CQJP2013 Blocks Completed

I've had most of my blocks for the CQJP 2013 finished for quite some time.  It just seems like a lot has been going on.  As they say, life happens.  My blocks were only 3" square the first part of the year, so I did four blocks each month to match the 6" square minimum requirement.  My last 8 blocks were 6" square each.

All together I created 42 blocks.  I still have some naked blocks I will work on from time to time between projects but have not determined what I want to do with them.  Below are the ones I haven't yet shared.  There are still two I haven't got photos of that I must have used on the mini quilt.  They are all so similar in size and color that I was going crazy trying to figure which ones were missing from my photos.  Maybe that will happen another day.

We just celebrated my mom's 90th birthday with a big semi-surprise party.  We told her about 3 hours beforehand.

I have also been trying to get back in bicycle-riding shape in prep for Ragbrai.  I will probably do maybe a day or two at the most this year.  It is in northern Iowa which is mostly flat.  This year is the 3rd flattest and 2nd shortest ride (or something like that) so it should be a lot of fun.  I will be driving this year and staying at hotels or homes.  I'm done putting up and taking down a damp tent or sleeping in basements - getting too old...and wise.

Sewing Poodle Skirts for the Twins ~ sidetracked...

Even with my word being 'Focus' I change direction or stop what I'm doing if the cause is important and what could be more important than my granddaughters' needing me to make them poodle skirts for a program at school.  They were very clear they did not want them the same.  I did pink poodle on gray for Sarah and purple (of course since she has grandma's taste) with a white poodle for Grace.

I made them out of felt.  I was surprise by the color selections available at Hobby Lobby.  I still have to add a hook and eye closure on each and will probably need to shorten one or both of them.  I didn't hem them since felt doesn't need it.  I can't wait to see them in the skirts.  It sure brought back memories of my youth.  Loved the circle skirts, scarf tied around the neck, saddle shoes, ponytail and of course white socks.  We used to roll the tops of the socks down, did anyone else?  

Now back to my other projects!

Back to Reality - Trip Is Over and Mini Quilt Near Completion!

It is back to reality for me.  We had such a wonderful trip.  We travelled 23 days, starting from Iowa we headed to Virginia/Washington D.C. ending up in San Antonio, TX.  Along the way we met up with several friends and relatives as well as some beautiful places including Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach, Ashville to see the Biltmore Estate, Hilton Head Island, Savannah, Orlando/Disney World, and New Orleans.  We made lots of new memories.  It was our first Thanksgiving away from home and I sort of missed the family gathering but we met up with our daughter's family who was vacationing at Orlando.  Our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of order-in pizza at 10 p.m.  The important part was being with at least some of the family and spending a couple of fun days with our granddaughters.

When I was settled in back at home I began working on my doll-size crazy quilt again.  I am happy to say it is nearly completed!  I'm sharing lots of photos here.

Here are the blocks stitched together without added embellishments.  It started out as my CQJP 2013 but I knew I would have a lot of work to do after the blocks were connected so I fell short on the number of blocks for the year.  This entire quilt minus binding is 16" x 19" with each block being just slightly over 3" square.  I therefore was doing four blocks a month.

I knew I wanted to add stitching on the seam lines between blocks and also wanted to embroider on the blocks.  My goal was to create a CQ that was similar to an antique.  It looks antique to me but unfortunately in the photos the colors pale a bit and the burgundy has a pink cast to it.

As you may know, I am a firm believer in God and believe the skills I have are a gift from him so I try to honor him in my work.  This quilt is filled with some of my favorite things including some of my favorite Bible verses.  Alternating blocks have various flowers as I also love flowers.  Below is a sampling of some of the blocks.  You should be able to click on them to enlarge them for a closer look.

I truly enjoyed working on this mini quilt and could probably go on adding things for quite some time, but it is time to finish it and move on to my next unfinished project.  Although it started out as a bit of a challenge not adding lace, buttons, beads and other embellishments I soon began to love the purity of decorative stitching and I'm sure this will have an effect on future work (after my UFO's are completed).  I also normally work in softer and more romantic colors but really like the rich colors of this quilt.

