100 Days of Happy - Part 10 aka The End

Ok I'm actually posting this late so I could do 101 days of happy and end the year on a happy note. Over all it has been a fun experience chronicling the things that have made me happy over the last 101 days. I try and focus on the good, it is not always easy to do that, but I've found it makes me a happier person in general when I do. Am I happy 100% of the the time, no I am most definitely not, but I don't let the bad things, the daily grind get me down. I refuse to succumb to the negative nature of this world. So lets get to the last eleven days of happy.

Day 91 - 12/21/15 - Secret Quilting. I quilted two more small projects today, which means I'm done quilting everything I need to have done by Christmas.  Yeah!!!  I still have to get them bound, washed and wrapped, but I'm on the downhill slope now.

Day 92 - 12/22/15 - Binding Jessica and Trey's Table Runner. I know that is the date is before Christmas, but I realized I won't be posting this until after Christmas, so I can show you what I did today. I got this one bound and the binding made for the other two.  Woohoo I'm on the downhill slope now. The picture isn't great, but I was having too much fun and not watching my photos close enough.

Day 93 - 12/23/15 - Binding Mecca and Tom's Table Runner. It is done and in the washing machine. I have to say I am beginning to understand why people list small quilts. It is fun to get them done quickly. Again a bad picture, but at least I got one.

Day 94 - 12/24/15 - Binding Callie and Beau's Table Runner. Done, washed and wrapped. I am very happy to have these all done. I wish I was done a little sooner than Christmas Eve, but hey what is Christmas without some last minute rush project.

Day 95 - 12/25/15 - Laughter with Family. We had such a good day!! Great food, wonderful presents and lots and lots of laughter. Sharla and I make stockings for everyone each year (ok bags, we gave up on stocking and use bags so they don't have to worry about getting them back to us). We fill it with candy, toys, etc. This year I put kazoos in each and they were a wild success. We played Heads Up DJ deck and they had to play the songs on the kazoos. It was wild, it was crazy and it was just too much fun.

Day 96 - 12/26/15 - Organizing. I bought some bins to put fabric into in an organized manner. So Sharla and I spent a lot of time today, pulling fabrics and putting them into the bins. As we did we took an inventory of what we had in each bin. We matched bundles with backing fabrics, and made notes on where things needed to be ordered. It was a lot of work, and we're not done, but I think we have over half of all of our bundles organized and documented.

Day 97 - 12/27/15 - Sleeping Late. It is very rare that I get to sleep late. Monday to Friday I have to get up to take Sharla to work and I work on Saturday and Sunday. But with both of us off I got to sleep late, it was after 10 when I got up this morning and it felt great.

Day 98 - 12/28/15 - Tiny Tiny Geese. I got the The Quilter's Planner and I knew right away I wanted to make a cover for it. I decided to something pretty simple, except to have some little tiny flying geese on the front. Each one is only 3/4" x 1 1/2", but it was so fun creating them.

Day 99 - 12/29/15 - New Ipad cover. I actually got this for Christmas, but since Sharla's was delayed in shipping, I didn't want to start using mine when she couldn't use hers. To be honest I'm not sure how well it will hold up, but I love the fabric feel it has. It feels like a linen fabric and for the fabric-a-holic in me, that is a real good thing. The fabric in front of it is some of Sharla's that I had close and I wanted to add some color to the photo.

Day 100 - 12/30/15 - Happy Hollywood - Doggie daycare has been closed since the Monday before Christmas and poor Hollywood has had cabin fever really really bad. I called on a whim to see if they were by chance opening back up early and they said they weren't, but they would let Hollywood come for the day. He was dancing in the backseat with excitement. He loves playing with the other dogs, and comes home totally exhausted. The photo below is from one of the sad days that he didn't get to go to daycare. He was wiggling so much with excitement I couldn't get a photo today.

