Working on keeping it simple

Today I started working on my goal of "Keeping it simple and smile".  I anticipate that my phrase will encompass many areas of my life.  Today I decided that life would be much simpler if I worked on "decluttering" our kitchen.  I recently started reading a book called "The Life-changing Magic of Tyding up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing."  Some time back I received an email from Amazon with book suggestions that I might find interesting.  It caught my eye when I read "clear the clutter and find the calm motivated mind set it can inspire".  I'm still working my way through the book but was anxious to find that "calm motivated mind set" .  Who wouldn't want that?  So I decided to start on my way to de-cluttering.

The timing is perfect because Big Brother Big Sister will be in my neck of the woods on Monday to accept donations of clothing, toys or kitchen items.  That certainly puts a smile on my face and I'd like to think on theirs as well.  BBBS comes through our town on a monthly basis to accept donations so I hope to continue my decluttering on a regular basis.  According to my Tyding up book, a time frame of a year is reasonable for achieving your goal.  Seems reasonable to me.

I figure less clutter will lead to less time spent on housework and more time to stitch or knit or weave or read.  That certainly puts a smile on my face 😍.

Happy 2016!

I've spent quite a bit of time pondering the coming of the new year.  Typically people come up with New Years resolutions that they vow to follow in the coming year.  It has been my experience that these resolutions often include 1) Starting a new diet to shed unwanted pounds 2) Saving more $ and spending less and 3) trying to be a nicer or kinder individual.  Now, the problem with New Years resolutions is that one's efforts tend to last through January and the go down hill from there.  So I have been pondering how I would like to handle this New Year's custom.

One of my sisters (Mary) sent me a wonderful blog post from Kathy Quilts in which Kathy reflected on her accomplishments in 2015 rather than focus on what she wants to tackle in 2016.  I love the idea of focusing on what one has accomplished.  Especially when we tend to resolve to accomplish way more than what is really possible.  When one comes up with a lengthy list of resolutions, one is bound to fall short of these expectations.  Mainly because life happens and we can not pre-plan for everything that is going to occur on our life's journey.

I haven't done the best job this year when it comes to recording my creative accomplishments, so I won't be following Kathy's lead as far as reflecting on my accomplishments for 2015.  But I think I would like to do that for Jan. 1, 2017.  So rather than have resolutions or reflections for 2016, I have decided to focus on a phrase this year.......Keep it simple and smile.

Now how can I fall short of my goals if I just "Keep it simple and smile". And in doing so, maybe I'll be able to put a smile on your face too.

Wishing you all a healthy and happy 2016....until we meet again,

Paula

Special sister time

Where do the weekends go?  I spent a wonderful afternoon with my twin sister.  We took a boxwood tree floral class today.    If you water them fairly regularly they will hang around until Valentines Day.  We'll have to see how successful I will be at keeping this fresh looking.  I think the success rate will be better if I leave it in the kitchen.  So it is starting to feel a little more like Christmas.  I wish I had a picture of her tree too.  Here is picture of mine....

I also did a bit of shopping at the floral shop too.  Since I was under the weather during small business Saturday, I thought I would do my part today.

Aren't these little hedgehogs sooo cute?  They are hanging out in our little tree.  There is a third one hiding in there somewhere.

 And this just had to come home with me too....

Have a great week, everyone!

Back again

I think I'm finally back on track and hope to be blogging more regularly.  I've been nursing a cold since Thanksgiving but now appear to be on the mend.  I had committed to make two more RARE bears and succeeded in completing that task today. WoooHooo.  They really were fun to make.

My task is to make these flat guys and to send them on their way to California.  It's someone else's job to turn these flat guys into chubby, cuddley guys.  So what do you think?  It's hard to see, but the guy on the right has inspirational messages on his soon to be chubby tummy just like his friend has.

I also have been working on the sew along that Temecula Quilt Shop has been doing for their "We wish you a mini Christmas" sew along.  I am a bit behind..I have 7 of the 12 completed...