My goal is to have this mini-quilt completed before the end of the year.  My word for 2014 is 'focus' so I will continue working on my unfinished projects and try not to start anything new until I finish them.  That is incentive to get done if ever I needed it!  What do you all have planned for the coming year?  Do you have a word that will inspire you?

I do love to get comments!

Trip to the South and Work on Another Project

I am so excited.  My DH and I have now both retired (technically that is) and have decided to take a long driving trip down south.  We will start by heading east to Washington DC and West Virginia and perhaps Virginia Beach depending on the weather.  Of course if the weather is bad heading east we will skip step one and go directly south.  But the plan for now is to first head east.  We will then drive to the Myrtle Beach area, then over to Ashville, NC to visit the Biltmore and some friends in Jasper.  Next on our agenda is the Savannah area, including dinner with some relatives.  Then on to Orlando's Disney World to join up with our daughter and her family who will be vacationing there for the week.  We will spend a couple of days there before heading north an hour or so and spend some time with a favorite cousin.  If we still have energy left we will go to New Orleans to visit a niece and her family, then on to San Antonio to do some sightseeing and visit with a dear lady I used to work with.  My husband went to college at Emporia, KS and thought it would be fun do drive through there on the way home.  Hope we can hold up!  

What is really eerie, as we were researching San Antonio we saw an image of a famous landmark and I instantly recognized it...from one of my dreams.  I can't remember just what the dream was but knew I had been in that very spot.  Strangely I have never been to Texas or really researched the area.  Has that ever happened to you?  Isn't it a strange feeling!

As you probably know, I love to visit great shops so if you know of any really fabulous places to tour, visit or browse, I would love to hear your suggestions. 

I have done some more work on my mini crazy quilt but have also been 'playing' with ideas on another project when I need a break from stitching.  

I hand painted some roses on the tops of these jars and have played around with different labels and/or ribbons, lace etc.  I am also thinking I might like some tapered corks in a natural color instead of these lids.

The lids themselves could work as pegs on a board since they have a shape conducive to that.  The jars and lids were in rough shape when I got them.  There was a sealer that had decayed and stuck to the glass rim, in the glass and on the stoppers.  The lids and shelf were stained and scuffed up quite a bit also as you can see in the two photos that follow.

It all looks much nicer painted up but needs a little more I think.  These stoppers don't fit snug at all since the sealer had melted into a yucky mess.  

I have some fun ideas for how to use the jars once they are done and can't wait to share those ideas.  It likely won't be until the end of December or first of 2014 though.  I need to try to locate some corks in the meantime.  

Task Completed! CQJP hanging and ready to enjoy!

I cannot tell you how good it feels to have this project completed!  I kept reminding myself of my new word - FOCUS - and it did help me stay with this one project until completion.  I have it hanging on a decorative rod in our bedroom and it fits in nicely.  On a side note I might add that I don't plan on doing a full sized bedspread or any large project like this again soon.  I guess I like more 'instant' gratification.  Perhaps it is my short attention span resulting from my advancing age.  I also have a new found respect for quilters who create large beautiful pieces.  I have always admired them but now I add 'respect' to that.

If you want to see close-ups of the blocks they are on a separate tab, above.  Each block has a key representing 'keys to the past'.  The colors were determined by the monthly birthstone beginning with January Garnet top left and ending with December's Turquoise in the lower right.  Each block also has a feather, a bird, butterfly or dragonfly symbolic of  how time has flown by so quickly.  The homes are from paintings I did of houses, most that were part of my life as I was growing up, and the block next to each is of my family members that lived in the house.  The November block is of my kids and and their first home, along with my granddaughters (and grand dogs).  The last block is my husband and I from when we were little with our siblings (me with my brother on the left; he with his brother and sister on the right) and as we grew up and then along the bottom photos as we dated, with our family, and on our 40th anniversary with our grandchildren.  Center of the block is our wedding photo. 

Warm days will soon be a memory, at least until next summer, so I thought I would share a couple of my warm sunny day photos with you.  I had to laugh at this first one.  Our silly cat likes to lay in the sun but apparently needed a bit of a respite from the sun so she tried to crawl under the branches/leaves of my airplane plant (a/k/a spider plant).  It made me giggle.

I recently bought this gorgeous lace table cloth at an auction and decided to hang it on the clothes line to give it that fresh outdoor scent.  Love the lace and love the homeyness of sheets etc. hanging outdoors.  