Day 101 - 12/31/15 - Fabric Shopping - My goal for next year is to sew from my stash, but my local quilt shop was having a sale and I couldn't resist.  I only bought fabrics for quilt backs, borders and sashing, so no new projects. I didn't even sneak in extra fat quarters. I did throw in a couple of patterns. I bought three quilt backs, including one of the Tula Pink 108" backing and some Tula Pink Eden elephants. Both are wonderful, but that 108" fabric, just feels so soft I can't wait to use it.

Ok that wraps up #100DaysOfHappy for me, and I even went the extra day to end the year. Over all it has been a fun experience, because it really helped me to focus on all the the wonderful blessing in my life, both big one and little ones. Now I need to get off the computer and get to work on the zillion and one things I need to get done before the end of the year....just joking, I'm going to chill out in front of the TV and go to bed early. Yes I know I'm old, and I don't care. Going to bed early on New Year's Eve could have been my 101 thing for today.  I hope each of you have a safe and wonderful New Year.

A Lovely Year of Finishes - December Completions

Ok let's see how I did with my goals for December.  I am happy with the outcome, because although I didn't finish everything, I did get the big one done.

1. Secret Sewing. I not only finished the table runner for Mecca for Christmas, but I made one for Callie and Jessica as well. Now if I hadn't been in such a rush I might have gotten decent photos of them before gifting, but since Callie's was finished Christmas Eve, I'm just glad that I got them done. The flying geese was given to Mecca to match some chargers we gave her. The HST was for Callie and it is made in the same fabrics as her wedding quilt and the pinwheels was given to Jessica. I just used a rainbow of colors so it would go with lots of things.

 

2. Bee Block - Done and mailed before Christmas. I wish it had gone out sooner, but it was on time and that is what counts.

It all goes down hill after those. I did get #9 done, but I showed you those with #1. I have worked on organizing my fabric and would say I have about 65% of my existing projects pulled, documented and put into containers. Overall it was a very busy month and I'm just glad I finished my Christmas gifts.  Today I'm linking up with Melissa of Sew BitterSweet Designs and Shannon of Fiber of All Sorts.

2016 Planning Linky Party - My Plans

Last year Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl had a linky party for your 15 Quilty Resolutions and this year she is doing 2016 Planning Linky Party. I will admit up front I suck at resolutions, I make them and break them on a regular basis. I even said I wasn't going to make any this year, but for me it is more about list making for me than "resolutions". I'm throwing this photo in here to have one for the linky party more than anything, but also because I love pretty pictures. The photo is of some of the flowers at Callie and Beau's wedding.

In 2016, I've decided to have fewer resolutions, and hopefully more success.

1. Use More/Buy Less - I have enough fabric to keep me busy all year and most likely not have to buy anything. So this is my year to sew my stash.  The exceptions are if I need something for one of my bees or backing to finish a quilt.  I am realistic enough to know that I can't do this for the entire year.  I will be lucky to get through January. So my real goal is to use more fabric than I buy. So I'm going to track what I use and what I buy and we'll see how I do.  I will give updates, probably not weekly but maybe monthly.

2. Quilt for Others - This can be gifts for family and friends or charity quilts, but I want to give away more this year. I don't want to be afraid others won't like what I do and just give for the joy of giving.

3. Balance/Organization - I need to work on my balance or organization of time. Not only in my quilting and piecing, but in my life in general. I want to do the things I enjoy, but not at the expense of getting things done around the house. I want to do a good job at work, but not at expensive of doing things I love. I'm hoping going back to a paper organizer (The Quilter's Planner) will help me, to keep things on track.

4. Stop Comparing Myself to Others - I love reading blogs, but sometimes I feel like a complete failure because everyone else is doing such amazing things and I'm struggling to get my bee blocks done. So my goal for this year is to cheer others on in their progress and to just be happy in mine.

5. Keep Moving Forward - For me this means try new things, get rid of what is holding me back, change direction if needed, and just move. I know this one is pretty vague, but what I want to accomplish is to not to stop or give-up.

