Aging Eyes

This seems to be the year for handwork for me. Hubby sees me every night straining to see every little stitch. He suggested I get one of these Ott Lights when a magnifying glass attached. How did he even know about these???? He has a friend at work (a guy) who does counted cross stitch and swears by his Ott Light with a magnifying glass.

Joann's has them on sale for 50% off this week, so I picked one up yesterday. I'll try it out tonight.
One of my bees is having an optional challenge this year to make a quilt with men's ties. I have a drawer full of them, so I'm in. I pulled a few out this afternoon, along with a piece of wool. Hmm. My wheels are spinning!
I haven't had time for much sewing today. I'm up to my ears in my parents' will, their insurance policies, and the internet. I've been assigned the task of figuring out how to get my Dad into a nursing home when he doesn't want to go. We think he knows something is up, but we haven't broken the news to him yet. I'll be the one to do that dreaded deed.

Another BOM Done!

I finished my first Lollypop Tree block! So far, so good on my year of BOM's. Three different BOM projects, three blocks completed in January with a few days to spare. Plus one "playtime" block made from the scraps of the BOM's. This year I'm committed to being more PRODUCTIVE in all aspects of my life, including quilting. I'm so excited that it's working!

I also worked on another quilt yesterday (for my new book); sorry, I can't show that yet, but I'm thrilled with the way it's turning out!

It's a cold, rainy day today- perfect for staying in and getting some quilting done, along with a bit of housework. Plus I'm going to be looking into getting Power of Attorney over my parents at my mom's request. Dad will turn 87 in a couple of weeks, and Mom will be 81 later this year. She realizes that I need to be able to make decisions in case one of them becomes unable to do so. It's hard to watch what the aging process has done to my Dad, in particular. I'm afraid he'll have to go to a nursing home within the next year, and I know he will not be happy about it. Luckily, they do have an insurance policy which will cover a good portion of the cost. But it's not something I'm looking forward to.

Taking Time to Play

I took a few minutes to play this afternoon. I've been using Kaffe Fassett fabric for both my Lollypop Trees and my Baltimore Christmas block. I keep a small plastic bin beside my applique chair (my recliner), and I've been throwing all the little scraps in it. So today I took the bin up to my studio and stitched away. I let my intuition take over and tried not to think about what I was doing too much.

I trimmed it to 9 1/2 inches when I thought I was done. So if I keep this up, I'll have another lovely stack of blocks at the end of the year.
Don't forget to check out my new blog, Live A Productive Life. This week (starting tomorrow) I'll be focusing on saving money at the grocery store. I saved almost 40% on groceries last week (without a single coupon). And it's not too late to enter to win a Brother Label Maker!

Need More Time to Quilt?

Doesn't everyone need more time? Do you ever feel at the end of the day (or week, or month, or year!) that you didn't really accomplish anything? You look back and wonder what you did. I know I do this a LOT! I think most of us waste tons of time without realizing it.
I would love to be more productive and I'll bet you would, too. I read other quilters' blogs and I'm often amazed at what some of them are able to accomplish - quilt after quilt after quilt! But it's not just about quilting. I want to be more productive and efficient in all areas of my life. I want my housework to be streamlined. I want to spend less time running dreaded errands. I want to save money in all aspects of my life, starting with groceries.

The ironic thing about my productivity goal, is that I was trained to be an efficiency expert! I have a degree in Industrial Engineering, which is about being efficient and productive. Go figure! Somehow my training and work experience never made it into my home life. But that's about to change!

So how do we start? I know you're wondering! The answer is simple. We'll start this journey together. I'm starting a new blog, Live a Productive Life. We'll get organized together, learn to save money together, learn to make our days on this Earth really count! Isn't that what it's all about?
So if you want to join the bandwagon, go to Live a Productive Life. I'm starting off with a giveaway - you don't want to miss it! It's something that will really help in getting started.

