for the finishing are done using up the scraps.

Goals for the week of 9/25/16:

1. Christmas PJs

2. Log Cabin - prepare block for stitching

3. Roman shade - yes, I'm putting it back on the list

4. House quilt - set up quilt rack and put quilt on it. Hand-quilting to be done, just not necessarily this week.

5. Scarecrow #2 wall hanging

The sinuses are still running wild, but I'm taking stuff for it and resting as much as I can. I can only sit and do nothing for so long and then I just do it.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

Very rough start

The week is off to a very rough start. 

Before Newton left for school, I was already vacuuming and cleaning the bathroom. I needed to keep my mind and hands busy. 

Then we took a trip to the vet. Poor little Rocky had infections in both eyes. He couldn't keep them open and just wanted to be left alone.

And, since we're already here . . .

We'll just add insult to injury by updating his vaccines !!

Poor little guy, everyone was picking on him. He spent most of the day right there - on my bed. 

On a positive note, he did run outside with the big dogs, then he was done.

As the day rolled on, he wasn't feeling any better. Another dose of baby Benadryl and some Gatorade, he was feeling more himself on Tuesday morning. Enough so I could go to Bible study and he ate and drank on his own once I got home.

I did manage on Monday evening to finish sewing two of the Farm Girl Vintage blocks.

This is going to be such a happy quilt :)

I'm thinking about finishes. The book offers some suggestions and I have scraps leftover that need to be used up. Wheels are turning.

I didn't get much done on Tuesday. Once I got home from the Children's Bible study, I took the dogs out, came in and started working on dinner. I didn't have an opportunity to sew until later in the evening.

And of course, that wasn't working either. I'd made some mistakes on this block on Monday evening, so I spent Tuesday evening with Dancing With The Stars and my seam ripper taking apart what I'd just sewn. 

Once it was all unpicked, I set it aside. I'm going to try and finish this block on Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

Weekly goal report

Goals for the week of 9/11/16

1. UFO 

Daisy Kingdom Scarecrow

2.  Library Book projects

 

Broaches

3.  Roman shade - not done, but progress made.

4.  Christmas PJs

5.  Farm Girl Vintage - Block 7

Bonus projects

Armchair organizer

Shakers for preschoolers

Goals for the week of 9/18/16

1.  UFO - pin cushion

2.  Roman Shade

3.  Christmas PJs

4.  Farm Girl Vintage - block 8

5.  Log Cabin - prepare block for stitching.

Thanks for stopping by

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

Weekend sewing

My weekend sewing began early Friday morning. Honey Do left for work and I started working on the roman shade. I purchased a kit and ran out of tape so it's on the back burner again.

The rest of the day was spent running errands. It's amazing how quickly they add up and how much time they consume. Not much gets accomplished in the afternoon. Newton and Honey Do are home within an hour of each other. Dinner plans were simple with minimal clean-up.

When I was finally able to work on something it was these broaches from a library book.

 

The wools are scraps from the block of the month last year. They were simploe to make. A couple will be share with BF for her birthday.

I added an extra project for my three-year-old preschoolers at Bible study. These "shakers" are made from medicine bottles that are half filled with rice. I took the juvenile print and pinked the edges. I used double sided tape to attach the fabric to the bottles. I gathered the ends together and tied with ribbon. The bottles all have child proof caps so there's no concern that they'll open. The fabric is so much more fun than orange plastic bottles.

Sundays are supposed to be my day to go to church and rest. More Sundays than not I go to church then come home and guiltily play catch up. I'm just not organized enough and fall into the temptation of "resting" during the week. So in between "resting" I did laundry. 

While doing laundry, I put the supplies from the broaches away, reorganized and put some quilt books I've collected away, some empty containers are stacked together for future use and found my UFO for this week's goal.

I spent the afternoon working on one of the Christmas PJs and more 9-patches.

I spent my evening working on my final goal for the week. Nothing like making it on the wire :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

Crazy, busy week

Having a rough time adjusting to my new routines. On top of that, I haven't been feeling well the last day or so. I'm hoping it's only allergies and not a sinus infection or a cold.

