UFO Challenge

Ok. Ok! I'm in!!!! I'll join Judy's UFO challenge! Who is nagging me you ask? Only the most naggiest, pesteriest of all....my conscience! I have accumulated a few UFO's and I don't like it!

I took this paragraph from the UFO Challenge Directions to heart..."As far as definitions, use your own judgment. Whatever works for you is good for me. We’re not going to get bogged down here with “rules” and there are no UFO Challenge Police on the payroll at Patchwork Times! Here are some loose definitions!"

My daughter is getting married in March. I have a full plate besides a few UFO's! I really want to join this challenge so I have decided that I will list all of my items but, when the month is chosen, I will decide what I will be able to accomplish that month and work on it. I will give myself a self imposed "have to claim it" rule. That is, I will blog about which project I'll work on that month so I can stay on track. I think the first two items on my list are fairly obvious...they will be worked on first!! LOL!!


1. Aviva's Chuppah
2. Wedding Kippot
3. Locker Hooked rug
5. Football quilt
4. Log Cabin-
6. BasketBal quilt
7. QFH/Kona Cotton Quilt
8. Sh'ma needlework
9. Simpsons Quilt-bind
10. Thimbleberries 9 patches
11. Valentines Table Runner-Quilt
12. Winter Table runners
13. Birthday Banner

Design Wall Monday

Finally I am working on Aviva's chuppah. Good thing as I now have 3 months to finish plus all the other pre wedding things....

Yesterday I planned ahead for Design wall Monday. . I took a picture of the progress I've made. Although it is impossible to notice, I've actually sewn blocks together and taken those blocks and formed rows and joined a few rows. I was feeling rather pleased with myself.

Don't ask me why I was sitting and staring at it but!!!! thank goodness as I had a big mistake! Can it be seen? Now that I know it's there it sticks out like a sore thumb! (See the dark star in the middle of all the white ones? It's supposed to be on the edge.)

I was devastated because I have be "arguing "with this silly quilt for months now. The points are supposed to look like this....



but instead mostly look like this!



It has been driving me nuts and I am beginning to dread/hate working on this thing. I keep telling Aviva we might have a problem, I don't think I'm "sewing love into this chuppah!"

When I had joined the two rows together (the mistake row) the points were perfect! I danced!
Not dancin' so much now knowing that I have to rip!



I briefly considered NOT fixing it. Then my better judgement kicked in and it is all fixed now. All I can say is thank goodness for Judy and her design wall Monday or I would never, ever have noticed it.....well you know, that is until the day of the wedding!

Lat week we had to have a plumbing re-route as we had a leak in the slab. Ever since we've had no hot water to the washing machine. Luckily he came back today and has managed to cut not one but two additional holes in the wall! These two will be added to the 3 others that that needed to be cut last week! I'm just glad that I'm not the one that needs to fix them all.

Gifts

(why the gift post now when Hanukkah is looooong over? We are just exchanging gifts this weekend as this is the first we've been able to get together)



These are the items I made for my kids...the true gift is mine....the reason....

Last year I made these apples. They were the September gift of the month. I didn't think much of it but Chris2 said "Oh. can you make pears?" I never gave it another thought. Obviously he did. When Ms. Aviva took the apples out this fall he told her, "You know, I really do want your mom to make me pears." Chris2's gift.






A month or so ago, during a family dinner, Chris1 said, "Hey, I need you to make me one of those bowls like Serena's. I later asked my daughter if he serously wanted a bowl! Yup! Seems he wants one for his toiletries. I did something a bit different with this one. No fabric wrapping! Thread only. I like the way it turned out. I was testing different threads so that is why the bottom is different. It looked to "girly" for a guy. Chris1's gift.









Earlier this year our guild had an owl swap. Serena came over one day as I was furiously making owls. She ooohed and aaahhed and said she wanted a pillow. My friend made me a shirt with the owl on it and I wore it one day when Serena and I went out. She ooohed and aaahed and said she wanted a pillow. In October she spotted one of the owl blocks and reminded me that she "wanted one of them." I forgot that she wanted a pillow but made her this shirt. (naturally I remembered the pillow after I'd finished the shirt!) Serena's gift.




