Design Wall Monday



 
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First Jersey Quilt top, great hockey name, eh?

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First quilt with freehand feathers!

 

 

Labor Day Fantasy Football Draft is ready to start!

 I won't belabor the captions but I am pretty excited about the free hand feathers. If you want to see more I have close ups on http://www.finishedstiches.blogspot.com/, the long arm site my Mom and I have. I have more quilts that we finished recently.

I am nearly finished with the jersey quilt and it is really quilt cool, if I do say so myself. I am going to attempt to lightly quilt it in the long arm!

And I spend Labor Day doing a Fantasy Football Draft for the UNFFL (Up North Fantasy Football League).It is a 10 team league comprised of family and friends. I took second place last year and I would like to win to get a TROPHY! I really am a football nut and love watching the games, while I quilt, of course! Hey, I have lost enough weight to wear my Lions Jersey....now to have to buy another one next year because it is too big is a goal of mine :) 

Sharing some pictures from people watching at RenFest

One must have confidence to wear that hat!

The Queen, hmm, I want to be queen for a day!

a living statue

Yep, he lived during medieval times ;)

Highland Games

These pictures are for the heavy and light weight for distances. If you look closely in the last two photos you can see the weight being launched in the air!

This event is throwing the weight three times by spinning the body and releasing the weight without crossing the trig. The heavy weight is 42 pounds and the light weight is 28 pounds for my husband age group. I can't pick up either without a bit of trouble!!!

The last highland games, this season that my husband is going to, is in October. He has a month to train and get ready. He is doing very well for his first year and in the top 80 in the nation for his age group. The man he trains with is at the world event this weekend and we are looking forward to hearing how he does.

Simple Living Update

I strive to live simply and it is something I rate as a priority. What does this "simple living" mean to me? I think that it means living in an uncomplicated manner that leads to a more stress free existence. That is one of my top priorities that leads to happiness, peace and well being.

Uncomplicated living means different things to me at different times of my life. I don't shun the assistance of modern technology. I use a dishwasher and computer. I don't add unneccessary things to my life. If the activity doesn't fit in my goals then I don't do it. If it adds stress, I don't participate. If it has more of a cost than my stress level (or cash flow) will bear, I don't buy it. If it takes more energy than I have at that moment in life, I will think long and hard before participating.

I live within two miles of my job. I used to commute. I couldn't bear the one hour commute and expense several years ago. I was able to transfer to a local office and it was part of living simply. I come home at lunch to eat. It is cheaper, too! I enjoy the oasis of home midday. This is an example of choices that our family has made to achieve living simply. Another simple choice is, we recently purchased a fridge with a filtered water dispenser to avoid bottled water. Savings for us, less waste and more convienence for me!

Goals for this fall in this category: Paying off debt and living on a cash basis. I/We have a long term goal to be debt free. We have been following a plan from a Financial Peace University course that we took a couple of years ago and it has great advice. I just have to say it is a long term process, not a quick event. Living without debt, in a small home that is affordable by many standards and making wise purchases are all part of every day life. It is worth the discipline.

Thursdays will be my updates on simple living.

Highland Games

I want to share photos from last weekend's Highland Games in Kalamazoo, MI. I want to highlight each event in the upcoming posts. Highland Games are events of strength, skill and endurance. You must wear a kilt to participate.

These photos are of the first two events. The top photo is the Breamar stone. It is like a modern shot but however, your feet must stay still. The athlete has three throws and the best of the three is used to in the competition.

The second event is the Open Stone. The athlete may move feet, shuffle or spin. They have to stay behind the wooden board or "trig." Same as before, three throws and the best of three is used.

This is a full day. There are a total of 9 events in a competition that does a full games. To "count" in scoring, a games has to do a minimum of 5 events. This games did all 9.

Some festivals have dancing, music, vendors, Celtic heritage living history actors, booths and clan tents. I have fun at all of the festivals and I have had a great summer going to these. We have one more games in October and our season will be finished but in warmer climates it can go all year!!

Something new beginning September

I have been thinking about how to give my blog more structure over this summer. I have been blogging for several years and I need to make some changes. I am going to continue to talk about every day happenings, an occasional rant and photos of life. I am going to have a few themes for a few days of the week.

Monday-Design Wall Monday as hosted by Patchwork Times to showcase quilt projects, ideas and design
Tuesday-Tiny Tuesday's a day posting my mini quilt blocks that are 6 inches or smaller
Wednesday-Happiness Project Updates
Thursday-Simple Living Updates including organization, downsizing, and re- purposing
Friday, Saturday and Sunday -updates on family and random thoughts


Of course there may be other updates in between the daily themes that will include Highland Games, wrestling, music, Renfest and other happenings. Starting tomorrow I am sharing pictures and information regarding the Highland Games that my husband has been participating in.

Design Wall Monday

Here are my little 6" Civil War Diary quilt blocks. Getting to the end of this , have about 15 left to go!

Sneak preview of a overall freehand swirl on a customer quilt. I deleted the overall picture but I think My mom has some.... technical difficulties.

Tomorrow I will show highlights of highland games and the RenFest I attended this weekend. Come back to hear all about it!