So what about my actual plans for the New Year?

So what about my actual plans for the New Year? Not resolutions mind you, just plans, and they can change at the drop of a hat. As I sat down making out my spreadsheets, I realized that I have many, many UFOs in various medias. The JOT and FAB4 mechanisms from Stashbusters are going to be very helpful. But the main thing, I think, is that I need to reorient myself to completing things rather starting new projects.

With that said, I find that I have 2 new starts that have to be done this year added to the "must do's" that are already in progress. So I am thinking that I am going be a busy person.
So here goes:
2015 UFOs:                                         2016 New Starts:
Mom's Quilt                                          365Challenge
DS#1s Magic Cube                                Hexie quilt
DS#2s Star Wars
DIL#2s quilt
DGDog#1 Toby's quilt
DGD#2 Buddy's quilt
Row by Rows x3
Fall/T-day table topper
NYB
Dash cover
DGDs 2nd pillowcase
2014 UFOs:
Row by Rows x2
World Traveler
OUR Quilt
... and this is only the quilting. There are a few knitting items sitting by my chair and some needlework still in the coach. Most had been moved to the storage unit and were the recipients of the fire last fall.
Knitting:
sweater
toque set
overcoat shawl
and DGD asked me to make her some wool socks! Guess that will be a 2016 New start  LOL
Needlework (in the coach):
Christmas crackers for mom

And so I can honestly say, I will be busy. Luckily I will be off my feet for a couple of months and will be able to work a lot on these.

Oh and I forgot - I need to update my website and blogs. Busy busy!

I am also going to keep up my spreadsheets which are now finished. Of course, they can be added to. and I am sure that I will come across new things that just "have to be started"!

So now to work!

2016: Another attempt

Happy New Year!

New Year's Day: a new year and a blank page to write on. Gone are the half finished saved blogs of last year, gone are the downer days, gone are the not so charitable thoughts, and not so gone are the UFOs of quilting and other 2 Busy Hands endeavors. Today brings all anew and it will only be what I make of it. So here I am, a blank page staring me in the face asking to be written on and I am only being positive.

Now remember, positivity is my word this year. So 2015, in a positive vein, what hapened in the world of Shirley's 2 Busy Hands?

As always, travel is a big part of our life and we did a great amount of it, both large and small. Why even a day trip can be exciting and give one a major experience. And in this context, my 2 Busy Hands often took a back seat and yet, always with a project near at hand.

The positive that came out of devastation, a fire in the storage unit where I keep my stashes, allows me now to downsize and update. What more could one ask for? Oh I lost some favourites but I will soon have more favourites and new challenges.

Like last year, I will once again join in the Stashbusters' UFO Challenge, even though I have only those projects that just happened to be in the RV at the time. I had cleaned a lot of them out so the number is low. Along with the UFO Challenge, I will also limitedly partake of the Numbers Game. And guess what, the low number is a number that I happen to have! I will always have a low number as they are between 1 and 10 but the higher ones I will find myself working on the last one for sure. For January, this month, the numbers are

3(small) and 51(large). 

My list contains:

	Description	Date started
1	OUR Quilt - Sampler queen	2014
2	Row by Row x 2	2014
3	Mom's Quilt	2014
4	Halloween/T-Day table topper	2015
5	NYB	2015
6	DS#1 Quilt	2015
7	DS#2 Quilt	2015
8	DIL #2 Quilt	2015
9	DGDog #1 Quilt Toby	2015
10	DGDog #2 Quilt Buddy	2015
11	Dash Cover	2015
12	Row x Row x 2	2015
13	DGD 2nd pillowcase	2015

Some of these from 2015 are very recent additions. [snicker, snicker] Of course, the fun begins as I try to do something about this list. Photos? Can I be persistent in posting them? We shall see. It is one of my "want to do's for this year.

And then, to make things even more exciting and jumbled up, I joined or at least committed to being a part of a 365 [day] Challenge out of Australia.

