Looking into a Crystal Ball

Does anyone have a crystal ball or even an eight ball? I could use one to figure out 2018, quilty wise! Or maybe it's better to ask dear old Dad. We all know "Father Knows Best."

 

1954 Cast of Popular TV Series: "Father Knows Best"

Oh yay! Dad says he's absolutely certain I'm going to have a great quilty year! Hurray for 2018! Hurray for Dad!

And now, The Word for the Year. A couple of years ago, people starting adopting a word to help them or help them focus for the coming year. I've thought of one of them this year!

FIX

Yup, FIX encompasses a few ideas for my 2018 quilting.

• I have a few quilts that need some fixing, do you have that problem? Mostly they are seams that are coming apart. My grandson´s first quilt, Chris the Fireman, has that problem. He is now 17 years old and I gave it to him when he was 2. It seems about right for a quilt this age to have frays. The interesting part is that it has NEVER been washed!

  

  TELL ME IT'S NOT TRUE! P.U.!

• My quilt: The Seventies Are Calling; They Want Their Fabric Back, was Quilt-As-You Go. The hand-stitching to finish the sashing has come apart and I think I'll fix that by sewing the sashing by quilting it on the machine.
• One more quilt that I'm aware of: one that my husband picked out from Bed, Bath & Beyond. We bought it when we first moved to our new city in 1999. We really liked the pattern and still do. It is now bursting out of its seams. Well, so am I, ahem, but both the quilt and I have the same reason: we're getting older.
• I don't have pictures of lots of my quilts and Aunt Marie's quilts. The pictures of most of my quilts are pictures of blocks or something happening along the way.
• The last definition of FIX! is putting labels on my quilts and my Aunt Marie's quilts. Quilt labels are a rock-solid necessity. My Aunt didn't label her quilts; therefore, I have not information on when she quilted them. Her quilts are incredible! Just as important as dates is information on why the quilt was made and whom it was intended for. You can make one simple like on the left or one more informative.

 UFO's

I have a v-e-r-y, v-e-r-y long list of UFOs. In fact when I was trying to figure out which quilts needed fixing, I notice that the majority of quilts I have are not done! I am only taking on 4 quilts I want to finish this year. I've been slow at finishing my quilts, even with being retired!

1.  Firstest's Graduation Quilt It is due in June and not even started, although I have the fabric and     pattern
2.  Put together the top of Growing Up Odd

3.  Quilt Give and Take
     This one's to have joint custody between my hubby and myself and will be hand-quilted.

 4.  Make 8 more Soul Searching RSC (Rainbow Scrap Challenge) 2015 blocks and sew them  together to make top.

These are a picture of blocks made by someone else for RSC.

Sa lang tid for nu.

I'm of Danish descent. This phrase is "So long for now" in Danish. Just so you know, the "a" in "Sa" actually has a circle above it.

Design Walls, Germs and A Year of Lovely Finishes

Well, hey! It's good to see everyone again!

I did some re-arranging, twiddling and tweaking and got my blog a new look! What do you think? I love it, which probably doesn't need to be said. I wanted something lighter and whimsical, cause I'm that kind of gal! I went to Shabby Blogs on the recommendation from another blog that I found through Google. They have all elements for designing your blog and it's FREE! I highly recommend them! I used the background from them. Then I was able to use the Advanced Template in Blogger to get the rest like I wanted. I had been trying and trying to change link colors, tab colors, font headings, etc. It would never take. Five stars from me for Shabby Blogs.

It's been a week since anyone has seen or heard from me. I'm still fighting the virus. Plus the newly diagnosed sinus infection. My doctor said it will take 3-8 weeks to get over all this. The biggest, and weirdest for me is I can hardly hear anything!

It began the afternoon when the phone rang while I was hanging out in our family room. I actually could hear the phone in the kitchen on my right, it was weak, but I could hear it. What I couldn't figure out is why the phone on the table to my left wasn't ringing. It was! I couldn't hear it.

Being a great fan of Nancy Drew, I began to put things together. I had thought our water pressure had gone down lately. Nope. I couldn't hear the water running as well as before. There was the morning where my alarm almost didn't wake me. I couldn't figure out how I had managed to turn down the volume for the alarm. I didn't. I could just barely hear it!

If you've ever wondered what a Prius sounds like but didn't want to go on a test drive to find out, I can tell you now. When I drive my car,  I can't hear my engine running. I can't hear any ambient sound. Is this the Sounds of Silence that Simon and Garfunkle sang about.

Last night, my hubby and I rented Interstellar to watch on our TV. We usually have the volume around 20-24. Last night my hubby maxed out the sound at 35. I still couldn't hear everything. If someone was talking low, I had to put my hand to my ear to hear better. I never did hear any soundtrack.

It's a little odd being in a very quiet world. I talk so soft that people can't hear me. I think I'm talking normally because that's the way it sounds to me. I went to the bank today. The bank was so silent. It's like the dead stillness when you're in fog or when the snow is falling. I got in line and saw a nearby teller talking to a customer; I could hear nothing. I realized I had to keep my eye on both tellers to know when I would be next.

I'm thrilled I can still hear my music. If I play it at 11. (A joke for all of you who ever watched Spinal Tap.)

*insert some clever segue to quilting here*

I really haven't quilted much in over two weeks. But here goes...

A Lovely Year of Finishes and
2015 Year of Finishes 2nd Quarter

February's intended finish was to put the borders on Bricks and Stepping Stones and have it sandwiched ready to quilt. I got one border put on. My grandpa always told me, You never want to rush up on something!