I had a gift for everyone else so I needed to come up with something for Aviva.....I decided to make her one of these loopy scarves. (I just used this link for a pic. I bought it from Joanns). It is stlylishly being modeled by my iron! Aviva's gift.




What is my gift in this? Well, all this sewing, crafting and patchkeying around is NOT in vain! They not only like but want the things I make. It make my heart sing that the boys asked for homemade items. Chris#1 is always asking when I'm going to feel like making pj pants again! Chris2 is excited that his kippot (Jewish, traditionally male. head covering) will be made from candy fabric.



I think my girls picked winners when they chose their mates!!

State of my backside

One reason I've been short on time is I've been working out many days a week. I have a personal trainer 1X/week. I have to go in between because otherwise I won't be strong enough for the next week's workout! It is time consuming to workout but I really do like it.

My trainer Gabe is, as he puts it, a bootie man! I just tell him he's obsessed with my backside. As a result, I've toned quite a bit in the lower half. I think I've done a million lunges, squats, step ups and run a million stairs. I highly recommend the expense of a trainer. I am using him for the short term to learn, shape up, motivate and then move on on my own. In the process, I've lost a bit of weight and toned up alot!

I think the blog neglection has been worth it because here I am last December (w/ 2 of my cousins)...

and here I am this December.



I purposely found a before photo with straight as opposed to curly hair since last December I had my hair straight, !

Yes, I am bragging a bit but mostly I need to be accountable. I am so tired of losing and gaining and want to really really keep it off this time. I am at high school weight and really want to get to a weight I've never been before! (yeah right!) I haven't been this thin since high school.

I didn't plan it, I always post my weight issues on Weds., but after last night's biggest loser, I think this post is rather apropos!

Aviva's Chuppah

It's really not much further along then the last time I showed it....I really need to light a fire as the wedding is in March. I have a self imposed deadline of the end of the year! HA!



The strips around the outside are there to see how it would look if I continued the pattern of diamonds and triamgles.

Minkee Monday

I have no clue what she was digging for in this pail. She went at it for about 10 minutes though!

Origami Shirts

I found that I'd never posted this! Cute huh! Our "guild" has a make and take each year and this is what I taught. I came up with a ton of uses from holding gift cards to a lift n see flap quilt for children. I didn't actually make up all of the ideas as I had too little time. The quilt in the picture is my friend's. The individual pictures at the bottom are a few that our members made. They got creative with the ribbon!

Hello! My name is Morah

Ok, My name is really Marla but.....I'm still alive. Yup! Where have I been??? I can't decide if I want to continue blogging...... My life has changed. I work. I volunteer. But I think the biggest "not wanting to blog" factor is Facebook! I seem to spend so much of my free time there keeping up with family that I feel guilty when I sit down to blog. Here are some of my other reasons for the indecision....

-I wish there were a faster way to post and explain photos, hook up links. - Hooking up the camera or removing the card. Uploading, getting the settings correct. Love to do it but unless I just don't know what I am doing, it is very time consuming.

- It's been soooo long, I wonder if there is anyone out there that will read (although I really blog for posterity)

-The birth of "professional" blogs. Although I love to read them, the explosion of "professional" type blogs has diminished the impact of us little peons just plugging away out here. (wow! I should read my previous bullet point!) I have nothing to promote, no book to sell, no advertisers to keep happy....Don't get me wrong, I love reading them. I'm just not as fancy.

I will try to begin blogging again. After all, I am working on a wedding canopy for my daughter Aviva! I have to give her equal time as her sister (it was her sister's chuppah that started the whole blogging thing)

Yet........all of the above are probably just an excuse for sheer, plain, Laziness!!!! LOL!!

BTW Thank you to Ms. Desertsky for wondering where I've been!

Oh and the picture..????Has nothing to do with nothing!! It's just a shot of my daughters and I ....Perhaps....I'll explain why we are in identical shirts in my next post......