Reverb 10 - Day 1

It's December 1st and the first day of  Reverb 10, in which you get a daily writing prompt for the month of December to, "reflect on this year and manifest what's next".

Today's prompt: One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you're choosing that word. Now, imagine it's one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?

I read the daily prompt early this morning and began thinking about the word I would chose.  I wanted it to be a great word, one that said everything about my year.  The first word that popped into my head was "change".  Really?  That's the best you can do?  But all day long, every time I had a few minutes to think about ONE WORD, I always came back to "change."

So why struggle so much with it then?   Change is change.  Everything changes...all the time.  There is nothing I dislike more than people being resistant to every little change that is suggested.  As an agency director for most of my career, I have a lot of experience seeing the look you get when you mess with someone's way of doing things.  In anticipation of a need to downsize a few years ago, I read the book, Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson.  I found it very useful in understanding how people react to changes in their lives.  I don't want to give it more credit than it deserves but that book really forced me to think about how I personally handle change. 

I'm a planner.  I like to know what's next. I would be described as someone who not only crosses bridges before I come to them but I continue on to the next town and then turn around and come back again.  I just call it planning for all contingencies.  I have learned that I need to be  prepared with my Plan A,  but also a Plan B, a Plan B-1 all the way to a Plan Z.  Being ready to roll with the changes makes for a much easier time.  My reluctance to choose "change" as my ONE WORD is that change is inevitable so why couldn't it describe every single year of my life?

In my own defense, this year was a bit out of the ordinary

• My only child graduated from high school and left our small town to attend college in the City of Philadelphia and we became empty-nesters (almost).
• My husband was laid off for the first time in almost 30 years,
• My mother finally faced that she had medical issues that needed to be handled and our roles reversed (she lives with us - hence the clarification on the empty nest)

These key events resulted in a change in my existing relationship roles and a big change in how I coped with those role changes.  I anticipated things would be different but the end results still took me by surprise.   I think we've all come out alright...different, but alright.  So no more apologies for the choice of such a trite word.  I think it is deserved.  

 As for next year at this time, the word choice was easy.  I choose "contentment."  If I'm willing to appreciate and accept change in my life and see it as opportunity, I think it should be fairly easy to work towards contentment.  There are some big things I'd like to work on and some very little things that irritate me but I'm not at all worried about someone moving my cheese.  I 'm going to use the opportunity to embrace the change that is required to move toward contentment. 

 

Jump Starting This Blog

So starting tomorrow, December 1st, I've agreed to respond to writing prompts from here:  http://www.reverb10.com/.  See my cool button over there on the side?

From the website:  Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on what's happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead. With Reverb 10, we'll do both.

Thinking each and every day for the past year that I really should post something has resulted in exactly ONE post this year.  Obviously this is not working.  While I do have some serious doubt that I can really stick to this, especially given the time of the year....I'm doing it anyway!  When common sense gets in the way of agreeing to do something that I may regret agreeing to do, I'll just hang it up.

If you're out there...is anyone out there?  Come on back and see how I'm doing.  What have I got to lose?  I may break my all time record of posting only once a year!

No Excuses, Just Progress

I'm not going to bother answering where I've been and how an entire year (plus!) could have gone by since my last post. As soon as someone develops software that takes the blogs you write in your head and directly uploads them to cyberspace, I'll be the first in line!

I'm just moving on from here. I think I'll use this space to talk about projects both ongoing and those languishing in various project bags, baskets and plastic tubs. If I honestly listed all the knitting and quilting projects recently finished, underway, in the "time out" corner and in my head, it would be a bit scary even for me. So I'll talk about them a little at a time as I'm inspired to work on them. I'm not a monogamous knitter or quilter so there will always be AT LEAST 8-10 projects being worked on at any one time. Finishing? Yes, therein lies the problem.

Last weekend I took some time and chose backing fabric for three wall hanging quilts. They are now sitting on my new Sew Ezi table ready for an afternoon of machine quilting. One of the project dates back to 2002 and the others have a little less age.

This weekend, I'm putting together two quick lap quilts for friends' mothers, both of whom have dementia. A few years ago, I made one for my grandmother. I noticed that she was always stroking fabric and gathering it into pleats and so I used a variety of fabrics and put together something that she could touch that was a bit more interesting. It was a huge hit and she even managed to wear out the velvet parts with her constant touch.

This time I dug around in many tubs of fabric and in the attic for some discarded clothes. I came up with about 12 different kinds of fabric include a shiny scale-like fabric from my daughter's mermaid costume many years ago.

Lesson Learned: Flannel design walls work really well for cotton. Shiny fabric and leather? Not so much!

Stayed tuned!