My quilts tend to always be quite long. My son's 6'3", My husband and I are 5'11" and 5'10". A lap quilt to me is one that will cover you from shoulders to toes. I certainly don't disappoint on this one!

This is a free Bonnie Hunter pattern called Bricks and Stepping Stones. The Bricks are 3.5"x 6.5" rectangles. My Aunt Marie had a box of cut "Bricks" and it was so much fun to use them!

My only design wall I have at this time is my garage wall. I could have got a stepping stool and hung this baby up the correct way, but I thought I would just do it this way and change it in the photo editor. As it is, I liked it this way in the photo. Mind you, I had to stretch up on tippy-toe and stretch my arms all the way up to get this pinned this high.

I was very excited making this quilt right up until I sewed the body together. Then I just hated it. But by the magic of quilty-ness, I put on the one border and I love it. I had told my husband he could have it before I put on the one border. He had picked out the border materials and backing. With one border, I'm thinking I want it for my little self. 

My hubby is quite creative at thinking of names for my quilts. Hence, one quilt is named Jacques Cousteau's Undersea Adventure and another is The 70's Are Calling, They Want Their Fabric Back! You can see the quilts and their stories in the tab at the top, Quilt Provenances.

So now that I was playing footloose with who was going to own the quilt, he came up with a name for this one: Give and Take! It's a winner.

My goal for March is to put on the other border, sandwich and quilt half of it. Pretty ambitious for someone who is 7 days into April and hasn't done anything yet! I just want this done so much! I love it. It's classy scrappy. My hubby's going to love it!

My cat, Kaiju, and dog, Miko had to get in the picture too. They thought they were auditioning for quilt model pet. I haven't broke the news to them yet. Shhhh...it's a see-crud. (referenced to Trixie Belden's younger brother).

Right now, Miko has not seen a bath or a pair of clippers in a few months. When she gets to this stage we just pass her off as a mini-sheep dog. I just clipped the hair around her eyes, otherwise they would be covered too. Then it's unmistakeable. In her other life, she is an adorable Maltipoo. 

I'll be hooking up with some mighty fine quilters in displaying our lovely projects. See the sidebar on the right for a day by day guide to where I will be hooking up!

It's so good to be back with you lovely people.

I'm still trying to fix the comment problem. Right now, it's supposed to allow you to choose commenting as a Blogger or with a Google+ account. Let me know, please, if you were able to reply as a Blogger. The next step, if this doesn't work, is pretty drastic. I will take it if I must!

As always, you can email me at q_nonnie@yahoo.com with comments if the options aren't available below.

Gasp! New Years and New Goals!

Okay, okay, so maybe I'm panicking more than I should. Take a deep breath. Whew. Much better. If anyone gets in a tizzy about New Years goals, I suggest a paper bag.

Nope, Better, Getting Close, Now You've Got It!

         

Then again, I heard a new piece of advice. Have any of you watched Call the Midwife series on
PBS? Netflix has both seasons. It's a gem...a must-see. I'm working through the second season. The episode I watched, a mid-wife was helping a woman going through labor to calm down. Her advice: Recite the 23rd Psalm: "The Lord is my shepherd..." but take a deep breath between each line. The woman doesn't know the psalm, so the midwife suggests reciting a song with deep breaths stating she doesn't see why that wouldn't work. The woman starts singing, "Catch a falling star, Put it in your pocket..."  You might want to try this if you're over-wrought.

But I digress... Really are they going to put this on my headstone?

I'll be terribly truthful here. Now wait, I'm always terribly truthful. So why do I have to say this to start off?

I have always made New Year's Goals. Sometimes the same goals many, many years in a row. Like losing weight, saying my prayers daily, writing in a journal, reading scriptures daily. Those are the Top Four. And, not to brag, I have finally gotten to the point of saying my prayers daily and reading the scriptures daily. (After a decade or so!) Does writing a blog count as a journal? And I did lose 30 pounds 2 years ago, but have gained back 20 of it. Sniff. Sniff. Do I smell a repetitive New Years Goal in the making?

Sarah, over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, shared her NYGs and asked for others to chime in. I love to chime! (because I'm a ding dong?) Oh my, my humor today is taking on a fourth grade mentality. Of course I have three fourth graders on my caseload!

Keeping it quilty, here is what I hope am going to accomplish this year! Tally Ho!

PS: My links are in light blue. I haven't figured out how to change the link color.

Quilts To Finish

Log Cabin Wedding Quilt

10 Squares a Month

Progress 40/75 (not sure if it is 75)

Quilt Spider Web

Quilt Bricks and Stepping Stones

Upcoming Quilts

Continue on UFO's list

Next UFO: Farmer's Wife!
I have done 94 blocks--17 to go!

Modus Operandi!

Do not buy new fabric, except as needed
to finish a UFO.

New Things to Try

Keeping a Stash Count
because I love lists and numbers

Make two quilts for Phoenix Quilts
because my Dad was a firefighter

Keep up with A Lovely Finish 2014

Hopefully
Fingers Crossed!

I would like to have 50 followers by 12/31/14

Blog 3-4 times per week

And there you have it folks. My goals. And my dreams. I'm excited! I have to remember to be realistic because I work during the school year and my pace is slow. I'm also have a limited "up time" every day.

There are some really great blogs yesterday and today talking about New Years Goals. I'm hooking up with the wonderful Sandy at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Fresh Sewing Day I highly recommend checking out all of the other linked blogs there. Their buttons are in the right column.

God Bless.