Welcome 2019

There is nothing better than seeing your quilts being used and loved!!

Another year has past.....  I think this last year was a successful one.  We had a lot of difficulties that arose, from family illness and surgeries to having to say goodbye to one of our precious dogs.  Life has kept us busy.  Since the passing of my husbands uncle, we have been working on cleaning out the house and getting it ready to put on the market.  It is a big project that only a few family members can appreciate.  I just try my best to be a good support system and not get too deep into any of the decisions that need to be made.  I pray that this does not divide the family!

As far as my projects and goals from last year go.....  I think I have done pretty well.  I continue to stay excited about sewing.  I would sew all day if I didn't have to work, clean, cook, be a good mom and wife.....  I try to get time to sew here and there, that is the best I can do.  I sew more in the winter and when my husband goes on travel.  He has gotten a little better with me hiding in my sewing room, but I still have to be tricky about it sometimes.  I say, "It will be real quick, like maybe half an hour...." and then I come back in 2 hours, LOL!!!  It works sometimes!!

~ I have posted quite a bit this year..... but, I have a lot of projects that I still have not posted.  Maybe since I have this new laptop I will get even better!  Maybe someday I will even catch up!!

~ I completed 3 of the 7 UFO's that I had set out to complete.  Uncle Brian's, Auntie Mary's and my Valentine's quilt (which I have not posted yet).  That means that I still have 4 left to do!  I will add them to the list to complete in 2019.  I think that Soloman's quilt has to be a priority.  They are coming out with a second edition to the fabric line and I will definitely be adding the new prints to the project!!!  I think it will help motivate me as well.

~ As far as working out goes, I didn't do great.  Yet, I think I didn't to horrible either.  This one will stay on the list!

~ I think that I have been cooking more successfully....  We eat out less for dinner than we used to, probably only twice a weekend.  Lunches on the weekend still need to be worked on.  As far as taking my lunch to work, I am so-so.....  I'm still impressed that I didn't give up on this one!  I will keep working to do better.

~ Am I the hostess with the most-est???  Probably not!  I have gotten better though!!  When it comes to having get togethers with planning and cooking (not just pizza) my husband comes through like a champ.  He has also started doing most of the Costco shopping which I love!  We hosted our first holiday dinner this year - we did Christmas Eve and it turned out perfect!!  Maybe practice does make perfect.

A couple of new goals for the new year.....

~ I need to start working on donate quilts again.  Wild fires in California has destroyed entire towns and so many people have lost everything.  I want to get at least 3 donate quilt tops to Melanie (my long-armer).  Backs, batting and I believe binding are provided by Project Linus and the long arm quilting is done by Melanie.  I have plenty of fabric in my stash to accomplish this one! 

~ I want to finish at least one new quilt to keep in our home.  This fabric my husband got me for Christmas and is an easy finish as the panel is huge!!  I want to do a border that will make it special. 

~ I'm sure that I have a few more goals....  but I have been having some trouble gathering my thoughts and the month is flying by already!!!  I'm going to post this and just go with what I have.  I am excited to see what this new year brings.  Lets hope it's a good one!

I need to remember this!!

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans."   Proverbs 16:3

Busy busy busy

Today is Christmas day....  Things have been so busy!!  I have so many posts that I have not done!!  But.....  guess what??…..  I got a new laptop for Christmas and I am soooooo excited to be able to type away on a normal size keyboard!!  Yeahhhh!!!!!  So much more to come!  Merry Christmas to you and yours!!  I hope you get to eat LOTS of cookies!


"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."   -Isaiah 9:6

Lost and Found

Oh where, oh where have you been??

Have you ever thought that you may have lost one of your favorite sewing room tools???  This beauty had been lost for years (more than 5)!!  I had another one, so I made due just fine. But... if you were close by you heard my excitement when I came across this while I was cleaning and organizing.  I did a pretty awesome happy dance too. Yippee!!!!

I did quite a bit of organizing this past weekend....  it’s amazing how an entire bowl of opened safety pins will only take up a tiny bit of room in that same bowl once you close them all!  And I found a bunch of my pins also!

There are even screws in there!

Finally organized!

They are all closed.

I also decided to clean out a bunch of fabrics that I don’t think I will use.....  now to get them to Project Linus. That made room for more folding and sorting of my stash. Again.... yippee!!

I love when my fabrics are folded nice!

Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.  

Proverbs 12:25 NIV

Inspiration

What inspires you????

I’ve been working on a Star Trek quilt and it made me think.....  I am not a Trekkie.  I would never even look at Star Trek fabrics if it weren’t for my inspiration. Several years ago I had a conversation with my favorite Uncle and my quilting came up. Somehow we ended up talking about the type of quilt he would like. I knew that a sports themed quilt would be great as he loves both the Raiders and the A’s but I knew I wanted to do something he couldn’t buy at the store or get online.  That’s why I decided on the Star Trek quilt!  I had seen a couple of Star Trek fabrics and figured I could figure something out. I found a few in the local stores, my mom found a couple at one of her local stores (thanks mom), and I got one of my favorite ones for the quilt online.   I picked a pattern that I saw online that was used to make a Trekkie quilt.....  it’s from Camelot Fabrics. This picture I found online and it was taken at a quilt show but I’m not sure when or where but there is a tag on the pic listed below. 

I’ve had these fabrics saved up for awhile as I wasn’t super excited about the fabrics still....  but I had to work on it since I finished my Aunties top already (hers is flowers and pretty colors- she is NOT a Trekkie).  

So as I laid out the squares and made sure the colors I picked would work for my brain (since my brain has issues).  I started thinking how even when I’m not inspired to create, I still love how it turns out. I had this same thing happen with the fall quilt I did. 

So....  what inspires me???  Color, characters, one specific fabric, and even a pattern quilted by my long armer. But I think most often I am inspired by a person. I am inspired by the love of others and that makes me want to create something special for them....  like one of my very first quilts that I made for my great grandmother. 

In the case of the Trekkie quilt it is not the fabric, the colors or the pattern that will be quilted on it but the person who will cover up with it even if he is not cold!  I look forward to finishing up the quilts for the best Auntie and Uncle ever!  I’m sure I will have more bragging to do when I post the final pics!!  

“Live long and prosper.”

Donate Quilts

So these quilts were made years ago to be donate quilts for QFK. I made them.... then folded them up into ziplocks along with the backing and the binding, cut and pressed just waiting to be quilted.  Problem was that I didn’t like doing the quilting myself.  So they had to wait for just the right moment. Last July, my super amazing long arm quilter asked me if I had any quilts she could test a new machine on. I was excited at the opportunity to let her finish these however she pleased.   The only problem was that I never saw them finished.  She had an urgent need to get them done and had them bound by her worker bees. They went to Project Linus and I am hoping to do a few more this year for them as well. I am a little disappointed that QFK was not more open to keeping new members. Maybe it was ment to be.   

If my memory is correct these were completed last October.  I’m not counting these as my completions even though they were officially completed in 2017.   

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

http://bible.us/111/rom.12.2.niv

Let’s see how this works....

I really hope this works!!!  I have so many things to post about but have not been able to because the stinkin app to upload pictures doesn’t work anymore. Blogs without pictures are just no fun!

It's Another New Year

My favorite quote!

Amazingly, another year has gone by.  I knew that I set a lot of goals last year so I figured I better look back and see how my year went.  I knew that I didn't hit the goals that I set, but I thought that I did a bit better than I did.  As much as I love my Mary Poppins quote, I am definitely not perfect.

Number 1 and 2....  My first two goals were only half met.  I posted two of the four quilts that I made in 2016.  I really need to post the last two.  And I did not meet my goal of making more than four quilts in 2017.  I will get to that when I set my new goals for 2018.

Number 3....  As far as my clutter goal goes, it was worked on but still needs work!  This one may be a goal that will never be met as I have issues with getting rid of things.  And every time I think I have made progress my husband finds more boxes for me to unpack.  Overall I feel like I am still better than I used to be.

Number 4....  I did horrible at going to the gym.  I don't think I went at all!!!  I officially cancelled my membership in November.  The good news is that I am pretty sure my weight stayed the same - no gain is a good thing!  We have invested in a new elliptical type machine for the new year so we will see how that goes.

Number 5....  We went out and did archery a few times.  Not as often as I like but still something that I enjoy.

Number 6....  I did alright on this one.  I think...  I have been a bit better at cooking and keeping the house clean.  I just wish I was better at it.  Cooking is definitely NOT my gift.

Number 7....  Not too bad!  I had 8 posts in 2017.  Better than other years!!!  And the fact that I have plenty to post about is good!!  I just need to make the time.

