I've put it off long enough.

This is a picture of my bin of UFOs. If you don't already know, a UFO is an Un-Finished-Object, a quilt or project not completed. Resolution # 1: I vow to complete at least 4 UFO's in 2010. I started taking pictures of some of these UFOs and....good grief!! I feel more discouraged than motivated. I'll share some of these pics later this week. One of my quilt buds, Kathy, resolved to eliminate ALL of her UFOs from her life, by finishing, discarding, or giving away. Wow!! What a great idea. The Wild Threads promptly decided to bring out our unwanted UFOs at some point this year and see if anyone wants them. Resolution #2: I vow to make AT LEAST 3 quilts to have on hand as gifts for friends in need of comfort. Accidents, illness, losses, and difficult times don't always happen when we have time to whip up a quilt for a friend. I know that quilts don't solve the world's problems but it's what we quilters do. This is a picture of some blocks that became a quilt for a friend. When I was a brand new nurse, I got a job in the Pediatric ICU at Hopkins. There was so much to learn, the children were so sick, and I was 'scared silly'. There were a few nurses there who will always be heroes to me. One of them was Dottie, she taught me so much and showed me how to be a dedicated nurse. We moved on and lost touch but over the years, whenever an occasion brought us in contact, it was like no time had passed at all. About a year ago I discovered by accident that one of my friends from quilt guild went to nursing school with Dottie. We laughed and said, what a small world. Shortly after that, Dot was diagnosed with leukemia. Between the two of us, we finished a quilt and Dottie LOVED it. She showed it off to everyone and kept it on her hospital bed through multiple admissions for chemo and a bone marrow transplant. So quilts show love and give comfort. Dottie passed away just before the holidays. I visited her a few days before she died and her sister told me how much the quilt meant to Dottie. I hope her family can enjoy it now. Soooo, I really want to have some quilts made and ready to go for when I think someone could use some comfort. Resolution # 3: Don't give up on my Citrus quilt. Remember the Don't Look Now quiltalong? It started Nov 1st and the pace is 1 1/2 blocks a week. Here are 9 of my 10 blocks and there will be 49 altogether. And didn't I mention in a previous post that just preparing the petals is a chore? So I'm several blocks behind and.... only 2 of my blocks are stitched. These 'petals' are pinned and the stitching is by hand, waah! I really think these quilts are going to be stunning and I will be crushed if mine becomes a UFO. When I show you my pictures that I took today, you will know why I worry. Resolution #4: I resolve to make at least 3 projects 'just because I want to'. This means I will make sure I take time to make some of the quilts that I've been wanting to try. Like this, and this, and this. There are millions of awesome blogs out here with zillions of gorgeous quilty goodness. There are so many that I bookmark to try out some time but never get to. And let's not forget the quilt books I couldn't live without and then haven't made anything from yet. Oh yeah, I also have fabric that I couldn't live without that I haven't used yet. Like the gorgeous solids from Cherrywood that my mom gave me, and the Christmas flannels that are washed and ready to go.


Last but not least... Resolution #5: I want to try dyeing my own fabric. the internet is full of tutorials on dyeing, like this one and this one. I have at least one friend,(thanks Jennilyn) who said she will try this with me. Yay!!


I hope you're not too disappointed that I haven't resolved to eat less, exercise more, keep my sewing room tidy, cook more for my family, or try to curse less. Those things just don't sound like much fun but I'll sure let you know if any of that works its way into my life. Tee hee!

They're coming!!!!!

New Year's Resolutions 2010 !!!!

My quilt buddies and I actually wrote them down the other night. And tomorrow I will reveal mine. In doing so, I will be putting them on record, in cyberspace (whatever that really means). Ooooh help me! I hope this doesn't bite me in the butt next December 31. See ya tomorrow!

Wordless Wednesday!

I don't sing in the shower.

