Give Thanks

It is that time to reflect on all the wonderful things in our lives. I find that my list is so long. I am blessed with a wonderful family that is there no matter what I need. I have incredible co-workers that are the best of friends and I am truly blessed to have a good job in this time of economic crisis. Take a moment to remember those who are not as lucky as we are.

I posted a poll in my online class this week asking my students if they knew someone who would not have food this holiday and about 1/3 said they did. Another third were unsure and the rest said no. Those are harsh numbers to consider.

I wish all the world were as blessed as I am. This week I have seen more beggars on the streets of Las Vegas as I drive home from work. They are a stark reminder of the suffering around us but also a reminder that I have so much to be thankful for.

Take this weekend to look for the good in your life and the touch of a being higher than ourselves who watches over us in good times and bad.

My plan for the weekend is to enjoy the love and friendship of those I love....eat WAAAAAY more than I ever should....watch a good football game or two....and get a little quilting done. If all goes as planned I will have a quilt top to show this weekend, maybe two. Now that would be amazing!!

At this moment I am surrounded by the most delightful smell of this holiday: pumpkin pie. I have three in the oven. I have to wait until the last minute to make the Dutch Apple pies or the kids will eat all the crumble off before it hits the table. That is part of the holiday tradition too.

Time for my update

It is Sunday again already and time for a quick post with my Procrastination Challenge update. It is pretty simple; not much new. I did finish my fifth row on the Strippy quilt and did finish a top that was not on my list.

Gee Shelly, can I post date my list???

On second thought, can I say the dog ate my quilt so I was not able to get anything done? Perhaps that is another form of procrastination...that's how I roll, LOL.

The coming week is a short one. Lots of good stuff going on. Good food, loving family, good friends and the turning of a new year for me. I am getting closer to that half century mark!!

The kids are fighting again.....

So here is how the conversation goes:

Mom: Cool quilt, huh girls?

Sammie: Yeah....it is mine?

Alex: No

Sammie: I want that one. Those are my colors.

Alex: I want one too.

Sammie: YOU just got a quilt. It's my turn.

Mom: Well, maybe this one is for Lillie.

Sammie: Oh. I see how it is. Two for Lillie. None for Sam.

Alex: She just loves Lillie more. That's why she is making another quilt for her.

It is so hard to watch the girls fight over my quilts. Hahaha. Actually, it just warms the heart. For this quilt I asked Sammie to help me lay out the blocks so she is claiming some kind of ownership. I will probably give it to her once it is quilted anyway so she has no worries. I love them all :)

As I have said before, I work best when I have a number of quilts going at the same time. I am still working on my procrastination challenge but this quilt just pushed it's way to completion. I have found that three is a good number at once. More than that gets a little crazy. This time I had five going at once, hence, the 'humility block' in the lower right corner. I discovered the mistake when I was finishing the top. Instead of taking the entire top apart and redoing the one block I decided to leave it. I do have a good Amish name after all (Ditzler) so I will claim it as my intentional mistake. That's my story and I'm sticken to it.

So about this quilt: It is from a book by Atkinson Designs called Take Two and Add a Few. Great little book!! This quilt is called Birthday Presents. Each block takes two fat quarters and I chose to make my own size rather than follow the sizes in the book. I did a total of 30 blocks in a 5x6 setting.

So now off to try to piece the next top so my flow is down to three quilts.

Every cloud has a silver lining

Or perhaps a red, white and blue lining.....

My daughter needed a new military ID card and (as an Air Force widow) I had to make the trek to the base to get it replaced. Major inconvenience. Sorta. It is just one of those tasks that needs to be done so off I went. The idea of sitting for a good hour, waiting for our number to be called was not very appealing as I am not the most patient of people.

After waiting for about 20 minutes I decided to step outside for some air and my mundane task transformed to a wonderful opportunity. Since we are in Las Vegas, the base is the home of the Air Force Thunderbirds. And they are incredible to watch. Yesterday was their practice day and so I was treated to an unexpected show. If you have not seen their show, it is indescribable. To watch the aerial feats of some of our best pilots is really a treat. It just makes one proud.

My unwanted schlep to the base turned into a highlight of a long and painful week. So my hat is off to all who serve, have served and will serve. And an equal salute to those who love and support those in uniform. I can say that the challenge of caring for the home front so our military can do their duty is huge. We take care of the house, the kids, the bills, the cars, the broken water heaters, etc so our loved ones can protect our great nation knowing all is well at home. Keep up the great work.

Time

Where does time go?

In my life it seems like time is spiraling out of control and I cannot grab on to a minute of it. Years ago a friend said she wished for one hour...the 25th hour...each day with no responsibilities to do whatever made her happy. I think we all look for that.

Isn't time supposed to slow down to a nice, leisurely pace as we grow older? I guess that is an urban myth.

How did I get to:

• almost 44 years old?
• grandmotherhood?
• Working 24/7 it seems?
• my first Christmas without all my girls at home????

I think the last is the hardest for me. This is going to be my very first Christmas without all three of my girls at home. Katie is spending the holidays with her future in-laws. Boy are they lucky and I should be happy for them. I am, but sad for me.

The flip side of the coin is always shiny....this is the first 'real' Christmas for Lillie. She will be a year old on Dec 11 and last year she was not aware of the joy and the spirit of love during the holidays. I can't wait to see the sparkle in her eyes.

Another Week.....

....where did it go?? This week just flew by. I did not get any fun stuff done since work took precedence. I half expect to see my sewing machine peeking around the corner singing Baby Come Back.

For my Procrastination Challenge I stuck with my hand quilting this week. It was the only thing I could do for a few minutes each evening before going to bed. There are 21 strips in the quilt and I have averaged one per week so far. I have almost four strips done now. At this rate I will finish the quilting somewhere in mid-March. Boy does that seem like a long way off. Maybe I can find a little extra time during the holidays.

The weather this weekend has been perfect for hand quilting but I have just been plain old too tired.

I am thinking of a modification to my Procrastination Challenge. It takes me a long time to hand quilt but piecing usually goes faster so I think I will finish my Black Fish top then draw three more projects from the piecing stack rather than from all my projects. Once I finish my Strippy quilt I will draw a new project from the stack of hand quilting UFOs I have. There are a few that are pretty close to done so maybe this will motivate me to focus on getting them finished.

Word of the day

Do you have triskaidekaphobia? You gotta admit it is a catchy word. In any case, today is Friday the 13th, enjoy it. This is one of those rare years where we had not one but THREE Friday the 13ths: February, March and November.

There's an app for that

I admit I am an iPhone app junkie. I have so many on my phone that I cannot even remember what I have. Well in my blog travels today I found a new one!!

There are a few apps for the iPhone and iTouch that you can download for quilting. Quiltref is a free download that gives you information on setting triangle sizes and standard quilt sizes. There are a few others as well. Just search quilt at the app store on your phone.

C&T Publishing has developed an app for quilt blocks. What fun!! If you head over to the C&T blog (by clicking on the button below) you can toss your name in the drawing to win a free download of the new app. I did not enter, since I just could not wait. I just went ahead and paid the $3.99. You can enter the drawing with no competition from me :)