Goal Setter

I am inspired....I have been cleaning, not finished yet, in order to decorate for Christmas. I was reading a book and briefly read about an idea/concept to write down the goals you want to accomplish tomorrow. I have always had trouble with goal planning. In my life, I had goals for the day or the week but never a five or ten year plan, so I felt like a failure immediately when people discussed goals. Then this book I am reading touched on a plan or incentive given to Charles Schwab to write out 6 goals you want to accomplish tomorrow in order of importance. Heck I can do that!!! I'm in!! I am capable of this goal setting exercise. So here goes:


1.  Read my Bible

2. Walk 4 Miles

3. Yoga

4. 1 load of laundry ----washed, dried, folded, and put away

5. Go to Jackson for Christmas gift and dinner shopping.

6. Finish cleaning the living room and foyer

7. Assemble the CHRISTmas tree

I chose 7 because often in the Bible God chose the #7.....I will too...I will be blessed.
I will let you know how I did on my list and enter a new list tomorrow evening.

Sleep well my invisible friends.

CHRISTmas cleaning

When you are a mother...the things you do when the children are little can come back and kick you later. I'm talking about cleaning of course, everything else I did perfectly:)

When I was a child, Christmas and Easter were "spring cleaning" times.  Our house was always clean, picked up and tidy but twice a year we had to clean EVERY.THING..Walls, ceilings, base boards, windows. Now in and of itself this isn't a bad thing but remember the house was already clean!! and we had to do all this work before the Christmas tree or the Easter baskets could come down from the attic. When you are 6, this is really a torturous time.

Fast forward to my own little ones....no the house wasn't always clean, the dishes, laundry and bathrooms were kept up and the trash taken out. I always said I accomplished just enough to keep the Health Department from condemning. If you don't remember...look at the top of this blog, we had eight children, six of which were 2 years apart and a Daddy who kept everything he has ever owned (almost).  My aunt used to say..."I mop my floor every day! Some days with kool-aid, some days with milk..." Totally understood that one!  

Suddenly I saw the wisdom in my mother's iron resolve......I could get these little sweeties to help clean the house!! Genius!! So Christmas and Easter cleaning became a bi-yearly event. Top to bottom, inside and out, every cabinet, drawer, and toy chest cleaned, scrubbed, and de-cluttered...except Dad's stuff, it wasn't going anywhere. He would wait until Christmas Eve and  take the tools out of the house and put away his mail and magazines, but hey, he did have a real job;)

Let's fast forward again..present day. The kids are all grown and the house is a bigger mess. Well the house is bigger and I am older. I would rather do other things than clean, so I do. Still twice a year I wash windows and de-clutter (except for Dad's stuff). I have to thoroughly clean so I can decorate. What kind of mother would make the kids clean their room and not clean her's? I should have thought of that all those years ago because they haven't forgotten. They will ask me if I have the tree up yet which is code for:   Is the house clean so you can decorate? So I cleaned my sewing room...took two days, and it is still full and not organized well but here it is...I went through every.thing. I can find things I need again, that is nice. It will take a few more days to finish the house and then I can decorate but my self respect will be intact. When the children travel home for Christmas they can look about with the calm confidence that all is right with the world, Mom washed the windows, cleaned her sewing room,  and yep...there it is Dad's stuff, not going anywhere.

Webshots is Changing

I resist change. I heard through the grapevine, Webshots is changing.  I decided to download all of my pictures to my computer and I thought it was interesting. A short time ago I was uploading these pictures and now in reverse, I down load. Naturally I thought about the ups and downs in life, and there are many. I chose to put these two little wall hanging here to begin my transition. Both are McKenna Ryan designs and were very enjoyable to make. I felt they were manageable. I like  the natural and organic designs, they have a calming effect in an ever changing world.

There is so much to digest in the normal course of a day, whether it is world affairs or just the affairs of a small nuclear family. The dynamic is always shifting. One thing is constant, My God, my LORD and Savior Jesus Christ, His Holy Spirit, always present, always bringing hope, always in control. He makes my life enJOYable, and manageABLE, He has a calming effect.  I upload myself and I download His Glory. I feel renewed, refreshed and revived..quickened. In this instance a change is much appreciated and much needed.....A change will do you good.  