 This is a small part of this quilt. It is supposed to be 90" square when done but I am thinking mine will no dobt be smaller.

I am already a little late in that I just downloaded the information and decided on the colours. But the early blocks are simple ones and I will be able to get them done real fast to catch up. Of course, me thinks I will always be playing "catch up", starting this next week. We are heading out on our first jaunt of the year - a trip to New York City with our granddaughter Brooke.

As well as quilting I have UFOs under the headings of knitting, needlework and cross stitch. I will never ever want for a project, that is for sure. Some are large and others are small and portable. These go along with me when we travel. I did manage to finish up a 2015 knitting UFO - a toque and even putting a pom pom on it. Now I have to wait for more yarn to make a scarf and a pair of mitts. This will go to my mother for her charity senior's knot group that give to underprivileged children in her city. The children live in a very cold area during the winter and often go to school without any covering and warmth at all. This helps out a bit. Now to finish up a cold weather coat shawl and a brightly coloured spring/fall sweater (finally got more yarn right before Christmas).

I had numerous needlework UFOs but am unsure how many I actually have left here in the RV. I do know that the Christmas Crackers are here so they will be done before anything else. That will get a nice little pile out from beside my Laz-e-boy.

And last but not least, I will keep track of expenditures and busting. 

Can I do it? I will certainly give it a good try......

May and still on the road ...

With thoughts of being back in our home, we discovered that the needed repairs still were not finished and we had a meeting in NE to go to with friends on the weekend. Our only alternative, as there were no hotel rooms to be had, was to take our tent and utilize our already paid for RV site. We were the only tent in the RV park but we did have 50Amp electrical service to our tent. And ....

NO sewing machine, no sewing; the withdrawal is awful. So awful in fact, that I went out and did something that I had never thought I would do - bought the makings to do hexagon. Why???? I absolutely do not like the traditional hexagon quilts, especially Grandmother's Flower Garden. But they are so easy to carry in the car and feel like I am accomplishing something. Then I found a book that cemented my already budding idea of a modern hex wall hanger. [photo of book]. I bought some FQs to work with, hex cardboard templates (I will make my own from now on with index cards), glue stick, sewing needles, thread and even proper scissors. As my idea for this wall hanger has evolved, I realize that the colorway that I bought in the FQs do not really work for what I have in mind. So back to the drawing board, or getting new FQs - LOL.

I did take a trip to a couple of LQSs where I purchased the FQs and supplies as well as a couple of books and a piece of coloring fabric for a little boy snuggle quilt. 1-1/2 yes will make 4 quilts per the owner of the one shop so now I have to buy some space fabrics to go along with it. This quilt shop was found in Lamar, MO under a sign that said "Scream 'til your husband stops" which could be great identifier in their online presence. Unfortunately it isn't and the shop was hard to find. In fact, we drove right by it and had to turn around, and in torrential rain too.[photos]

 I continue to work on the Christmas Crackers, minus the beads. The beads will be done once back in the RV. Almost finished #5 now. Half done!!!!! Well, maybe not as I also have to make the cracker once I am finished with the needlework. [photos]

Oh oh, got a call from the longarmer - Blake's quilt will be finished the end of the week so will be able to pick it up on Monday. Am real excited about that. As I have found myself in the mid top 20 in the Stashbuster's UFO Challenge, I badly need a finish. Now I will have one. Just the binding to do once I get it back and I have it all cut out ready to go!

We are hoping to be back in the RV by the end of next week. We shall see ... wish us luck ...

Graduation

Just a quick note to put up some photos from Brooke's Graduation last night. A beautiful, meaningful commencement and a beautiful graduate:
 the happy family

 Happy grandparents and graduate

Today we start our journey in ernest. We are embarking on the train trip that will take us from Dar es Salam, down through Tanzania and into Zambia. It takes 46 hours plus delays so will be interesting. If you want to follow our travels in Africa, please go to:  Where are we today?

