Goal: 165 miles walked in 11 weeks
Week 1: 15 miles
Week 2: 15 miles
Week 3: 16.75 miles
Week 4: 15 miles
For a total so far of 61.75 miles
My favorite place to walk to is the South Jetty. It’s about 4 1/2 miles round trip, and there’s always something interesting to see. Yesterday it was a Snowy Egret fishing for his breakfast:
–Sue
This has been a fun week, quilting-wise. I’m participating in JudyL’s & VickiW’s Fabric Palette Challenge for January.
How NOT to Build a Quilt: I bought fabrics without a pattern or project in mind. What was I thinking? Really…who does that? I found a batik I fell in love with, and chose some coordinating fabrics, thinking that I would figure it out later. So I have 3 yards of a border print, 2 1’2 yards of background, a couple of 1-yard cuts and a couple more 1/2-yard cuts. Try finding a pattern to work with predetermined, semi-random fabric amounts!
I decided this was a good time to dust off EQ7 and design my own quilt. Okay, that isn’t so easy either. It took several sessions, but I finally came up with a plan I liked. It’s easiest to work on EQ (I think) if you play around with alternating two blocks. I like Irish Chain quilts, so I thought I could use the greens in the Irish Chain blocks, and decided on a star for the open spaces. Not terribly original, but I like it:
Then I started figuring out the rotary cutting instructions. The star block worked out great. The Irish Chain block came out to 2 7/8 strips. Ooops! Guess I won’t be using my handy-dandy strip cutter!
Lesson Learned: I was making 12″ finished blocks. The star built on a 6×6 grid. Worked out perfectly. The Irish Chain block was a 5×5 block, and 12″ divided by 5 isn’t so neat and tidy. I should have paid attention to the configuration of the blocks I was choosing to make sure they would all play nicely together.
Solution: I decided I liked the look of the two blocks together. I like that seams don’t all meet at the same place, reducing thick spots. I like how the star nestles in and fills the space. I even like that corners of the star block that become part of the chain are a little smaller. If I do this one again, I might make them a different color. So anyway, I cut 2 7/8″ strips. I figured since that block only required strip sets, that it wasn’t a big deal.
Now that I have some preliminary blocks together, I know it will work. *whew*
Don’t forget to stop over to JudyL’s blog and see other quilters’ design walls!
–Sue
The Ecobirder (my favorite bird blog) started a bird meme called Tuesday Tweets, and this is his first week!
This is a green-winged teal photo, taken last week at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center in Port Aransas, TX. Port Aransas is on Mustang Island, one of the barrier reef islands along the Gulf of Mexico. We have the benefit of being in a major migratory path of a large variety of birds. Unfortunately the drought in Texas has even reached the islands, and some ponds have temporarily dried up. The ducks, however, are plentiful, and I thought this fellow was particularly fetching in the late afternoon light.
Be sure to pop on over to the Ecobirder’s blog to check out other photos!
–Sue
Goal: 165 miles walked in 11 weeks
Week 1: 15 miles
Week 2: 15 miles
Week 3: 16.75 miles
For a total so far of 46.75 miles
These birds always make me smile on my walks, with their oversized orange beaks. This is a Royal Tern.
And if you have a smart phone (Droid or iPhone) there are some pretty cool pedometer apps that are free. Anything to make exercise more “fun”.
–Sue
I do, and I like seeing the “before” and “after” pictures.
We had some remodeling done this winter in the little efficiency condo next door to us in Texas (we use it as a second bedroom when needed, and it’s in rental the rest of the time). I really like how it came out. The Before:
and the After:
The old kitchen was original to 1983, so it was well past the time for an update. We had to “steal” about 10″ from the walk-in closet to get in a real refrigerator and slightly bigger range. And DRAWERS!!! We have DRAWERS!!!
The carpet went in Wednesday, so we are officially D*O*N*E with this project. I love how it turned out though. Now I’m thinking I need a glass-tile backsplash in our kitchen at home, but it will have to be a do-it-myself project.
–Sue
Goal: 165 miles walked in 11 weeks.
Week 1: 15 miles
Week 2: 15 miles for a running total of 30 miles
That puts me exactly on target, except for the fact that we’re bound to get some nasty weather eventually when I won’t want to walk, and I will be at JudyL’s retreat for about five days in February (including driving time). I need to be walking more than the bare minimum. In my defense, I’m still building up stamina. I’m hoping to do a little better next week, but time will tell.