I've finally made progress on the scarecrow/UFO goal for this week. 

I think he is just adorable.

The embellishments are making him really cute. . . 

Ribbon bow ties on his shows.

The addition of buttons for the eyes and on his coveralls.

The raffia for hair , , ,

and the birds' nest.

The top-stitching took a really long time and you probably can't see it on the photos, but I did it every where I possible could.

Sewing buttons on by hand take some time and the "nest" is glued, so the placement of "straw" took a fair bit too. Definitely worth the effort.

I may have to rethink my goals if the projects are going to take more than a day or so to finish. I worked on the roman shade for a bit Friday morning and it was easy, just time consuming. It's still not done.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

Busy = Happy

My days are proving to be extremely busy now that vacations are done, school is back in session and Bible study is under way. I'm trying to be more faithful to my blog, which a long with reading my favorites, is keeping me motivated. To that end, I have to thank Susan at DesertSky Quilting because she does a weekly goal list. I used to and got away from it trying to "enjoy the journey/process". All that did for me was make me unfocused.

I'm a list person. I need to be able to check things off when I finish a task. I love having a visual for my daily progress.

I chose my UFO for this week on Sunday evening. I finished the armchair organizer and needed to "do" something. I put a few things away and found it in a pile of things I hadn't made a decision about. This adorable panel was purchased while I was still employed at JoAnn's - more than 20 years ago. I purchased two, as I usually did, one for me and one for BF. I'm making them and hers will be for her birthday in October.

The rains on Saturday brought a cold front through. We were blessed with cooler temps and even cooler ones forecast. The mid-afternoon tree shades are nice and long, skies are mostly clear and the backyard is a great resting place before I begin dinner preparations.

After dinner I got to work on the UFOs. The first step is adding stabilizer to all the pieces - a very time consuming process. It's a necessary step. The rest of the evening was spent cutting out all the pieces - or as many as I can.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

Something just for me . . .

I took a break from the goal list on Saturday evening.

I needed/wanted something to do.

Something small and quick.

I found the idea on Pinterest, but it's not a new idea.

I've had one of these for years.

(image from Pinterst)

I didn't have a pattern, or make one. I just used the picture as my guide and started with two coordinating fat quarters (I think I picked up when I met Susan in Nashville). I added a couple of scraps and some ricrac.

It was a fun, simple project - I love it :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

Weekly Goal Report

Goals for the week of 9/4/16:

1. UFO - Flannel Quilt - DONE

2. Christmas inventory - DONE

PJs/one per week - DONE

Even the leftover flannel was cut up into squares for future use in quilts.

3. Farm Girl Vintage - No progress, except I pulled it out and it's sitting next to the sewing machine.

4. Library Book Projects 

Color Block quilt - Borders - Sandwich - Bind

This picture doesn't show it, but I did get the two side borders on. I have to purchase batting before I can sandwich it and there just wasn't enough time this week. I'm not rushing to get this one done. So a little progress anyway.

Roman Shade - The only thing I did here was repurchase the kit. So it's not done yet either.

I numbered my list incorrectly last week making only four goals instead of five. This was a very ambitious list for a holiday week, the start of Bible Study and a trip to Mom's. It's not 100% done, but I'm not complaining.

Goals for the week of 9/11/16:

1. UFO - to be determined

2. Library Book Project - wool felt broaches

3. Christmas Gift(s) - at least one pair of PJs

4. Farm Girl Vintage

5. Roman Shade

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

Gorgeous Friday

Friday started out gorgeous but a bit soggy from the rains on Thursday. We had a respite on Friday, but the forecast is for more on Saturday. We've still got a 6-8 week growing season left,so we can use as much rain as we can get.

My day started by working on Maggie's First Dance Block 4. It took all of Thursday evening to piece the block and Friday morning to finish the applique.

Another goal met :)

I didn't have to work on Friday, so that afforded me some time to work on the flannel quilt. I had plenty of binding from previous baby quilts that allowed me to just get it sewn on and hand stitched in place.