And that is my list for this year. Fewer items, but enough that if I can accomplish at least a couple of them I will feel good at the end of the year.  For those that want to know how I did against my 2015 list, here are my results.

1. Gift more quilts...I would say this was accomplished since I gave 4 this year, but to be honest it was a tree skirt and three table runners, but I still gave them as gifts. Here is the tree skirt, and I will be showing the table runners in a later post.

2. Learn something new...I did my first curved piecing and didn't like it much. But I tried. I will go back and try again at some point, but for now I am saying I can put a check next to this one.

3. Organize my sewing room...I did this about 5 or 6 times this year, and plan on working on it some this week as well. It is an ongoing process. But I did get a new sewing table, and tubs for my FQ storage, and those are working out well.

4. Find balance...I didn't figure this one out last year. I did much more piecing and lots less quilting. So this one needs to stay on my to do list.'

5. Try new things...I joined my first mystery quilt along, in fact I did two. I hope that I'm always willing to try something new.

6. Enjoy the small moments...I've been doing the #100DaysOfHappy this year and it has been a lot of fun to find small things every day that make me happy. If I stop and focus on those small moments even if just for a short time, it brings my happiness level up tremendously. Here is one of my photos from my 100 days, and it is something that always makes me happy....fabric.

7. Move more...I sucked at this last year, but am going to keep trying.

8. Do more charity quilts...another one I sucked at, but plan on trying to do better in 2016.

9. Attend a local quilt meeting...fail, plain and simple.

10. Quilt for the fun of it...didn't make much progress here, need to keep working on it.

11. Take more photos of the process...I was a little more successful with this one, but would like to do even more.

12. Reduce my backlog of projects...I so failed at this one, I'm betting I doubled my list. Just too many pretty fabrics for me to resist.

13. Make a bed size quilt...alas another fail, but I did buy fabric to do a couple more.

14. Purge, purge, purge...I did do some purging this year, but I need to do much more. I have to fight my inter pack rat hard next year.

15. Worry less and laugh more.  I don't know that I worried less, but I will say my life last year was filled with lots of laughter and love and for that I'm very thankful.

Ok I'm off to link up at QuiltingJetgirl.com, feel free to join us and do your own goals, or if you just need some inspiration on what to do, go check out what others are doing.

100 Days of Happy - Part 9

This post will be 90 days of happy, and that in itself makes me happy. I was a little concerned at the beginning that I wouldn't have enough things to be happy about to do 100 days. But so far it has been pretty easy. Every now and then I struggle, more because I forgot to update my post for a couple of days and I had to go back and try to remember.  Which is why most people are doing this with instagram. But I don't always have a photo to go with mine, so blogging was easier. So here are my next 10 days.

12/11/15 - Day 81 - Design Wall Put Together. I purchased a movable design wall off of Massdrop at least a month or so ago. I finally got it put together.  It is bigger than I imagined, and was a real bear to put together with only me, but I'm happy it is done.  It will stay up against back wall of the sewing room when not in use. I think it will be very helpful to Sharla because we can move it to where she sews when she needs it. No photos for now because it has secret sewing projects on it.

12/12/15 - Day 82 - Fast Shopping. I'm doing some projects for Christmas and needed some fabric for backings. I was really afraid I wouldn't find what I wanted or I would find too many things and have a hard time choosing. But Sharla and I walked into our LQS and in no time flat we found what was needed, had it cut and was on the road again. In and out in less than 30 minutes.  Woohoo!!!

12/13/15 - Day 83 - New Rotary Blade. It is funny how something as simple as changing the blade on my rotary cutter can make me so happy. I was trimming a bunch of half square triangles and the new blade made the cuts like a hot knife through butter.

12/14/15 - Day 84 - Secret Sewing. I'm having a good time doing some secret sewing for Christmas and I made some great progress today. I am always happy when projects come together.