Christmas Club 2009

Last Sunday was the first day of my online quiling group's Christmas Club. What is the Christmas Club? Well I was never very good at traditional Christmas Clubs. I always thought it was a great idea. Put a little money aside each week and around November, you get a check so that you can do all your Christmas shopping. I always started out well but my resolve fell off pretty quickly.

I'm hoping this Christmas Club doesn't go the same way. I am notorious as I'm sure everyone is that I always want the completed "holiday" or seasonal project to use to decorate about the time the holiday or season has arrived. But of course those projects are either not finished or in many cases, not even started. So currently the UFO box contains some Valentine's Day placemats and table runner, an autumn block exchange (just blocks), a patriotic block exchange that would be perfect for July (also still just blocks). Well anyway, you get the point.

So when someone suggested that on the 25th of EACH month of 2009, we work on a Christmas project (or Hannakah or whatever holiday floats your boat), I was all for it. This project can be a gift that will be given for Christmas or a project for personal use or decoration. So what to work on???

Then I remembered. When I was a brand new quilter...I don't think I owned a rotary cutter at the time and I clearly had not mastered the 1/4 inch seam....I started a Christmas Tree wallhanging. I found the project in a 2002 issue of Quiltmaker. It was listed as "easy" so I thought why not. Well if it had been listed as hard, I probably would have tackled it anyway. That type of friendly advice never stopped me before. I must say that now that I have some experience, I think "easy" was not the correct assessment.

Anyway, I'm not much for cutesy country things and this project is clearly that. I do, however, live in a 1903 Queen Anne Victorian house and one of the typical Christmas decorations of that era is a feather tree. A feather tree is one of the first versions of an artificial tree. It's branches are made of feathers died green and it is attached to a pole. We do own one and the idea of decorating it properly includes lining up as many ornaments on each branch as possible. So thist this pattern inspired me to make my own version of a quilted feather tree. I picked more elegant fabrics and I will be using pearl and rhinestone buttons on the branches and velvet ornaments.

When I pulled this project out of the big UFO box in anticipation of Christmas Club day, I realized that all the pieces were already cut out and it was 3/4 put together. The first thing I did was attack it with an iron. This was when I discovered it was a bit wonky, mostly as a result of very poor seam allowances. The surprising thing was I really still like the pattern and my ideas for the finished project. So on my first Christmas Club day, I finished putting it together. I will now put it away until February 25th.
This is a good thing because I REALLY need to get the t-shirt quilt finished that I mentioned in an earlier post. So I'm using this tree project as an reward for getting the other quilt finished.

You will notice that there is something missing at the top of the tree. That is the place for an appliqued star. I need to find the right fabric to use for that. I haven't gone through the stash yet so I'm sure I've got something that will work. As for quilting, I'm thinking about using some sort of shimmery or metallic thread even though I hate working with it. I do think it would look good though...

So one month down, ten more to go. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I make more than one deposit in this Christmas Club! And if I do, I'll be hanging this Christmas Tree wallhanging in time for Christmas 2009.

Happy quilting!

Ongoing Projects and How 20 Minutes a Day is Working

So it's been more than two weeks since I announced that my goal was to knit or quilt for at least twenty minutes every day. How's that going you may ask since I don't post often enough for anyone to really know.

Let's just put it this way. If you took the total amount of time that I've spent knitting and quilting and divided it by the 19 (today is the 19th), I think my average would actually be a bit better than 20 minutes. The every day thing...not so much.

I am working on a variety of projects so I thought I would share. I've never been good at doing only one thing and so there are always a variety of WIPs (works in progress) in my "to do" basket, well baskets actually.

The first thing is a very easy comfort shawl. I've done a few of these over the last two years and donate them to the local Visiting Nurses' Association to give out to their clients. It was a project started by my mother's best friend, Mary Garrett. She started the project, called Debbie's Shawls, as a memorial to her neice who lost her battle with cancer. Sadly, Mary lost her own battle with cancer this past July. So I'm continuing this project for her. I always keep one on the needles and it is very easy to do. You can pick it up anywhere, anytime and before you know it, it's finished.

The other project may have been a bit ill-conceived. I had this unquenchable urge to do a project using Noro Silk Garden yarn that EVERYONE was using. The Yarn Harlot devoted quite a bit of time to producing several of these scarves using two different colors of the yarn and doing two row stripes. My local yarn store did not have two colors that I really wanted so I just bought one color and mixed it with another yarn I already had. Unfortunately the variations in color in this particular yarn are not terribly interesting to me. But I soldier on and I will complete this for myself. I made it skinny and want to make it long for a nice serviceable scarf. I should have enough to make a matching hat. I hope it looks better when its been blocked! I don't hate the project; I just don't love it.

