Just Three from Tracey

I love this idea from Tracey and am totally copying her and linking up over here at her blog.  This is an awesome goal, and I think it'll be really successful for me. 

The idea is to set three reachable goals for April.  Tracey and I seem to have the same issue of wasting our kids synchronized naptimes and perusing online fabric shops, pinterest, facebook...those time traps.  Time that I could easily spend binding (my least favorite part...) unfinished quilts, sewing pieces together or just making progress on my way too many WIP's and up my rate of finishing things! Heck, today I had enough time to cut some fabric for a swap but...then I didn't.  So!

Here's my list of three things to get done in April:

1) Bind my Drunkard's Path quilt - This baby has been quilted and waiting patiently on top of the dryer for over a month...sad...and I'm so anxious to use it!  It's going to be a wonderful lap quilt.  Anyone have an opinion on these considerations for the binding?

 Ok, this is the best shot I could get.  My top pick is the second one, it's a light aqua polka dot.  The one under it isn't as red as it looks, more of a raspberry print.  What do you think?

2) Finish and mail my Hoop Up! Stitch and Send Swap projects - Don't have pictures of these yet, but they are in progress.  I've been working on them a little here, a little there and it's just too slow of a pace.  Plus, they need to be out by the middle of the month (end of next week?  what?) so they'll have to get done.

3) Bind Ben (Husband)'s quilt - I finished quilting this one over the weekend, but it's such a honker of a ginormous thing, that I'm nervous to trim the sides and just get it over with. Haven't picked binding fabric for that one either...


Anywho... these are pretty reachable goals for me if I can just bit the bullet and sit down to do them.  But I've got to start somewhere, right?  So, those are my three goals for the month, what are yours?!

Happy March!

I can't believe February is gone.  March will probably go even faster, there's a lot to do already!!

I suppose I did get some things done in February:

 HST block of the month from In Color Order

 Greek Cross

 Solstice Star Sampler from Fresh Lemons

 Granny Squares from Jolene's tutorial at Blue Elephant Stitches

 Finished 2 out of 3 baby blankets using granny squares

 2 Blocks for Avery

 Bee block for We Bee Modern February

 Sailboat blocks for do. Good Stitches Bliss circle

 Extra large granny square block (2) using Joelene's tutorial again and Fly A Kite fabric

 Books and Blocks bee February block

 Map blanket for my kids to mess with

 Picked fabric for a friend who's getting married in June.  It will be a Swoon!

Finally  put together my Drunkard's Path quilt and got about 1/4th through hand quilting.

I guess February was enough time to get a few things done.

Here are my plans for March:

-Bee blocks (1) We Bee Modern - I get to pick which one I want to make out of the book, so that will be fun, but which to pick!! (2) Books and Blocks bee - our leader has chosen Megan's star from the book, which is an awesome block.  I'm a little less excited about this one, just because it's just not my style of fabric choices, so this may be a bit of a challenge. (3) do. Good Stitches bliss circle - we get to make pink and orange wonky log cabin blocks, awesome as I have lots of pink and orange to choose from!  I haven't made wonky log cabins before either so I'm excited to learn.

-Finish quilting Drunkard's Path quilt

-Finish quilt from the Mr. - I've got almost all the blocks done and am really really hoping to have the top done this weekend

-Solstice stars and summer sample quilt - I have enough to make a top with and want to use the rest of my Woodlands fabrics to finish it.  Should be easy to put together once I finish a few other things first!

-Last baby quilt - bind, wash, and mail!

-Sew Cherry Quilt - I picked the background fabric and just need to cut it, and piece the back.  I'm going to use some Sarah Jane prints on the back and I think it will be cool enough to be reversible.  Really want to check that one off the list and start using it!

-HST Block of the month from In Color Order - Jeni's posted to tutorial for the March block and I'm hoping to get that done today with my Salt Air and Bella solids in white charm squares

-Swoon wedding quilt - fortunately my friend isn't getting married until June, but I'd like to get a couple blocks done for her quilt this month.

-In Law's wedding quilt - Start putting the virginia stars together that will make up the top.

-make a plan for another Wedding quilt 

Wish me luck!  I'll update soon.  

I am going to copy this awesome post idea from Tanesha at Crafty Garden Mom. Love this idea and it's great since I haven't posted anything in a while (it's almost March...what?!)

Today...
Outside my window... It's 10:40pm.  Dark and very cold with remnants of the snow that came while I was asleep Friday night/Saturday morning.

I am thinking... Lady Face's birthday is only about 35 days away.  She will be 2 and I want to be in better shape by then...so March will be super fun!!! right. Just found a blog that I am really really enjoying, especially this post (about white trash cooking - soooo funny). Her posts remind me of my grandparents who were from Kentucky and my years in Virginia in college in what I considered "The South".

I am thankful for... My family.  The ones that live in the same house as me especially.  They are so good to me.  I love them tremendously.  Even the furry one. 

I am reading... Well, at the beginning of the year, every year, it's my dream goal to read a book a week.  I love to read, but lately quilting and sewing have been my go-to free time spenders...so I've only read one book so far this year.  I am reading The Dog Who Came In From The Cold by Alexander McCall Smith.  I love all of his books.  He writes about happy things and real stuff. Little victories and life things that make us all part of the same goodness. Absolutely adore it.  Life's too short to read crappy books that make you feel terrible...
 

