A list for 2014 ~

A list to keep those 'squirrel' moments at a minimum.

Keeping with a theme, 'learn' here is my list of projects I would like to make in this year:

Quilts ~
:: Triangles learning points and angles. Tutorial and pattern here.
:: Clam Shell curves, this quilt is so pretty!
:: Flying Geese, get all my geese flying in the right direction

Geese Around the World. Pattern from Quilting From Small Things.
My 'Geese' are going in the opposite direction than the pattern shows

Knitting ~
:: Socks. I can knit in the round, increase and decrease but those pesky heels, this is the part I must master.

Baking ~
:: Sponge Cake sounds delicious and so versatile
:: Macaroons  because they look so pretty
:: Biscuits because mine are used for door stoppers

***if you have a 'go to' recipe I would love to try it!***

Cooking ~
:: Pumpkin ravioli with sage butter sauce
:: Add different items to our dinner menu like beef or pork tenderloin. I am hungry for dinner already.

Learn to finish quilts before the stack reaches a Princess in the Pea height.

Continue to make blocks for Green Tea and Sweet Beans & 163 Patchwork Favorites.

What does your list look like?

Happy New Year ~

found on pinterest

New Year's is here and a new 'word' must be found. I have silently adopted the 'One Little Word' approach for myself instead of making a New Year's Resolution. One word can be powerful. My past words were, Enjoy, Edit & Easy and in that order. I noticed that they all began with the letter E, weird. This year I am thinking it will be 'learn'. I have a list of things I want to learn, need to learn and would be great to learn. I find that once I choose a word I find other meanings and applications. That is one part of the journey.

So may the macaroons, biscuits and sponge cake be tasty. May the free-motion quilting be easier. May I find new inspiration for dinners for my family and friends. May I be a more concise and interesting blog writer. And most of all, may my list grow. I do like to learn, it makes life an adventure!

Happy ~

New Year!

I have decided on my 'word' for the year and I think it is "easy". Now I say I think because last year I thought I had a word and for many reasons had to follow a different word which was 'edit'. From editing closets and nooks and crannies to my thoughts it was sometimes difficult.  

Enjoy and edit have served me well and I still use them as accessory or support words. A way of checking in with myself and giving me some direction when I feel scattered or overwhelmed. Easy is not just a word to make life easier because as we all know that is simply not the case. I choose 'easy' to be easier on myself and others. A way of taking things down a knotch, so to speak. To find the joy in an easier way of doing the daily chores, interacting with people and supporting the family. I think easy might allow me to spend more time doing instead of rushing ~ we will see

My plan for the day is to make some bread, because I haven't made bread in quite a while, helping set up a trampoline and taking it easy. Oh how it works beautifully!

Have a happy easy day

Oatmeal cookies for breakfast?

cheater OJ tea

 

oatmeal cookies 

tomatoes

before....

     When we get the sniffles I make an oj tea inspired by the book Kitchen Playdates. Instead of juicing the fruit, I purchase the orange and grapefruit juices, throw in the thyme spring and a cut lemon and heat it up on the stove. lazy...... I have made this elixir from fresh fruit and I do recommend this method...but if you are feeling sick, it is quicker to purchase the juice instead. I store the oj tea in mason jars and keep it in the fridge. We heat it tea up in a mug and sweeten it with honey. The aroma of thyme, citrus and honey is perfect. I purchased this book many years ago in an attempt to find food that dd #4 would eat. She is our little 'air fern'.

      I was craving an oatmeal cookie. They actually go quite nicely with the oj tea. From the Fanny Farmer Cookbook, I have had forever, this is my 'go to' recipe for oatmeal cookies. Like with everything thing I do I have to personalize it.... I added a teaspoon of vanilla, use half shortening and half butter and am generous with the molasses. They have egg, oatmeal, butter, molasses, raisins...perfect cookie for breakfast...most of the food groups represented.

      The tomatoes in the garden are growing rapidly. There are so many tiny yellow flowers. We will have more tomatoes then we know what to do with. And in our backyard, sad grass, which will become a larger garden with flowers, herbs, vegetables, melons and a bean pole in the center. It will measure 23' x 16', if I remember correctly. After the success of the little garden, I am ready for the next adventure. 

       More pictures to come...progress on the Mara Shawl (edging) and I decided to cut my stack of Children at Play fat quarters (purchased at Alewives Fabrics on-line) for a Ferris Wheel quilt pattern found on both "Twin Fibers" and "Q is for Quilter" blogs. I now understand why many bloggers have WIP's, works in progress. Because as I look around my room, I see all the projects still waiting to be completed. When I began crafting and sewing and quilting and knitting I told myself that I would first complete my project before starting another. This lasted a year or so. Then as I read this blog and that blog, wandered around various Pinterest boards and ooh and awed over this project and that, I too have accumulated a variety of WIP's. But it gives me options, keeps me interested and eventually they are finished. It is much more enjoyable to work on something interesting.  

      Two things about 'my' One Little Word....Last years and this years word began with the same letter, weird or not. And this years word, edit, is so hard. I guess I need the growth.So in the spirit of my one little word I will edit something then I can play with fabric as my treat.

      Enjoy your day

Edit

Inspired by Ali Edwards' blog "One Little Word", I chose enjoy for the year 2011 and that little word helped me adjust my attitude for those things that I did not enjoy doing, such as: housework, cooking, driving kids here, there and everywhere, you know, the things that become mundane and ever present. I was excited this year to find her blog again (it had been a whole year) and I chose the word inspire, also thinking it had chosen me....I was wrong. I hope there are not rules for your chosen word.

 I am finding that the word edit is really my word for the year....I am editing what I think, eat, my room, shelves, closet, stuff, what we watch, how I spend my time... you get the idea. Because I want to find more time to do the things I like, I am editing out those that I have outgrown or are no longer relevant/important. I have also asked my darling daughters to do the same. For them, asking them to edit their rooms instead of cleaning seems to be a much simpler task.


Enjoy still follows me around, like a little friend reminding me to enjoy the things I am doing or even to find joy in doing. Maybe that is the point of having a 'word' for the year. After many years I will have a collection of words that defines me, that has made me better and perhaps has made the world and my family a little better or at least happier.