Sunday, August 30, 2015

Feeling Inspired!!!

I am feeling very inspired to create. I attribute this feeling to two things that happened to me. First off, I checked my Calendar and realized I have 10 days until I am going to Quilt Retreat, and the thought of spending a long weekend quilting, talking, and creating with my friends just sparks creativity in me. It also motivates me to create. The second thing is, I talked to my very good friend, Carolyn. It seems it does not matter what we talk about, but time spent talking with her always gets me into the creative mood. In this last case we just caught up on our families and each other job happenings.  But for some reason, this made me think up some things I want to knit and quilt.

This time  around I thought I would take some pre-retreat pictures.


 
 
Above you see the first sock of my current knitting project. The patter is called Bird walk and you  can find the pattern on Ravelry.com. I bought the yarn on one of my recent trips to Jacksonville, Florida, when I visited my daughter. The coloration just reminds me on the different shades of the ocean when you stand at the end of the Pier and see for a vast distance. I started on the second sock this morning, and hopefully will get that done this week.

 
This is one of my projects I will take to retreat. I had this purse cut out and ready to go for quite a while. But I am determined that it will be the first project I will work in this retreat. I need a new purse, and this has nice fall colors, just in time for the changing season.


This project is a Block of the Months by Pat Sloan. It is called Vacation Time and the pattern is available on her blog. I am a little bit behind, but that is quite alright, I have the pattern instructions saved on my lab top, and will be able to catch up on this at retreat. I think this might be my second project, because I am not sure when the block exchange will be, and that might make the exchange my last project.

 
These are my exchange blocks for the fall exchange we agreed on last year. There are 12 of us participating. So I came up with a design to assemble the top in, and that would be on-point. I cut out the other fabric that I will need for this quilt, and hope that I will be able to get it all pieced together on that long weekend. The finished quilt will be a Queen sized quilt, and I will have to ask Carolyn to quilt it for me, because my frame will not be large enough for it. I really have to learn a quilt as you go method. But not on this project, but it is a future goal.

Now of course I still have to plan on what clothing to pack, and what kind of food I would like to make for retreat. But I have until Friday to figure that out, that is when it is my grocery shopping day and I have to be decided on what groceries I need to buy. Next week I will keep checking on the weather in Berlin, OH, and see what kind of clothing I need to pack for my trip. Knowing the Ohio Amish Country, layers will be my best friend.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Some News!!!

I have not been blogging for a long time. I just feel I am too busy or too tired to blog after spending all day on the Computer at work. But lets be honest. We make time for things that are important to us. I just need to make blogging a priority again in my life, because I really enjoy it. I have a lot to say, although it might be meaningless to every one but myself. That being said, I guess we best dive right in.

I have news on the Career. I have been accepted into the Leadership program offered  by my Employer. This will qualify me to move up the Career Ladder after completion should I so desire, and of course, if a position is available. I am really looking forward to learning something new, meeting new people, and networking some.

On the Healthy Living, I have been walking more. I mean a lot more. I usually got about 5000 steps in daily, now I am walking an average of 10000 steps daily. You may wonder, how did all this come about? Well, my hospital system has adopted the Walk with a Doc program. A doctor from our system has started to get together a group of people every Saturday morning for an one hour walk around town. I went in hopes to meet new like minded people. I did not expect every one to be in top form.  I went there, and I was the fat one. Secretly I was hoping that maybe someone bigger than me would be there, and I could just attach myself to them, and walk at a slower pace. But no, I was the one. Once the realization hit, I wondered how this happened. So for the first half hour of the walk I was mentally beating myself up for letting myself get there. But then my inner warrior came out, and I decided that this is it, and I am getting serious about doing something about that. So I am consistently walking every day at lunch break, and then again on the treadmill at home. My goal is 10000 steps daily, because that is the recommended step count for leading an active life. I have not lost weight, and a lot of that has to do with me not having adjusted my diet yet, but nonetheless, I feel better for it.

Off course all the walking does not leave much time for sitting at the sewing machine, but I still finished a quilt last month. It is a Quilt in a Day pattern, and took be about 2 years to sew. Then my wonderful friend, Carolyn, machine quilted it for me. I just love the wonderful job she did on it.


Now knitting comes a little easier, but that is the nature of the beast. Knitting is just more portable, and easier to take to the porch swing on a nice Summer evening. So for the past few weeks, when I had time I worked on my Vest. I used Berrocco yarn and a DROPS pattern.