The Weekend Wrap-Up

 

 

 

Another weekend has come and gone, but this week I’ve got no complaints as that means that we are now just 3 days from heading to Hilton Head.  Woo hoo!

 

My weekend got off to a great start … I started hand quilting my storm at sea quilt! 

 

Saturday was a busy day … I spent the morning finalizing our trip plans, making hotel reservations for our stops along the way, and updating the maps on our GPS.  I also cleaned the hardwood floors … they needed it badly, and I certainly wouldn’t be able to leave with them like that.  I spent the afternoon quilting, but I spent my evening working on my next quilting project … a grandmother’s flower garden.  Yes, I’m joining the hexie craze!  And yes, I’m a little late to the party.  But better late than never, right?    I’ve always wanted a portable project, to take on our trips, etc. and I think this will fit the bill.  I ordered hexagon papers and cut my fabric (I’m using leftover fabrics from other projects, mostly Kansas Troubles fabrics).  I need to find some kind of portable storage container as I’m planning on taking this with me when we leave … I am hoping that I can work on it while we’re in the car, but if I can’t, I will have something to do at night in our hotel room.  Thankfully someone from the Celebrate Hand Quilting Facebook group came to my rescue – again.  I found just what will fit the bill … on sale at JoAnn’s.  DH will be out running errands today and has graciously agreed to take a side trip to JoAnn’s … I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: he’s a keeper!

 

Sunday was a slower day.  After church, I did a little more quilting and just took it easy … a nice way to end the weekend. 

 

Have a marvelous Monday!

Friday’s Miscellany

 

Another week is drawing to a close, and it’s been a busy but productive week. 

 

Summer is getting in her last hurrah … we’re getting highs in the 90s again.  But fall is not far away … the days are getting shorter … that fact was hit home when we drove up to our house at 8:30 Wednesday evening and I noticed that our landscaping lights hadn’t turned on yet.  I need to reset the timer. 

 

Here’s my Storm at Sea on my tables, ready to be “sandwiched”: … I got it basted and in the hoop last night!!  Woo hoo!  That means I get to start quilting today!  It’s been way too long since I’ve picked up my needle and thread.

 

We are now 6 days from leaving from Hilton Head … and I can’t wait until I’m here:Do you think that if I pack up now, Thursday will get here any sooner?  ha! 

 

I got a package in the mail yesterday … I just LOVE getting packages in the mail!  In fact, it’s one of the many reasons I enjoy shopping online.  It’s a border hoop.  As you may remember, I hand quilt, using a lap hoop … but I’ve had troubles with quilting the outer edges of the quilt.  The batting and backing are cut bigger and fill up my hoop, when I’m working on the edges, but the quilt top does not.  As a result, it’s been a bit of a bother quilting the edges …  I was resigned to the fact that this was just part of quilting with a hoop until I saw a discussion about quilting borders/edges on a Facebook group devoted to hand quilting, and several members recommended a border hoop.     

 

Hope you all have a fabulous Friday!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

 

Is it Wednesday already?  Feels like it’s only Tuesday … love those Monday holidays, but they sure do mess up the rest of the week.    Maybe a little Hodgepodge will set things right. 

 

1. What's something you're never too young or too old to enjoy?

A cuddle.

2. Share one happy memory from your high school years.

Hmmmm, high school wasn’t one of my more pleasant periods … in my high school there were two groups:  the really popular kids and the “hoods” (the really bad kids).  I was neither … and introverted, so I never felt “connected”. 

3. A nationwide strike of fast food employees took place in parts of the U.S. last week...they're calling for higher wages and the right to unionize? Your thoughts?

I have to admit that while I did hear about the strike, I don’t know that I know enough about this to make a call here.  I have to wonder, though, if they’re not cutting off their foot to spite their face … with unemployment numbers so high, employers shouldn’t have too much difficulty replacing the striking employees.  And even if some fast food establishments do raise their wages, those employers are going to find some way to compensate, to keep costs down and remain competitive … more than likely that’s going to include eliminating positions. 

4. September is National Honey Month...what's a favorite dish you make or eat that calls for honey?

At first reading, I thought you wrote National Hockey Month.  I was ready to wax philosophic about what an underrated sport hockey is … then I reread your question and read National Honey Month.    I don’t use much honey, but I do use some in Sweet, Sticky, Spicy Chicken.

5.  If you notice someone with a tag sticking out, a button unbuttoned, a shirt on inside-out, or some leftover lunch stuck between their teeth do you say something or do you keep quiet?

