A New Year - A New Plan!

Why do we DO this to ourselves?  New Year's Resolutions .... ugh!!!  "This year I'm going to - lose the extra pounds ....  get better organized .... finish my UFO's .... slash my stash ... create that dream quilt .... blog more ----

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Well, the "blogging more" shouldn't be too difficult since I haven't blogged since November, right?

The holidays proved to be very busy ones for us and, unfortunately, blogging simply had to take a back seat.  And if I'm honest, I must admit it was nice to take a short break.  Although I am a blogger, I am first and foremost a Quilter, as my husband reminded me with this gorgeous picture for my studio this Christmas!

Isn't it wonderful???  I can't stop looking at it!  It's perfect with the "Sew/cute" plaque :)  And I love that on a deeper level it is a very real picture of who I am ... so many pieces that are different and have an identity all on their own, but they all come together to make up the unique individual that is ME!  We creative types are all like that - juggling so many plates at one time, it's no wonder that one falls and shatters once in a while, right?

I often struggle with the time it takes to blog, working it into a schedule that's already too full, and I hear so many other bloggers saying the same thing.  But of course, like them, I enjoy my friendships with all of you too much to call it quits.

So, I've put myself on a schedule for the coming year, and I'm determined to post on those dates even if it means a short, quick update.  Of course, that's where I always get snookered - keeping it short and quick !!!  (Like that word "snookered" do you?  If I were my friend Barbara over at Cat Patches, I'd look it up in the dictionary and post the definition for you.  But she's much better at that kind of thing than I am, so I'll just tell you it basically means to become trapped or tripped up.)

Which leads me to my word for 2016 - JUST DO IT!!!  Which is really a phrase .... a really well-known, often quoted, definitely overused phrase .... but it says what I need to keep in mind this year, so it stays =^..^=  One of my biggest problems is making myself just sit down and DO something when I know it's going to take a lot of time and effort.  I keep finding perfectly plausible excuses for putting it off.  And I put it off until it's too late or - worse - the timing is critical and I am in crisis mode - not good!  All the planning and organization in the world can't overcome good old-fashioned procrastination.

This year I plan to practice better ways of getting over the hurdles that tend to stop me in my tracks.  If the size of the job is what I'm balking at, then I need to break it down into smaller pieces and eat that darn elephant one bite at a time!  (Like blogging)  Or if it is something I don't like to do (like borders or binding), then I need to put nose to grindstone and Just Do It!!!  My hope is that keeping an awareness of this tendency in my mind will help me overcome it.  Like in the fairytale story, Rumplestiltskin, being able to name and understand your adversary is often the first step to success.  Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks???

Folk Art Album - Block #10

Today, as always, I will be joining Kathy's Quilts and the gang for some Slow Sunday Stitching!  Hand stitching while watching our Carolina Panthers play usually helps keep me from going nuts during tense moments.  Last Sunday I played around with different stitches to liven this block up a little ... I like the effect of these little french knots around the center flower edges :)

What is on the agenda for your Sunday?

Something fun I hope!!!

♥Looking forward to a GREAT 2016 with all of you ♥

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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A Thanksgiving Yarn....

Lots of projects On the Needles this past week while traveling over the river and through the woods to my Mom's house for Thanksgiving!

I started the Orchid Cowl on the way to Carolina ....

I bless the day I realized I could knit in the car and not get carsick!  I have such a hard time sitting and doing nothing - especially for long stretches like that.  Even at home, I have to be doing some sort of handwork while watching tv or I go crazy!  This project kept me plenty occupied as I knitting and unknitted until I finally got the pattern in my head LOL!!!!

So, the reason I felt free to start something new is because I finished up something old!

The knitting on my Ombre Infinity Cowl is finished!  I actually finished it before we left on our trip.  It is ready to be taken off the needles so I can block it, and then I'll kitchener together the ends to make it into a loop.  I love these colors!!!

I also managed to add some rows in PURPLE to the Swing Cowl that I love so much...

Of course, there was lots of eating too :-)  Here's my lovely mom and stepdad with the turkey...

Isn't that one gorgeous rockstar turkey???