By the way, the top two pictures are of my first finish for this year. This was a commission quilt. I have now officially retired from commission quilts for the time being. I only did this one because it was for a Very Important Person. I couldn't say no. But that was the old me!

So now I'm back to working on my Lollypop Trees.

Another BOM finish and a New Hobby

Ta Dah! I finished the January Sue Spargo BOM last night by appliqueing the little red circles around the center of the flower.
The little wool circles are only a quarter of an inch across. So how do you cut such little circles? With a hole punch!
Hopefully the pictures are much less blurry today than yesterday. I tried really hard to focus!
In the last couple of weeks, I've picked up a new hobby. The best thing about it is that it doesn't cost anything! In fact, it's a hobby that saves me money. What could be better?

Daughter 2 has a friend who got her started with couponing for groceries and personal care items. I really didn't think much about it at first. The thought of spending hours clipping coupons and organizing them to save a few cents here and there has never appealed to me. BUT, the more I heard stories of how much she's been saving, the more intrigued I'm become. There's a great website (more on that in the near future) that guides you through the process at any given grocery store or drug store. It takes minimal time to get organized and start saving big bucks.

I'm just getting started, but I'm amazing at what I can do already. Yesterday I went to Walgreens - not for medicine, but for a few items they have on special this week. I didn't even use a coupon! Here's my receipt:
You can see that I spent $14.36 and my savings were $14.37! I saved more that I spent! Plus I came home with a $3.00 coupon for my next purchase there.

I bought:
2 Arm and Hammer Laundry Detergent (buy one get one free)
1 Deoderant (on sale)
1 box of Kellogg's Raisin Bran (on sale)
2 packages of gum (on sale)

I think that's pretty darn good considering how expensive dry cereal and laundry detergent have gotten.

Don't worry - we're not hurting for money or anything like that. But why not save when you can? It's really rewarding to come home from a shopping trip knowing that I saved so much on items I needed to buy anyway. And I figure that saving money is almost like making money.

Wooly Weekend

Late last week, the mailman brought my January kit for the Sue Spargo block of the month. Oh what a yummy delight! It came with everything: lots of wool, a bit of cotton, some velvet, some of the most colorful and unusual embellishing threads, plus complete instructions. I had the option of ordering the wool thread to applique the wool pieces to the background - I ordered it and I'm so glad I did! Each month I'll build on my wool thread collection so by year's end, I'll have a really nice variety for future use.

I started with the wool applique, seen above.
Then the beautiful embellishing stitches are done. Each month Sue teaches me (through her thorough instructions) 4 new stitches.

These pictures are blurry today - almost every picture I took is blurry. My eyesight must be a bit off today. Have I mentioned I have REALLY poor eyesight?

This project is off the beaten track for me - and that's a good thing! It's nice to start the year leaning something new. So far I'm on schedule this month for my three BOMs. The Sue Spargo BOM goes very quickly; I'm really glad one of the three is quick. I've already finished my Baltimore Christmas January block (the angels) and have started the February block. And my first Lollypop Tree block is coming along nicely.

Funny news for the day:
My son-in-law is a teacher. For now he's doing lots of subbing until he can get a permanent job in the Fall. Today he's subbing for a teacher who teaches Chemistry......and Quilting! My advice to him was to be careful with rotary cutters, always sew with right sides together, and maintain a quarter inch seam allowance. The basics, right?

Soup and Houses

What a nice day! I woke up still feeling rough, but I dug into my list from yesterday and actually accomplished some things. And then after a yummy bowl of roasted vegetable soup (leftover from the weekend) for lunch, I started feeling better. It's about time!
The day just kept getting better and better. The mailman brought me a wonderful prize - I won house blocks from Beth at Love Laugh Quilt! Back in December I sent her a house block for her challenge, and low and behold, she drew my name! Don't you love this Peace house?
And this adorable one with the owlie in the window?
I love me some owlies! I received nine 12-inch house blocks and I can't wait to put them together.

So before I go to bed, I'll make another list and maybe tomorrow will be another productive day.