Another accomplishment this summer was selling my mom's home for her.  She moved into an apartment, leaving her beautiful, well cared for home.  My oldest granddaughter, Lauren, used to spend days at this house with my mom and dad when she was little and asked if she could see the house one last time.  This is a photo in front of the house the night before possession was taken by the buyers.  Lauren (in the purple) and my mom to her right are about the same size now as one got bigger and the other is getting shorter.  It was bittersweet.  We all loved that house and the memories but knew it was a lot for mom to take care of plus she now is around other people in her senior apartments and seems to really enjoy her new lifestyle.  She has always been a caretaker and it is about time she could relax and enjoy herself and some free time. 

She still owns a farm and my DH keeps the area around the sheds mowed for her.  While he was mowing I decided to draw one of the sheds which is actually supported by a couple of tree trunks.  I think tearing it down will be an upcoming project.  It was a really nice day in the country that day and I enjoyed sitting undisturbed and drawing this old piece of memories.

I haven't decided for sure what my next UFO project is going to be, but I hope to get (re)started on something this week.

OMG it feels good to have that CQJP 2012 finally done and I'm thrilled it turned out decent!!!

I'm Still Here - Updating

For those of you who may have noticed, I have been very delinquent with regards to posting...and about everything else.  I'm not sure where the time has gone.

I have managed to do some creative indulging but just haven't had a chance to photograph and post it until now.  I have a few lot of UFO's that have been calling out to me.  Here are a couple of my beaded necklaces recently completed...

This is a design I created.  There are a couple of changes I would make were I to redo this piece.  Of course I can't find the inspiration right now.  Maybe someday I will be organized so everything is at my fingertips.  The inspiration was a beautiful antique rendering of a Victorian style necklace.  It was quite different from this (much more refined) but with the same feel to it.  Below is a closeup. 

This next necklace is a color combination I really like - copper/brown and turquoise blue.

I started the base according to the instructions for the necklace pictured below.  Determined to use up what I have I 'tweaked' the completion of the necklace.

What else have I been doing.  Hmm.  

I have been stitching my CQJP 2013 blocks but need to see where I was on posting those and also photograph them.

I've been training for Ragbrai (Register's annual great bicycle ride across Iowa) and also participated.  It is the largest organized bicycle ride in the world with about 15,000 registered riders participating.  The ride this year was one of the easiest going only 400 plus miles.  The weather was fantastic, the wind at our backs and very pleasant.  It started in our hometown of Council Bluffs this year, so we had some people from Wisconsin and from Illinois stay with us the night before.  I wasn't able to finish as I took a turn too sharply, my foot was stuck in the cleats/pedal and I went down at the end of Thursday's ride.  I landed on my ribs and they were pretty painful for a few days.  I also put a dent in my helmet.  Always wear a helmet!  I have had more than enough accidents to know how important that is.  

Above is the group that stayed with us.

This is us with our riding companions.  I'm on the far right.

This is just a sampling of what the small towns of Iowa are faced with as we pass through.  It really is a fun time.  One of the shirts had on it "Ragbrai, Spring Break for Adults"  That pretty well sums it up.  Riders come from all over the world to participate.  I'm a people watcher, so I love to just observe all the costumes and activities.

One of my favorites this year.

My 89 year old mother moved into an apartment and I had no idea what was ahead.  For the last 4-5 months we have continually been moving things, going through the house to get ready for auction and sale of the house, making contacts and address updates, setting up insurances and utilities, and just helping her adjust.  I think it has its toll on all of us.  Love my brother and we have been able to work so well together on things.

The last big things I guess is the berry farm.  We planted about 700 more plants.  We have had a somewhat dry summer so we are back to watering plants.  We have also had what they refer to as Asian Beetles invade some of our plants and flowers.  Since we are growing 'organic' pesticides are not an option.  The plants are hanging in there.  

You can see here how dry the grass is becoming.  Below is an example of two plants near each other with one doing quite well and the other not showing much growth.

This is looking across the field.  Hopefully we will get some rain and nice weather soon to help give the plants a boost.

I have finally run out of chatter.  I have missed visiting with my blog friends and hope things slow down soon so I can catch up on all that you have been doing.