Happy New Year

Fina-Lee Friday

Not Again! Really? Already Friday? Not only that, there's ONLY today and tomorrow left of 2011! What happened to this year? It's GONE! In a flash!! And knowing how fast it went, I can only imagine how fast 2012 will fly by. Lord, please help me to be ready and to appreciate every moment!

• So when will I "un-decorate"? Some of my friends on that social network have all their Christmas stuff down, packed away already...the day after Christmas!! That's a little too soon for me, I mean, I JUST got the tree up and decorated, didn't I?
• I just realized I'll be spending New Year's Eve alone. Hmmm, totally a-l-o-n-e, well, except for Fanner and Raven. Marty and Nick went with Marty's photog buddy to Phoenix where they'll be able to visit Marty's dad. That's a good thing. Dad is 85 I think. It's been 3.5 years since they've seen each other, and Nick has changed a bit during that time. It's good he'll get to visit with his Grandpa.
• Fanner needs to be put to rest. I keep telling myself this has to happen. But I don't want it to happen. She still has 'good' days, days when she seems well. But I think she's really not that well. She can't tell me how much pain she's in. I don't like that the decision falls on MY shoulders. I don't like it at all. I don't want this kitty to be gone :( Lord, won't You just take her without me having to do what I don't want to do?
  
• Nick's been on holiday all week. That means, little to no outings in the car so... no traffic rants :) though I could probably think of some past ones, hehe.
• Why do people who know I would like (and need) to lose weight buy me wonderful tasty treats for Christmas? Blush, why do I keep buying them as well?
• I don't make New Year's resolutions. Waste of time. I never keep them (when I did make said resolutions). I don't have a good accountability system...not sure I'd listen to said accountability system either. I'm a rebel.
• My last PT appointment this morning. Doctor visit on 1/4/12. Sometimes I think PT is just another one of those medical rackets. I feel that way toward the drug companies :P . Tired of medical stuff!!
• Anxious to learn which number Judy will pick on Sunday(?) for the first 2012 UFO Challenge project to be worked on. So far she has 94 participants signed up!
  

Quilt #028, #029, #030 Mililtary quilts

#028: Some of us ladies in my church fellowship group decided to make some lap quilts for the military members who were either in our group or the family member of someone in our group. This is one I did the piecing on and others helped with the other elements of the project. The pattern for this project came from American Patchwork & Quilting, August 2005. I really liked the adaptation of the skinny 'rail' used in this rail fence pattern. I could make this one again. These military quilts were also tied rather than quilted otherwise. We needed/wanted to finish the project quickly and give them all out at the same time. Some were mailed and a number of them were displayed and handed out during our group's Sunday morning meeting.

#029: This little number, is high on my I will do it again list. I love Log Cabin patterns and this one in patriotic colors is very striking. And did you notice that cute little star that looks like an X at the four corners of the center block? I found this pattern in American Patchwork & Quilting, June 2003 . Very scrappy of reds, whites and blues from my stash. This photo is only of the top as the other 'many hands' finished it while I was away on vacation and I didn't get to photograph the finished quilt.

#030: This one went to my own nephew who is in the Air Force. He's been deployed to the Middle East, I believe until Spring. He and his wife are expecting their second child in mid-April.

I designed it myself with some simple blocks and using some old fabrics from my stash that I picked up from somewhere or was given. Of the three, it's not my favorite; maybe it's the fabric selections...they don't scream patriotic red, white and blue even though they are shades of red, white and blue. The photo makes the red look, well, more red than it truly was. As to who got which quilt, I had no part in that selection, and again, this was worked on by many others as well.

Painting the Barn

Whew, that took some time! First, I couldn't get my photo software to work last night to edit a photo to add as my profile image so gave up and went to bed. I shut my computer down at night so it has to reboot, which seems to have fixed that problem...it happens frequently even after uninstalling and reinstalling the software (I'll request new electronics for NEXT year's Christmas present, lol.).

