Another project that I am working on is Christmas in Jacksonville. I have stitched and completed the first two embroidery blocks.
I will probably get the third block ready to stitch next week. This project also has some pieced blocks that I need to get the fabric picked out for.
Yet another project that is taking shape is the house block exchange from my Our Time To Quilt group, Those who were wanting to participate exchanged a 8 1/" house block. I will be adding more 8 1/2" blocks in order to make it a wall hanging. In order to do that, I will need to figure out what put in those extra blocks and then I figured it out. Hopefully I have figured it out. I will be appliqueing a couple of small trees in the squares. I saw it in the September/October 2014 issue of Quiltmaker Magazine. it was called Parkview Lane. I know the greens I will use for the threes and sashings. I need to pick out my background fabric and then I can start to put it together.
Since I am who I am, I always have more projects then time so of course I decided to add another one to the list. It's a small one. It's Sindy Rodenmayers Merry Christmas Wall Hanging from Fat Cat Patterns. I'll talk about this in upcoming posts. Perhaps I can call it an UFO since the pattern goes back to 2018?
Speaking of UFOs, I'm almost done with another one. It is a log cabin table runner from Jordan Fabrics. It's all ready for the binding to be put on. I might even finish it this week but if not then next week.
I will be using a light green for the binding.
I know that this post is a little long but I seem to have more words to say. In yesterdays mail I received my American Quilter Magazine and found it to be one of the best issues (in my opinion). Besides a lot of eye candy in "A Retrospective Exhibit: Quilts by Judy Niemeyer and Quiltwork", there is an excellent article by Karen Kay Buckley whose scissors I LOVE! She wrote an excellent article on how to keep seam allowance "shadowing" from happening. It was another article that REALLY caught my eye though. It was about "Peaceful Quilting" by Diane L. Murtha. While I don't agree with all the tips there were a few that I wanted to share with you. These tips can apply to life and not just quilting.
One tip talked about making plans and what happens when you don't finish everything that you added to or have on your "to do" list. It should not surprise anybody if I just condense it by saying that you probably get more stressed. Right? How many times do you carry over projects to the next day, the next week, month, year? Maybe we need to cut back a bit on the list. Make the list more doable, If you know you can't get a project done in one day, week, or whenever, put it on the list for another day. Why not just put it on the list for when you realistically can finish it. Let yourself feel better by seeing what you DID accomplish instead of looking at what you didn't. Keep things as positive as possible instead of concentrating on the negative. There is enough negative thinking going on right now. Let's start to try and tip the scales towards positivity.
To help with that, "Establish Positive Rituals." Surround yourself with things that make you happy. A picture that makes you smile or perhaps play music that you like. What is your stitching area like? I "managed" ok in my old apartment but it wasn't until after the move that I realized that my stitching area is so much better now and that inspires me to tackle more projects and UFOs.
It was the last point in the article that made me smile. It was about how to designate time for certain things. Boy did that section hit home. I don't know how many times I've told people that I don't do math after Noon. While I say it in jest, there is some truth in that. When I was working, I always tried to do my excel projects in the morning. I am more alert in the morning. That wasn't always possible but it was preferable. You need to know what your best time s are to do things. Then find other things to do in the other times. Is morning best for your sewing? Perhaps the afternoon or evening is good for planning on what craft you will be doing the next morning. Perhaps you can use the other time to gather some things to work on so you will having everything all ready to start the day in a more productive day.
Basically, no matter what you do, find out what works best to hep you be more peaceful and positive. No matter what project you do, if you are not positive or at least calm, it will affect your work. Give it a try. Maybe pick one thing each day to find about the day that is positive. Today I would pick the weather. It is a cooler start to the day and a high of 80F predicted. Also no rain in the forecast. That's a good thing.
I've chatted enough. Now it is time for me to plan what to do for the rest of the day, besides eating the apple pie I baked yesterday.
Have a wonderful day my friends.
2 comments:
Pretty blocks ! The pie looks so good..........
Can't wait to be able to share mine as well, as soon as I catch up. :)
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