Our house is generally full of music, I'm married to a musician after all. Not only does my big ol' honeybun play multiple instruments professionally, but he's an elementary school music teacher. If Jon isn't playing his trumpet, sax, piano, congas, guitar, or bass, then he's playing the stereo or radio etc. Back in the day, I had a few records. Then I met Jon, he has HUNDREDS of records. I am NOT joking or exaggerating. Somehow over the years, my records disappeared into his collection. He's no thief, mind you, and I don't think I've ever caught him listening to Elton John, Emmylou Harris, or Leo Kottke (yes, I do have wierd taste), he just organized until I had no idea where to find my music. A few years ago, I got Jon a great Christmas present, at least I thought so. It's a turntable that you can hook to your computer so you can record your records into computer files. Poor guy, I think he thought I was planning a slow purge of the records. Not so, I tell you!!! Well, he said, 'Wow, great gift.' then never even opened the box. The next Christmas, I wrapped it again and gave it to him. Lol and ha ha ha, it became a family joke and good story. Still the box remained sealed. And last Christmas, I wrapped it for the third time. Again with the hee hee's and ha ha's, but the packaging remained intact!! Hmph! All the while, Jon has insisted that it's a great gift, and I have insisted that it's too bad I didn't return it and get my money back years ago. Are you wondering yet if I wrapped it for the 4th time this year? NO!! A miracle has blossomed on Stockton Road! He's using it...... to record my records onto flashdrives for me. I musta mentioned that I would like to have my music on CDs or something so I can play it on my computer in the sewing room. So now I am a happy camper, singing along to a wacky mix of music while I sew or surf the internet reading blogs. Billy Joel, Joan Baez, Alabama, Kansas, Bruce Springsteen, even Men at Work, and it's crazy how many of the lyrics I remember. Of course, I just make up what I don't remember. And let us all keep in mind that when singing along to music, there is one rule-- The Louder The Better!!! Ok, I've gotta go now and tidy up while singing. My quilt buddies, The Wild Threads, are coming tonight. Yay!! Tomorrow, I think I'll have a Wordless Wednesday post and show you my fun with my friends and what I've been working on. Have a great day, and don't forget to SING!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

Psst!! Looking for my clone!

Has anybody seen my clone? I gave her a list of things to do and she hasn't done ANY of it. Now I'm gonna have to finish my shopping myself, and wrap all of the gifts, start the holiday cooking, clean up the mess over here, etc etc. Sheesh!

Lisa's Snow Adventure

I like snow, I really do. I have NO problem driving in snow, in fact Saturday at the height of this blizzard, I was out Christmas shopping. At least until the stores started closing. But, I'd like to share a little pictorial of why, when the forecast calls for lots of snow, I don't always get excited. This is the bottom of my driveway with the camera looking towards Stockton Road. My faithful husband is working hard, making room for us to park at the end of the drive. Why, you ask? Because this is what the rest of the drive looks like. Let's take a walk up there, shall we?

Rounding the bend and looking up, this is the troublesome part of the drive. It's a bit steep, and most of the year we have to worry every time there is a hard rain because the gravel washes out and leaves DEEP canyons of erosion. But let's stay on topic, OK?

We've gotten to the top and are looking back down. There are some suspicious hints of drifting aren't there? Oh yes! The doggone drifting!

See this huge expanse of white, white, white? Well, the winds come sweeping across this plain.... and dump the snow back onto the drive. All of this is just to the side of the driveway, in fact, if you squint and look at the bottom, you will our cars that are parked there.

This isn't our driveway, just another view of the field next to it. The tracks are from where my brother drove the skidloader back to the other side of the farm. He made those tracks about an hour ago and they're already filling in. #!&*#@!!!

All right let's keep going because we're not done yet. We're at the top of the hill looking forward and I think, yes! look! I can almost see the house. We really appreciate these trees that block the drifts, but they also block the sun and this is usually the last to melt. The pines on the left were Christmas trees, way back in the day.

Rounding the bend and, yes, the house!! Yay!!

Bleh! That's a lot of snow! So pretty!

Standing closer to the house and looking back at the bend and the pines. 'Over the river and through the woods.......' ha ha ha

Here we are in front of the house. Hmm, I coulda sworn that this was fully plowed an hour ago. Oh yeah!! Wind and drifts, not my fave! Wonder what it will look like in the morning? This is why the cars are at the bottom, even if they can get traction on the hill, we never know when the drifting will put us back at the starting point. It's been a while since we had to trek up and down the hill for more than a day or two. I think it was The Blizzard of 2000 when we did this for over a week. At 6am, as I headed down to get to work, I got to the hill and sank into a drift all the way to my hips. My hubby, the teacher, was asleep in his bed, and we had no neighbors within shouting distance (my brother hadn't built his house next door yet). And there I was, flopping around in the snow, trying to extricate myself. Just picture a fish out of water. I won't keep you in suspense, I survived, and we bought some snowshoes the next day. That's the year we had to bring our groceries up the hill on a sled. I tell you, there are no streetlights around here and it can be DARK at 6am, and also at midnight when I work that shift. Sometimes I also have to hang onto the fence when it's icy and windy.

This is the view from the front of the house. Truly beautiful and we're looking west so you can imagine the gorgeous sunsets we get. Too bad the wind seems to ALWAYS come from the west. Chilly drafts are a fact of life around here and when the wind blows hard, the doors buzzzz. I tell myself it's a good thing to get some fresh air in the house.

Thanks for sticking with me for my long, whiny post. I just thought I would share a glimpse of why I don't always jump for joy with a blizzard forecast. And while we're at it, let's give thanks to all of the hospital workers, firemen, paramedics, law enforcement, road workers who salt and plow, grocery store clerks, etc who go to work in all weather while others get to jump for joy at being snowed in. And a giant THANK YOU!!! to my brother, David, for plowing us out (not once but TWICE) this past weekend. THANK YOU !!!!