Saturday, December 30, 2006

Last Entry for 2006

Another year has gone by and I am anticipating the New Year - I hope that it's a great one for all my friends and family! I've been busily working in my sewing room this week, trying to finish up some old projects and thinking about next years goals.

One of my focus areas for next year is working on my writing. (Yes, this does include working on my blog more!) I would like to publish a pattern this year, so I will be working on that. I also want to do more original work, I will probably have to cut back on the shop samples to accomplish that.

Another thing I will be working on is organizing my sewing studio so that it's more efficient. I am trying to figure out how to accomodate all the storage I need balanced with work space, and how to make it all pleasing to the eye. Not an easy task! I am really liking that quite a few of the things I am using are movable, so that makes my work space more flexible. The folding cutting table is really handy, I must say. I most often use it with only one of the leaves up, but it's truly awesome for basting when I put both up. Though it 's a tight fit, I can roll it around and reach all around it when I'm pinning!

I also want to work on my photography skills (which are pretty basic right now!) And if I can't do it, I want to find some resources that can! Not only that, but to find a place to take pictures of the larger quilts. My house is just not the right place for really good pictures. It's just too dark in here.

All in all thought, 2006 was a great year, and I did accomplish a lot that I set out to do. I tried some new things, got accepted into a juried show, and made some new friends. I've been more active in my quilt guild, finished a ton of UFO's (of course, I've also accumulated quilte a few of them, also!), and have moved forward on my machine quilting skills.

My family is all healthy and happy (at least most of the time!) and I have a lot to be thankful for. Here's to a wonderful 2007 - God bless you all this year!

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Merry Christmas

Wow!! What a time we had this year - all five daughters were home for the holidays, plus one son-in-law, and a boyfriend. It was busy and bustling and fun. Also exhausting, expasperating and noisy! All have left this morning, husband is back at work and the house is a mess, but it is quiet. No one is expecting me to do something for or with them, and I have the computer to myself. I have some tidying up to do in my sewing room, and by tomorrow I'll be ready for some all out sewing, but for now I just want to is sit.

I am looking forward to lots of quilting in 2007. I just celebrated the fact that I have been quilting for 20 years now - so I am looking forward to my 21st year of quilting (guess that makes me an adult in the quilting world now, right?) I am working on trying to publish a few patterns, and finishing up a few old projects. I plan to enter a couple of juried shows, and to actually attend one of them. This summer I will be making a trip to Colorado with one of my daughters, and at the beginning of the year a trip with my husband and our married daughter and her husband.

Some of my personal goals are to be more efficient at my housework (think I may go back to the flylady routines!), and to journal more this year. Hopefully I will be good at keeping up my blog also! I want to simplify my life, and continue to define myself - in all my years of mothering, and loving my husband I feel like I've lost touch with myself. I am really thinking about who I am, what do I like, what makes me happy... I want my family to know that I am a person in my own right, not just someone who is here to make them all happy in their little worlds! I hope that doesn't sound really angry. I love my family, and I want them all to be happy, but sometimes they forget that I want to be happy also.

I want to grow spiritually this year. I want to spend more quality time getting face to face with God, and to know Him better. I want to be the woman that He has designed me to be. I want to look at this life with new eyes, and to see the things that are important. To know my blessings and to be truly grateful for all the wonderful things I have been given.

I also want to get this physical body of mine into better shape. I want to be able to walk and run and have energy to get all the things done that I want to do every day! I want to eat foods that will nourish my body, not food that will clog my arteries and make my hips bulge out like balloons. I want to be healthy, and comfortable with the way I look. I want to drink more water so that my skin will stay smooth and lovely, and not be dry and itchy.

So, I am a work in progress (aren't we all!). Here's to a Ney Year full of blessings, grace, and love. Today God has blessed me with a wonderful day to stay inside and recoup from the busy holidays. I blessed Shannon by making her heart shaped pancakes! I hope all of you have a wonderful day today, and that you will know that God loves you!

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Here today......Gone Tomorrow


Don't you just love the way I skip in and out. It seems I can be fairly consistant for a month or so, then nothing. That's always been exactly the way I've kept journals...and everything else it seems! Went through a bout of the flu at the end of September, then hit the ground running after that. I've done a ton of quilting, nothing wonderful, just finishing up some of the UFO's that have been piling up for months. Feels good, and has allowed me to see some of the horizontal surfaces in my sewing room!


This is one of the cutest - it's up for sale in my Etsy shop, as are most of the things I have been working on lately. I'm pleased to say I've been selling quilts on there fairly consistently, and there is a lot of satisfaction in sending my little creations out into the world for other people to enjoy. I've been trying to keep a range of prices going there, kind of a something for everyone deal, and have made lots of quilted bags and sundries. Lots of fun and it's nice to use up some of those fat quarters that I keep accumulating also. I also made up a lot of tote bags from a sample book that was given to me by my interior decorator client. I'll give here one of the totes as a thank you.

This morning my Women's Ministry Team is holding our annual Christmas Tea. We decorated with lighthouses, and are serving Ministrone Soup from a local restaurant. The ladies are bringing finger sandwiches to share. We will sing Christmas carols, have a wonderful humorous lady to speak to us, and a trio for special music. We also have a Chocolate fountain for dessert! Should be a good time. I am doing the hot cider for a beverage (huge hit last year - ran out before everyone was happy, so hopefully am making enough this year!) It's a lot of fun working with the team, and I love all the ladies of our church. I'm really looking forward to this tea because I missed our retreat due to that nasty flu bug I had! It will be wonderful to catch up with everyone.

I'll try to keep up a little better with my blog this month, I'm sure both of my readers will be anxiously awaiting all the news of my life and adventures in quilting! I'm planning on getting 3 or 4 more quilts basted this weekend, so I have my work cut out for me. I also need to get started on the Christmas PJs. I scored some wonderful flannel from the quilt shop last year for this project so they will be extra nice this year! Also need to sew hubbies flannel shirt this week before his vacations starts - haven't actually made a real garment in some time, so better give myself some extra time to work on that one. Though I am excited to use the Brother for the buttonholes - this little machine makes such excellent buttonholes!