I couldn't stop taking pictures of it!!!

This Thanksgiving was much brighter for all of us.  Mom is now recovered for the most part from her illness of last year, and she thoroughly enjoyed putting together this year's feast (with our help of course!)  We had 21 for dinner - such a wonderful gathering of loved ones ♥

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And now here a couple of odds & ends I wanted to be sure to share with you -----

If you are a reader like me, you may not know that Amazon is now having their Holiday Sale on books!



Click on the link I provided above and use code HOLIDAY30 when checking out to get 30% off any one book ($10 limit)!  I got mine - now go get yours!!!

And of course you'll love this COOL Christmas Tree I saw at McKays a couple weeks ago :-)

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Last is a warning about an iPhone SCAM that showed up on my phone a couple of times this past week ...

If this shows up on your screen, there appears to be no way to get out of the screen without touching the "OK" button - which you should never do!  I googled it and found the solution ...

1.    Double-click the Home button to take you to the Ap management screen.
2.    Swipe the Safari screen away that shows the scam pop-up.
3.    Go to Settings, then Safari.  Click to Clear History.

Your phone should then be clear of the popup.  If you don't clear history, it will just pop back up every time you go to Safari.

That's it for today - 

I hope to update you on my stitching progress tomorrow!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Rainy Day Memories

It's definitely a stay-at-home, curl-up-with-a-quilt-and-a-good-book kinda day here in Nashville!  Rain is expected all morning, and it's so hard for me to get motivated to do anything when it's so gray and dreary.  I understand a lot of you are also suffering under gray skies, so I thought perhaps I would brighten our spirits by sharing some memories of my recent trip to Myrtle Beach SC .... Be warned!  This is a very photo-heavy post!!!  

My mom and I used to go together for a week every year, but the last couple of years have been tough ones, and we were not able to go.  So you can imagine our excitement when we made our plans for this year!  We both love the beach in October - cool days, no crowds, and lots of quiet time together on the balcony overlooking that glorious ocean!

Most days it was a little too chilly or damp to sit out on the beach, so we spent a lot of time on the balcony, which was just fine with us.  I couldn't stop snapping pictures of the glorious nature on display .... and mother nature came with her "A" Game - she was fully prepared to impress us!

There were stunning sunrises ..... each one more beautiful than the last .... we held our breath, awestruck, in those first hushed moments as the world began to wake and come to life ....

Our amazing Creator, painting each day fresh and new ...

Delighting Himself in our delight ...

Mom and I played like a couple of beach bums - doing exactly whatever we wanted to do and nothing else!  The water was a little chilly, but we managed to get in a few lazy walks and some shelling most days ... the beach was practically deserted!





We found some of the most interesting shells I've ever found on a beach!

Many of them were absolutely perfect tiny little specimens!

We had one pretty good storm a few nights before we left - the water came up to the very edge of the beach ....



...  and it totally changed the shape of the shoreline...

BEFORE:

 AFTER.....

When the tide went out in that particular area, we found this deep crevice in the sand, maybe 3 or 4 feet deep, with a very deceptively wicked current.  There were tons of shells in that bank!

In the evenings, we both enjoyed our favorite activities ....

Mom is an awesome artist!!!!

I got LOTS done on this languishing UFO
I'll post my progress on this soon!!!

We spent the last day shopping at our favorite spots ...

I remembered this quilt shop from previous visits and was delighted to find it still there and doing very well!!!  They had quite a few nice pieces that managed to find their way into my cart =^..^=

I dropped Mom off at an Arts & Crafts store on my way to the quilt shop and noticed this in a little resevoir area as I was leaving the mall ....



I'm thinking - "Is that turtles???"  So of course I had to stop the car, right there in the road! - and get out to get a better look ....



Yep, sure enough, it was turtles!!!  There was a ring of some type out there just below the surface that they were sitting on.  I wonder if it was placed there for them specifically, or if they were just grabbing a spot to sit and enjoy the day?  Several of them jumped as they saw me approach.  I never knew I was such a dangerous looking character - apparently, my presence is enough to seriously terrify turtles!  You can see one swimming nearby at the very bottom right - I think he's hoping I'll go away quickly so he can hop back on safely!