12/15/15 - Day 85 - I had really hoped that today's happy moment would be Sharla getting her left eye cataracts fixed. But when we went in for the surgery this morning she was having bad acid re-flux and they were concerned about her aspirating while under anesthesia. So they postponed it for a month. But that meant I did get some sewing done that I wasn't expecting and I finished two angel blocks for the Stash Bee.

 12/16/15 - Day 86 - A Little Organization. I carry two cell phones (work and personal) and have two tablets (work and personal) and have two cameras (well more if you count Sharla's as well). And I use all of them to take photos at one time or another. I'm pretty good about transferring the camera photos to my computer and keep them by year/month. But cell phone photos not so much. So today I copied them all off of my phones and tablets and got them organized into folders. It it a little thing but it makes me happy to have them all where I can find them.

12/17/15 - Day 87 -  Happy Mail - I'm doing the Turning Twenty BOM and I'm way behind. But earlier this month they gave the finishing instructions. It called for yardage I didn't have. I was a little miffed because I was using Miss Kate fabrics and the line isn't really in stores anymore especially the solids which I felt I needed after reading the finishing instructions. But luckily I found some on Etsy and it arrived today. I love the colors, they just are cheerful.  I'll be honest, I'm not in love with how the finished quilt looks, so I may have to change mine up a little, but now I have everything I need to finish no matter how I choose to do it.

12/18/15 - Day 88 - Post Office Run Done - Now to be really honest here, I'm not a big fan of the post office, and even less when there is a long line like today. But my bee block for this month is in the mail as is the two angel blocks I did. I love getting things off my list so that makes me very very happy.

12/19/15 - Day 89 - My Planner Arrived - I had ordered the The Quilter's Planner and have been eagerly awaiting it's arrival. It is my Christmas present to myself and it arrived today, just in time. It is very well done, and I had to immediately start flipping through it.  I can't wait to start using it. I love so much about it. It has some great patterns in it, and I love the weekly blocks!!!

12/20/15 - Day 90 - Secret Quilting - I have three projects for Christmas to get quilted and I finished the quilting on one of them today.  Yeah. I have the next one loaded and hope to finish it tomorrow. They are small projects, but I still feel a sense of accomplishment. Plus being smaller meant it quilted quickly without any issues.

Well that is it for this post. The next one will wrap up all 100 days, it has passed very very quickly. I have considered doing a 365 days of Happy next year, but I think that is too much pressure. I think I will just do random #Happy posts.

100 Days Of Happy - Part 8

Eighty days down and still trucking. I have found it funny, but I seem to have 3-5 things on one day that I would pick and then the next day not nearly as many. But luckily I can always find something to be make me happy.


12/01/15 - Day 71 - A New Fence- This has made all of us happy. My poor dogs really did not like being confined to the house. And they didn't like me watching them potty. So I did a happy dance once the fence was complete and I think they did too. Well I had to push Zoey out the door because it was cold outside and she didn't want to go, but once she realized the door worked again she was content.

12/02/15 - Day 72 - Christmas Music - I love Christmas music and a local radio station has gone to all Christmas music, so whenever I want I can switch over and sing along. And yes I love the silly songs too!!!

12/03/15 - Day 73 - Thursdays are one of my hardest days, work always seems busier, there is just more that has to be done, and I am just more tired. But a friend posted a spoof of House Hunters called Tree Hunters and it was so funny. I just laughed at it. If you have watched the show you know how fitting this really is.

HGTV Makes Fun of Itself in This Hilarious Holiday Spoof
HGTV proves it has a sense of humor about itself in this House Hunters spoof video:
Posted by PopSugar Home on Monday, November 30, 2015

12/04/15 - Day 74 - Christmas Movies. Yes I am that sappy person that loves all Christmas movies. I'm guessing right now I have 5 or 6 recorded on my DVR. And Friday nights is one of those times Sharla and I will just kick back and watch a movie and what better than a Christmas one. I think my all time favorite is How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but I love them all.

12/05/15 - Day 75 - Working on Bee Blocks.  Ok that should be bee block, but I got my block done early this month. I even cut the extra fabric to go along with it.  I just need to make my label and it will be in the mail.

