Dragon pillowcases

one of the pair of dragon pillowcases I just finished

What I've been doing this year. Pieced a small wall hanging, zipper bags, and pillowcases.

It's been several days since posting but I've been busy with quilting and Lego construction.  I had the misfortune of thinking I had placed the completed Lego bank in a safe place for a minute while I did something else.  While I was in another room I heard a terrible crash and there was the bank, upside down and tiny pieces all over the place.  I couldn't even look at it for an hour or so but I finally gathered the pieces and will assess the damage this weekend.  

I've finally been sewing on the wonderful machine I bought almost ten years ago but didn't use much.  It's a joy to use.  I made a bunch of nine patch blocks and I'm in the process of arranging them.  I haven't gotten to the AHA moment yet but it's fun to be able to arrange them and to take a picture with my iphone so I can compare the different patterns the blocks make.

Another night up too late.  I've gone back to working on the Lego Parisienne Restaurant.  It was my first kit and the hardest of all that I've done.  I've taken it apart many times and am putting it back together one last time.  The novelty has worn off plus I'm waiting for two new kits to arrive.

Tomorrow is back to quilt group.  It's been three weeks since we've met.  I have a new project in mind and will be starting it then.  I should have something to photograph tomorrow.  We'll probably spend a lot of time visiting which is always fun and interesting.

I went to the senior lunch today and was pleasantly surprised at how good the hearty vegetable beef soup tasted.  I could have had another bowl but I showed restraint.  Doris was there, at the other end of the table, as was Elaine and Bob.  It was a nice way to spend an hour.

I'm truly tired so, good night.

Good evening from North Sutton where we had temperatures in the single digits at the start of the day.  It did get up to twenty degrees but it wasn't the kind of weather that beckoned one outside.  The snow has become very crusty and inhospitable.                                 On a creative note, I have put together two sets of fabrics for my first project.  I'll be strip-piecing nine patch blocks from each set.  There is one more fabric I want for the top set up it's on back order.  I'm thinking 2 inch strips with quarter inch seams.  These are meant to be small projects because I want to play with color and pattern scale.  Modern quilting is quite different from the way color and pattern were used when I started quilting. There are so many looks I'd like to try, I need to keep the scale small so I have the satisfaction of completion.                                                                  On the guilty pleasure side of my life (TV), last night was the first night of The Bachelor.  As with other shows that I have on during the day, I don't watch every minute of every show but have it on as background.  I need a radio, a good one that will pick up at least the Manchester stations.  I'll work on that after I get the lights for the studio and the cabinet credenza for the kitchen.                                 I think I'll go to the Slusser Senior Center for lunch tomorrow.  The menu is not the most interesting but it will be nice to see all the people again.  It should be a full day tomorrow and maybe, just maybe my Lego bank will arrive.                                                       Good night.

Good evening, blog.  The eleven o'clock news is almost over and we are in for more cold weather.  I'll have to be brave tomorrow and at least get to the post office.                                                                                                                                                                   I accomplished things from the top part of my daily compass.  Better than nothing but a kind of low energy day.   I spent time this evening stacking and re-stacking my Kaffe Fassett fabrics looking for inspiration for a quilting project.  I think I have one, a nine patch, low contrast, in shades of yellow and gold.  I don't usually work with those colors but that's part of the plan.  The piece will be small enough to complete this month, piecing, quilting, and binding.  If it's smooth sailing with that I may do another with the dotted fabrics I have.  They are high contrast fabrics but the scale of the pattern is the same so that will be interesting.  This should be fun to do small projects in a variety of styles.                                    Good night.

It was a semi-productive day.  I got the Lego kits corralled and found the rest of the Christmas kit and completed it.  I still have to find the roof of the French       restaurant.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          I was thinking that last year was wasted because my house is still not in order but I realized that I did spend most of last year working through the Queen Sweep brooms to create order in all aspects of my life.  I did an incredible amount of decluttering with numerous carloads to various charity organizations.  I learned about   writing a daily compass to keep me on track each day.  I've found that I do best if I write it the night before.  Another very important point is making the tasks as small as need be to be doable.  Instead of "clean kitchen",  list the various chores that make up the whole.  The act of completion is very important in keeping the forwardly motion going.  Being able to cross off a small task is rewarding whereas carrying forward "clean the kitchen" forever seems overwhelming.  Rewards are important also but I don't seem to have a problem with that part of the equation.                                                                                                                                                                             
So, my major task this year is to put the remains into an order that won't be embarrassing if someone shows up at my door.                                             
I'm thinking that I'd like to get three wall cabinets to use as a credenza type unite on the free wall in the kitchen.                                                           
I have my compass written up with suggested activities for tomorrow.  May the force be with me.                                                               

It's another new year, 2016, and I again say that I want to try to be more regular in posting.

I have just completed three years of retirement and it keeps getting better.  Finding the quilting group in Contoocook in May and going every Thursday since May 7 has been a real plus in my life.  Such a nice group of people, I just couldn't have asked for a better situation. 

Slowly, I'm getting back to working with fabric.  So far I've very much gotten back to buying it and have accumulated quite a collection of Kaffe Fassett pieces along with some from the other designers who coordinate with his collections for Rowen Westminster fabrics.  My intent is to come up with a project to work on each Thursday at quilt group with the goal of a finished project each month.

I just ordered two Lego kits, the bank and the Ghostbusters Fire Station.  So looking forward to getting back to building.  

My other interest at this moment is Gelli plate printing.  I'd like to make Christmas postcards for this year.  If I start now I just might be able to accomplish it.

I continue with the Queen Sweep project and am trying to get my house back to looking like a human lives here.  I still have more ideas for furniture placement and an incredible amount of cleaning to do.

So this is where I'll make myself accountable, having stated what my plan for this will be for the next several months.  I will write up my daily compass with a doable plan of action for each day and will keep a list of things I do that day so I can feel like I accomplish something when I feel that I've done nothing.

Good night.