2016 Flew Past

I didn’t start out planning a prolonged blog break, but that’s what happened.  Since it’s the last day of 2016, I wanted to do a wrap up post before turning over a new leaf for 2017.

Since my last post, we spent a week on the Texas Coast at Port Aransas for our birthaversary celebration.  This has become a tradition for us as my birthday, Bob’s birthday and our anniversary, not to mention Christmas, fall within a 30-day span starting late November.  It’s our gift to each other.

The weather was not ideal this year.  This was the type of view we had of the shore most days. The color in  these photos is fairly accurate.

Even the birds didn’t want to be out and about, although I saw surfers in the water every day.

…But I soon found that if I bundled up I could enjoy the sound of the surf and the taste of the salt air as I walked along the shoreline.  Most days I got my 10,000 steps in.  

I took my machine for working on bow tie blocks.  (The collection of blocks on my design wall is growing slowly.)

…And my hexagons, which I worked on both in the condo and in the car.

When we returned, this sweet squishy package from Debbie at Stitchin' Therapy was waiting for me.  I’m still pondering how to use these, but I’m thinking about a cover for my 2017 journal.  The one about letting go of what I can’t control is especially apropos.  Thank you so much, Debbie!

So, ready or not, 2017 is arriving right on schedule in a few short hours, and I’m wishing everyone happiness and health.

Scrap Happiness

Scrappy quilts make my heart sing in so many ways.  I’ve managed to complete two more bow tie sections and added them to my design wall.  The secondary designs created by the layout are becoming more evident.  I hope to have the opportunity to do more work on this project over the next week.  It’s a great stress reducer.

I’m linking to Scraptastic Tuesday.

A Prepping Sort of Day

My quilting activities Saturday were pretty much limited to prepping projects and not actually sewing.  Oh, how I miss it when I can’t sit down to a machine and just stitch my seasonal stress away! 

I’m closing in on completing the first stage of this Becky Goldsmith project.  Five more leaves need to be stitched down, then the blocks go together and the next stage of applique begins.

I also did a lot of fabric pairing and cutting for my hexagon project.  While I was at it, I cut some of the remnants of this project into units for bow tie blocks. 

I should be ready to roll the next time an opportunity presents itself for some handwork, but that probably won’t happen today. 

Festivities Have Begun

I join friends for a day of sewing every Tuesday.  Today was our holiday gathering and, honestly, there was more eating than sewing.  Chocolate was involved.  It was fortunate that my weigh-in was yesterday and I’m not scheduled for another one until January.

I managed to complete a few bow tie blocks using some of the fabric Debbie sent. 

…And there was some dumpster diving (I have no shame) for more scraps to add diversity to the project.

Tomorrow is the Guild Christmas party.  I am quite sure there will be chocolate there too.  Then, hopefully a return to saner eating habits.

Squishy Mail and Potholders

I took advantage of a very wet weekend with no urgent need to be out and about to replenish my basket of potholders for gift giving.  I completed 16 in all and I was very happy this task did not morph into yet another UFO.  They came entirely from stash and are strictly utilitarian in nature.  Even the centers were castoff terry cloth towels and heat resistant batting remnants that a friend was going to trash.

I also received a sweet squishy envelope from Debbie at Stitchin' Therapy.  When she saw a recent post about my scrappy bow tie blocks she kindly forwarded some scraps for it.  A bonus was that many of these cuts were already 1 ½ inches wide, the starting dimension for the sub-units.  Thank you so much, Debbie!  I have already cut them up and have them sitting by my machine. 

There is always one week in the Christmas season during which everything social seems to get scheduled.  This is the week for me and I am so glad I had the slow weekend in which to catch my breath.  After two very moist weeks that brought us more than 2 inches of rain, the weather is expected to start clearing and cool down some more.  Lights are going up all over town and it’s beginning to look and feel very much like Christmas.