12/06/15 - Day 76 - Almost Free Dinner. Neither Sharla and I wanted to cook on Sunday, so we decided I would go pick something up while she fed the dogs and then just watch a Christmas movie. We decided on Chili's and she remembered a gift card her boss had won and then gave to her. It was almost enough to cover the cost. Woohoo I love free and almost free.

12/07/15 - Day 77 - Christmas Shopping. Ok to be honest here, I hate Christmas shopping, but I love getting things for other people. I was happy to get somethings off my list. I went first thing after taking Sharla to work and the stores weren't overly crowded.  I still have a few more things to get, but I'm moving forward.

12/08/15 - Day 78 - Secret Sewing. I have a couple of Christmas gifts to sew/quilt and I made major progress on one of them today. Can't show you because it is a surprise, but it felt good to get sit and just sew and sew.

12/09/15 - Day 79 - Just Being Silly. Last night Sharla and I sat down to pre-register her for the surgery she is having next week (they are removing cataracts from her left eye). After a very long time of answering a zillion and one questions we were done. Then it gave the pre-op instructions, and it gave us the giggles.  The first one was to wear all cotton underwear because "you would be allowed to keep those on", she got a little cranky at the thought of having to strip down for eye surgery. Then we found the pre-op list for eye surgery which was a little less demanding and it looks like she will not have to strip down. But the best one was she would need a "Responsible Adult" to drive her home and take care of her for 24 hours. I told her she was in trouble because she didn't know any of those. She said she was going to call our sister-in-law because that was as close as we had. We just giggled and that was fun.

12/10/15 - Day 80 - Marley. We have had to keep things pretty low key with Marley because he is still being treated for heart worms. So we talk to him all the time, occasionally pick him up but we keep it very simple so as not to stress him. This morning I was sitting in my chair and Hollywood and Zoey came up to me wanting love and then Marley joined them. He let me rub his ears for a long time and even came back twice for more loving. I could have just rubbed his ears all day, but I had to get Sharla to work and myself. But hey I will take any signs that he is warming up to me.

A Lovely Year of Finishes - December Goals

I've not accomplished all of my goals this year, and probably won't complete everything I list here today, but I'm going to try and get my top item done and make progress on all of the other items.

1. Secret Sewing. I can't say exactly what this is, because it is a Christmas present, but I will say it is for Mecca.  And I do have a pretty definite time line that I have to meet because Christmas is coming no matter what.

2. Bee Block. I've actually sewn the block already, I just have to cut the extra fabric that is going with it and sew my label. I'm hoping to get it in the mail next week, so it has plenty of time to arrive.

3. Midnight Mystery QAL. As of December 1st I was caught up, but our instructions for this month have come out this week.  I want to stay caught up now that I'm current.

4. Memory Quilts. They don't come off the list until I get them done!!!

5. Sharla's Box Trot Quilt.  Gotta get it done!

6. Marley's Block. I want to get it finished so I can hang all the blocks in my quilting room.

7. Turning 20 BOM. I've still way behind on this one, but would like to get back on track.

8. Callie and Beau's Quilt Top. I can't finish it totally because I need Trey and Jess to sign blocks, but I would like to get it laid out and as many rows as possible put together.

9. More Christmas gifts. I have an idea that should be pretty simple and if I can make time I would like to do them. But since I want them to be a surprise, let's just call them the "warm" gifts.

10. Organize Fabrics. I want to get each project together with all it's pieces (bundles, sashing fabrics, border fabrics, backing fabric, pattern) and then make a good list of what I have. I've bought some big tubs so that if I have everything including the backing fabric then I can put it all together. And then when I want to start something new, I can just get everything out of the tub.

Ok that is my list for this month. As always I know it won't all get done, but some is better than nothing.  I'm linking up with Melissa of Sew BitterSweet Designs and Shannon of Fiber of All Sorts.

And just so my blog has a picture, because my camera is somewhere else today, here is