Row By Row, and Sew It Goes...

"Quiet Time" is coming together; slowly, methodically, a row at a time. There's no rush, this one has been waiting, patiently, as I begin, and complete, other projects. Maybe I should reassign "QT" the name of "Patience" instead. This one was inspired by a quilt show that I attended in the Fall in New Hampshire. It's made entirely from scraps that I had  on hand from my precut 3.5" bin. The triangles are stacked in pairs, right sides together, and sliced corner to corner using Creative Grids Folded Corner Clipper. The squares used to round out this block are all 2" squares, also from my precut scrap bins of that size, I have two of those: one of lights and one of darks. 

Here's a sample block, they vary in appearance significantly based on the light/dark placement. What do I do with the discarded triangle pairs that I didn't use after slicing with the afore-mentioned tool? They're not discarded at all! 

Nope! I've been stitching up these bonus triangles, leader-ender style, into 4-patches; eventually joining them together into 12" blocks. I have no idea where these blocks will end up but aren't they pretty... and fun? I  think so!

And, just in case you were worried that those precut bins were all going to be emptied out... fear not; the 2025 scrap basket sneaks into view! Ha! For the past several years I have spent New Year's Day with my die cutter and all of the accumulated scraps from the previous year, cutting away. This year I have more of that same activity planned, why break with tradition, right? You may celebrate differently but, c'mon, there's no doubt that I know how to party! 😉

Happy New Year!

Life is Good!

What's New?

What's new, besides the year?! I've been busy with new things, breadmaking for one. Loaves abound! As I posted before, I am baking rustic, sourdough loaves from a wild starter on a weekly basis now. Mr. G. was eager to resurrect another sourdough starter, similar to one that I had used back when our children were small. It is fed with sugar and instant mashed potato flakes and produces sweeter, more conventional loaves for slicing. I was able to get that one going too. 

Since there are just the two of us here, and we can't possibly eat this much bread; we've been gifting loaves to family, friends and neighbors and will probably continue to do so as long as I keep up the process! Another new thing, to me, is making pancake batter from the discarded starter. 

It all begins with an overnight "sponge" (above); the sponge is made with the starter, flour, sugar and buttermilk and sits out on the countertop, covered, until morning. When it's time for breakfast eggs are added, along with oil, salt and baking soda; the result is an airy, foaming, fluffy batter.

The sourdough "sponge" batter produces the lightest pancakes that I've ever made, or tasted!

Saturday of last week was spent putting Christmas decorations away for another year. Mr. G and I were able to accomplish that task together in record time this year.  Inspired by Janet O., The Rogue Quilter, I snapped some pictures of our various nativities that I've had on display. They are all from different countries and, except for the carved wooden set with the stable which we bought when we lived in Switzerland, they have been treasured gifts received throughout the years. It's always sad for me to pack them up and store them away.

A few poinsettias remain (Augie says "hi"!) as a reminder of Christmas-all-too-soon-gone, but that's about it. I've never successfully had any luck in saving them for reblooming the following year but that doesn't mean that I don't try. 😉  We'll see if this year's any different. 

That's about all that's new, for now, from around here. 

How about with you, what's new?

Life is Good!

New Year, New Goals, New Milestones!

Happy New Year! I've given up on any guiding words or resolutions for 2023; I decided that I didn't want to set myself up for any disappointments or failure in that arena. Instead I have set some goals, both short and long term.  With an active, growing puppy in the house, it seems right to set the biggest long term goal for this year as one that sees Augie growing into a well behaved and obedient companion. With a LOT of patience and firm, consistent, training we should be able to accomplish that nicely. He's already been training us, now it's going to be his turn. He begins classes in Puppy Manners and Socialization in a week and a half.  The plan is for him to graduate into basic obedience classes after that, as the year progresses. I've begun having him sit with me at the sewing machine. He's fine with that as he has quickly become my little shadow and enjoys being wherever I am. Even in the chair while piecing!

Leash training has been seeing good progress, he's less interested in biting the leash now and understands the concept of walking while tethered. One step at a time. 

Mr. G celebrated a milestone birthday during the "in between" week of Christmas and New Year's day. We were discussing this week how when we were in high school we were all  reading George Orwell's 1984 in English class. Politics of that science fiction book aside, we thought that sounded like such an outlandishly futuristic date at the time! Now here we both are, all these many years later, celebrating birthday milestones we couldn't even imagine back then, and ringing in a New Year that we would have only laughed about back in 1970!

