Reaching My Goals for 2017

Greetings from South Texas where who knows what the weather will be – we are still in the warm Spring type weather!  Lovely high humidity and in the mid-70’s.  We are ‘expecting’ rain tonight, but then we have been expecting rain for 4 days!!!  So guess we will just continue looking out the window to see what happens!

I now have my great back brace, and I am really enjoying it.  It has made me realize that I have NOT been standing up straight as I have always done. I guess this comes with age and when we sit at the sewing machine, or standing at our cutting tables, we begin to slouch and ruin our posture.   Try to keep this in mind so that you do not end up as I have.

I have had the best 15 days of a New Year since 2014!!! Still trying to increase my walking and step goals to be over 6000 per day and I have kept up with the pace, although this morning I really did not think I would be able to do the 35 minutes, but I did and was looking for my chair when I finished.  But when you walk in 93% humidity sometimes it is just not fun!  Oh where is our winter for 2017!

Today I finished sewing the binding on the 5 projects that I quilted this week.  Somehow I did not get to work in my Studio on the binding the last 2 days – let’s say that it was “unforeseen” requirements that took over.  My goal is to have them all completed by Wednesday, if not before!

I am also determined to finish those lovely grapes and the bird’s beak on Block 5 of A Bountiful Life project!   There are a few areas where I am going embroidery a few short-short stems and one area where I am not interested in doing circles in bias twigs!  I will embroidery that area and just make it mine!  I wonder what I was thinking when I did the wings?  Probably pulled the yellow from the orange, but I like it!  My quilt will really be different from the others who have made this quilt in Reproduction fabrics.  I love my batiks.

I have a clothes rack where I hang quilts that need to be quilted.  Now some of them have been begging to be quilted for a while, so as you can see, I must prioritize this effort.  I was going to quilt Threads of Memory, but decided to do all the smaller projects and work up to the larger ones.  I will send 2 of the quilts out for a professional job to enter in the SA Show this year.  I know that the Judges would absolutely count me off if I do my free motion meandering and I do not want to take the time to spend to learn how to become more proficient.  I am just hoping I can find an excellent quilter to do the job! I do not want a 2014 repeat, thank you very much!!!  (OH there is that purple monstrosity that I started 2016 with and do not want to work on it at this time – I need to put something in the baskets.  If I did not have so much time and money invested it would go away to the “never see again” basket called Trash Can)

For my next quilting project, I have decided to quilt a wall hanging from Lynette Jensen that I made during one of our trips to Arizona – which year….maybe 2012?  I need to embroidery some stars on the blue part and then it will be loaded and quilted!  YEA.

Now I must think of what I am going to do for RSC 2017.   How about Sue Garman’s OMIGOSH! – it is a highly technical and challenging project.  Do I want to make it a year-long project that will drive me nuts but would remind me of Sue who was such a wonderfully gifted Designer every step of the way?  She passed away in the last week or so and she will be missed by the quilting world!  I really am leaning toward this quilt as a project to work on during the day, but before I start I must study color placement and do a few test blocks to make sure that all will go well with the endeavor.  When looking for the Flag pattern I found an old Lynette Jensen Bow Tie pattern that might really be easier and more in tune to use the RSC 2017 project .  Of course I may also start Robin’s Nest for my piecing project.  Heck why not start all three?  I could really head for the nut house by May….

Well, have a great holiday if you are still working, if not, continue to enjoy retirement and quilting!  It has been so peaceful here today and I have accomplished so much this week!  I am hoping to sell my Husqvarna embroidery unit through one of my guilds this week.  Cross my fingers.  Someone out there might need it and I have only used it close to 40 hours since I purchased my Designer 1, only to find out I did not like it!

I am so excited about our 45th President and his Inauguration, I wish our country would come together and support him and his Amazing Cabinet selections.   He is going to be America’s President and support the great citizens of this Nation.