It depends on my relationship with that person … if I know the person, I’ll mention the tag or button.  I’m not so sure on the inside-out shirt … it will depend on how noticeable it is as well as how well I know him/her.  And the food between the teeth, I think I’d have to know the person pretty well to mention that.

6. What movie always makes you cry?  Or at least makes you feel like crying?

I always cry when I watch movies like Steel Magnolias and Terms of Endearment … no matter how many times I watch them.

7.   'Mary Had a Little Lamb' was written in May of 1830, and published in Juvenile Miscellany in September of that same year.  Now for the fun part...create your own four line rhyme using that same tune.

Sorry, I can’t think of anything … drawing a blank on this one.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I’ve got about 3 more rows’ worth of papers to remove on my quilt top.  As I’m removing papers, I’m noticing that my machine is continuing to occasionally drop a few stitches.    I’m marking with a pin the skipped stitches and will go back and restitch before sandwiching the top with the batting and backing … which I’m hoping will happen today?  It will feel so good to get this in the hoop!  Even though almost every part of this quilt, so far, has taken considerably longer than I’d anticipated, I’m expecting to meet my goal of getting this quilted before we leave on our trip.

 

Speaking of, we are now 8 days from heading out for Hilton Head!  Woo hoo!

 

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

The Weekend Wrap-up

 

 

Time for another weekend wrap-up … an extended one, thanks to the Labor Day weekend.

 

Friday morning I drove up to Staunton, about 45 minutes from here, to check out a new to me quilt shop.  As I pulled up, the sign said Staunton Mini Mall.  A mini mall?  I have to admit that at that moment, my hopes were dashed … and the displays in the front window didn’t help … they were unimaginative at best.  But when we walked inside, it was 180 degrees different!!  It was a huge shop with a ton of absolutely gorgeous fabrics!  I couldn’t believe my eyes!  It was almost sensory overload!  And it was all good quality stuff, a lot of Moda and Marcus Fabrics, at reasonable prices.  And their selection of extra wide backing fabrics was the largest I’ve seen anywhere!  It would rival Hancock’s of Paducah!  I will definitely be back … often!  I picked up some yardage … a beautiful red and a lovely cream.  I’m thinking that they might make a lovely two-color wall quilt for our great room.

 

It got up to 101 again Friday afternoon.  Not a very good day to dine out at a local restaurant called the Back Porch … which is in fact a large covered porch.  The fans were going so there was some air moving, but it was WARM.  Earlier in the week our friends had invited us to join them … the food was fabulous and the company was, too.  But we should have waited until it cools off. 

 

In between the road trip in the morning and dinner out in the evening, I did get a couple more rows sewn onto my storm at sea top … that left 4 more rows to be sewn on.  Here’s the progress I’d made by Friday evening.

I got the top completed late Saturday afternoon … and then the REAL fun began: removing the foundation papers.  Wow, who knew what a tedious process that is.  I thought surely I’d have the papers removed by Sunday evening and that I’d hand quilting by Monday.  No such luck.

 

We decided to play hooky from church Sunday morning … it was nice to have a nice slow start to our day.  I got more papers removed … but there are still a lot left to be removed.  We spent the evening at DD’s for an early birthday celebration … we had appetizer night (always a favorite) and played games.  What fun!

 

Late Monday morning I was back at DD’s so I could watch the littles while Mama and Daddy had a long-overdue date.  It’s been months since they’d been able to get away, just the two of them, and they definitely needed some couple time … and I could always use some T time! 

 

It wasn’t a glamorously exciting weekend, but in my world, it was a fabulous one!

 

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Friday’s Miscellaneous Musings

 

 

After an unseasonably cool (but delightful) start to our summer, the summer-like weather has returned … with a vengeance.  Still I was hopeful that we’d be spared the 100+ degree weather … but yesterday we broke that barrier … in fact, our little village recorded the highest temperature in the St. Louis Metro area yesterday.  Here’s a screen print I captured yesterday:

 

I didn’t get in any time in the sewing room yesterday, and I have to say that I’m not the least bit sorry … after DD got off work, we ended up going to the pool … a perfect day for some pool time (see above).  By the time I got home, it was too late and I was too tired (albeit a good tired ). 

 

I’m not sure that I’m going to get much sewing time today.  My neighbor told me about a quilt shop in a small town about 35 minutes north, so we’re going to go check it out.  DH and I will be going out for dinner with her and her husband this evening, so there might be a very brief window of time for working on that storm at sea top this afternoon.