I am wearing... um, Don't look now but I got some pj pants at T.J. Maxx and they are too short (I'm 5'10") which is what I get for buying girly pj pants and not man ones like I usually do.....but I'm wearing those, a BYU Track t-shirt, and (get ready for this one...) a blue Ralph Lauren jacket....from Costco. Almost thought I'd classed it up for a second there, right?

I am creating... a quilt that has been semi finished for months now, a quilt for my husband, and three wedding quilts.  A me that is  leaner, toned, and almost constantly sore from being shredded by Jillian Michaels...I'll let you know how it goes during March when I actually do the workouts more than once a week :)

I am hoping... that I can have more patience this week, and that comfort will find it's way to those I'm worried about.

I am hearing... Little Lady Face sing and mumble as she falls asleep, and the clicking of the Mr's football game on the Wii.  The classical station on Pandora - which is currently playing the LOTR soundtrack. 

Around the house... I need to accept the fact that I will be in a semi-constant state of doing dishes and laundry for the rest of my life.  It will never end until I do.  Shingles blew off our roof this weekend and since we're renting we came home from church to find the owners friend on the roof fixing them.  Poor guy.  It was like 25 degrees. We offered him some donuts but he said no :(

One of my favorite things... Our new leather loveseat (thanks tax return!), a hot shower, Starbucks hot chocolate mix, and the individually packaged skinless salmon fillets (yep, also Costco). And the instagram photo's I took this weekend (see below)

A few plans for the rest of the week... it's Sunday evening so the week is just beginning!  I'm hoping to do fun things with my kids, to get outside, to exercise every day, get the top done for the Mr's quilt, and get some more stuff checked off the mandatory to do list so I can work on some fun quilting projects for me.  I also want to start reading another book to the kids at nap time.  We read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to them a while ago a chapter or two a night and they loved it!  Time for another one. Oh, and to get more sleep...that'll probably help all the rest go better...

A picture (or four) to share from the weekend...

 

I am happy... Because my kids are healthy.  They are cute.  They love me.  I am happy because my Husband is pretty awesome all the time, and has made me confident that we will always be together.  It's reassuring to know that, and thinking about it makes me feel really special. I am also happy because our rental here is starting to feel like our space.  I'm starting to not be so hard on myself, and to realize that I have the next moment to do better than I did before.  Might sound lame, but that's a big one for me! And finally, I got to stay in my pajamas for 90% of the weekend and I let it happen.  It was glorious.



Bonus points if you can tell me who that little person in the hat looks like!


How was your weekend?

I am a work in progress...

There are sooo many things I want to do.

So many things I want to eat, read, wear, try... I know it's impossible to check even a tiny fraction of those things off before I'm dead.  Sometimes that depresses me quite a lot, and I have to refocus, or take a hot shower and remind myself that having options is a good thing.  And, let's be honest, life isn't about making as many Nutella recipe's as I can find...as sad as that is...but when I get onto that train of thought, as I did for a little while today, thinking about how I have 52 books on my shelves at home that I either haven't read, started and never finished, or read and now can't remember at all...it feels so blah...and sad that we don't have the time to do everything we want.  It reaffirms to me the importance of spending our time wisely.  Something I am not always that great at doing.

I took a look at my list of resolutions and goals for this year and realized that I don't know if I will do half of them.  Same goes for my quilting and sewing to-do list.  I feel like I often have the best intentions, but they end up going nowhere...and that's what I think I need to work on about myself.

Following through.  And then relaxing about it if I don't get something done because...I am a tightly bound bundle of nerves...and I've got to learn how to take it easy...and "go with it" even especially when "it" doesn't go my way...

So here's a "simplified" list of the things I'm working on.  Personally and Otherwise:

1. This year I need to make exercise part of my life.  My ultimate goal would be to run a race (5k perhaps?) and feel proud of my effort at the end.  This is a loaded personal brick wall for me...perhaps I'll feel like talking about it later.
2. I want to ENJOY my children while they are young.  To me this means that I have to stop saying, "just a minute" and get on the floor and play with monster trucks, look at animal flash cards, and have fun with them while they still want to be around me. My little Lady Face has almost all of her teeth...she's no baby anymore...
3. I want to follow through on being more thoughtful.  Think about doing more things for other people, especially if they're things I wouldn't choose to do but that would make the other person happy.  And I'd like to be better at remembering birthdays but I've had 6 chances at that so far this year that have all been pretty much a fail.
4. Finish 2 wedding quilts, one for my friend who got married in August, and one for my mother-in-law who got married in April.
5. Organize my photos chronologically, have them put onto cd's and print the ones I want copies of, and put them into photo binders (I'm not much of a scrapbook-er...), or into nice frames and hang them on the wall or somewhere where I can see them.
6. Embroider something(s)
7. Make my wonderful Husband a quilt (he wants all solids, and mostly earthy brownish tones and I'm kind of resisting...but I think it would make his day if I made one for him)
8. Make myself a quilt for our bed, and a bunch more to snuggle under.  I get cold all the time, and love to pile under blankets everywhere, at all times, and especially with a book.
9. Give project 365 a shot
10. Be a better blogger (as this serves as a mini-journal for me in ways...)
11. Make my kids each a zig-zag quilt for their birthdays this year in April.

So that's that.  My "New Years Resolutions".

I've got more to show that I've been doing something this week besides sleeping all the time, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow...

Here are some of my favorite pictures from this year...so far...(and yes, I discovered Instagram.  I love it)