Future Planning

 There was no school again today.  Temperatures made it up to about 20 degrees, but it was still really cold.  Taz found a spot of sunshine and took advantage of it.

We spent the majority of the morning at the library.  We haven't left the house since Sunday and cabin fever was starting to set in.  I downloaded some patterns and tutorials while Newton played a video game after he chose several books to read.

Once we got home, I started cleaning out the fridge.

I ended up with 10 cups of vegetable stock.  I finally got to it before I had to put them in the compost.  I put them up and into the freezer they went.

I spent the evening shelling hazel nuts. I have some baking I've been wanting to do with them and finally got around to getting it done.

I found a bread recipe on Pinterest that I want to try.  You can find it here.

Isn't it beautiful?

I've worked up my UFOs and KARTS list.  You can read about it here.  But I also have run across some new things that I'm going to toss in between trying to get older things done.

                       

I am still hoping to get the dog coat for BFF's little dog done over the weekend.  Hoping :)
The little apron ornaments - aren't they just the cutest? If they don't get done now, I'll put them on the back burner but would like to get at least a few of them done for next Christmas.

A blogging buddy had this pattern gifted to her as a partially completed project that someone else fell out of love with.  I fell in love with the design and would like to try and at least get it started.  Haven't decided what I'm going to do with it after it's stitched.  It arrived today - I love goodies in the mailbox :)

And then there are all the tutorials and freebies all of my blogging buddies share.  I'm going to share these also, but I want to work on them too.

I first saw this tutorial posted by Melody.  You can find it here.  AND it's FREE !!!!

I've already got Honey Do working on the wood blocks for me.  I think it's just adorable.  I'm planning on making several for gifts.

Next, is a sweet BOM.  AND it's FREE !!!!!!

This is the first section that was published this month.  You can find it here.

Next up, Friday Night With Friends.

This week :)

Yup, it's FREE !!!

You are more than welcome to join us.  It's being hosted by Cheryl and you can sign up here and get all the particulars.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.

Love'n'hugs,

e

:)  Found this on my Facebook page.  Thought it probably resembles all of us at one tme or another :)

Frigid start

Snow . . . Cold . . .  Cold . .  Colder . . . Freezing . . .

We didn't get all the snow promised over night, but honestly, my dad used to say that when it got too cold, it was too cold to snow.  Temperatures dropped over night, but it's tonight that it's really going to get cold.  The forecast is 14 below zero ! ! ! By Wednesday, we'll be back up into the mid 30s.  So we just have to get through the next couple of days. By mid-morning, the snow flurries did start. Not sure we'll get 12 inches.

Today started slow and painful.  We drained the water bed yesterday in anticipation of the delivery of our new bed later this afternoon.  I was looking forward to today - my "normal" routine.  That's not happening with the frigid weather, Newton is home from school.  Neither Honey Do or I slept well on a bed made of extra blankets - no mattress. Both of us are a little grumpy, tired, sore and out of sorts. We are hoping for a lot from the new bed :)

My plan for today, other than staying warm is getting some cleaning and re-organizing done. That usually happens when something new comes in the house. I have all day to get motivated and get things done. The more I get done now, the more time I'll have toward the end of the week to work on my crafts.

The house is as clean as it can be for the moment.  I did my vacuuming, dusting and even got some stains and dirt off the walls in our bedroom.  Dinner is leftovers, so clean up will be minimal.  That gave me the opportunity to work between my crocheting

and reading.  I finished this one

and I'm half through this one.  

I don't read everyday, so sometimes it takes awhile to get through a book.  I always have at least one going in the house and one in the CD player in the car.  I managed to read/listen to 87 books last year.  Very exciting.  I know it's kind of silly to keep track, but it helps motivate me on to the next book and keep track of what I've read.  Sometimes I don't remember just by the title.

Tomorrow is day three of no school due to the weather.  As you can see from the graphic above, the temperatures are starting to rise but we still have wind chill advisories.  Is it too early to wish for spring?  I think so, but I wouldn't object if winter started getting a little kinder. We haven't had a lot of snow and honestly, that's what I'm holding out for - don't tell Honey Do :)

I'll continue to work on my crocheting and embroidery.  I forgot the picture, but it's one Mom started years ago and is no longer interested in it, so it was gifted to me.  Lucky girl :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.

Love'n'hugs,

e

Storm's a-comin'

I started my day with this . . .

I can eat pancakes every day, I don't, but I could :)  Aren't the blackberries just beautiful. I found them on Friday - they were only 99 cents for 1/2 pint.  Usually they are double that price.

We also started with this . . . 

This map shows the up-coming weather alerts we can expect. We have winter storm advisories for the next couple/few days.  The forecast for us in Northeast Ohio is 12-plus inches over the next 24-48 hours. 

