Monday, December 31, 2012

2nd Challenge

Yikes... My heart stopped momentarily, my brain went into a tailspin, I couldn't speak, I WAS STUNNED! I opened my email and read... the 2nd Challenge:

 Clean up a pile.
 
Well... I was expecting another finish something challenge... Clean up a pile!!!! I knew she wasn't talking about snow or dishes. I was pretty sure it was all about fabric and my sewing room. UGGGG.
 
So off I went to start the pile search. I am usually pretty good about cleaning up after I complete a project, but since I am trying to get my PHD  (Projects Half Finished) I don't complete nearly as many as I start so there are always lots of piles. But its a good thing I didn't have to do this December 1st, cause I would have been backing away, screaming, TALK TO THE HAND! cause there were piles everywhere and this little challenge would have totally got passed by.
 
But as luck would have it, I had cleaned up considerably in the last week or so, so not much to worry about on this one. OK, well maybe a little to worry about.
 
I have 5 days to do this challenge so
I started yesterday with this.
I didn't spend much time on it, because I was anxious to get going on a new Craftsy class I wanted to try. But I picked up in between steps and was starting to feel good till I realized I had created another pile.
 
This was taking on a whole new look:
 
 
 
While what once was this:
 
 
 
Had become this:
 
 
 
Well I can't leave the new pile so today's job will be to fix the bed of the Gammill... Don't you hate when there is all that empty space just calling to be piled!! 
 
And I haven't even looked at the third challenge yet.  I guess that will be for later today!
 
Notion Nanny's tip of the day.
 
Any of you who know me, know I love gadgets, whether they are true Quilting gadgets or Wannabe Quilting gadgets.
 
Well today's tip is definitely a wannabe...
 
I found this tip on a great little blog. "Sew Many Ways" which she had posted way back in 2009. She had a whole lot of chairs to paint so she bought an Aerosol Spray Trigger Handle. All I could think of was Spray Baste and Spray Starch... hmmmm.  So off I went to Home Hardware and there were 2 left on the shelf. I bought them both, came home and...
 
 
 
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!  (The other one is on my spray baste!)
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, December 29, 2012

A Challenge

I am following a few blogs and Prairie Moon Quilts... http://prairiemoonquilts.com/?page_id=62
posted a challenge today which I thought might be a motivator for me... Here's how it went...

Locate your UFO that’s closest to being done, and do something about it.

OK... So that sounded pretty easy..but there's more:

And I’ll be back tomorrow with your next task, so as My Cowboy would say: “Don’t dawdle!”

so that meant it had to be finished today...

Well I started.

I went to my sewing room and the first UFO I saw was a Christmas tree skirt that I started 2 years ago and was determined to have under my tree this Christmas... WRONG! Didn't happen. I quilted it this year, but that cursed binding never got on it, so it stayed in my sewing room while the rest of us enjoyed Christmas.
11:48 am

I figured... easy peasy, I can get that done today. But as you all know, that's not so easy for me because I don't like or enjoy binding anything. I could have switched to something else, but there it was, staring me in the face and I figured it was today or never. So I started.

First challenge... find some binding material. Since I made the skirt 2 years ago, there was no matching fabric so I dug into my resources and found a solid red that looks somewhat like the red in the skirt.

Second Challenge... Finish it! I got the binding cut, pressed and folded, sewn on and then came the problem. I had to hand sew. Grumble Grumble Grumble. I asked myself many times why I started it when many more future UFOs were rumbling around in my head. I put on a new Craftsy class I just purchased and while I watched the first three lessons I plugged away and after about 3 hours of grumbling... I could see an end to this project.

2:48 pm  Yippee!
Then I started feeling good about this whole thing! What a great way to force yourself to finish a grumble project... And Reminding myself not to "Dawdle", because I decided to take this challenge without a gun at my head, made me persevere and finish it up...

I wonder what Prairie Moon Quilts has up her sleeve for tomorrow...

And just because I am the Notion Nanny... Here's a notion I used today while working on this project.  I love the John James needles. This particular package is the 3/9 Quilting needles. The thing I like the best about these pebbles is you can take them anywhere (except on a plane) and they don't fall out of the case.


John James Pebbles are designed to store the finest quality hand sewing needles safely, making them instantly visible and easily accessible in a sewing boxes, a craft bag, a top drawer, and even a handbag. Each needle style comes in its own elegant and distinctive color Pebble for quick identification.

I'm Back

Boy was I surprised that it was almost two years ago since I blogged...  So many things got in the way... a lot of excuses why I couldn't find the time, illness... which has me covered for the last year or so...and just couldn't be bothered.

I am finally feeling good and wanted to start 2013 out better... get back at somethings I have missed doing mostly... so here are my resolutions:

1. Be more sociable... That means I would like to spend more time with my friends, which I don't do. I had a little trauma in February 2011 and my best friend and I parted company. That was hard for me and I didn't really trust any of my other friends for a long while. But this coming year, I am going to fix that.

2. FINISH ALL MY UFO'S.... HAHAHAHAHA

3. Do something for someone who I don't know... not so hard. I know lots of groups who are donating their sewing time to some great causes... so I will join one of those groups.

and finally....
4. Get back to normal... I have been sick for so long that I NEED to get healthy and stay healthy this year... So... I joined Weight Watchers, I am taking vitamins and exercising regularly... lets see what happens!

So.. lets see what happens... I am sure I will be back later for my first Post.... see you then!