Number 8....  I will never be good enough at this one!  I will have to continue working on a plan to get better at this one.

So....  goals for 2018:

Number 1....  Finish posting the quilts that are complete!  Catch up from last year and don't get behind with this years!!

Number 2....  Meet the goals of finishing quilts!!!  My mom and sister both surpassed my goal of 5 for the year.  And I know that they will again next year!  I just don't set enough time aside for myself.  I have plans for way too many!!  I have cut fabric and started several projects last year and the year before.  I need to finish some of these!!  Pics below.

Number 3....  Get to working out!!

Number 4....  Continue cooking, and start taking lunch more often instead of eating out all the time.  At least 2-3 of the days.

Number 5....  Be a better hostess.  Starting with the superbowl party.  Plan and cook without complaining!!  LOL!  I don't know if I can do this one....  but that is what goals are for!!!

Started in 2015 - Still not done!

Started in 2017 - Top is done - just needs to be finished.

Cut and ready to sew!

Half way done with cutting!  For my favorite Auntie!

Challenge quilt still not finished.

Not cut yet but getting ready for my favorite uncle!

This is fabric for one of my most ambitious quilts to be done this year.

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, god lives in us and his love is made complete in us.   -1 John 4:11-12

Fall Fancy - Finally Finished

Fall isn't over yet.....  I am counting this quilt as finished in time!  Even though Thanksgiving is next week!!!!  I put this quilt together after starting the challenge with my mom.....  For some reason, I decided that a bag full of scraps that was handed from person to person to person was more important than the challenge quilt that I started in the first place.

The funny thing was that I didn't even like the fabrics.  I put this together and got it to my longarm quilter almost immediately and she was full of complements as always and made me feel like I am an amazing quilter (hee hee hee).

I decided that I would keep this quilt that I would call Fall Fancy!  I started on the binding and got tired of having a quilt on my lap so I put it away and kind of forgot about it til it was almost too late.  I finally got around to packing up my little bag of goodies and taking it to my son's judo practice and it only took me two nights to put the last of the binding on.  I get to enjoy this Fall Fancy quilt for another week before I put is away and break out the Christmas quilt that I have yet to post about!!!

So....  I typed this all up and then totally forgot to post it!  Oops!!!  Better late than never!!

Summertime's Over

My niece and I comparing toes.

I have decided that I sew a lot more during the colder months!  The weather in the Bay Area takes a lot longer to change.... It's supposed to be 92 here in San Jose today.  I can't believe that summertime is over already - even though it's still hot outside!  I look back and wonder where the time has gone. 

I haven't done well on keeping my goals so far this year.  I am hoping to finish at least one more quilt before the end of the year and maybe even some pillows to match the Christmas quilts that I finished last year and have yet to post about!  I keep thinking that if I write my goals down, that I will accomplish more.  I am thinking that it doesn't really work! 

Till I log in again.....


Romans 3:23-24   "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

Finding Joy

Finding Joy - Thread Catcher

I wish my picture was as awesome as the Lillyella one!

Let me start with a quick brag on my sister-in-law (sil)....  she is one of the most unselfish people I know.  She has made sacrifices that people cannot comprehend. She has lived most of the past two decades in a place that few will ever understand. It was all for others with no personal gain. Last year marked a new start for her and I can't say how happy I am to see her full of life!  It reminds me of a butterfly....  waiting patiently until the perfect time to come out of the cocoon. 

Recently, on Facebook, I saw someone post about making a mat to go under their machine...  the picture showed a mat with an amazing paper pieced butterfly and a thread catcher.  My sil has been asking me to make her a thread catcher for at least two years so when I saw this post I knew I had to do this one!!!  I did some research and finally found that it was a free design from lilly ella and it was amazing. I decided to learn how to paper piece!!  Not as easy as I thought!!  

Everything complete.

While I did all my research on Pinterest I found a few other pieces that I thought would be perfect...  I decided to do a small mat for her to use while she sat and did her embroidery on the couch...  I kept the butterfly theme and figured the thread catcher could just be moved from the large mat to the small couch one.  I also decided to do a stopper for the foot pedal of the sewing machine (even if it doesn't get used).  

It took me a while to decide on colors and such but I love the way it turned out!!!  

The perfect label used as a pocket.

My paper pieced butterfly!!