This lovely little graphic shows what are temperatures are going to be.  The "37" today turned into rain this evening and it's going to drop to "10" tonight.  We get to wake up to "0" tomorrow morning.  The concern is will the snow cover all the ice from the rain?

So today is "prep day".  Getting ready for a storm means going to the grocery store for staples, the library to pick up my order, the craft/fabric store for any needed supplies to finish projects - this, of course, is something that could have been done already but is procrastinated because I have no self control when it comes to the fabric store :)

I did manage to get to the store for coffee and a couple of other staples.  The community is taking the weather warnings seriously because the store was extremely busy. It took a good half hour just to check out. The library wasn't too bad. I managed to get a computer to print a couple of patterns, not that I'll ever run out of things to do, but need to mail one off to BFF.  Our planned meeting on Tuesday has been cancelled because schools are closed due to the weather.

Once I got dinner made, kitchen cleaned up and laundry caught up (I ended up doing a couple of loads of towels and a blanket. We are retiring our soft-side water bed for a new bed and a bucket of water got dumped when the plastic handle broke and had to be mopped up), I finally made it to my sewing machine.

I had a very productive couple of hours . . .

I made a blue towel like the red one from last week. BFF's kitchen is blue and her favorite color is red.  It only made sense to me to make one of each.

Please excuse the mess in the background - I'm working on it :)

Anyway, a new apron.  I fell in love with this fabric, a cookie recipe and cutters. When I saw it and just knew what it would have to be.

It's hard to see, but this lace and ribbon are decorating the pockets.  I used the same lace that I used on the towels.

I square-knot tied it in front.  The ties are long enough.  I have trouble tying them in back, so I'm going to make them this way from now on.  I wish I had gotten enough fabric to make one for myself.

I found this picture of Lucille Ball from her show I Love Lucy on Pinterest.  I printed, matted and framed it for BFF's sewing room. I sometimes feel like Lucy when I sit at my machine and BFF will get a kick out of it.

Here are some of her other gifts . . .

Two of my favorite books,

Winter and holiday themed fat quarters.  BFF loves snowmen and the numbers - they will be adorable with some Twelve Days of Christmas stitcheries we are planning on stitching this year.

I made the sack from the Sew Pretty Homestyle book and the pincushion I made from here.

I found this adorable little box at the dollar store !!!  I just thought BFF had to have a gift wrapped in it. Maybe this little pretty . . .

with a little good advice to also display in her sewing room.  I wish I had picked one up for myself, but I didn't.  It really is cute.

Do you see my themes?  I wasn't really trying, but I ended up with quite a few dots and red/pink/green.  Oh well, it was all fun to make and will be more fun to give.  I think I feel like I've hit the mark when I'm excited about giving the gifts.  I know BFF will be pleased. We've both spent the passed week talking to each other and working on our projects.  Both of us equally excited about what we were doing and anticipating our gift exchange.  Unfortunately, with school closings and the forecast, it doesn't look like it's going to happen this week.

Thank you for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.

Love'n'hugs,

e

UFOs and 2014 Goals

Have you been thinking about what you want to work on this year?  I know that I have a number of projects started, have had started for years in some cases.  I've decided this year is the year to get my UFOs finished. I'm tired of things being half done . . . tired of trying to find places for other things that aren't finished or are in progress . . .

So I'm starting my year with a commitment to myself to get my UFOs at least worked on every month until they are completed.  Some are UFOs, others are KARTS (kits all ready to sew).  Either way, they need my attention.  So here's my list:

UFOs - These are projects that have been started at least a year ago.

1.  House quilt

2.  Spring pillow

3.  Tilda doll

4.  Shabby roses wall hanging

5.  Alphabet sampler

6.  Tea cup quilt

7.  Bandanna quilt

8.  Scrap quilt

9.  Trip around the world quilt

10  JoAnn's BOM quilts



KARTS - These are items that I've been collecting components for and haven't been started.

1.  Bethlehem quilt

2.  Rooster tea towels

3.  Shop Hop quilt

4.  Daisy Days quilt

5.  Easter wall hanging

6.  Birthday/Gift stash


These are my goals for the year.  My other goal is to use as much as I can from my stash without buying anything new - unless I don't have it and need it to finish a project.  And since I worked for a couple of different fabric stores over my career, I have quite a stash.  I've shared the wealth but lately I've been hanging on to my fabric with intentions to use what I have.  I do still share with BFF any time she needs something and I have it.

FINISH

So, having set my goals, I have a small finish to share.  It's very small, but everything came out of my stash, including the button on top :)

This is the cathedral window I learned this week.  I'm very please with the results and it's being added to BFF's gifts.