In the quilting department, I'm working on a t-shirt quilt for the daughter of a friend. I made a t-shirt quilt several years ago for my daughter and to make a long story short, it was a hit. I didn't particularly enjoy working on it but the finished result was kind of fun. My daughter picked the sashing and the backing and although it was a bit funky, she still uses it almost five years later.

The current quilt is ready to peice together. The t-shirst have been backed and cut and the arrangement has been approved. As you can see in the picture, Miss Scarlett, my loyal beagle assistant is also carefully checking the layout.

Because of all the colors of the shirts, the sashing will be an amish black and the backing will be flannel. The quilt will be tied with the knots on the back. I think it will go together pretty quickly and then I can move on to something a bit more creative.

So these are the things that are occupying my time these days. Too bad I have to actually work for a living or I'd be finishing projects right and left!

Still Knitting and Quilting

Well, it's not quite been a whole year since I've been here. I thought often of posting. I only felt guilty about not posting once in a while.

I'm not going to make any grand resolutions about posting more often or even regularly but today seemed like a good day to come back and we'll take it from there.

Two knitting and quilting goals for 2009:

1. Spend at least 20 minutes every day knitting or quilting. There is a very important clarification about all this. This time around (tried this in 2008), I must ACTUALLY quilt or knit each day. Thinking about it, reading a magazine or a blog or even playing with my stash does NOT count. So far, so good. Well technically, I still need to do today's 20 minutes. I did pull out a UFO earlier today to look at it for my second goal but I don't think that counts.

2. Spend the 25th day of each month working on a Christmas project. This is actually the idea of some great gals in my online quilting group. I am guilty of always seeing cute things I want to make for Christmas and thinking (in July, of course) that its too early to think about that. The next time I think about it is when I'm decorating for Christmas. First I fleetingly think, I'll work on something quickly and get it done for Christmas. And then I get a grip and realize there is TOO MUCH TO DO without trying to fit that in.

So this year, on the 25th of each month, I will continue to work on a Christmas Tree wallhanging that I started more years ago than I can count. I need to reinstall my scanner and when I do, I will post a picture of the project.

So there you have it, my first (and hopefully not my last) post of 2009. I know that no one currently actually reads my blog except for a few friends who I coerce into looking at it. But that could change at any moment. OK, not exactly holding my breath here.

Happy Quilting and Knitting!
Mindy

I do actually quilt too!

First off....The finished socks....my very first pair ever. True they have a few minor boo boos but all in all, they fit, are comfortable and were really fun to do. Thank you again Yarn Harlot for your lovely basic sock recipe. It was a lifesaver.

And because I plan to use socks as a portable project. Here is the next one. The yarn is a bamboo/wool blend in a nice denim color, perfect for jeans.

But wait! I ran to AC Moore for a completely non-craft related purchase and found myself browsing through the sale bins of yarn. I swear I didn't start out in that aisle but before you know it, I had purchased all the remaining skeins of a pretty wool blend to make myself something quick. I wasn't planning on making myself anything other than socks but I just couldn't turn down pretty yarn marked down to $2.75 per skein. So last Saturday, I cast on not only the bamboo socks but this "Mistake Rib" scarf (pattern compliments of Crazy Aunt Purl) and a cable headband (as seen on the Shrinking Knitter blog). Never let it be said that I don't use my blog reading time wisely.

So I started the scarf first because I was eager to try the "mistake rib" pattern. It looks very cool and knits very fast.

Then when I saw how quickly it was eating up the precious limited amount of inexpensive yarn, I thought I better do the cable headband first so I'm sure I have enough. The joy of finding inexpensive yarn can be quickly squashed by having to go on a massive online search to supplement it later.

I made several of these headbands for Christmas gifts and they turned out beautifully. But this is pretty bulky yarn and I'm not sure it is working. I'm willing to keep working for a while and see. Stay tuned for more details.

So now I'm alternating between the scarf and the cable in anticipation of actually using these items while the weather is still cold. The socks are waiting for a while unless I have a great opportunity to take them somewhere where actual knitting can be accomplished.

So after all that knitterly talk, I'm getting to the point of my post. I am a quilter too. Yes, I am! I know you may not be able to tell that from my posts so far but it is true. Hold on to your hats! I'm about to start on a new project...never mind the 17 UFOs.... As evidence that I'm not just talking about quilting, I spent today washing up some lovely batiks in greens and purples and tomorrow I will iron them and hopefully start some sewing.

Here is the evidence that I do work with fabric in addition to yarn.

So that is my knitting and quilting update. For the purposes of my sanity I will concentrate on only the quilting project and the scarf/headband knitting. Unless a weakness overcomes me and I feel the need to cast on yet another knitting project. Let's pray I have the stength to stay away from the sale aisle!