Early Resolutions

Okay, it's time to get more serious, about keeping up to date with my blogging & producing more to blog about! I have a ton of UFO's that need my attention and I have some dearly loved patterns that are part of my quilting bucket list.
I'm working up a calendar to guide & help with goal setting & staying on task, without beating myself up too much. Good Luck Calendar...you're gonna need it!
It includes important birthdays and anniversaries, including my little red head, Maecee, who turns 3 this week. On the 13th of November we celebrate her 2 year adoption from the Idaho Humane Society. She is my baby, my companion, my confidant and my cuddler. My life has been so blessed by the addition of this little bright eyed bundle of love.
My book style calendar has side margins for lists and adding what significant events and holidays upcoming in the following couple of months are as a reminder to think ahead about what projects I might want to be working on for the occasion. There are note pages where I can make lists of projects to finish or begin. I'm considering doing such things as making Mondays, Block of The Month Mondays, because it's the only day of the week that contains an M, and Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday UFO days because they're the days of the week that contain the letter U.
If, for instance, a UFO day also lands on the 1st of the month, that might dictate that I work on an unfinished project for my husband because his birthdate is the 1st. If a UFO day lands on the 31st of any given month, I may pull out an unfinished Halloween Project.
Of course all this dictates that I also have a visible and very well organized stash of goodies to work on since what I might want to work on from day to day could change pretty rapidly!
I admit, I have UFO's that are over 20 years old...and that's okay. I work on them as the spirit or season sparks my desire and I know that eventually, they will be completed. However, this whole idea of the calendar is to help me have regularly completed projects so I can swap out a flimsy & a back for a newly quilted project when I make the 2 hour trip to the quilter. My answer to that are some freestanding cabinets and a bunch of clear stackable plastic storage containers. There's an inexpensive brand that begins with the letter S from the W store that have colorful little flip up handles that latch the lid on easily & securely and includes various sizes which are designed to make stacking easy. They work kinda like kids locking blocks. I use them to keep track of stashes I'm building for specific projects, projects in progress and individual lines or themes of fabric that I want to keep together. There are two sizes that are perfect to house both the fabric and the book containing the pattern that I wish to work on.
Come to think of it, I could probably pull them all out and build a castle to play in with the Gran'Kids!
As for fun this week. Maybe you saw the pictures that Lynn posted over at Sew'n Wild Oaks of the beginnings of my October Magic quilt? Lynn graciously allowed me to sew along "at large" with her class. This was also an idea I had to assist me with goal setting...in the midst of maintaing a part time job, being a Gramma & having one of the kids weddings take place this past month, it was a bit challenging to keep up with the other members of "my class". The next wedding is June.
This most recent wedding not only brought us a new Daughter In Law, but the bonus of a 2 year old Grandaughter. Halloween night she found some of my October Magic Scraps when she came Trick or Treating and began laying them out and pretending to iron them with the whiriling, light up pumpkin globe that we got both the kids for the holiday. My husband observed that I might finally have someone in the family interested in sewing along with me, to which her Mama added, "Yep, it skips a generation and has to marry into the family!" Time will tell, but now that I've seen it...I will also have the responsibility of nurturing it. In this fast paced, instant gratification world, it's more important than ever to pass on The Arts and the message that it's okay to slow down and savor the process.

As Always,
Trying to Keep My Little Part of the World in Stitches...

Nancie Anne