Time to Crash

 

What a busy week it’s been … which would explain why I haven’t been blogging.  And very little of that busy-ness has included any time with needle and thread … but that’s ok. 

 

Tuesday, DH and I decided to take a road trip to Mexico … no, not the country but a town in Missouri.  ha!  It doesn’t look like there’s a whole lot to see or do in Mexico, MO … except Homestead Hearth, my very most favorite quilt shop.  It’s a little more than a 2-hour drive, so I don’t get there as often as I’d like … a fact for which my budget is thankful.

I went searching for some blues and reds for the BOM being put on by the handquilting group on Facebook and for some fabrics for sashing and borders for the blocks I was gifted back in February.

I remembered to take some samples of the red and blue I used in April’s block … but I completely forgot to pick up the gifted blocks.    When I mentioned that I’d forgotten the blocks, the gal who was helping me steered me to the black, advising that black is often a good choice for scrappy repros and suggested that the cheddar would make delightful cornerstones.  I just loved the fabrics … I haven’t had time to audition them with the blocks, but even if they don’t work, I’m not worried.  Worst case scenario, I use the fabric somewhere else *and* I have an excuse to make another trip over to Homestead Hearth!    I also picked up a package of some Hiroshima handquilting needles … I’d been reading so much about them that I decided I’d like to give them a try.  Alas, they aren’t working for me … after a couple of hours of quilting with one after we got home that afternoon, the needle had already begun to bend.  I really liked quilting with that needle … it glided through the fabric so easily, but those needles are a little on the pricey side … they would have been worth the price had they not bent.  So back to my John James.  And as you can see, I picked up another couple of fat quarters of neutrals … I’m a firm believer that you can never have too many neutrals. 

 

On the way home from Homestead Hearth, we stopped at our favorite restaurant – Zia’s on the Hill in St. Louis.  I should have stopped after the salad, but when they brought my entrée (seafood ravioli), I just had to have a little … and the rest went home with us.  Gotta love getting two meals out of one. 

 

Wednesday through Friday found me spending my days at DD’s.  Her former step mom (with whom she’s still very close) was hospitalized, so I reported for duty at 6:30AM before DSIL left for work and was relieved at 6:00PM when he got home.  It meant for some long, exhausting days … but I loved every single minute. 

 

While I was at DD’s Wednesday, DH was “in charge” of our mantel makeover.  For the longest time, I was wanting to do something to that wall or the fireplace to make it pop, to make it more of a focal point of our great room.  I had decided that when it came time to have our great room repainted, I would have that wall painted a darker shade … to provide more contrast with the granite surround.  All of a sudden, about a month ago, I realized that we could really add some interest to the fireplace by adding an entire new mantel.  Here is the before:

If you can’t tell, the wall the fireplace is on is an angled wall.  Nice, but nothing special … maybe even a little boring?  And here’s the after:

Yes, the framed photo (of our favorite beach) needs to be moved up. 

 

I’m thinking that today is going to be a fairly lazy day here at Chez Nana.  I have a pie to bake – for tonight’s swim team end-of-season banquet.   Otherwise, I have nothing on the agenda, and that’s just fine in my book.  Not only will it allow me to “recuperate” from my busy week … it’ll allow me to reacquaint myself with my needle and thread.  The Blues play Game 2 this afternoon, and I’m planning on quilting while I watch the game … hopefully with a better outcome than Game 1.     Next week looks to be just as busy as this week, so I’d better take advantage of this time to crash. 

 

I hope that whatever you have planned for today includes a little something that brings you joy ... have a great day!
Kathy