Finished

To see what other quilters are up to go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I put the last stitch in Circle of Life yesterday afternoon. I used a purple wide backing and a light gray thread for the quilting.

I'm feeling restless and unfocused again today. I'm sure the weather doesn't help. It is cool (42 degrees at 8 am), windy, cloudy, dreary...again. There is a frost warning predicted again for this week. I haven't planted anything in the garden except radishes. I ordered 3 flowering plants through mail order again this year. It seems that every year they arrive when the weather is still cold and nasty and I can't plant them. They are small and I don't want to plant them out when it is so cold and windy here, knowing they won't survive. I put them in my garage where they are protected from the cold and get at least a little sun through the windows each day and set them outside a for a while on the nice days. One has died, another doesn't look good. Every year I am lucky if any survive. I guess I should quit wasting my money and buy bigger plants from garden centers locally, but they don't usually have the ones I want.

Husband is working in the field and will likely be out of the house most of today. This would be a good time to work on my sewing room. I had set a goal of doing that when he was able to be in the field knowing he would be out of the house all day and I would be able to move items out of that room into the rest of the house and not be in his way.

While I am able to cut and iron in there, it is a mess. I have to move some things to get to other things. I find that frustrating. I need to work on paperwork that gets piled on the bed. I need to go through scraps and organize them. I need to permanently move some things out. I need to clean out and organize the closet which I can't get to without moving things out of the room. The closet has two hanging rods, one behind the other. I have been storing clothes in there for years, clothes I no longer want. My son has things stored in there. It all needs to come out so I can see what is in there and decide what to get rid of. Problem is I don't think there is anywhere to go with most of it since all the places to donate are closed. We have donation boxes around our area that I sometimes drop off to, but they are taped off. So box/bag what I don't want and put it...where? Or haul it to the dumpster. Hmm. Or just leave it for now until things open up again? My mom is having the same problem. She was just getting started on going through her things, but now has nowhere to go with it. And, I was going to help her, but I'm not able to be with them right now. D*&% virus.

Maybe I'll just go sew instead.

Stay safe and well.

Well, Good Morning!

When I was looking out my front door this morning I saw this little critter hopping around the flower bed.

Then it came right over to the steps as if to say "Good morning". 

We had a freeze warning for last night so Husband brought me a bouquet.

It did freeze. I am hoping that the lilacs, peonies and poppies that have buds will still bloom. My apple tree is loaded with blossoms. 

It would be nice to still get apples. I guess we will have to wait and see. 

Meanwhile, I have been busy at the quilt frame with Circle of Life.

It is now off the frame and the binding will get attached today. I will sew it down while watching TV.

Husband and I ventured to his Pulmonology* appointment on Thursday. We wore masks and had our temperature taken when we entered the hospital. This doctor thinks that Husband does NOT have COPD, but rather asthma. He says it is often hard to tell one from the other, but his lungs are clear, he isn't worried about the small nodules/slightly enlarged lymph nodes seen in the last CT scan (said that he sees that every day in his patients, it's common in the farming state we live in, and is generally not a serious health issue) and feels that the sleep apnea is minor. He changed one of the inhaled medications and a CT scan has been ordered to see if there are any changes in the lungs/chest from a few months ago. I find this slightly encouraging. What I find discouraging is that the health insurance company will not approve the new medication so the doctor increased the dosage on the one Husband is currently taking. They had also not approved the PET scan ordered by the heart doctor after the nodules and enlarged lymph nodes were seen in the last CT scan. But, after meeting with the Pulmonologist* I understand why they might not have seen that it was necessary. I just find it frustrating that health insurance companies can and do refuse treatment and tests that medical doctor feels are necessary for treating their patients. 

Hope you stay safe and well.

*Blogger is underlining these words in red which indicates that they are misspelled. I looked them both up and they are spelled correctly. 

Lists

It is likely that very little sewing will be done today. Father-in-Law has a couple of medical appointments today. Husband and Sister-in-Law are taking him to those. I applaud my husband for insisting that his sister be involved with parental care this time around, even though it would be easier for he and I to do it without her. She did very little to help when her mother was ill. It all fell on my husband's shoulders. She is not happy about being forced to be involved so she insists that Husband go with her to the appointments. This means Husband will be out of the house for a bit today. I have things to do. Things that are easier to do when he is gone. I made a list.

I know I most likely will not finish everything on the list so I am trying to do the most important things first. 

I am also following along with Pat Sloan's Crazy Quilty March calendar. She is giving prompts every day to help people organize their sewing spaces, finish projects, etc. I find that even though I don't need someone to tell me what to do everyday I get more done if I have a plan. Sometimes I need a little help making a plan.

Sunday was an 'Assistant'. Identify something that assists you in your quilting. I have a lovely green cabinet that Husband thought I needed. He was so right! 

I am still in the process of organizing it. I have moved things around in the drawers a couple of times trying to figure out what will work the best for me. It's getting there.

Monday was the day to find a fabric that has been in your stash a long time and come up with a plan to use it. Rather than starting a new project I chose Circle of Life since that has been in my stash for 3 years. I am progressing.

Yesterday was a project that 'needs your love', in Pat's words. Again, I chose Circle of Life since I love it and it needs to be finished. 

