a new year!

I welcomed in the New Year with happiness, and hope you did, too.
We (Sweetie and I) hosted a new year's eve dinner and card party - 11 people, with delicious foods brought in by all attending.  It was perfect and peaceful and fun.
Lots of visiting and laughter.  We chose to play progressive euchre with two tables of four, and three sitting out each game rotation, so we all had time to visit AND play cards, with the games ending right before the televised ball drop in NY.

I don't usually make New Year resolutions, only to fulfill my long-ago promise made to my Great-Grandma B - to learn something new each year (which can be something small or something monumental).  
Last year, I learned more about gut health and how it affects so many things in overall health and wellness.  Don't get me started here, LOL, or I'll go on and on, but it is AMAZING what gut health controls.

In the quilting realm, I've decided this year I will finish up some already started projects.  Who knows why I have all the blocks for an entire quilt made, some not even sewn together or without borders attached. 
Like this ongoing project - 

 Farm Girl Sampler quilt blocks now together, but not pressed.

(book Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt)

Also!, a few friends and I who retreat together, 
have an ongoing challenge.... a 'bet' of sorts. 
We have chosen to not purchase any new fabric 
as we work on our unfinished projects this Winter/Spring - 
to try to use our stash.  
The first person to purchase new fabric 
will have to buy pretzels for the others -  
the awesome, freshly made, pretzels from Shipshewana, 
when we see each other again in November.

So, back to blogging, back to stitching, and back to learning!!!
Hope your January is wonderful, too!!!

still being sluggish

I don't know what's going on with me!
The weather, the phase of the moon, the season?
Whatever it is,
it needs to GO!
No more being a blog slug!
The only stitching I HAVE been doing?
Binding and more binding.

I do have a baby quilt gift completely finished though,
and the baby was just born yesterday!!
Welcome Poppy!

 I even used more from the stash for the backing.

So, back to my sluggishness...
Maybe only doing bindings is my problem?
How many pictures of binding
can I share on here without it looking like a re-run? :)

So, I made myself go load some fabric on the long-arm machine.
And then did something that I've been telling myself to do for over a year!

I tried something new.  (Thanks Great-Grandma B!*)
And that is my way to get out of my 'being a slug' routine!
(* if you've not read about my 'out loud' promise to my Great-Grandma B,
you can CLICK HERE to find out more.)
I'll share pictures tomorrow of my newest project-of-learning.
It's a plan.  I'm no longer a slug!
Happy Wednesday to you!

trip around the sun

A new year, 2010... 

The start of a new decade (the tens?). 

Another trip around the sun. 

Another trip around the sun starts for me today...

It has been a great ride so far. 

So many great people are in my life. 

So many great laughs and tears (happy and sad). 

So many great years.

So many great decades.

I don't make those resolution thingys. 

But I do keep a promise. 

(Which I guess could be construed as a resolution....nah) 

Anyway, I was thinking about my "Out-loud promise" to my Great Grandma B. 

My "learn something new every year" promise. 

(If you missed this whole out-loud promise info, check it out here.) 

Here's a quick review: 

When I was just a little girly,

my Great-Grandma B made me promise, out-loud,

to learn something new every year. 

She said that women were under-rated and under-appreciated,

and WE could do something about that

(She might have been pointing her quilting needle at me at the time,

punctuating her emphatic-ness, I don't remember!).

(yes, emphatic-ness is a word)

So, I made that out-loud promise. 

Out-loud to myself, and out-loud to Great-Grandma B. 

Sometimes I think ahead

to try and come up with something

I would like to learn to fulfill that promise. 

Most of the time it just sneaks into my life

and I realize that I just learned my "something new" for the year.

There are SOOOO many things to learn. 

So many things to try. 

So many things to finish

(among other things:  quilts, quilts, more quilts).

I don't want to waste the time I am given. 

I think that things happen for a reason. 

We ask the good Lord above for guidance. 

And we receive. 

Sometimes we receive exactly what we asked for. 

Sometimes we receive exactly what we didn't ask for, but needed. 

Most of the time we receive what we need,

but don't know why we needed it until much, much, later.

Because it's time for my 51st trip around the sun to begin,

I've been thinking about another great opportunity

to learn something new again this year. 

To fulfill my promise. 

To myself. 

To Great-Grandma B.

What shall it be, what shall it be?

WINNER, learn something new every year promise, prairie points/rick rack

"What new thing have you learned this year???  That was the question that I asked you to leave a comment about. This is in regards to my out loud promise to my GGB.  There are soooo many things that you and I have learned this year - hand-stitching blackwork, machine applique two different ways (yes, that counts as two!), quilting outside the "box", being a grandma, trusting your own instincts, that blogging can be hard but exciting, teaching driving to a 16 year old, delivering kid goats, and pivoting a horse. 


