2014 : Little by Little - Bit by Bit MAKE A LIST!

Do you have the feeling in life that you are gaining ground? Are you getting better with age? I would answer that.... "I hope so but  I am hesitant to say it with an exuberant Yes."  I have rounded the corner in the last era of my life, my daughters have grown up and have moved on. They run their own show now. My job of trying to grow my children into responsible adults is over.  My life now has a different focus.  I am on a mission for the next 50 years....  Growing ME :) going deeper, refining silver into gold if that is possible.  I don't have life all figured out. Yes I am 56 years old and sometimes feeling that I am still in the process of Growing Up.  For the next 50 years I want to feel like I have figured out a few things here and there for Me and I hope to be wiser and happier for it.  I know life is a journey and it will be a mix of  learning new ways to get the most out of my days and other days feeling like somethings will never change.  At this stage of life my patterns of living are pretty established.  I feel like I wouldn't know how to bring about change if change is needed. More than once I have wondered what it would be like to have a Life Coach.  Surely I am not alone in starting well with great enthusiasm, but soon puttering out and not finishing well.  My struggle that last few years has been about being a better finisher.  Last year I bought a pocket size  set of polk-a-dot composition note books.   I needed a little motivation to be a better finisher.  On one notebook I wrote the title...  FINISHED PROJECTS!!  Through the year I wrote down each project that I finished.  A total of 15 things I finished in 2014!!!!  Amazing!
For me I discovered that with days that slip away it was encouraging to keep track of things that I finished.  Some times I still feel like a mother stringing beads on a string with no knot at the end.

Here is my list.

1.   Made 3 Christmas ornaments for my Grand children
      romancing the polar vortex here
2.   Hung an mirror in my daughters massage room
3.   Finished My Frost Bite quilt     tips from a turtle here
4.   Finished textured flowers picture     love flowers, love fabric here 
5.   Made a little pillow for my little red rocking chair out of scraps
6.   Made 3 Christmas sweater stockings made for my daughter
      view stockings here
7.   Remade some Fall leaf coasters     the sweet of life here
8.   Made 4 Sweater pumpkins    simply-delightful-here
9.   Restored a Quilt for  my daughter Ariann

New border and binding.

Happy Happy Happy!

This is her couch snuggle blanket.

10. Made 6 kitchen towels for people I love.       Christmas love here
11. Finished painting a Red dresser for my ironing station.
      LOVE IT! the-best-of-home -here
12. Teaching a young woman how to quilt and we finished her quilt!
13.  Assisted with curtains for Ariann's bedroom!   8 Windows.
14.  Made window draft stoppers.   Our dining pleasure has increased dramatically.

15.  Made curtains for Cassie's Massage room.


 I am not going to amaze anyone with wowing accomplishments each month.   My style is a slow steady rhythm.  I am like a flower growing from seed.  Some days I hardly notice any change on the outside but inside I'm pondering, thinking and growing.  Blooming in season.....then fading into Winter.  Each year the process repeats itself.  January makes me feel like I'm starting the new year all over again from a seed tucked safely in the ground.  I know the days of my life are numbered and no one needs to remind me days pass quickly.  Someday I will be old and my children will be taking care of me.  They love that thought. Ha.  When the end is near I want to say .... I have lived a good life.... I'm ready for Heaven.

So much to learn yet to make the most of my days.

Little by little, bit by bit I will gain understanding of what it takes to live the life that God has created me for.

Once again another year has come and gone....    I think it has been a good year.

Now 2015 is rolling along..... once again at a speedy rate.   Hello FEBRUARY.

My one word for the year................BEGINNING.     I have been paying more attention to how I begin my days.  Morning time is Prime Time for me.  I have more energy,  I spend less time thinking about what to do and more time just doing it in the morning.  I have a better chance of solving a problem in the morning.  I have moved more projects forward before lunch than I have after lunch.  My days have a greater sense of God's presence if I spend time with Him in the morning.  For various reasons I have neglected a daily quiet time in the last couple of years.  I found myself in a season of Winter in my spiritual life.  I'm  starting again at the beginning, reading the New Testament  One chapter at a time.  It has been good for me.

http://www.navigators.org/www_navigators_org/media/navigators/tools/Resources/5x5x5-Bible-Reading-Plan.pdf

January Insights ..........

* I  have decided I was spending too much time in the morning on the computer.

* I am not a list maker.  I once knew why some people are list makers and some are not.  Reasons I don't do well with lists.....  Things always take me longer than I think they will....  I am discouraged by lists of things I need to do each day.....  There is always more on my list than I can possibly do in a days time.  I once made a list of projects that I wanted to complete in the year 2010. It is still on my fridge with over half of the projects remaining to be done.  I am a list maker drop out but I think people who make lists get more accomplished.

So what did I do in January????
I made a list!  I made a list on a small piece of paper so the list couldn't be too long.  It is a list not for the day or the week but for the month.
Things to work on in January.
I wrote down 8 things I could work on this month.   And I keep it tucked in my other little book titled

"Quilts I want to make", because You know there are more quilts than I'll ever have time to make that I'm dreaming of  and I need to keep moving forward on things.

So here was my January list.......

1.  Finish 2 more kitchen towels.    Sweet and done!

2. Work on Snowman block for my Blue and White snow theme quilt.

Inspired by Anne Sutton's "Snowbound" quilt pattern   Block # 11
https://bunnyhilldesigns.com/index.php/patterns/seasonal-patterns/winter/snowbound.html

Using scrap triangles and Changing it up a bit....  Lots of trial and error here. The stripes were going up and down.... It was all puckery after stitching on the snowman so I started over.  I like the diagonal stripes much better.

More Decisions.....
I'm trying to decide if I like the white or the dark blue stitching on the tree .

The snowman is made out of wool.

Inspiration  :)

Views outside my window.

I went with the white thread 

because I thought it looked like snow on the branches

Adding falling snow flakes too.

The colors are showing up overly bright here for some reason.

I actually finished this in February

 on a day when there really was 

NO SCHOOL!

Nice memory of a snow storm :)

Another SWEET AND DONE!

3.  Put borders on Christmas quilts  ......   One out of three done.   Moving forward!

This is the project that never ends.  The project that I have been slow as molasses on.

After making one I had a bright idea to make 3 more.... Silly me.

 

4.  Baste above Christmas quilts -  Negatory




5.  Cut more pieces for my Polka-dot- Quilt  for my Leaders and Enders Project.

     Just cutting pieces has led to this pile of pretty.

They are sew sweet. 

6.   Prepare backing for Mama Said Sew Quilt    -  Negatory




7. Work on Embroidery for Addilyn's quilt  -   Negatory




8.  Make Christmas Gift bags.-   Negatory





And there you have it girlfriends.......  the story of my lists.

Make it small, make it encouraging, celebrate each step of the journey.

 I know I am slow.  It is OK to be slow.  Just keep moving forward.

And now it is February.  I can throw out the old list and make a new list.

This month if I get those Christmas quilts done I am going to be

ONE HAPPY CAMPER!


Put some Happy in your day :) and Get 'er Done!

Janita