These guys are 2 and 3/4" square.  I love little quilt blocks.  They are just too cute.  Catching up on those will have to wait for another day.   

Hope you are enjoying your day.....

All about kids

This was my sewing for kids weekend.  I recently joined the RARE Bear Army.  The RARE Bear Army supports RARE Science, Inc. which is a non-profit organization that helps find cures for kids with rare diseases and supports programs for rare disease research.  I don't know if this really counts as a random act of kindness, but my goal for this year was to be more mindful of others and to to "perform" more acts of kindness.  I am truly blessed in so many ways and feel the need to share the wealth.

As a member of the RARE Bear Army, I have volunteered to "help make one-of-a-kind bears for special one of a kind kids- kids that suffer from a rare disease.  My first bear is ready to go in the mail tomorrow.  He's a flat bear at the moment.  My job was to make a bear to send back and someone else will embroider eyes and stuff him.

The soles of his feet say RARE Science and he has a numbered tag on his back which is his ribbon of authenticity. They send you the fabric and tag when you sign up to make a bear.  pretty cool huh?  Each quilter will receive a picture of the child that receives your bear.  I think that's kind of cool too.  I hope to make a bunch of these.  Now for part two of my sewing for kids session...

Lily's favorite vet tech is having a baby, so I spent the rest of this weekend making a baby quilt.

I fell in love with this pattern at the International Quilt Festival in Houston last week.  Aren't they the cutest little foxes? They were so fun to make.  It just needs backing, batting, and binding and then it will be good to go!  

Happy Sunday, everyone....

Weaving Weekend

I just got back from a fabulous three day workshop at the most wonderful little weaving school -Vavstuga in Shelburne Falls, MA.  My sister introduced me to this idyllic little spot some years ago and she and I have had such fun spending time together taking various classes there. 

The workshop we just attended was a backstrap weaving class given by Laverne Waddington.  This particular class was on Andean pebble weave which is done by weavers in South America.  Laverne is a fabulous teacher and very talented weaver.   She has a wonderful blog that you really need to check out (www.backstrapweaving.wordpress.com).  Here are a few pictures of some of some pieces that she brought to share and inspire.....

Aren't they just wonderful?  I haven't made tons of progress on the bands that I started weaving in the class, but I did learn quite a lot.  I have to admit that most of my learning was done in the process of "reverse weaving" and re-weaving the bands that I was working on.   But I really love this type of weaving and am so excited to do some more.  Here are my first attempts....

Aren't they sweet?  

Hugs and kisses

I spent last weekend working on a baby quilt for the music director of our church.  She shared the wonderful news a couple of weeks ago.  I'm just a little slow in sharing this cute little quilt with you.  I love making baby quilts....I had such a wonderful time picking out novelty prints.  I tried to find fabrics that would be special to the new mom and dad.  For instance, they have several furry family members so I found very cute dog and cat fabric and the cutest baby rock and roll fabric since mom loves music.  I have a bunch of fabric left over so I'm on the look out for another pattern to use them for in a 'worry not' quilt.

I came across a quilt pattern for a baby quilt in a magazine a while back.  The blocks were X's and O's to represent hugs and kisses.  Isn't that just perfect for a baby quilt?  I took that idea and added the notion of an I spy quilt. I have very fond memories of spending "quiet time" with my kiddos pointing to pictures in picture books.  So what could be better than a giant cuddly picture book.  And to take that idea one step further I used each of the novelty fabrics to construct one hug block and one kiss block.  So the quilt can be used to play a matching game too.

It's not quite finished yet...I still need to put the borders on.  Here's a couple of close ups so that you can see those cute fabrics....

 Aren't they fun?   My hope is that it gets thrown on the floor for play time or on the grass in the yard or at a park for picnics.   It is meant to be used and loved and for making memories.  Hopefully that goal will be achieved.