I did accomplish a small quilting goal last week; another donation quilt pieced by the mother of a friend, for our son-to-be Quilt Ministry closet at church. "Popcorn" pantograph by Willowleaf Studios; it's one of my "go-to"s and never disappoints on any straight/angular patterns, I believe it is a nice combination for quilt tops pieced that way. I have another on the frame right now; one more small, achievable, goal. 

One more goal: I am looking forward to becoming much more

 blog-active again this year. 

In the meantime, I have my hands full. 

❤

You know, it's referred to a "puppy love" for a reason. 

Happy New Year!

Life is Good!

New Year, New Perspective

So, I've got a new perspective moving forward. Less is more, simpler is better. We'll see how it goes. Christmas is taken down and stowed away for another eleven months. It took me two full days this year, one for take down and the second for cleaning and organizing what's being put away. I suppose that's a direct reflection of getting older. That second part (cleaning and organizing) triggered additional trips to Goodwill, the Shepherd's Center and our local Recycling post. I now have a pristine closet solely devoted to Christmas items that is show-worthy! During all this cleaning, organizing and shuffling I decided that I needed a much more efficient and effective kitchen towel drawer. I love the beautiful and decorative kitchen towels that I own but I rarely use them as workhorses at clean-up time. I decided to ditch any kitchen towels that can't be washed in hot-hot water, with bleach, and pressed back into service. This is the result. I now am using only white kitchen towels for clean up with linen towels in reserve for drying wine glasses and crystal. Everything's been streamlined and simplified. My decorative towels are now delegated for show and hand drying. It's all good.

Santa's gone back  to the North Pole and Mr. Snowman is, once again, guarding the door.

One item on my Christmas list this year was Sew Kind of Wonderful's Wonder Curve Ruler. I had seen some of the patterns and their Sampler Quilt Block Book advertised and was eager to give it a try. I'm not a stranger to this basic technique, I've been using their Quick Curve and Mini Quick Curve rulers for a while now; but, I'm here to tell you, that this new Wonder Curve tool is all that! There are more registration lines on the tool itself, as well as colored indicators that make lining up, and using this ruler, a pure joy. Simpler is better! I recall cutting small pieces of masking tape and marking intersecting points and lines on my rulers in conjunction with those older generation Quick Curves to keep myself on track. This new tool takes all that work out,  the needed markings are already there and waiting. As a way of familiarizing myself with the new tool I chose to try out the pattern that came packed with the ruler: "Wonder Flutters". You can see my progress above.

With the basic exercises behind me, can any of these ↑ be too far away? I think not!

With respect to time and the learning curve (sorry, too easy!), this tool is a winner, hands down!

So, what's new for you in '22?

Life is Good!

Twixmas?

A blog-reading friend sent me the link to another blogger  who recently had a most interesting post regarding Twixmas. The term was new to me, but once I read the post I understood fully why my friend had forwarded it to me. After that last post regarding the self-imposed "grace period" granted between Christmas and New Year's, I learned that, according to this afore-mentioned blogger, what I was observing was actually called Twixmas!  

______________________

What is Twixmas?
Twixmas is the term used to describe the days between Christmas and New Year (27th-30th December), when – work and family commitments depending – you can take some much needed down time. For many of us, it's time when we can fully relax and spend our days doing nothing.

Why is it called Twixmas?

Twixmas originates from the old English word 'betwixt' which simply means 'between'.

_____________________

Who knew?

My Twixmas was actually extended a bit longer than the strictly defined time period above, I suppose I have taken liberties! It's been a most relaxing and fulfilling week. Along with finishing that "It's A Wrap" table runner I've also binge-watched three seasons of the Holiday Baking Championship (up until this week I hadn't ever watched even one episode), now I'm hooked. Tomorrow this will all come to an end as we step into the New Year. I've been struggling to choose an appropriate guiding word for 2022, one that will follow the past three:  2019's Focus, 2020's Vision, and 2021's Mindful. 

I've finally selected what I hope is the perfect inspirational word for myself.

Stay tuned~ see you next year!

🥳

Life is Good!