The only things that I brought with me for while I travel besides my camera, are:
~ Knitting - my silk scarf.   I will get this finished sometime for sure.

~ Crocheting - my granny square coat squares. Now that I have all the wool, I can go to town on them. I forgot, however, a needle to sew them together so will end up with a bunch of finished squares with loose tags of yarn. 
~ Needlework - 2 Christmas Crackers. These are the ones that I gave Mom for Christmas. They are just not for her in her current state. So I promised to complete them for her and then make them up into crackers. I believe that she wants to give them to my sister Lauri for Christmas, so I had better get going on them!  

I tried to be productive ...

So I tried to be more productive in April, at least that was the plan. And as all planning goes sometimes, mine went awry. An unplanned, quick trip to Panama found me taking my needlework with me - no quilting.

The last couple of days I managed to complete a little bit more of Zach's quilt squares, until I ran out of the main blue. How could I have miscalculated? I had one more complete round of blue to do. to do.

 now the fun will be to try and match it up as the fabric is at least 1.5 years old.

I found inspiration for a way to present all my molls in the oddest place - a bathroom in a quilting/knitting shop.

 so of course while in Panamá, I had to buy more molas.

 This is the one that I will make into a cover for the printer which will definitely add some color to the house.

As soon as we returned, out came Miss Betsy and I was able to do some random sewing at random times in between our random ramblings. 

Christmas Cracker completed in Panama but the embellishment added once back stateside.

 First up was finishing up Rainbow Jane's Spanish Moss.

 Next was to finish March's mugrug - Luck in all Shapes ...

As well as adding to my stash at a wonderful store found near Lake Somerville State Park. This will make a flimsy for BTF #2.

I continued to work haphazardly on the Santa Stamp cross stitch. I am motivated to get it finished as I want to start a pattern that I bought while in Edmonton. It is a big project so will no doubt last a few years just like this one has. :)

Somehow life always seems to get in the way so I really haven't done much more than this. Sometimes I feel like I have done nothing yet when I start to list it all out, I have actually done a little something. I should just stop berating myself and go with the flow ...

Already February ...

It is amazing how fast time flies. My mother used to tell me that the older I got the faster time would fly by and I sure am a believer now. Almost the end of January, and what have I accomplished?

Starting with our return to the USA, the first "get re-acquainted with" Miss Betsy was the first UFO finish of the year. I needed to do this to get my mojo back in place after it's long hiatus. Winter's Coming did just that.

But then my declining mojo was interrupted again as we took a flying trip to Canada to visit my folks. What could I take that was easy and quick? The cowl that Brooke indirectly asked me to make for her. It knit up quickly and by the 3rd day of visiting (taking into account that I had hours and hours of flight time) I had the required 54+" done.

Once home I quickly got it sewn up and mailed.

When I finished with the knitting the next thing out of the bag was the third in the Golden Cracker Christmas series.

This looked like a fairly easy one to do until I looked closer at it. A lot of beads to be attached which is not a good thing for air travel. Too much to worry about in too little of arm/maneuvering room to fiddle with beads. So I got that to the bead stage before leaving. I have since added some of the beads and continued on while parked here in the RV in the Coooold weather of Texas.

As a result of this, I ended up buying a second set of knitting needles in Edmonton for the trip back to Texas. Started a second cowl, this one for me, which will be a "in the car" project only. By the time I got home, I had 1bout 12" done on it. Rocking and rolling.

With the weather here in Texas taking a turn for the worse, I then started to organize my stashes here in the RV. There is way too much and I need to learn to concentrate on only a couple of projects in each medium at a time. Listed out a ziplock bag of stash so that I know where it is when I need it and it will go into the storage unit next trip.