My try at the selvage pocket.

The actual thread catcher.

Couch mat with pockets and pin cushion.

I added some shelf liner so it won't slide.

I am blessed to have a sil that will cater an entire church event for hundreds of people or bake cupcakes for a bridal shower of someone she doesn't even know or make cookies for a bake sale or pick up my kid at the last minute and even feed him....  I could go on with this list for awhile!!!  I know that she is not thanked enough for everything she does and I hope that every time she sticks a thread into that thread catcher she remembers just how amazing she is and just how very important the simple things that she does are. 

Keep pushing through and make every year greater than the last!!

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. (James 1:2 NIV)

Linking up with crazy mom quilts


P.S. --  I still can't figure out how to get rid of the space on top!  Sorry.

Challenge Block

Ok....  So my mom decided that she was going to do her first quilt and I couldn't be more excited to help her out.  Only thing is that she decided to do a challenge quilt that is full of triangles which I have not done many of and I do not consider myself very good at them.  

The quilt is by NQC Quilt Block Challenge.  It is a nine week challenge and it's free. 

Block One

There is a huge Facebook community working on this quilt and TONS of people to help.  I decided to cover a couple things that new quilters may not know.

First tip is to buy good fabric - I admit that part of the fabric I am using from my stash in this quilt is from Joann's and is not the greatest.  I prefer not to use the Joann's brands in my quilts that I give away or ones that I want to last forever.  I will try to buy my Kona's there - 60% off is the best time!  The other thing is that it does not press well.  You can see in the pic below that even though I ironed and steamed there are still wrinkles.

Next thing is to line up the fabric and start with clean edges.  I prefer to line up along the top fold and then move my ruler to the left as I make the cuts.  Measure twice and cut once.  

Make sure you always hold the ruler down firmly so the fabric and the ruler stay in place.  As you go make sure you cut off all the selvage.  You don't want it to end up in the quilt!

Lining up the fabric to start cutting.

Next tip is to only use pins when doing diagonals.  Once pin on either side to keep the fabric from moving as the diagonal is sewed.  I use them for making triangles and when I am prepping my binding.  There isn't really a need for them any other time.

Use pencil on the lighter fabric to draw lines.

My next reminder for quilting is that there is no need to backstitch.  Just make sure you start and finish as close to the edge as possible.  Another is to use a 1/4 inch foot if possible.  They are not too expensive and you can use 40% off coupons on them!  I even leave my 1/4 inch foot on when I sew the triangles.  It keeps it a bit straighter and more accurate than the regular foot.

Perfect 1/4 inch on both sides.

Always press your seems to one side - to the dark side - that way if you have a darker fabric next to a light one the darker fabric does not show through.  I follow this rule almost always.  If I am doing squares that I want to nest seams I will press the direction I want it to go no matter the color.  

So this next one seems weird but does help......  You want to make sure that as you are sewing your blocks together the seams stay flat.  Flat seams  will ensure that your quilt is nice and smooth.  Watch the ones on top as well as the ones on the bottom as you sew.

Flat seams.

One of the hardest things it to get the seams to match up.  part of this is because as the seams come together the become more and more bulky and do not stay lined up correctly as you sew them.  I do not know how to fix this problem yet....  Sorry!! 

I always say that as long as you don't have to trim off so much fabric that your quilt looks lopsided or as long as you don't have to add a strip to make it bigger you didn't do to bad!  

Not perfect, but it will do the trick.

Again this is a challenge quilt from National Quilters Circle.  It's a free challenge and I did put a link above to the first block.  Good luck!!

Drought be gone!

I can honestly say that I am sad about missing my quilt show this past weekend. This last storm that hit stretched all the way down to Mexico so we would have gotten rain and even snow both going there and coming home.  Better to stay safe though.  

Since I was home I decided to get to that organizing!!!  I started with one bin of nicely folded fabric and finished the weekend with two and a half bins full.  I thought that I would feel more accomplished....  but I felt that I needed to get the larger pieces of fabric folded too and I could not figure those out.  I could fold them the same as the rest but it doesn't seem right.

Ironed and folded nicely in the bins!

As I went thru some of the older pieces of fabric that have been in my stash for years I realized that I have just as many really nice fabrics as I do not so nice ones. I also have a lot of kid prints that I don't know if I will want to get rid of.

