Hello Monday

 

I’m glad it’s Monday and the weekend is over. I honestly did no sewing all weekend….you won’t hear me say that very often, but I just wasn’t in the mood. In fact, the little machine I use at home is still packed up from last week’s workshop. 

I delivered Barbara Black to the Austin airport Saturday morning. We left Victoria at 7:30 am, and I dropped her off at the airport around 9:45. I took the quickest route to get there, but coming back, I decided to return through Smithville and Shiner. There is a Consuela handbag store is Smithville,

and it is sort of an outlet, with a room full of markdowns. 

It was worth the trip. I left with two purses and a wallet.

When I left there, I walked over to a couple of the antique stores. All of these cool pieces have possibilities for landscaping my yard. 

Luckily they would fit in my car. LOL. 

There were quite a few quilts, but I wasn’t really tempted by them either.

The prices were $175 and up, which didn’t feel like a bargain. I did like this one

but not enough to buy it. 

My last stop was in Shiner at the quilt shop.

They had quite a few bolts that had been marked down to $5.00/yard. You can see I had added a few more bags to my back seat when I left there.

I got home around 3pm, and I tried to take a nap, but the dogs weren’t having it so I got up and started cleaning house. An hour later, they had sacked out. 

Of course, it was too late then for me to have a nap.

I was tired Sunday and didn’t do much. After church, I stopped by the shop to feed the cat. She was waiting for me, and look what was right behind her!

I couldn’t get very close as they are both skittish, but I tried to get a better picture of the kitten. 

He looks just like mama. I love his white paws.

Workshop Wrap Up

I am up and off early this morning to drive our workshop presenter to the Austin airport. She needs to be there by 10am and I am hoping to hit the quilt shop in Shiner on my way back. I should have plenty of time to get there. 

We had a great two-day workshop. Here are some pictures on the “in progress” stuff:

This is the workshop I made the 4” blocks for.

The class is called “Love Your Layout”, and the premise is coming up with a pleasing setting for blocks you have made. Of course, they can really be any size. Here is Jo with her 12” blocks.

And a picture of Jo and our instructor figuring out how to lay them out.

I used the same setting, only with 4” blocks.

And, here are all of us, or mostly all; I think a few people had to leave early or didn’t make it for the second day.

I I’ll be ready to get back on track with eating more healthy and exercising. I have eaten meals out the last three days, and I know that’s not good even though I enjoyed it. Mexican food Friday night at Frances Marie’s 

Pasta primavera Thursday night at the Pumphouse

It was all good, but i am not accustomed to eating out so much, and unfortunately the quilting does not burn many calories.

Catching Up

I have been working to catch up on all the lingering projects and possibly get ahead on a few (that didn't happen!). I got a customer quilt quilted and bound this week.

Blue is not my favorite color, but I have always liked blue and yellow quilts. It makes such a pleasing combination. 

I played bunco Monday night and got home a little later than I usually do....the night sky looked so pretty with the full moon and the cloud cover.

These were taken from my front yard looking across the street. I really can't capture how amazing it was. Almost surreal. It made me think about the movie Moonstruck--one of my favorites.

Today and tomorrow we have a quilt guild workshop. We have a presenter/instructor, Barbara Black, coming from Huntsville, Alabama. Her blog is called "My Joyful Journey" if you want to check it out. If you look on the workshops tab, the one we are doing is "Love Your Layout". It should be lots of fun, and I'm told she is an excellent teacher. I'm looking forward to it!

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!