Moo-ving On Ringo Lake

 Well here we are, a New Year and a time when some of us think about a fresh start.  I'm looking forward to what the new year will bring.  Many of you, like me, might be considering finishing up some UFO's and planning for new quilt-a-longs.  There's a couple quilt-a-longs I've been thinking about joining but nothing is set in stone.  Right now I'm working on a 3 year old mystery quilt called On Ringo Lake by Bonnie Hunter.   Bonnie's patterns are great for scrap busting but I usually cut mine from scraps, fat quarters and yardage.  It would be nice to use up my older uglier fabric but I like my bright happy more up to date fabric.  By the way if you are not familiar with Bonnie and her yearly scrap busting freebie you can find out more about it by clicking here.  This years mystery is going on right now.  Get your free clues before they go away!

Today I'm cutting and piecing reds and greens.

They will be used to make the unit shown below.  

Bonnie's colors for the quilt were way out of my color comfort zone.  And to be honest I have almost no orange or salmon in my stash.  So changing up the colors was a must.  Her quilt is on the left my quilt is on the right.  I drew it up in EQ so I could decide on the colors I wanted to use.

Since these fabrics have been folded and shoved in a box for about a year they need a good pressing. Oh how I love red.  Rarely do I make a quilt without it.  Have you noticed red fabric is getting harder to find?  The new trend of more muted colors are cramping my style but my budget is loving it!

I'm not sure where I picked up this cute little fat quarter by Bonnie and Camille.  I love the messages hidden in the print.

This one is my favorite....Let what you love be what you do.  It's a shorter way of saying if you find a job doing what you love, you'll never work a day in your life.  So true.  When I quilt every day I feel amazing and the world seems right no matter what kind of drama is going on outside my studio.  I love quilting and it's never a chore, it calms my soul and feeds my spirit like nothing else.

So what could I do to make it this year better?  I'm already doing what I love but there's always room for improvement.  Last year my word of  the year was Simplify.  I feel like I did a pretty good job of just doing this and that without worrying about deadlines or things that "should" be done.  I just went with the flow and let things happen.  Well this year I'd like have a little more structure and movement.  A change is needed.  I like change and adventure.  It keeps the mind sharp and the world interesting.  So my word of the year is MOVE.

What does MOO-VE mean to me?  It's about action and change.  Staying busy, creating and enjoy the process of moving.  Here's a few examples for my year of MOO-VE. 

1.  MOVE a few UFO's to the finished pile
2.  MOVE the finished quilts to the patterns written pile

3.  Get up and MOVE for at least an hour a day with a daily walk, rain or shine.

4.  MOVE those unorganized fabrics....organize!

5.  One you may find to be a little strange is the reason for the cow above.  I'm going to change my diet from a Ketovore to Carnivore.  I've been eating a 95% carnivore diet for a little over a year.  54 weeks to be exact.  Starting tomorrow I'll be going 100% carnivore.  No more coffee, no more cheeses and no more cream in the coffee that I'll no longer be drinking.  Just meat, animal fat, butter and water.  I know this may seem like a drastic MOO-VE but it's due to health issues I've been dealing with for about 4 years.  If the MOO-VE makes things worse then I can always MOO-VE back to some veggies. I've had some amazing health changes and benefits in the last year and would love to see even more.

So what do are you planning for the new year?  Leave a comment below, I love hearing from all of you.  And I might want to join in the fun! 

...and for those of you who love fur babies...Khaleesi is very vocal these days!