Even harder than that was to re-locate how in the world to ADD my profile photo to Blogger. I once considered myself pretty smart. In fact, office co-workers back in the mid-70s use to refer to me as a "walking-talking-computer-almost". Well, those days are long gone, and I have trouble even remembering what I had for breakfast half the time (it's almost always buttered toast, hehe) so trying to remember how to find the way to add the photo was both perplexing and time-consuming. And I'm sure I'll go through this ordeal again when I change out the current photo (which is pre-chopping off the long braided pony tail) for one hopefully a little more attractive. A friend's dad use to say "If the barn needs painting, by all means paint it." and that's exactly how I feel about photos I see of myself, blech, plain, dull...and please, I am NOT fishing for compliments...I'm well aware how plain...and old... I've begun to look. I may or may not summon the energy to 'paint' the barn very often!

Note to self: to edit the profile file, click on 'my account'...that'll get you started, lol.

Blogger and my Ineptedness

Well, it looks like I inadvertently removed my personal photo (the one that shows when I post a comment to others' posts), so I will have to remedy that soon. It's interesting, because it's the same one that's ON my blog and I can see it, but it doesn't show when I comment to others. Now, to remember how, hehe. I kinda wish Blogger didn't save pictures to whatever that photo site is (can't remember the name at the moment). That was how I deleted the photo...there were about 5 copies of it and I deleted all but 1, guess that didn't work. I learn this stuff yet, lol!

I'm So Light-Headed Today...

Have you ever had one of those times where you just needed to change something? I'd been struggling with this for awhile. Some days yes, some days no. I was a teenager of the '60s, you know, back when long straight hair was the fashion. No matter how I tried my hair never got very long, but it was never trimmed and I didn't know about split ends and all that, and it was never straight, not when you live in a wet land with a fair amount of humidity and rain. I tried everything from ironing, to soup cans to even wrapping it around my head and securing it with huge long bobby pins and taping my bangs down. Hair dryers, vent and round brushes were unheard of items back then, and even if they did exist there certainly wasn't money for them. All that to say, I have a love-affair with long hair. Long hair on MY head. But, and especially at my age, and with the color it is, it isn't the most flattering look for me. At my daughter's wedding it was shoulder length. That was three years ago. I'd see that picture and think "Man, you looked good then!" So why was I sporting this long, silver/brown blend of fluffy hair that was usually twisted up and clipped to the back of my head anyway making me look much older than I'm willing to admit I really am. Oh, and I was really getting tired of all the really long hair everywhere that was shedding from my head, especially in the bathtub drain which always left me soaking my feet in the water that would back up in the tub, so...Christmas Eve I grabbed my scissors and after showering and washing my hair pulled it back in a tight pony tail at the base of my scalp, added an extra band, braided it tightly and cut between the bands leaving an intact braid of old-woman hair.....I pinned it to my design wall to dry and it will be sent to Locks of Love (they'll sell it since it's mostly silver-grey). That length of braid is nearly 16" long!! It was down to my waist. My head immediately felt lighter even though it doesn't weigh that much. Part of me misses it, and I still need to shape what's left on my head a little more, especially on the sides which are slightly longer than the back, but with the wave/curl in my hair it doesn't matter much. And if I want it long again, I'll just let it grow! So, here's what I chopped off......

Design Wall Monday

I have been continuing to work on the project in this post, off and on: Magi Christmas Classic. It may become a center medallion in a quilt/wall hanging at some future date.

Aside from that, there's nothing 'new' on the design wall, well, not of a quilting nature anyway, lol (I'll place that as a separate post). I need to practice committing to this weekly post, which means I also need to commit to getting some quilting and piecing done each week. Especially since I committed to the 2012 UFO challenge. Between these two objectives, I hope to get a lot done in 2012 and have some real quilty images to show. Commitment...it's a BIG word!