Keeping Christmas

The view has changed from my seat; every evening I sit in this very spot to read or plan tomorrow's activities. I sit quietly and count my blessings. In one day the view has changed dramatically. This reminds me of a children's puzzle page where one is asked to spot and circle the differences in the two pictures. Despite the visual differences I pray that my heart and mind will keep Christmas in full view, each and every day of this new year! I am reminded of the following mini-sermon by Henry Van Dyke. I am willing, with God's help and guidance may it be so.

ROMANS 14:6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord.

Keeping Christmas

There is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day, and that is, keeping Christmas.
Are you willing...

• to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you;
• to ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world;
• to put your rights in the background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground;
• to see that men and women are just as real as you are, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy;
• to own up to the fact that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life;
• to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness.

Are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing...

• to stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children;
• to remember the weakness and loneliness of people growing old;
• to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough;
• to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear in their hearts;
• to try to understand what those who live in the same home with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you;
• to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you;
• to make a grave for your ugly thoughts, and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open—

Are you willing to do these things, even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.

Are you willing...

• to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world—
• stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death—
• and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love?

Then you can keep Christmas.
And if you can keep it for a day, why not always?

But you can never keep it alone. 

Life is Good!

New Year, New Purpose!

I have two traditions for New Year's Day: The first is to gather all the Christmas cards and disassemble them. Fronts are carefully removed from the backs, unless they're photo cards, and neatly stacked. The insides, with the card sender's name(s), are punched and threaded onto a ring where they will reside with our Bible and devotional material at the kitchen table. 
Each morning, after breakfast, we have our devotions and then pray for the person or family on the top of the stack. We rotate through the stack throughout the year, flipping the card on top to the bottom and so forth. For us, this keeps the senders close all year long. This is not an original idea, I have blogged about this before. The idea came from friends years ago, Helen and Marv. They have both gone to their Heavenly home now, but we carry on in their spirit; we don't have cards in the stack from them anymore but they are always on our minds and in our hearts as we keep this tradition alive. So, what becomes of those stacked card fronts?

They are re-purposed into gift tags! I trim them into shapes, punch a hole and tie a ribbon for attaching to next year's gifts. I realized as I was doing this that this is a great activity for children. I should have done it over the weekend when the grands were here. Little ones love cutting, punching and threading the ribbon ties. I will remember that for next year, but I was on a mission to finish up the project up yesterday.

The second New Year's tradition is to transfer all dates and data from last year's calendar/planner into the new one. For the last five years I have given our daughter a planner for Christmas and she gives me mine. We let each other know in the fall which one we would like to receive and how we would like the cover to be personalized. Now, we both realize that we could order our own planners, but where's the fun in that?  It's exciting to unwrap our planners together each year! One year we both chose the same design; this year our daughter suggested three different designs and asked me to choose for her. 

These planners are big and roomy with pockets and folders too. I use mine incessantly, all in an effort to keep my life orderly and organized.  Some days I'm better at that than others. But, hey, it's a new year and I'm ready for it now; I'm always up for doing better than before and I can dream big too! 

Life is Good!

Resolute

How did you spend New Year's Eve? I spent Sunday afternoon moving data from my 2017 planner to my new, 2018, version. My January calendar is almost full already. Can you stand the excitement? Wait; there's more. This year I am color-coding appointments and events. I love a planner that I can write in. My husband and I share an electronic calendar too, through Microsoft Outlook; that is his preference. That's fine, I suppose by putting all of my information in two separate places I am jogging my memory even further; not a bad thing! I am already planning good habits and disciplines for the new year from the RESOLUTE desk. (Not to be confused with the furniture in The White House, this is what I call my own area from which personal resolutions are hatched.)
The definition of the word RESOLUTE, an adjective, is as follows: admirably purposeful, determined and unwavering. "She was resolute and unswerving". Synonyms: determined, purposeful, resolved, adamant, single-minded, firm, unswerving, unwavering, steadfast, staunch, stalwart, unfaltering, unhesitating, persistent, indefatigable, tenacious, strong-willed, unshakable.

I might have been described by one or two of these words over the years; after all, I am nothing if I am not purposeful, determined and unwavering! And so, on this first day of a brand new year I will commit to the following:

Yes, this will be the year that I read the Bible all the way through, cover to cover! In fact, our entire congregation is doing this (it's always good to have others on board to keep each other accountable). If you would like to join us you can download your own brochure here to keep up with the daily readings. The tri-fold brochure is a good size to use as a bookmark as we travel through the books and chapters, there's even little tick-boxes next to each day's assignment so that you can chart your progress. I am looking forward to accomplishing this; it's a bucket-list item for me. 

