Envelope Project

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Personal Challenges

I'm sure all of us have our own personal challenges.  This year I have made several for myself.  At the beginning of the year I had four main goals to accomplish and now that I am down to 1.5 months to get everything done I can say that I have accomplished 3 of the 4 goals so far and I will attempt my 4th goal on Thanksgiving morning.  My goals for 2010 were:
         1.  Run the Houston Aramco Half Marathon . . . check
         2.  Enter a quilt in the IQF . . . check (I entered 2 quilts and I was disappointedly rejected!!)
         3.  Do a triathlon . . . check
         4.  Run a 30 minute 5k . . . not yet!!

In October I added 53 more goals to accomplish before June 2011 so we'll see how that list goes, but for now, I am happy with my progress.  I think that even my small every day accomplishments are making me a happier person.  There's something about being creative that makes life more enjoyable.  I get the same exhilarating feeling after I finish a workout and my running is sometimes zen-like and feels like I'm floating.  Unfortunately these moments are fleeting and my body then reminds me how OLD I am!!!  Ouch!

This afternoon B. and I went to our new found hill and while B. sat in the car and waited for me I ran the hill twice.  It was a little over a mile long up and back.  The wind was in my face pretty good for the second half so after checking my Garmin and seeing that at the worst part I was barely going at a 15 min pace, the downhill was at a 9:30 and the wind was still in my face.  I felt really good after running the hill.  Since Thursday is my day of trying to accomplish goal #4, I did not want to overdo my legs and end up with killer quads and unable to run on race day.  Next weekend I will hopefully run it twice.  Friday I went to the gym and swam 42 laps (1,050 meters).  It was wonderful as the pool was empty for my first 16 laps.  (I never get the pool to myself.)  Tomorrow will be more running and swimming as I'm on vacation this week.  Yay!

And here's the latest in my creative endeavors:

 How many pillowcases have you seen with French seams??!!  Since my serger is still in the shop, I made these pillowcases using French seams - it so much nicer with clean edges.
 These will be donated to the "Pillowcase Challenge".
 More scrap happy coasters!!  I LOVE making these things.  They do make me HAPPY!!
 #48
 #49

I also pieced a quilt top and it could be ready to quilt, but I may make some changes to it so I'll post pictures later.  And that's it for this weekend.  More crafty goodness tomorrow . . . I hope!

3 comments:

Jan Maree said...

I love the look of your scrappy coasters but I want to know how you make them - are they pieced - I know there must be some trick

young by design said...

Hi Cherry!

Check out my post on Aug 20 for my simplistic tutorial on the scrap happy coasters. I think the tutorial was for a potholder, but the same concept applies. I have made some changes, however. I weave the scraps on top of the backing, then 2 layers of batting. I start the weave at the bottom and I pin the bottom and one side to hold the strips in place. This weekend I will try to make another one and I will post better pictures and instructions. Thanks for asking.

young by design said...

p.s. I usually do a larger weave and then cut it into smaller sections. The latest batch of coasters originated from a piece about the size of a placemat and then it was cut into 6 coasters that are approximately 5.5" x 6". If you'd like to send me your address, I'd be happy to mail you a couple. youngbydesign@comcast.net