For now I started on the One Toe Out of the Box  January challenge - Snow: A rug mug. I decided that for each month I would make a mug rug and give the series to my DDIL in Texas for her desk at work (she eats at her desk all the time). This will be her Christmas present for 2014. Fabric cut to 8"x11", quilted and bound with a monthly theme.

 Didn't realize before that the one side is a little wonky. Should have looked at that a little more closely. Guess I will be going back and fixing that!

Next up, getting started on piecing Brooke's quilt. I cut out the fabric to make the first of the blocks to see how I like them one evening while trying to stay out of the elements. This is where I am currently at: Ziplock bags labeled with each unit.

 From here I will construct the blocks, section by section. I am sure that there is a better way that I can organize them but for the life of me, I can't come up with one. I will have to go to the store to see what I can find to organize them in a manner that makes it easy to use and to store on a daily basis. 

Having had a discussion on leaders and enders, I am going to see what I can put together to try that out. For now, however, I will use Zach's quilt blocks in between each snowball square in Brooke's to simplify the sewing - no struggling with each corner square, one on top of the other. Zach's blocky is taken from the Wonky Log Cabin block found at Just Jude's blog made with blocks like this ... 

 only out of blue and lime greens.

As for UFO completions, I am working on getting my "Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" (girl) quilted. As a UFO, this is how it looks, being taken out of the from Panamá box.

 This is really cute fabric and I bought enough to make another but in a Friendship pattern as well as the same fabric in blues for boys. The Friendship is a UFO not even listed: It is still in the Panamá Box while the boys one is still in the wanna make pile. The last time I went to the storage unit I was able to find the fabric that I bought for the binding so now it is simply a matter of getting it completed. Working diligently on it: 

I foresee a break in my mojo coming fairly soon. A trip to Panama is in the works and later, a trip to Iraq, but in the meantime, onward with the sewing/quilting/needlework.

One little, two little, three little ...

It sure didn't take me long to finish the Christmas Cracker, even with the bead application. The stitching went very quickly and I enjoyed doing it.

 Of course, with it going so fast, I am quickly depleting my stash that was brought with me.

The next project that I brought with me is one called Building Blocks for Needlepoint, a StitchPlay Design by Michael Boren and Carol Lake. This is a segmented project with each segment coming every two months for a year, starting this last summer. With this project we will be exploring new fibers and how they interplay with canvas as well as becoming familiar with the vast possibilities for application. Of course I only brought one segment with me, although I did bring an addendum that was in the Needlepoint Now magazine.

Our first segment: Here we are exploring Duchess Silk, a Gloriana, hand-dyed fiber and what a glorious fiber this is. It is soft, silky, a bit of sheen, loosely twisted, and slightly tonal. As I had chosen to received the spring color way, I received Leaf Green # TI2N382 and Sweetheart aping # T64N8292, two very pretty colors.  You can see the complete range here [http://www.glorianathreads.com/Duchess.html]. Of course, these fibers are relatively new and they don't have photos up yet of all the luscious colors but I do have a photo of sorts:  Yummy colours!

One of the problems with bringing only the required supplies is that for the next project, you don't have the correct supplies, as noted on the size of my stretcher bars:

One little ... 

   




 
The first stitch is Horizontal Parisian:


Two little ... 
      The second stitch is Milanese:

Three little swatches .... 

The third stitch is Foliage:


I am enjoying this exercise in learning. The goal is to have a notebook of stitches and fibers from which to draw on when doing your own stitch guide for canvases. The idea is that you would put the "how to" diagram as well as a description of the stitch and it's possible uses along side the stitched swatch. Like this:

So the question that comes to mind is, "Do you file according to fiber or stitch?" Another group that has a similar, but not study of fibers, just stitches, suggests putting them into plastic sheets like this:

I have some ideas as to how to do mine, but can not accomplish any of them until I return home to the US and my supplies. So I guess, once I finish the 6 blocks, they too will be put away until later. Aaaaah another UFO.

Sitting in Cuenca, sans sewing machine ...

