To-Do-List Tuesday 4-23-24

I hope everyone had a good week. I certainly did, although there were a lot of interruptions, and I wasn't as productive as I had planned to be. Still, quite a bit got done.

1) Finish the swap quilt I started quilting last week. I'm still struggling along on it, but I should be able to finish today. Yes. 

2) Get a binding put on the swap quilt--if I can. I should have plenty of the backing fabric left that I can use for the binding. Yes, but I failed to get a picture. I took it straight home to work on the stain. I'll let you know how that goes once I know more.

3) Quilt three customer quilts--minimum. Two got done. I have another on the frame, but it's not quite finished.

4) Make 25 4" blocks for next week's workshop. Yes. I got 25 of the four patches made and I started on some 16-patch blocks, but only got a handful done. Hopefully, I can get them finished before Thursday. 

5) Make some potholders for the sampler store or the silent auction--it will be time for both before you know it, and I need to get some small things made. Yes, two done. I will need to continue working on small things.

6) A Quilting Life BOM. No. I printed out the pattern, but that's as far as I got.

This will be a busy week because of church activities and the guild workshop. The workshop is two days, and the instructor will need to be picked up in Austin and returned to Austin on Saturday. Someone else is going to go get her on Wednesday, but I will need to get her to the Austin airport on Saturday. That all means I don't need a long list of hard stuff I won't have time to do.

1) A Quilting Life BOM.

2) Work on April RSC blocks--yellow.

3) Finish two customer quilts.

4) Order batting

5) Finish 16-patch blocks before Thursday.

I am linking this post to Quilt Schmilt. I hope you all have a great week, and I'll see you back here next Tuesday!! 

More Progress

The weather was so dreary yesterday. I went to my shop and spent most of the day there.

It was time well spent and I got a lot done. I got my swap quilt trimmed and got the binding made.

Photography was a challenge because of the overcast weather. 

I used the leftover backing fabric for the binding.

I love the back, but I started sewing the binding on, and now I think it may be a little over-powering for the front. I decided not to overthink it and just keep going, but I wasn’t able to get it finished. Soon I hope. 

I got some of this product Linda recommended, and I will work on the stain after the binding is on. 

I also got the two customer quilts trimmed.

This is a big one—I think it was 102” x 106, so a large king. It’s sea turtles.

This is the one I ripped out and put on a different back.

The back she provided wasn’t big enough, and I thought maybe I could make it work. My fault for trying something I had a feeling wouldn’t work. I put it on a white back, and I like it better because you can see the quilting design.

It has tractors and farm animals. 

I got another one on the frame, but I was busy working on binding so it is not quilted yet. I’ll get to it Monday. I went to the grocery store when I left the shop. I don’t like to go on Saturday but I was running low on a few things, so I went ahead and did it. I was so tired when I got home and put the groceries away, I made myself a sandwich and sat down in the chair. The dogs were trying to persuade me to go outside and throw the ball, but I was too tired.

They are not very subtle. 

Lots To Do

I’ve been busy every day trying to stay caught up. I got my county taxes done and filed. In my county, businesses are taxed every year on all the business inventory, equipment, and furnishings. It may be like that everywhere, but I don’t know. 

I needed to get prizes for Monday night’s bunco, and they are supposed to be $5 prizes. Hmmm, that kind of limits what you can find that is still nice. I went to Walmart and got some hand lotion, dish towels, and these:

Aren’t they cute? Cowboy boot salt and pepper shakers for $5.97. My daughter saw them and said they match her kitchen, so I went back and got another set for her. LOL. 

I’ve gotten three quilts done this week, but I haven’t gotten pictures yet. Maybe tomorrow. I also made some potholders. 

I like them so much, I decided to crochet some dish cloths to go with them. 

I found the cotton yarn at Walmart, and it is a better match than the pictures show. I’m hoping I have enough of each ball to make another. 

I spent several hours yesterday doing alterations on granddaughter’s prom dress. 

I added the straps and sewed up several inches of the slit in the skirt. I don’t know why she ordered a strapless dress; she is not well endowed enough to hold it up, plus the catholic school she attends won’t let them wear strapless dresses. The sequins make it really heavy, and it wasn’t easy to work on. Anyway, I’m glad I’m no longer raising teenage girls. I no longer have the energy for it. There is a reason God gives us children when we are young. 

I went to my mom’s for supper last night. She had made tacos AND enchiladas plus rice and beans. It was really good, and even better when someone else makes it. 

I found out a few days ago that one of my customers passed away while I was in the Dominican Republic. She was only 72 or 73. She had been in the hospital due to some issues with kidney stones, but I  certainly didn’t expect to hear this news. Life is so fragile.

To-Do-List Tuesday 4-16-24

Nothing to report from last week as I didn't do a list, but it's a new week and time to get back on track. 

1) Finish the swap quilt I started quilting last week. I'm still struggling along on it, but I should be able to finish today.

2) Get a binding put on the swap quilt--if I can. I should have plenty of the backing fabric left that I can use for the binding.

3) Quilt three customer quilts--minimum.

4) Make 25 4" blocks for next week's workshop.

5) Make some potholders for the sampler store or the silent auction--it will be time for both before you know it, and I need to get some small things made. 

6) A Quilting Life BOM.

I also am working on unstitching a customer quilt that I wasn't happy with. I need to quit putting it off and just go ahead and get it done. After a short time of unstitching, my back and neck start start hurting, and I put it aside. I need to take some Tylenol and just power through it! 

There are volleyball and soccer games to attend this week, but those are in the evenings. Oh, and I bought some plants I need to get planted. There is always plenty to do this time of year. 