 

We don’t have anything special planned this weekend … and I have to say that I’m looking forward to that!  Now that I’m “working” again – ha! – I could use a bit of a break.  DH and I talked briefly about getting away – anywhere – this weekend, but since we’re now just 2 weeks from our trip to Hilton Head (woo hoo!), we decided to make this weekend a staycation instead. 

 

Hope you all have a fabulous Friday … and a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

It’s another Wednesday, time for another Hodgepodge!  Interested in checking out everyone else’s answers?  Just click on the button above.

1. Labor Day weekend (in the US of A) is approaching...what's something you've labored over this year?
I’ve been laboring on my storm at sea quilt.  I’ve got all my blocks pieced into rows and am now piecing the little finishing pieces into a row.  I had to rip out and restitch two pieces that I didn’t get lined up right … and evidently my needle has gotten dull as the threads of the fabric have been pulled out … all across where the seamline was … it looks like the needle didn’t pierce the fabric but poked/pulled threads as it went through the fabric.  I was determined to get all the rows put together yesterday, but I quit when I saw that I’m going to need to make a new finishing block.  It won’t take long to get the rows finished and then it will be time to sew the rows together to create the quilt top.  Then comes the fun part - removing the foundation papers!  ha!  There’s still light at the end of the tunnel … I’ll be there eventually. 
 
2. What is one word to describe your 'job' or career?
OCD.  When I worked outside the home, I was an accountant, and I think you need to be fairly OCD to be a good accountant.


3. What was your worst or least favorite job ever? Why?
Oh dear, I had a loooong story about the BEST job I’ve ever held … then I reread the question.  Ooops!  The worst or least favorite?  My first position at the University was as an accountant in an office where there should have been at least two, if not three of us.  While I didn’t dislike the work, I disliked the work load, especially in the summer when I had to work huge amounts of overtime in order to prepare for the annual audit.
 
4. How do you measure contentment?
I’m not sure that contentment can be measured … contentment is having a peace and serenity that all too often in today’s crazy world can only come from God.

5. Pickles-like or dislike? What is something you eat that requires a pickle? Dill, bread and butter, sweet gherkins...what's your favorite kind of pickle?
I’m not a fan of pickles.


6. In your current house-town-state, what is it you like living close to?
I being no more than 10-15 minutes from DD and my Ts.  I also like our subdivision … on the outskirts of town, so it almost feels like we’re living in the country, and it’s just small enough to feel cozy and to get to know our neighbors.


7. What is one thing on your 'want-to-do' list before summer draws to an official close?
Since summer doesn’t officially end until September 21, spending some time on Hilton Head Island is at the top of my “want-to-do” list.  Thankfully we’ll be there for the last few days of summer (and the first few of fall). 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
When I was at DD’s yesterday, I happened to look out the window upstairs and saw something that just tugged at my heartstrings.  (Forgive the blurriness … I took this with my iPhone, through a tinted window with a screen … you can click on it to get a better view.)


Have a wonderful Wednesday!

The Weekend Wrap-up

Didn’t I just do a Weekend Wrap-up yesterday?  I am amazed at how time just flies by … I know I say that every Monday, but I guess I keep thinking that one of these days, time will slow down.  ha!

I didn’t get any progress made on my Storm at Sea this weekend … it’s beginning to look like I won’t get it into a hoop until next week. 

Friday I spent the day at DD’s … she worked that afternoon, and after she and DSIL got home, they suggested that we call Papa (DH) and ask him to come join us for some game time.  I suggested that he stop on the way and bring some carryout at our favorite Chinese place.  I don’t remember who won the games, but I do remember the fun we had and the laughs we shared.

We visited my Dad on Saturday.  He’s getting so frail, and he was having a particularly bad day.  He’s adamant about staying in his home, and while he does have some days that are better than others, I still worry that one of these days he’s not going to be able to live on his own. 

Not long after we got home from church Sunday, we got a phone call from DD … her in-laws needed some help.  They’ve always had some health issues, but after her MIL’s emergency surgery a couple of weeks ago, things have gotten significantly worse.  DD and DSIL went to help them reorganize/rearrange their apartment to try to make it a little easier for them … so we had all four Ts over for the afternoon. 

It doesn’t look like things are going to slow down today … DD works in the morning, I have a hair cut this afternoon, we have small group this evening.  It doesn’t look like I’m going to get any time in the sewing room until tomorrow afternoon … although that’s subject to change. 

Hope you have a marvelous Monday!