And then there's this. EQ8.  I bought this new, enhanced, upgrade-version as soon as it was available and downloaded it to my laptop back in October. I love to work and design in EQ. I bought the hard-copy manuals so that I could work my way through the lessons without having to toggle back and forth between screens (I like to hold a reference book). Have I practiced yet? Only a little. I do want to be proficient in this software; however, wanting won't make it so. The manuals have been moved to my RESOLUTE desk. Yep, now I am committed. I am dedicating a set amount of study time (it's written, in blue(!), in the planner) every day until this program is familiar and second-nature to me. So, here we are again: day number one of a brand new year. What are you determined to accomplish in 2018? When we come around once again, 365 days from now, to the next day one-- what will you proudly claim as that which you were steadfast, staunch and adamant about? If I can do it, so can you. Let's be resolute together!

Happy New Year!

Life is Good! 

 

Cheers!

Happy New Year! What's new with you? Have you resolved anything for 2017? I have: Drink. More. Water. Seems simple enough, right? Well... (and that's a deep subject) I have started off with lofty goals, to drink a gallon a day for a month! 🌊 I know, I know, that sounds like a tidal wave. Actually, I began early, on December 30. I decided to try this out first to see if I could do it, or if I would just be setting myself up for failure. By New Year's Eve I had already drunk more water than in the previous two weeks; easily. This practice, in reality, wasn't hard; I only had to train myself to do it. The more water I drank, the more water I actually wanted, my body seems to have taken over the demand on its own. My hot tea consumption dropped off dramatically. Wow, I have truly surprised myself! So, why did I choose this challenge for myself in the New Year? It, literally, came out of the blue. I saw a couple interviewed on Hallmark's Home & Family show last week, they were touting the all-around health benefits of "a gallon a day" and my interest was piqued. It was free, available and I was aware of the fact that I never drank enough water. I figured: "what could it hurt?" It seemed to me that it made sense one would naturally eat less if drinking a gallon a day but what about the other claims: better skin, flushes out toxins, boosts metabolism, decreases headaches, and banishes dark under-eye circles? Time will tell. I am going to follow through with this personal challenge and will definitely report my findings. So far I have noticed the obvious-- I get much more exercise while drinking this much water, back and forth to a certain destination, as you would imagine. However, that's not the only noteworthy item; I have already noticed an increase in my energy level and am waking up earlier, fully rested and refreshed. Hmmm. Water. Plain and simple. As we embark upon a new month together I will be weighing in (hopefully lighter) with the results. I, for one, am going to be toasting 2017 with water, and plenty of it. Bottoms up!

Life is Good!

Floating Around...

I'm back. We've been floating around for the last week or so, but today it's back to reality. We returned home from the Carribbean last evening to the exact opposite, weather-wise, from what we've been experiencing... cold temperatures and steady rain. I did a lot of reading and relaxing while we were gone but, I've heard that all good things must come to an end... is that true? Maybe all things must come to an end, eventually, but not the good... it's all good; and, from my perspective, it's time to celebrate this glorious year one new day at a time! I'm inspired and ready to go; all too quickly the tanned shoulders will fade away but the memories (and hopefully the energy level) will last for a long time to come.

Life is Good!

Cheers!

Out with the old and in with the new... let's talk about New Year's resolutions: I resolved to eat better and exercise more in 2015. On our way home from visiting my MIL at the rehab late this morning we turned into the parking lot of the brand new Dairi-O restaurant for a milkshake. Well, it's not my fault that this happened... after all, it is "in with the new"... right?... and, since I had only just vowed to eat better this year what's better eating that a chocolate-cherry shake? C'mon, really.

I guess we'll be taking a long walk this afternoon.

Hi-ho... here we go...

Cheers!
Life is Good!

New Year... Clean Sweep

Nativity wrapped and packed away... garlands stowed... ribbons rolled and stashed... trees undecorated and ornaments stored in their rightful boxes... window candles returned to their storage drawer... front door wreath boxed... Christmas doormats replaced with everyday mats... angels safely enfolded in tissue and moved to armoire for another year... stockings wrapped and put away.... Christmas cards hole-punched and added to binder ring for morning devotions...  floors vacuumed needle-free... table tops dusted... resolutions made... out with the old and in with 2015; I think I am ready!

Happy New Year!

Life is Good!