Today is tidying up. Pat talks about making your space tidy so it is easy and enjoyable to work in it. I have a big table in my garage that is great for laying out projects and cutting, especially big pieces and trimming quilts after quilting.

When we brought it home Husband said he was making a rule that things were not allowed to pile up on the table. Oops.

When I visited my parents recently I brought home some boxes of things they had been storing for me...since I graduated HS/College. The boxes got set on the table. I have been going through them trying to decide what to toss and what to keep. I need to find a place for the things I want to keep. Some of it I don't want to keep, but know someone will want it. Some of it can be used for Bingo prizes at Retreat. The local nursing facility will want some of it to sell in their garage sale-style tent during the fall fundraiser. They don't want the things now, so I have to figure out how and where to store it here. Some of it will go in the trash. As soon as I say a proper goodbye to it. I need this table cleaned off. I have a quilt to trim so I can get the binding sewn on. I have several projects I want to cut out. I need to get busy!

Circle of Life Progress

continues.

I have completed all four borders.

I am now working on the New York Beauty/Small Star units.

A half circle needs to be appliqued to the Small Star piece.

I didn't know why the half circles needed to be appliqued, but I soon found out. These pieces are so small and curvy that applique is the easiest and nicest looking way to put them together. I know I could stitch the applique by machine, but have decided to do it by hand. I like handwork and these are quick to stitch.

 Then each of those units get sewn to a New York Beauty unit with a strip of black in between.

I have three of these units put together.

I am also removing the papers before stitching these together. 

I remove papers from a Small Star unit and a NYB unit. Hand applique a half circle piece to a Small Star unit. Then stitch the black strip to the Small Star. That piece then gets stitched to a NYB unit. It is nice to change from one task to the next without getting tired/bored from doing one thing. 

I have a ways to go, but it's getting there!

Design Wall Monday

To see what other quilters are up to go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I am working on Circle of Life again.

I worked on and finished one border today.

 

 

Each border has 73 pointy triangles. They take a little time to piece and since they are long they are a little unwieldy. I found that folding up the ends and pinning or clipping them made it a little easier to handle. As I worked I unfolded and refolded so I had a nice size to work with.

I follow Pat Sloan and she is doing a Crazy Quilty March Event. Each day she will give a prompt to encourage us to make improvements related to quilting. Today's prompt was 'an assistant' - something used to make the quilting process better - can it be better organized? One of her examples was a 3 tiered rolling cart. I have one of those.

It is pretty organized right now. It looks messy, but I know exactly what it contains and they are all projects that I will be working on at some point, hopefully soon. Behind the cart to the left is my beautiful green cabinet. It rolls. It has several drawers. It could be better organized. It is still a work in progress and I will continue working on this.

Another assistant I have is this thing that clamps right to the table called Table Mama. Actually, I have two of these.

The one by my sewing machine holds scissors, seam ripper, rotary cutters, cleaning tools, etc. There is even a place for a small pin cushion. At this spot I also have another clamp (the purple one) meant for a beverage, but I filled an empty glass with marking tools, tweezers, etc. 

This one is  called the Sassy Clip.

The other Table Mama is on the big table in the garage. It holds a rotary cutter, scissors, small sticky notes, pencil, tape measure and a pin cushion. They are all pretty organized with the things I want close at hand.

Decluttering

is what I am working on. I want my house to be free of unnecessary, unwanted and unused stuff. But, it's hard! Today I spent the afternoon going through my collection of QuiltMaker magazine. I had been given quite a few a long time ago. It included the very first issue. I have every, almost every issue up until March/April 2020. 

After much thought I had decided to let my subscription lapse. The library where the quilt group meets has a subscription so I can look at it there. If I find a pattern I really like I can have a copy made. I had not been finding much of interest lately anyway. 

So I started with the newer issues and carefully looked through each one to see if there were any patterns I wanted to copy. I quickly decided that I only needed to look at the pages I had marked to see if I was still interested in those patterns. Most I was not. I also realized that I could use my phone to take a photo of the pages I wanted to save. I have downloaded them to the computer as well as saved them on my phone and will either print them if I want/need to or work directly from my phone. Saves paper and ink. Some of the older patterns had templates so I did make paper copies of those. I found that a lot of the older patterns that required templates I was no longer interested in making. 

You can see from the photo above how many pages I had marked. Did I really think I would have time to make all those!?

I removed the page markers as I came to them. 

That is quite a pile.

I will be taking these, a few at a time, for the quilt group to look at. I really don't know what else to do with them. With so many patterns available on-line now I don't know how many people will be interested in paper versions.

On Tuesday I took a little trip with my quilting friends. We hit our favorite shop where I got backing for a quilt, an applique pressing sheet and a three FQs for the 365 Challenge. Great restraint again! I really am trying to get only what I need, not just because I like it.

Then we went on to visit my friend who had her shoulder replaced. She is doing well - feisty as ever and ready to get her therapy going so she can go home.

Wednesday I went to a dr. appointment with Husband. His breathing issues have worsened in the last couple of months. He now has several tests and appointments scheduled for the next several weeks.

Thursday was Sew Day. I worked on Circle of Life. 

I finished up the large New York Beauty spikes and the Star units. 

I am now to the outer pointy borders. I still need to sew the large New York Beauty spikes and Stars together, though. 

Tomorrow is Exchange Day and I will bring home a new bag of lovely fabric to work with!