January brings ...

January brings a new year and a new addition to the family. Our grandson Zephyr Socorro was born on January 19 in Panama City, Panamá. Yes that means we started the year of with a bang in travel.

 

A proud G'ma. Zephyr 2 hours old.








This time I actually hand carried (as in  carry-on luggage) my BabyLock sewing machine with me thinking that I would have lots of time to actually sit and sew during the periods of waiting. Somehow things didn't come about as I expected. Very little sewing as we were always doing something, or so it seemed. I took two UFO projects with me that I thought that would have been easy to sew here and there. NOT! How could I ever think that a modified pattern would be easier?  These blocks were the start of a quilt for DGS#2 a couple of years ago that I discovered that I didn't have enough fabric to do a true Cathedral Windows patterns. So I cut out the fold over area and added the four sides to each block after turning over and basting the edge. Takes quite a bit more time and fiddling than I originally had figured. Thus this one will take a bit of extra time to get to even a flimsies stage, no less to the quilting stage.Yikes!!!! From this photo I actually changed the 2 shades of the circles and put the very dark one on the light block and the lighter one on the darker block. Looks much better.

Before leaving for Panama I was able to finish up a UFO to get me back down to the basement of the list; an at least 3 years old start,  a steering wheel table topper, a Halloween pumpkin, wannabe Eleanor Burns.

 Mr Grumpy Wonkers

I actually need to make more holiday ones this size - how fun to match the steering wheel top and the dash cover in similar fabrics and style. hmmmmm

And that is the sum total of January. Not an auspicious start to a new year in the quilting stage. LOL

2017 in review ...

2017 has not been as prolific as I would have liked on the quilting, needlework and knitting side. Travel however, has been very prolific.

Early in the year we toured Mexico by car. A new way to travel for us - by car! It was wonderful. You can take a whole lot more "stuff" and yes, I took my small BabyLoc with me.       And it actually got used:
~ a block for the birthday block exchange challenge

~ finished up the blocks on the "World Travels" quilt. Now to put them into a flimsie, This will take as much time or more as the blocks as there will be a lot of calculations and manipulations going on.

The rest of the year saw me working on between travel gigs, and then completing more birthday blocks, finished up the blocks for our quilt for our bed, (Christmas motif and colors),  now to sash them into a flimsies in 2018,
another quilt for mom, 

I sometimes wish that I could have done more, but the travel bug is satisfied first and we did a lot of that in 2017. A suitcase can only take so much in it and still be managable. Unfortunately I could not take any quilting with me when we went to Europe as I did not have enough space for a sewing machine. ha ha I really need to get into some hand sewing/quilting I guess. A hex project might be the way to go or an appliqué project. hmmmm how about a Rose of Sharon or a Baltimore quilt?

As we watched the 2016/7 local new year's eve fireworks in San Antonio, TX I got started on a sweater for myself. A replica of one I saw in a shop window in Montevideo, Uruguay last year. This will be an ongoing project as I usually only knit as we travel in the car. So far, the body is finished to the sleeves - is it long enough I wonder? No matter, it can be added to. The first sleeve is done to the armhole as well.

As we traveled throughout Mexico I also started a Norwegian patterned torque and later finished a neck warmer as well.

 

During the year I also started and finished a shawl with yarn bought in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Just needs to be blocked.

The color variegation here is difficult to see. Blue/black/green   and variations of this scheme.

After finishing up the shawl I then started a cotton tee for myself with yarn bought in Valencia, Spain. I am thinking that it is probably too big so will be addressing that once I pick it up again. Yes, too big and so out it goes for another day to be ripped out and restarted.

Absolutely nothing was done under the heading of needlework. Simply not enough time and carrying space to accommodate all things in all manner.

2018 does not have as much planned so perhaps I can complete a few more projects that I currently have on the go! We shall see ....

An overviewing of blogging ...

Yes, once again I will attempt a start at blogging.  Somehow it seems like an awful lot of work to keep up a blogging site and the question inevitably comes around to, “why am I doing this? I am not trying to make a living through it ”. It all comes down to the fact that I enjoy writing and would somehow like to keep a written record of exploits and interests.

I currently have 2 separate blogs, one for my crafting and one for our travels and experiences and yes, neither is up to date. The platform used for these is “blogspot”; very easy to set up and to use. A second platform for a totally different blog is my own domain. That said, I then have 3 separate entities that perhaps need to be combined into one, to attempt to make it an easier endeavor.

I would have to say that I have used http://travelinduo.blogspot.com the most, both frequently and comprehensively, since going over to “blogspot”. Through this platform I have attempted, and this being the operative word here, to write about our experiences both traveling and everyday. Accompanied by select photos, I have acquired many an armchair traveler. Today however, this platform has been somewhat supplanted by “Instagram” while traveling, by offering a literal snapshot into our exploits and experiences.

The second ‘blogspot” is what I originally started for my crafts; needlework and quilting. http://2busyhands.blogspot.com  It too has been only sporadically updated. The original thought was a platform for the sharing of my crafty activities and perhaps even the sharing of an idea, technique or how I handled a technique. In the end it became a repository for projects, along with photos. 

The more comprehensive overall blog of course, is my personal domain http://startlogic.travelinduo.net

This one can be permutated outwards a multitude of directions and interests but badly needs to be overhauled and made much less bulky. With the ability to link into however many subdirectories desired, it can the “one stop shop” of blogging. The main menu page has many various links and these are what need to be overhauled. The main one, of course, is the “Where? (blogs)” from “Currently”, which will subsequently link you back to the travelinduo blogspot listed above. As I said, overhaul is much needed on this one. Perhaps this main menu page will be the first to be addressed with a link to a "currently under construction” pop up in places that are being redone.

I have yet made an attempt to store and organize my many, many photos. This however, will be an exploit for a rainy, bedridden day.

To emphasize the ultimate in laziness, traveling to any of the blog links in this entry will result in reading the same one at this time. This will definitely change as time and writing progress.