ETC., ETC., ETC.

It was extremely cold here again today.  Wind chills were in the very low single digits or below zero. 

It's very deceptive - all this gorgeous sunshine.

  

The icicles prove that things are melting . . .

Tomorrow, mid 30s and Sunday night, another front comes in with even colder temperatures that we are experiencing now.  It's never boring here in northeast Ohio.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.

Love'n'hugs,

e

Images downloaded from the Internet.

Something New

So did everyone have a good New Year's Day?  I spent a good portion of mine napping.  It's hard getting up and staying up at 5 a.m.  I tried to stay busy, but once the tired kicked in all I could do was give in . . .

Honey Do went back to work on today.  I wished he could have taken the rest of the week off, but it's probably easier to adjust to working two days, having two days off and going back full tilt on Monday for a full week.  Here's hoping and praying that work isn't too rough on him.

Honey Do spent New Year's Day watching college football and NHL hokey.  Newton helped out by shoveling snow from the driveway and since there really wasn't anything on television that interested him, he read and played in his room.

As for me, I learned something new - after my naps, cleaning up the kitchen - The cathedral window pin cushion.  I made one yesterday, but when I put it together I didn't like the way it turned out so I started a new one today.  I'm liking this one much better.

You can find the tutorial here.  It is very explicit and easy.  I absolutely love it.  I've been surfing the blogs and Pinterest and coming up with some new ideas for gifts this year.

Speaking of gifts, head on over to Wendy's and sign up for the new Birthday Love Stash.  You can get all the information and sign up to win monthly give aways.  This is a great opportunity to keep us on track and really think ahead about who we want to make for and what that special gift will be.  It's also a great excuse to use some of that stash.

Check out your favorite blogs, most of them have free patterns, guest blogging and tutorials they do to help us along.  I'm constantly amazed at the generosity of our fellow bloggers.  If they aren't teaching or giving something away, they are telling us who is.  They want you to take advantage.  On the same token, if they are selling patterns and books, we should support them in their shops.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.

Love'n'hugs,

e

Happy New Year

Wishing you all the best in the coming year.

My first day of the year began at 5:00 a.m. !!!  Dogs . . . Taz makes a good alarm clock and beginning tomorrow, that will be our normal wake-up time again. I've enjoyed 12 days of having Honey Do home and sleeping in (mind you, that includes getting up at least once a night to let Taz and the girls out). 

We got up to this - 

This is another 3 inches of snow in the driveway that I was shoveling this morning.

The snow isn't bad, especially if you don't have to go anywhere.  Honey Do goes back to work tomorrow. I'm concerned about school starting on Monday because the temperatures are dipping into the single digits and that means below zero wind-chills.  Kids walk to school and those temperatures will cause it to be cancelled. It could be a very long January.  We've already experienced colder than normal-to-us temperatures for the season.

I'm not complaining. It's amazing how much I can get accomplished in the first hours after Honey Do and Newton leave for work and school. As much as I've enjoyed the company, I'm also looking forward to getting back to what is my normal routine.

Of course, it's also that time of year for reflection, resolutions and change.  First, the resolutions.  I don't make them anymore. I've discovered in myself over the years that I don't keep them. That doesn't mean that I don't disagree with the need for change and reflection, I just don't make a hard, fast list because I know I won't stick to it.

I've set some goals for the year, but they all have to do with getting UFOs done and starting some new projects.  There are some beauties out there too:

Quilt Doodle Doodle has a new block of the month for the year.  The fabric requirements and first pattern have been published.  Getting ready to start this one.

Jenny of Elefantz has a beautiful tutorial for displaying a calendar and a new pattern for a pillow.

The Zen of Making has a three part series to make a hexie travel kit.

Tea Ros Home has a tutorial for making catherderal window coasters and pin cushion.

And finally, 

The House on the Side of the Hill offers links to free things almost daily.

Another goal for 2014 that I have is to continue working through my stash and keeping my purchases to a minium.  Shopping my stash will be my first priority before I head to the store to purchase anything.  I'm not in a position at the moment to start giving things away.  As I shop my stash I will make those decision based on what I have and what I'm working on at the time.  There's nothing worse than giving something away and finding a short time later that you could have used that piece.

There are also the goals of cleaning better, purging more, getting/staying organized. Last year I made a list of goals I wanted to accomplish around the house:  room by room.  I started off strong, but then spring break came and within four weeks the school year was ending.  Yard work, gardening and children take over my time and my goals are set aside.  Just becuase it didn't get done last year doesn't mean that I won't revisit that list and make those goals priorities again.

My immediate priorities are getting some stitching done, so

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative new year.

Love'n'hugs,

e