It's finally off the goal list and another major accomplishment this week.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

Looking forward . . .

I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to Wednesday. It was the only day this week that I would be without any responsibilities away from home. And I took advantage of it.

My first load of laundry was washing at 5:45 a.m. The best laid plans - I had plans to dry the laundry out on the line but it started raining before Newton left for school. It continued to rain off and on all morning and looked threatening for the afternoon.

Between loads of laundry, I sewed the borders on the color and made the binding.

My priority goal for the week is to finish the flannel quilt which is a Christmas gift for Newton.

I can confidently say that goal will be accomplished since I spent the morning tying it. I have enough binding leftover from the previous baby quilts that I won't have to make new. I'm anxious and excited to accomplish this goal. Because it's a gift I can only work on it when Newton is at school.

Thursday, 

  

 

Yes, more rain is expected. I saw this gorgeous bird as I was almost to mom's. I don't know if you can make it out there by the "blue" car. I had to stop and snap a photo, even though it's not the best.

Mom and I had a very nice visit and she's doing fairly well. 

We did get more rain when I got home, and again later in the evening. I'm grateful for every drop.

In the meantime, I stopped and purchased a new Roman Shade kit so I can finish this project over the weekend.

I worked on Maggie's First Dance - Block 4.

I need to finish the applique stitching on Friday.

What a beautiful quilt this is turn out to be !!

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

For the love of weekends

It has been a relaxing, pleasant "sta-cation". We are in the home stretch.

We spent most of Saturday at home. I cut out the blocks for the color block quilt that was in the library book. I made some adjustments based on fabric availability and size of my bed (queen). I got as far as laying the blocks out.

We went fishing/walking for the evening. It got chilly around 7:30 and someone close to the park was shooting off various kinds of guns. Rocky got really nervous. He did think he could take on a rather large horse that was curious about all the noise Rocky was making.

Sunday was spent at home, except for church attendance. This week starts the new class so my kids have moved up and out for fourth grade. It means a new crop of third graders. We are starting the year in Exodus with Moses. So we read and drew pictures of different people and events in the first and second chapters. Everyone seemed to enjoy the different aspects of the lesson.

Once I got home, I took the dogs out and read a couple of chapters from my book, helped Honey Do get dinner ready and started sewing on the color block quilt. Spending Saturday cutting and laying out helped with the assembly process. I still got some blocks confused and missed placed, but am still very pleased with it.

Next step is to add borders to make it large enough for my bed. I still have to decide how I want to quilt it. The suggestion in the library book is to just do straight lines, but that was solid colors and I've chosen prints. I'll have to think about it.

Monday started out slow and relaxed, coffee and book, some harvesting in the vegetable garden.

My goals for the day were to finish reading the book, which I did early Tuesday morning.

Time is going to be a rare commodity beginning this week. I need to plan ahead, especially meals. I made a menu over the weekend. I want to be able to use what I have. My freezer and pantry are full, so I have supplies. I'm trying to repurpose leftovers or put things in the freezer for later use. Meal preparation is easy when you have a plan and supplies readily available.

BF's son is back from Marine training camp. We were supposed to visit and share a meal but were unable due to teenage angst. Anyone who's said girls are more difficult have never raised a boy !!! I'm praying to survive these teen years.

Weather-wise the day was perfect:  mid to upper 70s, sunshine, breezy. I LOVED it!! I spent part of the day outside with the pups. Even though it's still technically summer for the next few weeks, my mindset is already in autumn-mode. Harvesting the vegetables is at least every other day. I'm getting tomatoes, but not many. The cucumbers did not do well, nor did the peppers. Beans are slow and still blooming. Zucchini has slowed way down and still has some blooms. Round two of the radishes are up. They sort of seeded themselves when I pulled the over-grown plants and left them laying in the garden. I've started putting the rain barrels away as I empty them. There won't be much watering required in the coming weeks.

Overall it was a pretty good weekend. More relaxing than productive. It was a great week - relaxing AND productive.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.