Meet Chickie and More Bee Blocks

I would like to introduce you to my new friend Chickie!

Isn't she cute! Yes, she is a kitchen timer... errr, a sewing timer in my world.

You see I have been thinking about sewing time, and I know that I am not the only person that has been thinking about this. I have read quite a few blogs recently where this topic came up at least briefly. I have read many times how you should devote at least 30 minutes a day to sewing. That's 30min/day = 4.5 hours/wk= 14 hours/month=168 hours/yr. Now that may be alot to you or not so much, just depends on what your projects are and what other committments are front and center in your life. 

I find I do sew that much - and more, but usually in a chunk of time, like one long session on the weekend. So my thought is to try out the 30 minutes per day and see if it is more productive, there is nothing that says you have to stop at 30 minutes. But if you are pressed for time 30 minutes is not that long - you can cut a block out, sometimes you can even sew a block up. So that is where Chickie comes in. She is going to monitor that 30 minutes for me and let me know when it is up, and then I can decide if I am going to continue on or not. 

My hope is this will make me more consistent and will allow me to finish more, which in turn makes it much more exciting and enjoyable. I'll let you know how it goes! Hey if it works, maybe I can use her to get my daily exercise in too!

The 4th quarter of the 3x6 Mini Bee is now over and I wanted to show you the blocks I received all together! The 6 blocks above are from Hive 13 which was a sampler hive--aren't they gorgeous! I love them! My colors were Raspberry, Aqua, Lime and white/grey. They are going to make a great quilt! The 6 blocks below are from Hive 2 which was a star hive. I used the same color pallette and look at all these great blocks! I am always amazed at all the different blocks/styles! Please forgive the awful lighting--so hard to get great pictures inside in the evening, during winter. The lighting really messes with the colors --more yellow, more purple vs lime and raspberry.

When you add in the two tester blocks I made shown below, there are 14 blocks, pretty good begining. I am joining one more quarter, and signed up for another Sampler Hive. That will give me a total of 20 blocks for the quilt, a good size to work with.

Hope you are have a great week! Happy stiching!
Ginny

Auld Lang Syne...Should Old acquaintance be forgot ?

Yes it is that time of the year....New Years Eve here in the USA and for many around the world New Years Day 2013!

Traditionally this is a time to look back and reflect upon the year that has passed and I am no different than others in taking a look back over 2012. A look at where I have been and planning where I want to go in 2013! How about you? Did you find you did more? Less? Learned more? Taught more? Time moves on and lives change - maybe you had one of those years....and your journey took you places you could never have imagined!  I applaud all of you, I find you inspiring, funny, so encouraging and helpful! I enjoy reading your comments, reading your blogs, and looking at your lovely projects and pictures on Flickr!  So Thank you! for being such a great community!  I look forward to spending time with you in 2013!

One of the things that helps put it in perspective, at least for me is a mosaic. I love them! I love to look at all the wonderful projects everyone has worked on this year!  These are my projects for 2012.

So what did I do in 2012?  I found Flickr, and swaps! Love them - built my stash up from swaps and met many wonderful sewist's some of  whom are only on Flickr!  Sew many amazing projects!

My Flying Geese wall hanging was for the Modern She Made Swap and I was sooo happy the way it turned out! The colors were dark and bold and out of the box for me. 

I joined a couple of Bee's -- those are my blocks for this quarter-- the Whirlygig block for all those in my hive and the Ribbon Star block in my colors for another hive. Really fun picking out a block to make and all the fabrics and watching it all come together! I reorganized my sewing room - much more efficient and easy to work in - yea! 

I did a couple BOM and must admit I am not finished with them yet!!  I did make blocks (and finish them) for Hurricane Sandy Relief  :)

I am STILL working on perfecting my binding technique  LOL!

I must admit, I love surfing through blogland and seeing what everyone is up to, but it also adds to my inspiration overload. My to do list is long(er) than ever, and I am sure I will have more projects this upcoming year than I can ever finish!

I passed the one year mark of blogging, and met wonderful friends from around the country and the globe. Fabric and pattern is our language! 

Earlier when I was contemplating this end of year post  I was thinking I had not done enough, you know the comparing myself to others bit....do you do that?  Hmmm, not a good thing to do! There will always be someone else that made 37 quilts and was in 20 swaps and ran a fabric shop out of their basement all the while having a wonderful husband and 3.5 kids all under 5 yrs old at home!  Or the busy blogger who works 65 hours a week and finished 22 quilts and posts from her cell phone and does Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,and  Pinterest and always answers a comment immediately!  Please, all is said in the most humorous, sarcastic tone you can imagine-- it is not meant to be snarky towards those hard working women-- I admire them and they inspire me to try new things - the point is, they are not me and do not have my life and responsibilities just as I do not have theirs. So stop the comparing game. For me, this is supposed to be fun, a hobby, a way to share something I love to do, not a second job. I find when I feel I HAVE to do this, and meet everyone else's expectations (I have enough of that in my paid day job ;)  then I shut down and lose my mojo. So join me won't you for that New Year's Resolution? 

This post has been a bit random, alot of high points and some points to ponder and work on-- I guess that all adds up to a review of the old and contemplation of the new--exactly what New Years Eve is all about!  So I leave you with the words to Auld Lang Syne, chorus and 1st stanza. Tomorrow I will be back with my projects and happenings  for 2013 and then a tutorial for the Whirlygig block above in the upper left corner! 

Come on-- sing along with me :)  Happy New Years!  Ginny

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.