I am linking this post to Quilt Schmilt. I hope you all have a great week! 

Weekend Update

It was a good weekend! I worked in the shop Friday and Saturday and got some quilting (and binding) done. The quilting got done on this one, and then I sat down and got the binding sewn on.

I did cut the binding on the bias, and I’m happy with the way it looks. 

I forgot the name of the quilting design I used, but I think it was Precious Pearls. I was aiming for something that mimicked the designs in the fabrics. 

I said a long time ago I wouldn’t make any more bag quilts, but this top was made by someone else and I just had to quilt it.

So, never say never. She wanted a meander for the quilting design, so it stitched out pretty fast. Here’s what the final version looks like.

After all that, I still had some spare time so I loaded one of mine. 

This one had been hanging around probably around twenty years. It is made from blocks I swapped on one of the Yahoo groups. Back before Facebook, there were Yahoo groups for different interests including quilting. A couple of them involved lots of block swapping. Anyway, time to get it quilted. 

I noticed some stains on the side when I was rolling it. 

OMG. I will go ahead and get it quilted and bound, and then see if I can launder it and get the stain out. I’m not sure what it is, but it may be dog pee. I have fostered some male dogs over the years that had problems with marking. Of course, the goal is to train them not to mark in the house, but some have a hard time relearning the new behavior, and they can be quite sneaky about it. I will try some blue Dawn and see what happens. I used a colorful fabric for the back. 

On Friday evening , I went to the International Festival at the college.

https://youtu.be/A2w5KQX-43o

The link above has a short video of the event. There were 25 countries represented with food samples, native costumes, and some performances.

I thought I had more pictures, but I can’t find them. Oh well. It was fun.

I was planning to sew Sunday after church, but I took one look at the house and decided I had better vacuum, dust, and do laundry. Today I need to mop. I can’t seem to keep up with all the stuff that needs to be done around here.

Back to Work

I’m back in the groove—for the most part. There is a delay on getting my car back. I put it in the shop because I have a damaged spot on the back fender that needs to be repaired. I assume someone backed into my car in a parking lot. The tail light is also cracked. Anyway, the insurance company is making the body shop order used parts, and the ones they’re getting also have damage. The insurance company is providing me with a rental car, so I am okay, just impatient. 

I went to the grocery store to restock on milk and fresh produce.

This should get me through the week.

I worked on a baby quilt, but I got frustrated with the way it was quilting out, so I took it off the frame and started removing the stitches. Not my favorite activity, and I’m kicking myself because I had a feeling it wasn’t going to go well. I loaded another one and got the quilting started while I was ripping out the first one.

I have quilted several with these fabrics. It was apparently a popular line. I need to get the binding made so I can get it put on once the quilting is finished. She brought a piece of the green stripe she used on the border to make the binding with. I’ll need to do it on the bias to make it look right. 

I missed Zumba yesterday. I’m still tired, and I decided to sleep instead of exercising. I am going to make a better effort this morning to make it to exercise class. I have an appointment with the podiatrist at 8:30 so I will have just enough time to exercise and hopefully change clothes. 

Today would have been my dad’s 90th birthday. He passed away in January 2014, and I still miss him. He was both my dad and my best friend. We spent a lot of time together, and he taught me a lot. Mostly, he taught me not to doubt myself, and that I could do whatever I put my mind to. 

Back Home

I got back home late Monday night. It was so nice to sleep in my own bed and drink my own coffee in the mornings. I started to do a to-do list to post yesterday, but I was so tired, I couldn’t think straight. I did have a good time in Punta Cana. So where is Punta Cana? It’s actually in the Dominican Republic.

It’s a resort town on the eastern-most tip of the island.

I went with a friend who lost her husband about a year ago; we stayed in an all-inclusive resort, and there was plenty to do there, even though I didn’t want to do much of anything. The room was just okay, but the grounds were very nice.

The pools were large and not too crowded. 

The best thing was the beaches, which is what they are known for. 

I was looking through my camera roll, and I don’t think I have any photos that actually do it justice. The sand is white and soft, and the water is vivid turquoise. 

The food was so-so. Luckily I am not a picky eater, and can always find enough to fill up on.

I found I didn’t care for the meat dishes, but here I have some nice garlicky pasta with olives and sautéed veggies, and some bread with cold meats and cheeses. The meals were mainly buffet style, although one night we sprung for a dinner show. The entertainment was very good, and our main course was beef short rib with mashed carrots.

It was definitely better than the buffet, although there were several sushi courses that had a very strong taste. The dessert was good too, but I failed to take a picture. 

We did a couple of excursions. One was zip lining. 

There were 12 cables with courses ranging from 200’ to 2600’. 

It doesn’t look like I’m that high up because of all the vegetation, but it’s pretty high, and very exciting. 

We also did a “monkey adventure” which was very nice. The squirrel monkeys are native to Dominican Republic, and the habitat was very nice and clean.

This one was smiling!

You can’t take anything in because they are pickpockets, and you get sanitized before you can enter to prevent illness for the monkeys. They really were adorable. 

This one liked me. 

It was a long trip back. 

I was so happy to get back to the US. I’m glad I went, but we really are so blessed to have all we have in this country. I’m not telling anyone anything they don’t already know, but I know I take it for granted sometimes. 

I spent Tuesday trying to get my car back from the shop (which I didn’t; it’s still not ready), dropping off gifts, and picking up dogs. As much as I enjoyed sleeping in my own bed, I wasn’t the only one. Ryder went straight to his bed when I brought him home.

I think we are back to normal for a while.