Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year



Welcome to 2009! I hope everyone made it safe and sound into the new year. I celebrated the holiday in solitude as everyone else in the house was fast asleep. I turned on the TV to watch the festivities and happily cut out the first step of Bonnie's new mystery. I decided to build the quilt around a stack of shirting fabrics that I have been collecting for a while. They are fairly historic looking, so I was trying to find other fabrics that look less modern. Not having much of a stash of reproductions made it a little hard. I found several blues and greens that worked, but have almost no pink that didn't look too little girlie. I found a couple of reds that worked well, but I don't know if I want to do another red white and blue quilt. I don't have any browns, so I'll use the greens instead. Fortunately the first step doesn't use any of the pink/red, so I can save that decision for later. It's good that the mystery comes in steps so that I don't have to figure everything out all at the same time. I had everything cut out and organized into nice little groups of 10 last night right after the ball dropped. I've been cleaning and organizing this morning, but sat down and chained a set of 10 through the machine to get an idea of how the colors will look together.
Yesterday afternoon I organized a group of friends to go see Twilight together! I've finished all of the books now, so it seemed like a good time to see the movie. I'm glad I read the book first, it has the same plot and characters as the movie, but so much more detail. It was nice to get out without the kids and spend some time with grown ups for a change.
As far as new years resolutions go, I am going to break down my goals one month at a time. So here's the plan for January:
The WIP I am going to tackle this month is Old Hurricane Road, my version of Bonnie's last mystery. It's been finished for quite a while, but got put away when the Girl Scout quilts took over. All three layers are ready, it just needs to be basted and quilted.
As far as the house goes, I'm going to pick one room each month to focus on. Maybe then I won't feel like I have to tackle the whole thing at the same time. So January is going to be the kitchen. We've been in the house for almost 5 years now, and all of the cabinets could use a good dose of purging and organization. I also want to get some sort of pull out drawer/organizer to put under the stove top for the pots and pans. I got a start this morning by pulling our everyday dishes and rotating in a set that used to be our "good" china. Our old dishes were getting pretty tired and chipped, so I threw them in a box for the garage sale. We have a disaster drawer that keeps the kids stuff, I'll look at that again, as well as going through the pantry and fridge. If I finish all of that and have time, the baseboards and grout could use a little attention.
The marathon training is still in progress on the fitness front, I think I only have one more long run left before the taper, I should check on that.
So that is enough of a plan to get me through January, I'll think about February when it gets here. Now I'm going to go through the mystery quilt ring and see who else has joined in on the mystery.

5 comments:

Donna said...

great idea to pick a room a month -- my place would really benefit from such attention, but I'm not sure I have the staying power to work away at it... :-)

Julie said...

I did the kitchen cabinets over summer holidays last year. Amazing what you can find that you had forgotten you had (and never needed to start with.)

Cornfield Quilter said...

First I want to thank you for leaving a comment on my blog! I love Bonnie's Mystery Quilts so I just have to make one. I never used to do scrappy well, always used kits, but that has changed since I found Quiltville.
I have just started to read the book "Twilight" and am now hooked, thanks to my daughter who turned me on to them.
Happy New Year to you and your family! Am anxious to see everyone's Mystery Quilts and their choices of fabric.

Amy said...

Ooooooooo.......you finallllly saw the movie! I know it's NO WHERE NEAR the "awesomeness" that the book is, however, "Edward" wasn't too hard to look at during the movie. *snicker* I can't wait until it comes out on DVD.

GOOD FOR YOU for getting a good start on DD! I haven't, other than putting the fabrics together last night. Your "historic" fabrics looks great! I've decided to just go "kitchen sink" on this one---However, not until Cathedral Stars is done. CS SHOULD get finished tomorrow, so I can spend the weekend tackling and trying to catch up on DD! What about you? Gonna do a whirlwind DD this weekend?

I'll hold you to finishing OHR this month! I was fortunate to have a deadline on mine--gifted to brother for C'mas, remember? :0)

Way to be in warp speed today accomplishing so much! I suppose I should TRY to match your "one room/month" goal, but....psht! I just don't have that "passion" yet.

Also---WAY TO FINISH THE HOUSE! AMAZING! We have vinyl siding so painting isn't necessary! WHEW!

Happy Thursday!

Candace said...

Happy New year! Your step 1 blocks look great. I ordered the fabric and am waiting for it to arrive. I'm way behind in blogs, and have been catching up on yours. Your house looks really great, but looking at you up on that ladder made me glad that our house is 1 story. I always wanted a 2 story though. Your 3 Christmas's sounded fun but I'll bet that it was exhausting. It's a fun time of year, and your children will have lots of memories. My grandchildren don't see their cousins often, but they love each other dearly.