UFO No. 1

A quick baby quilt

Here  is the first of my pledged-to-finish UFO’s for Jacquie’s Joy in the New Year Challenge.  A quick baby quilt from some Timeless Treasures fat quarters my boss gave me.

bunnies & bees & frogs & pigs, Oh My!

Just 5″ squares cut and sewn together. And some Kaffe Fassett Clover print for the backing.

Ribbit!

Done and ready to send to a friend for their recent addition to the family.  Now… onward to the next UFO.

Regrouping

Where the Red Chairs go for the winter*

Every so often I feel the need to cocoon and energize. I think I am an introvert by nature and need time alone to refocus, regroup and go forward. Know what I mean?  And that’s where I’ve been.  Spending more time inward. Living a little more slowly.  Unfortunately, the blogging side of life gets pushed to the back burner.   I am sorry.  I do appreciate your visits and comments!  Really, I do!

So, today I’m giving myself a gently kick in the tush to get back to blogging a little more regularly again.  It’s dawning on me that the holidays are just around the corner and I’m afraid that if I blink, they might pass me by.  And…  I pledged to finish 6 non-work related projects by the end of the year for Jacquie’s Joy in the New Year Challenge.  Time is running  out!  I’m amazed at some of the double digit UFO’s that others have pledged to finish. You are brave!  Brave, indeed.

The Neighbor Dogs

While the sun happened to be shining today, I spent some time taking photos of quilts in the back yard.  The entire time I was outside, the neighbor’s Great Dane, Bounder, kept barking at me. And it’s not just a tiny little bark. It’s a deep, echoing bark.  You’d think after all these years he’d recognize me! Nope, I’m a new wonder to greet each and every time.

And another random thought… does anyone know anything about computer monitor color calibration?  I got a new notebook computer a couple of months ago and am struggling with the color.  All the reds and oranges on my screen appear neon.  I’ve even purchased the Spyder3 Express to help color calibrate the monitor.  While the reds are a little less neon, they are still in the neon range.  I’ve been jumping between my computer and my hubby’s computer to compare. But that is getting old.  Any thoughts on the subject would be more than greatly appreciated!

*The red chairs have gone to the other side of the house for the winter – under the eaves where, hopefully, there will be more protection from the rain.  I heard on the news that for the month of November we have already gotten twice the amount of rain we normally get.  I’m not sure what that is saying about the winter ahead of us.  Hopefully it means that the skiing in the mountains will be good, but the streets in our neighborhood will be snow-free.

Did You See This?

Coming in January 2010 from American Quilter’s Society. No need to spend your life savings on the first edition any more. I’m so excited!

There’s Pumpkin in My Chili!

Turkey Pumpkin Chili

That was one weird cold that I had last week.  The first few days acted like a cold and the last couple of days felt like I was recovering from the flu (no flu symptoms to speak of in between).  And I’m SO glad to be over that!  All that I accomplished last week was to knit about 15 inches on the back of my sweater vest and read the book “C is for Corpse” by Sue Grafton. The rest of the time I lied around on the sofa watching movies.  A friend turned me on to the Sue Grafton series and I diligently started out with “A is for Alibi”.

Pumpkin is creeping into everything around here!  I had some pumpkin left over in the fridge and decided to use it up in some Turkey Pumpkin Chili.  Loosely based on this recipe, doctoring up the spices a bit and adding black beans instead of kidney beans and chicken stock instead of water.  Use at your own risk.

UFO Challenge

And did you see that Jacquie is hosting a UFO Challenge?  Count how many UFO’s you have hiding in your closet and start out the New Year with as many as possible finished!  I hear she’s giving away some great prizes.

I’ve got to go see how many I actually want to count. And now that I’m feeling better, I am starting to get the urge to purge.  I definitely need to catch up this week and then…  who knows?  I think I’m going to take on the challenge so that there might be a little more Joy in the New Year in my sewing room.  How about you?

Winterly

Tunic Vest with a Cable

Between intermittent downpours of rain outside and my sniffly nose cold inside, I think an afternoon of knitting and catching up on blogs might just be what the doctor would order.