We were happy to find a really wonderful and well-stocked used book store - a dying breed my friends!  Bookends was even more delightful inside than its window promised ...

I found a few Louise Penny novels to add to my growing collection :-)  On our way out of the parking lot, we noticed a really unusual phenomenon .... can you see that the setting sun is on the left, and then there is another light on the right?

It had a rainbow effect, but it wasn't like any rainbow I've ever seen.....  Anyone ever see one of these?  Know what it is?

Maybe that was my first UFO encounter that had nothing to do with quilting LOL!!!

Of course, we always took time to enjoy the sunsets .... and there were some doozies!!!  Mother Nature doesn't believe in getting lazy or sloppy just because it is the end of the day!  She likes to end the day with an exclamation point .... and we were left speechless in wonder once again ....

And what beach trip is complete without ice cream sundaes???

Isn't my mom beautiful?  She makes 77 look pretty darn good! As some of you know, she battled and won against colon cancer this past year.  My gratitude at this time of Thanksgiving is overwhelming.  We are so blessed to be allowed to celebrate the holidays once again with her - healthy and so, so dear to me!

Well, I hope this little trip to the beach has cheered you up as much as it has me!  I think I need to go wash the sand from between my toes now :-)  Enjoy your day!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Folk Art Album - My Way!

My sewing needles have been just as busy as the knitting needles, so I have lots of sharing to catch up on =^..^=  Several hand-stitching projects in progress, which I love because I can just pick one up and carry it anywhere.  It's so nice to be able to enjoy stitching no matter how busy I get!

Today I thought I'd share the progress on my Folk Art Album blocks.  This is a quilt design by the oh-so-talented Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings.  I finished this little sweetie last night ...

Block #8 - Folk Art Album

This block took a while to stitch, with all those little leaves and quite a bit more stitching around the flowers than you would think until you get around to actually doing it.....

It was well worth the time though, 'cause I'm absolutely in love with the way the stitching seems to lift up the top layer of the flowers to give them a beautifully textured 3-dimensional look!

This little bunny is so adorable!  We trimmed him down considerably - he is a chubby little fellow in the pattern.  He will get a little black bead eye and a fluffy cottontail after the project is quilted.

 I had a hard time choosing a fabric for him.  I'm not a "primitive" style quilter, although I truly enjoy many designs in that style - Lisa Bongean's in particular!  So although I use black a lot in my quilts, I don't at all care for the primitive style of using solid black for animals.  It totally erases all of their wonderful personality - and it just seems so dreary and gothic to me. (Black crows in particular give me the creeps!!!)  The rabbits in my backyard are a rough gray color, but going with gray wasn't working for me either.  Solid gray was too flat, and prints looked cartoonish.  I did a very impromptu happy dance when I happened upon this smoky gray/brown batik piece buried deep in my stash - I think it's perfect!

So now I have three of the FAA blocks stitched and done!  Yesterday I got Blocks 9 & 10 fused and ready for hand stitching.

Block #9 - Folk Art Album

Block #10 - Folk Art Album

Block #10 is one of my favorites.  Just look at those wonderful colors playing so happily together!  If you are familiar with this pattern, you may notice that I've pretty much used Lisa's color scheme in my blocks; they're just on a brighter scale - doing them My Way!   And the beautiful aqua batik for the dragonfly wings gave me exactly the look I was going for.  Ethereal blue, reflections of water ♥  I love it when a plan comes together ;-)

Although I have 10 blocks fused, only three are completed with the stitching - the Bunny (#8) and these two .....

Block #1 - Folk Art Album
(Previous blog post HERE if you're interested)

Block #7 - Folk Art Album
(Previous blog post HERE)

I'll share the others as I begin to stitch them down.  One of them will be chosen to do some Slow Sunday Stitching today during the Carolina Panthers game.  They've totally shocked us with their 8-0 start this year - we were expecting something more in the line of 0-8!  I'm' sharing at Freshly Pieced - WIP Wednesday!  Are you hand stitching anything today?  Share your lovely work with Kathy's Quilts!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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