I have been sitting here in our new apartment, here in Cuenca, Ecuador with much time on my hands.

Our new home for the next couple of months:

I am between classes and have yet to start my next volunteer position. New class starts next Tuesday and still do not know what I will be taking. Am currently negotiating with the university over transfer credits. They want me to retake classes and I am rebelling. Oh, but have I ever been itching to get my hands on some sewing. I do regret not bringing my tonka toy sewing machine to at least do some piecing but we decided to travel with only 1 suitcase between the two of us and I was a much a part of the decision as Danny was. I really thought that I could manage to keep busy enough studying, volunteering and touristing to not miss it. WRONG!

As reported earlier I did bring two blocks for my Merry Merry Snowmen appliquéd quilt and I will pull them out and get started tonight. But in the meantime, I also brought a couple of small needlepoint projects. When I unpacked them however, I found that one of them was one that I had already done:

 so then I got out the other. I knew that I had only done one so this one would be available for stitching. Loaded it up and got started ... wait I need a photo so even though I had started to stitch, here it is. 

 These are from the Golden Christmas Crackers by Melissa Shirley that I got. I can't wait to get them finished and sent off to the finisher - they are gorgeous and my Christmas dishes have gold trim to them. 

 The crackers will make a lovely addition to the Christmas table. Will have to make another set for DS and family and then adapt it to silver for the other DS and family.

So what do I do when these three projects are all done? Oh my, oh my, hopefully my next class will more than keep me busy along with touristing.

Our arrival to Ecuador found us first in Quito. What a lovely old heritage city, with many wonderful sites and colors.

 "I am part of Quito, take my photo!" says the fella who came up to us and spoke English.

From Quito we traveled to Manta, on the coast

where we bought some Panama Hats in Montichristi:

 No they are not made in Panama!

and visited with friends from Colombia, the fish market.

 Frank, from Colombia, our guia for the day

 from the boat to the middleman, who sells the whole fish ... 

to the vendor who sells it by the pound ... 

 Albacore tuna

and yes, that is $3.50/lb, freshly caught ... 

Manta is where the canned tuna comes from, we even saw a Sunkist truck. There is also an active, flourishing boat building economy that accompanies the fishing industry.

 the tools were the same as some of the very old ones, not electric by any means, but rather the ones that were manhandled and swung by the best.

Then on to Cuenca. From 9000+ft to sealevel to 8000+ ft, man my head doesn't know which way to turn. Still suffering from mild headaches and sore legs. Cuenca is an UNESCO heritage city and has a wonderful old town as well as a new one. 

 The "new" cathedral in which you can certainly see the Spanish/Moorish influence. The inside is phenominal. 

 and yes, the yellow is gold leaf

 notice how high the ceiling is as compared to the tourists on the floor.

 the front arches, there are 3 of them, are made of marble in varying shades. It sits in a valley with mountains surrounding it. Although we are now in the "dry" season, we still get rain as can be seen in the photo's background. 

 

 The temperatures are wonderful - love them: 50's at night and 70's during the day. Even at that, the sun's rays are very strong and I have to be very careful.

Everywhere one turns there is colour and inspiration. The children are adorable and the people very friendly, especially if you buy something. :)

 Love the sound of the music from this native flute, even if they are playing modern songs. Of course we had to buy a CD.

 I wish I could sit like a bump on a log and get photos of the many faces that are under the hats. They are priceless and I didn't bring my big camera!

 The inspiration abounds at every turn. Wouldn't these make fabulous quilts? And some of the photos would translate into them as well.

 

Now here is an unique idea: take an old tablecloth and sew cut-out pieces of metal to make a wall hanging. Somebody has a vivid imagination.

   

And so we head out ... tomorrow Danny heads to the University de Cuenca for a teaching gig and I await a call from a midwife ... the weekend we will head out to surrounding towns to visit and get more inspiration. In the meantime, I continue to work on my needlework ...