As far as Webshots is concerned, I had the opportunity to look over quilts of my past. I was reminded for whom I made them and why. I enjoyed the fabric choices and the quilting in most, I saw improvements I have made and some techniques that still need work.  I was inspired and reminded, a change for the better.

We Have A Winner!!!

Spiral Bound Garden won 3rd Place at the Pine Belt Quilters Show in Hattiesburg Mississippi!!! I am very proud. I entered three quilts and the judge evaluated them. I was excited to get her "grade" and remarks. I was pleased that all the marks were excellent to good and her criticisms were clear and well founded;) It was a great experience and I am happy my friend pushed me into entering!!!

Spiral Bound Garden!!!

SPIRAL BOUND GARDEN

This past summer I took a class and I was very apprehensive. The directions confused me, puzzled me, and made me nervous. I had to choose fabrics without really knowing what I was going to make.  I had seen a video by a woman who painted fabric, cut it apart, resewed it and then quilted it as a whole cloth quilt. I like that, so I decided to paint the background fabric and use it as a whole piece. Based on the colors in the background, I chose my fabrics controlled/ randomly. I followed the guidelines given in the instructions but tried to "not give it another thought" after I placed in the stack. 

I attended the class presented by MQA with renown quilter/ designer Marilyn Doheny. To my enjoyment I had two of the rulers she had developed and produced years ago. These wonderful 9 degree wedge rulers are creative and innovative. Check them out here.... marilyndoheny.com 

While I was attending the class, I became more and more worried...I chose the wrong fabrics, I didn't use enough of this color...on and on, but then something almost magical happened. I brought it home and looked from all angles changed and moved, added and subtracted.  I first placed the fan and spiral flowers and "wild" life, as the leaves and fronds were added, I began to relax.  The name of the quilt jumped to my mind as the ideas flowed. I chose the name Spiral Bound Garden first because the class itself was called "Instant Garden". Second, the ruler/ wedges were used to cut fans and spirals and last,  I kept "erasing" the layout and starting over,  much like on a sketchbook page.   The green borders are quilted with straight, close lines to imply pages in a note book stacked. The left side binding is wider to accommodate the notebook spiral binding, tacked on to complete the illusion. 

I had used these rulers before....you can see the piano keys,

But certainly I learned new uses and techniques. I loved the class, I enjoyed the vitality of Marilyn Doheny, and I appreciate her enthusiasm to share her talents.  There are a few more of these quilts spinning around in my mind. Stay tuned and see what has been planted.

Little Projects this Month

I finally found my sewing room again! It has been missing for a couple of months. It was under cobwebs, dust, and misplaced items.  I worked all day just to tidy up so I could sew something!! Anything!!! And this is the fruits of my labor. Pillows and two little quilts. The top one is for a raffle and the middle one is actually a throw size duvet cover.

It is difficult to be present in your own day to day life when most of your time is spent in the lives of others. I'm not complaining, I am blessed. I just need a little time now and then to make something besides a mess. I need to be creative, I think we all do, after all we were made in the image and likeness of GOD and He is the Creator of all.

A day at the lake...And this is just part of the gang....

They look like the "little rascals" don't they? Everytime I see a photograph of  the kids (this is only part of mine) in  a stair step fashion, I laugh and I cry! I loved being overwhelmed by a house full of little ones and believe me I was overwhelmed often!!! I treasure pictures like this one and I hope to post a few more. Thanks for looking

Mom's mani/pedi

Mom's day at the beauty shoppe! Mani/Pedi time. I think she enjoyed the attention and her nails look great! Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Once again this year I participated in the Dear Jane Siggy Swap. I made 52 of these blocks to swap with Dear Jane friends and am excited to see from whom and where the blocks will come. When our "swap mommy" gets them sent out I will update on their origin. Until then....

Dear Jane Signature blocks