Moral of the story is that the rain may have done me a favor.  I really have plenty of fabric to last me til the next show.  I'm hoping that just as the drought here in the Bay Area has been coming to an end.... so will my drought.  

“Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.”

Deuteronomy 32:2 NIV

http://bible.com/111/deu.32.2.niv

Hitting the Target

I Googled my blog the other day so that I could show someone at work a picture of a fabric I was trying to explain.  I was shocked to see that it had been a full year since I had posted.  I thought that I had been better this year and clearly I was wrong!!!  My last post talks about the high I was on from the Road to California quilt show.  This week I am packing and getting ready to leave for the 2017 show!!!  How has this happened? Where does the time go?  I would love to say that I have met all my goals for 2016 and that I am checking in to see what an awesome year it has been.  I don't think I did too bad, but I know that I could do better!!   I feel the need to revisit this blogging thing and post more of my goals that I want to accomplish this year.  I suppose you could say I will post my resolutions for everyone to see (even though I know no one will see them).  In 2018 I will look back and see how I did.

I want to first say that in 2016 I did accomplish a couple of goals....

Number 1:  I finished 4 quilts!!!!  I will make my first goal of the year to write a post for each of these.  I know I planned on it cause I have taken pics of all my projects as I have been working on them.

Number 2:  I have worked on getting rid of clutter and getting more organized. I still have a TON of work to do in this department. This is yet another goal to continue on.

Number 3:  I joined the gym!!!!  More to come on this too.

Number 4:  I started a new hobby.  Archery.

Number 5:  I am the mom of a Jr. Higher. I know that this isn't really a goal....  but I feel like it is something I have accomplished.  I'm excited to say that I'm not in the looney bin yet!!!!

Ok....  so now for the goals of 2017.

Number 1:  I want to post all four of the projects from last year.

Number 2:  I want to top the four that I did last year. Maybe 5 or 6 this year!!  And just to make sure I keep at it...  I want to finish a Valentines Day one (I started on this one already so I'm off to a decent start), a coffee one, my Giants one, and I want to get back to my QFK ones.

Number 3:  I want to continue getting rid of some of the clutter that slows me down. If I am more organized I should be able to find things quicker and get things done quicker and more efficiently.  If all of my fabric is in bins so I can see the colors and patterns I should be able to spend less time searching for what I want and more time creating!!!  Maybe!!!

Number 4:  I need to keep it up at the gym.  I only lost about 10 pounds last year.  Not nearly enough.  I need to be better about getting out and staying active!!!  This year I want to climb Mission Peak in Fremont.  Not only does this require me to get in shape but also requires me to make time for something for me.

Number 5:  I want to continue with the archery.  It's not something that I want to compete in or anything crazy but I really enjoy it and I feel like it's something I'm good at.  I want to do my lessons and at the end of the year I want to say that I went out and did it a fair amount.

Number 6:  I want to be a better mom and wife.  I feel like I have made some progress in this department but I am still not very good at it.  I feel like I keep things much cleaner with the new house than before. My main goal is to be a better cook.  I want to cook three times a week....  and a lot of people may think that isn't much, but I struggle to cook twice a week most of the time.  I think getting better at planning ahead is my key to success.  I will have to try and brainstorm this later.  Maybe something on Pinterest can solve my problem!!!  Lol

Number7:  Keep up this blog.  I am going to use my time sitting at judo with Neiko to write instead of playing my games.   I think I have said before, it's like journaling. This is hard for me. But I have to try to think about my grandkids and great grandkids (bahahaaaaa). Someday they will say....  look at what grandma used to do. Look how she used to struggle.  Look how she used to succeed.  Look how she loved. I look back at journals from my great grandmother and I am inspired. I hope to inspire someday...

Number 8:  Prayer. Bible study. Jesus. There isn't much more that needs to be said there.


My favorite new verse....

“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,”
Psalm 91:4-5 NIV
http://bible.com/111/psa.91.4-5 NIV

I may even do a new quilt with this verse....  feathers and arrows!!!!  And a tattoo or me too???  Hummm....  maybe!

One more...

Number 9:  As I am writing this one of my girls in Mexico responded to a post on Facebook. She had wished me a happy birthday yesterday and I replied "Thank you!  Love you!!"  Her reply just now was, "Love you more."  Number 9 is this.....  to remember that I am loved. To remember to love. To remind others of His love!!  ❤️