‘Three’ T-shirt for Lucy

How is it that Lucy is three?!?!?

I mean, she’s my baby!

…Perhaps it’s time for me to start looking at the pictures objectively and realize once and for all, that ain’t no baby no mo’!

Well, to commemorate the day, Lucy got a shirt from me. It would’ve been simpler to make the ‘3’ out of one whole fabric… but then it would have only ‘matched’ one thing. I wanted her to be able to wear it all year – with whatever bottoms she happened to grab*. Hence the colorful patchwork…    (*including an inside-out purple plaid skirt)

Plus I think I was itching to do something patchwork-y after designing a quilt for a friend (which may or may not ever actually get made) and also reading about Miss Muffin’s desire to sew a few quilts.

How old are you now, Lucy?

Clearly, we have some practicing to do! Oh wait, there! Do you see it?

Happy birthday, my sweet!

P.S. Project Plan Update:  I’m sticking with it and it’s really been moving me along!  Had just finished two projects so I could start one I’m itching to do, but then this one showed up and shoved the other new one out of the way! But I stuck with the plan, started AND FINISHED  this one, so that counts as one done. And then found another one (a quartet of curtains I told my mom-in-law at Christmas that I’d be happy to shorten for her) that I finished up this afternoon. So that counts as two done!!! And I’m back to being able to unguiltily start this next new one. Which I have. Which, thanks to this project, changed directions just a little and now involves a few dozen little scrappy squares…

Mmm, goat cheese…

A friend called before breakfast. I was already up and out of the house. Said my cousin to the friend, “She’s out milking a goat.”

Ha! Bet ya’ weren’t expecting that one! Neither was I. It certainly wasn’t on my project list. Wasn’t even on my mental horizon.

But when a friend says “The kids and I are going up to The Berryhill Farm to milk a goat, then going back home to make some goat cheese. Wanna come?” how can I not enthusiastically answer “Of course!”?

So, it’s true. I milked a goat. So did my kid. And my friend. And her kids.

And then we took our 1/2 gallon of fresh goat’s milk and made goat cheese, seasoned with garlic and dill. A yummy adventure.

Makes me wonder -- what other kooky ideas are out there, not yet on my radar screen?

Chocolate Swirls

Been plugging away on the project list (when I wasn’t laid up in bed for three days with the flu last week). And been getting stuff done!

Including piping melted chocolate onto wax paper.

One of my projects is to help a friend figure out how to make about 100 cupcake toppers for her daughter’s graduation party in May. And that project dovetails wonderfully with another, which is to figure out what exactly I’m putting on my bro’s wedding cake in August.

Still have some details to work out, but am definitely liking the possibilities. Especially what the possibilities taste like!

Bird Embroidery: Done!

Thanks in part to my new Project Plan, my gift idea for a friend’s birthday was actually finished on time!

Oh, wait, would you rather see the front side? : )

I’ve loved this quote since I first read it:

A friend knows the song in my heart
and sings it to me when my memory fails.

And it reminds me of my friend Mo. So, she’s the orange and aqua bird.

I’m the red one.

And she “sings” into my life each day. Happy Birthday, Mo!

My Project Plan

I know I am not alone in starting way too many projects without finishing current ones, and I thought it’s “just who I am.”

But recently I’ve been trying a new tactic, and am liking the results.

After just two weeks of working this new system, I’m feeling less weighed down, more able to make creative decisions and move forward. I think that’s because it makes me stop and think about what’s really holding me up on a project instead of just steamrolling on to a different one.

Today, to get my current project list written down instead of endlessly swirling around in my brain, I made myself a tracking sheet, so I can see at a glance what I could work on next.

Now, off to go fill it in. Hmm, might need two…

If this might be helpful to you too, click the images below to download a letter- or A4-sized pdf:

(The little speak-bubbles at the start of each row are there to be
colored  in when I’ve “used” that project as one of my “done” ones.)

Edited 4/15/2010: What was I thinking having a “Duration” column? Do I really want to know that some project took me 1 year and 5 months?!? Great idea, Chris, to change it to a “Hold Up” column, i.e. what’s keeping the project from being finished! I’ve made the change and uploaded new files.