For inquiring minds:  the thing that I learned that I couldn't learn, no matter how hard I tried, was playing the harmonica.  But...I will keep trying.  It might not be pretty, but I will continue to try!  he he he, sorry sweetie!
Thanks for all of your comments.  It was nice to see all the different things that we are learning!

And the WINNER is:  drumroll please.....

Jennifer!!!

Jennifer said... Hi Debra, great post! This year, I have learned to do machine applique in two ways (does that count as two things?) and also to trust my instincts when it comes to online friends...in many ways, you are what you blog...happy people usually blog happy things and the opposite is probably also true!
So, congratulations, Jennifer - email me your mailing address and I'll get this in the mail a.s.a.p.
 And now a new product review:
I played with a new gadget recently:  http://quickpointsruler.blogspot.com/  The prairie point/ric rac cutter.  When I first heard of it at market, "they" were calling it a "ric rac cutter".  And I thought - "why would I ever need to cut fabric in the shape of ric rac and then finish all those edges????"


So, a gadget-y friend and I tried it out.  We used the one that is about 35 inched long and 8 inches wide and makes prairie points that are 2 inches long.   Result?:  pretty easy to use, kind of weird cutting into the fabric strip with the rotary cutter.  You still have to cut into the fabric a little more with scissors, but easy to fold the points and iron.  And seems to make prairie point making go pretty fast!  

I am now thinking about putting prairie points around my Crazy Patch Pumpkin to finish it off.

 What do you think?  Orange or green prairie points?  Maybe alternating orange and green?
I am leaning on putting them on as an outside border, facing out.  Let me know what you think.

Now, back to quilting!
Thanks again for all the blog love.
Hope your day is going quiltingly! Or grandma-ly, or pivot-ly, or appliqueing-ly.  Oh, you understand - all the new things you have learned-ly! 

50th post already? That means a giveaway!!!

**giveaway closed**

EDIT:  I received two more fabric swap envelopes in the mail on Saturday!!!
Thanks Katy and Esther!!!  I think that's all 6!!! (If the mystery one was Jennifer.)  Maybe I will open them TOMORROW?!  Thanks, all!
Five-zero.  The big five-O.  5 and ought!
I can't believe that I am up to 50 blogging posts! (And under 50 days before Christmas!--eeek)
Back in August, when I started this little thingy, and I really didn't know what I was doing, (like I really know what I'm doing here now!) I just decided it was going to be my "thing to learn this year".   Way back in the 60's, yes I said the 60's!, when I was just a little girly, my great-grandma made me promise her, an Out-Loud Promise, that I would learn something new every year.  She said that women were under-rated and under-appreciated, and WE could do something about that. 
I grew up and married and started my own household; I learned something new every year...most years it was done unconsciously.  At some point I looked back and realized that I WAS LEARNING SOMETHING NEW EVERY YEAR! 
And as my children grew, and my life became a little less hectic, I began to sometimes consciously chose new things to learn every year.   
Sometimes the new thing I learned chose me.    And, one time, in particular, what I learned was that the new thing I learned was something I couldn't do, no matter how hard I tried!!  But, I WAS keeping my Out Loud Promise to Great-Grandma. 
So, I have learned something new every year. And this was the year that I took my journaling to electronic heights!  Just for me.  And for the Out Loud promise I made to my Great-Grandma B.
So In honor of my 50th post and in honor of Great-Grandma B, and the season - a giveaway!!!  And because of my Great-Grandma B, there are so many different things that I have learned, that I like to do and create, that would be a good give-away gift!  After pondering this for awhile, I have chosen a few things that I think know came about because of my out loud promise to Great-Grandma B:

One person will win all of the following:

One of my stitchery patterns, one of my pincushions & pattern and an inspiring book: 
First: My punkin' orange-work pattern called the "Pumpkin Tree" with fabric kit, floss, needle & hoop.
Second: one of my pincushions & my pattern Pumpkin Pincushions (in case you want to make a whole pumpkin patch of pincushions).  This little cutie does double duty as a pincushion or as table decor through Thanksgiving!
And third:  An autographed copy of "Out of the Box" by Mary Lou Weidman.  (This was a book that I picked up at Quilt Market.  I spoke with the author as she signed my copy and found in her a kindred spirit in creativity.  My creativity comes out in a more folky style than hers though!)

So, if you'd like to try for a chance to win this give-away, just leave a comment here before midnight , EST, Sunday, November 15th, and I will do a random draw on Monday, November 16th! 
Just tell me "What two new things* that you think I have learned to do over the years because of my out loud promise to my Great-Grandma B." *no fair picking quilting or blogging!  Or, tell me two new things that you have learned this year!

Thanks for stopping by!