44

Yesterday I turned 44.  At a conference.  Away from my family.  The whole conference sang me Happy Birthday, which was a lovely touch.  I can safely say everyone will remember me, which is good, because in 2 years I have to actually plan the conference.

I did some crochet during the sessions.  I made some Christmas presents.  I sat in the back and made an effort to not disturb people.  No negative comments and actually some great conversations.   I wore the 2 sweaters that I made, and a  few folks figured out that I made them.  It was a good day for crafting.

Quilting is moving along slowly.  I am working on a YBR that is huge.  I have to make the back for section 10, sandwich it, quilt it and then work on assembling the quilt.  I hope to have it done by the end of this weekend so that I can sleep under it ASAP.  Tonight was seriously the last night I could wear shorts to go get Henry.

Time to unpack...

Enlarging the Font

Oh my, my eyes have aged.  Everything needs to go to a larger font.  Such is life.

Last week, Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville fame was at our guild.  I had hesitated at joining the guild, and I'm glad I did.  One of my Girl Scout friends is a former president of the guild, plus there are a few more interconnections in my life that led me to the guild.

Bonnie was wonderful.  Take the time to see her if you can.  While I have been following Bonnie for a while, there was still so much to learn and observe.  I got a lot from it.  Plus I went to Biaggi's with her for dinner, and I got to meet a few more guild people.  Totally worth the PTO.

Of course I now have 2 more UFOs!  Actually I will make lap sizes for both and donate to Relay for Life.  But first I need to finish my swap blocks for the Lady of the Lake swap.  Almost there.

Camp Loopy!!!

Yep, I am a proud camper this year!  Last year I tried and it didn't work out, but this year I was committed. 

All 3 projects are for me.  So there!

The first one is the Skoosh Shawl.  The criteria was to be inspired by a favorite book, movie, etc.  Using the line ‘never before have we clothed strangers in the garb of our people’ from Lord of the Rings, I made this shawl.  And in orange not green, because I could.  It lives at work in my cube for days when the A/C is going too strong in one building or room or another.

The second one is the Lincoln Cardi.  This one was to be about a vacation.  I was going to start it on vacation, so I was thinking something to do with either Laura Ingalls Wilder or Mount Rushmore, but oh no.  My family stepped in and said Washington DC, pandas and cherry blossoms.  OK, then.  So I hunted and found this pattern in a book called Capitol Knits and thankfully you can buy just the one pattern.  I made it in pink from a yarn by Lorna’s Laces that is named Galena, which is where General Grant is from.  Did I tell you I’m from Illinois?

The third one is Leaf Top.  This one was to be in your favorite colors, but I already did that with the Lincoln Cardi.  So this time, I took a cue from the Preppy Handbook, and went with useful (‘Useful” is used as often as “cute” in a girl’s wardrobe.).  A cream colored short sleeve sweater.   The first 30 rows were the design, so I took that one row at a time.  The rest was plain TV or car knitting and that went fast enough.

So it was a successful Camp Loopy.

And I finish just to find out about Loopy Academy.  ZOMG!

Far Too Long

Oh my it has been far too long.  Here’s where I stand:

The Lost Year, as I have called it, is over.  The grief year is not; but the Lost Year is.  When the beginning of August rolled around, things just felt better.  Things that had been frustrating me have now started to provide enjoyment again.  Decisions I had made during the Lost Year about my time commitments to other things and such now came to light and under the scrutiny of the light, still make sense as wise decisions.  I am pleased. 

I have decided to step down my activities for some of the volunteering I do.  I lead a lot when I volunteer and I am just tired.  I need to either be a worker bee or not even be a bee.  Someone asked me to volunteer for something in a few weeks and they seriously want is 2 hours of my time (3 with commute).  I can do that.  But meetings and planning and wrangling events and people?  I’m done.  I am succession planning many of those things so I don’t leave people high and dry.  For one effort, I am the past president, so I rotate off.  For another, I am in my third year of a three year term that ends basically in October.  For the other 2 volunteering things I do, they are both through work and for both I do some sort of committee / leadership work, but it’s not so bad. 

I am glad to be stepping down; my girl is in 8^th grade and next year will bring all sorts of things.  Heck, 8^th grade is bringing all sorts of things.

Knitting continues.  Look for a post all about knitting and what I did this summer.  I am through all my Camp Loopy projects.  Yay!  I am on my 9^th project for this year, which puts me about 2 weeks ahead of the pace.  I have projects 10, 11, 12 and even 13 bagged up and ready to go.  I feel so accomplished!

Quilting remains stalled.  It took a full 2+ months to get my machine back.  It’s hard when your dealer is far away.  However she is a fantastic dealer.  I have done some finishes this summer, mostly on new projects.  So the UFO number remains stalled as well.  I am OK with that.  Look for a post on all the finishes. 

The bigger question I am asking myself as we are in this lovely 3 day weekend (and 4 days for my kid – isn’t she lucky?) is how to enjoy and quilt away the last third of the year.  I have redone my 4 Fab 4’s, as I was done with 7 of the projects in the last 4 Fab 4’s.  I have decided that to start, this is how I will proceed.  Remember I break time into 2 weeks per calendar week, Monday through Thursday for 1 week and Friday through Sunday as the other week.  Trust me, it makes sense.  I also do stuff my pay period – that’s a longer list that gets allocated into the little weeks I set up for myself.

Week of August 29 – September 1 (Labor Day falls into this week):

Cut and sew at least 3 sets of 12 blocks for LOTL swap.

Prepare  / cut fabric for Bonnie Hunter Workshops next weekend.

By the 09/11 paycheck.  This gets me moving on at least one quilt in each of the Fab 4’s.

Finish one section of the YBR.

Join 2 sections of the YBR.

Finish LOTL swap blocks.

Make sense of Christmas fabs and cut for both Christmas quilts.

Dig out Advent Calendar and finish making date pockets.

Stay tuned for more…