It’s foggy this morning on Mustang Island, TX. I thought I would share some pictures of a week ago or so when I walked in the fog. It was a little bit surreal, but also very surprising how much activity was going on. Here are a few ways to have fun on the beach on a January afternoon when the fog just refuses to lift.
–Sue
An easy project in progress today: finishing up five pillowcases for four great-nieces and one great-nephew. Barring distractions (and I am easily distracted), they should be an easy finish for today as two are finished already and three are cut, ready to sew:
January brings some sewing fun:
1) Judy L’s UFO Challenge (orange button on the right for more info). Since the tops are already done, this is a two-fer month for me: great-niece Hannah’s bumble bee quilt and Summer’s 1910 repro quilt. (You can click on the 2012 tab at the top of this page for a look at my UFO list with some pictures)
2) I’m participating in Vicki Welsh’s & Judy L’s Color Palette Challenge (click on the color wheel button in the right column for more info). The colors for January are especially pretty. I tried to re-create the colors in my header (the sage, dusty plum, blue), but it’s a poor attempt on my part. I definitely want to make something this month with those colors. I’m thinking those colors would be especially nice for clothing, but I’m still deciding…
And since we’re on the Texas Gulf, a picture from a walk this week:
–Sue (stitching her way into 2012!)
I’m not much on making resolutions, mostly because past experience tells me I’m not likely to keep them for very long anyway.
This year I’ve made one (I actually started this week) that I’m going to work really really hard to keep, because it’s a 11-week resolution. I’m going to walk 165 miles in eleven weeks. I was going to make it 150 miles, but since that doesn’t divide evenly by 11 — well, if you’re mathematically challenged like I am, 165 will make perfect sense to you! This way, I know I need to average 15 miles a week.
I’ll report on Sundays — my Sunday Stick-To-It Report.
As this is the end of the first week for my walking, I’ll report my first week’s progress here:
Week 1: 15 miles
If there’s a resolution you’ve been thinking about, maybe just make a smaller commitment to start. A whole year is a long time, and anything we do that’s good for our health is going to be beneficial. And who knows? Maybe it will lead to new long-term habits.
Right now I’m working on ten more weeks, one day at a time.
–Sue
1. Mom’s quilt (not pictured; just a pile of fabrics!), Cowboy Boots friendship quilt with each boot made by a different quilting friend. I embroidered the maker’s name on each block.
2. Charming Log Cabin in pinks (pattern by Threaded Pear, Afternoon Delights Series). I made my first Charming Log Cabin some years ago and loved it, then gave it to SIL Grace. Have had this fabric set aside to make one for me ever since. This is the year!
3. Quilt and complete Rob’s queen-sized quilt (partially shown below), quilt & bind Lucky Stars by Terry Atkinson (lap size) in Alaska fabrics (not pictured)
4. Kaleidoscope # 1 (huge quilt, small portion shown below. Created from the book by Sara Nephew: Serendipity Quilts. I’m going to LOVE this one. I think it’s going to our church’s big party this year for their auction. Either this one or #7.
5. Quilt Baby Hannah’s “Bee” quilt (Terry Atkinson’s Yellow Brick Road); quilt and bind 1910 repro.
6. Minnesota Bear Paws (this was a quilt-along with Judy Laquidara quite a while ago (variation made to the border(s). I made it out of Minnesota fabrics. 7′ pine tree (pattern by Sandi Irish). A small part of the tree is done.
7. Kaleidoscope #2 (same pattern as Kaleidoscope #1 above, different colors)
8. Cranes kaleidoscope (nothing to show — it’s triangles in a box. In fact, maybe it’s a One-Block Wonder…not sure til I look!) One thing is for sure: those cranes aren’t getting any younger.
9. Quilt roses wall hanging (soooo old…early quilting skills…what more can I say?) Flannel lap quilt (Yellow Brick Road pattern in “manly” colors), pieced and quilted. No photos yet.
10. One-block wonder (doing a different setting due to poor fabric choice on my part. New setting being created from Pdudgeon’s suggestion. Thanks, Pam!)
11. Piece/quilt/bind Irish Jewels, an original interpretation of a traditional block. I have one whole block done, so I have a ways to go!
12. Christmas roses kaleidoscope (waaaay old; missing some fabric, so will be a REAL challenge). No picture yet.
That’s it! Almost half of these are completed tops and just need quilting and binding, so I think it’s an achievable goal. On paper, any way. I’ve added this list as a tab at the top of this page so feel free to check my progress.
Click here for a list of participants in Judy L’s 2012 UFO Challenge.
–Sue
