Sewing block?

Not a whole lot of sewing this week… I did get the back made for the Little Pink Houses quilt but that’s it.

I had wanted to have an equal amount of the leaf fabric and the pink grunge fabric in each section but of course I forgot to allow for the overage I’d need for basting & quilting… ugh… so that first leaf section will be smaller than the 6″ pink section, oh well

As to why I’m not spending more time sewing… it’s as if I’m waiting for something else before I’m ‘allowed’ to spend countless hours in my sewing room. I can’t really explain it better. Every time I think ‘I’m going to sew all day today’ I come up with all kinds of excuses why I ‘should be’ or ‘need to be’ doing something different. But, Ha, do I do those things? No! WTH is going on with my brain??!! I’m hoping with more time I’ll be able to work it out 😦 Here I am retired and I can do ANYTHING I want with my time and I’m still not doing what I want to do, UGH!

I’ve been spending a lot of time on our screened porch enjoying the view and reading. I’ve pulled out my old Kindle Fire and have finished 4 books over the last month. I guess that’s something! Check out that adorable Elvis Gnome hubby got for his birthday 😀

Hubby came down with something this past week, he’s all stuffed up and has been in bed for most of the last 4 days (not unusual for him when he doesn’t feel well!). He will not let me test him for covid so I have no idea if that’s it or just some common cold bug. I’ve been wearing a mask whenever I’m within 20 feet of him but I’m not sure that will prevent me from catching it. I started feeling ‘something’ last night and I still feel it this morning…. F***!!! If it turns into anything I will definitely test myself 😦

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That’s all for now… enjoy the rest of your weekend and…

Another UFO completed

I got my April UFO project completed early last week before we took a 3 day trip to Charleston for a Corvette car show.

The APQ UFO challenge number for April was 9 and that equaled the Sugar Blocks quilt top on my list. Last week I was still mulling over how I wanted to quilt it and as usual, I went with my tried & true all-over meander. To add some pop, I decided to go with a bright yellow thread and I had a solid yellow fabric in my stash that I used for the binding. A finish is a win!!

Here are a few close ups of the quilting

I’m still working on my Little Pink Houses quilt, I need to finish the backing and then get it basted.

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Here are a few pictures I took while we were in Charleston. I opted not to go to the car show on Saturday so there are no pictures of Corvettes :-p The first two are at Shem Creek just outside of Charleston and the last two are from Joe Riley Waterfront Park. We had absolutely gorgeous weather, upper 70’s with no humidity ❤

We got home just before lunch time today… man, it’s nice to go away but it’s even nicer to come back home!!! :-p

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That’s about all for now… have a great rest of your weekend!!

Officially Retired!

It’s here… it finally happened… I am retired!!!! Woooohoooo! Let the FUN begin 🙂

I had a nice last few days at work, they threw a couple virtual parties for me. One with my direct team and another they opened up to anyone in the company that wanted to drop in to share a few memories. Both were great and of course we did the whole ‘back when I started…’ thing, LOL!! My boss made up a Jeopardy style trivia game and one of the categories was 1979, the year I started…Ha, I didn’t know any of the answers LOL

The company sent me a crystal vase with a nice inscription on it… I joked I could use it as a ‘cocktail’ glass!

But the best gift goes to the two women in my department, they sent me a very generous gift certificate to 5bucksayard. This is a fabulous small business in TX that sells fabrics at a remarkable price – I cannot wait to dive in and buy a ton of fabric!!

We’re leaving tomorrow for a road trip to Savannah for one day, then on to Tampa for the rest of the week. We’re meeting up with some old friends to celebrate Hubby’s birthday and my retirement… let’s hope we have good weather!!

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I finished the top for the March Color Blocks qal called Little Pink Houses. I decided against the extra borders in the pattern because I didn’t want to wrangle a quilt that big through my domestic machine.

This measures 52×63. When I posted pictures on FB one of my neighbors said she’d like to purchase it!! Wow! I’ll ask her input on backing fabric and quilting design as I finish this off.

They released the next number for the APQ UFO Challenge… and April’s number is 9. Squeeeeee, that’s my Sugar Blocks top from May 2017… I’ve been wanting to get this finished for a long time 😀

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I finally got hubby’s Medicare Part B all sorted out!! Phew! Early last week I found a phone number to our local Social Security office and spoke with a very nice lady there. She pulled his records and said his case had been assigned but she would take care of it immediately so everything would be ready for April. Wooohoooo, the very next day the website was updated to reflect his Part B would start 4/1. Then we enrolled him in the supplement plans… so now we’re all set!! Yay, but it really should not be this difficult!

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That’s about all for now… have a great rest of your weekend!!

Countdown…

This time next week I will be officially retired!!! Omgosh, I only have 5 working days left and I’m a free bird 😮 This will be the first time in 43 years I have not had a job…not been responsible to a company, boss or team… yikes, I have no idea what this is going to feel like but I’m looking forward to it!!

I’ve been thinking about all the “me” things I’d like to incorporate into my day/week/month like fitness, nutrition, hobbies, travel, pampering, etc – I’m so bad at doing things just for me… this is going to take some effort! LOL

In the meantime I’ll continue sewing & quilting and watching tennis… my two favorite past times! Speaking of sewing and quilting, I’ve made good progress on the Little Pink Houses pattern from the Color Blocks QAL

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Omgosh, how stinkin cute is this??!! I just need to cut the horizontal sashing, piece it all together and add one 2.5″ border. That will bring the size to 52×60 – the pattern calls for two more borders but I’m leaving those off, instead I’ll bind it in a dark hue so it has a nice frame.

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I had a couple rough days this past week, really missing my Sammie girl. No clue what triggered it but I guess that’s just how it’s going to be 😦 ❤

In one of the cards from the vet or the crematorium I received a heart-shaped piece of felt that holds wildflower seeds. I’m going to plant it this week between two bushes Sammie liked to chew on… I’m no gardener so I can only hope something will grow!!

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That’s about all for now… have a great rest of your weekend!

Attacking my UFOs

It feels so nice to have another UFO completed! Last week I shared my progress on my rainbow jelly roll race quilt I started back in early 2020 BP (before pandemic). I finished the binding, took indoor pictures then threw it in the wash. I posted the pics on Facebook and my niece immediately asked what I was going to do with it. I told her it did not have a home and asked if she wanted it… Yes! So I packed it up on Monday and shipped it off to her (she’s in Maryland)… and I totally forgot to take outdoor pics – oy!!

Here are the indoor pictures I took

_{(the vertical lines are from being folded for 2 years… they came out in the wash!)}

I’ll wait for APQ to release the next number in April to start on another UFO. Until then I’ve started making Color Blocks again to make the adorable March pattern called Pink Houses. As a reminder, this sew along is completely free and a new pattern is released every month. I plan to follow the directions except I’ll most likely leave off the last two borders so the quilt is not quite so big.

I finished my ‘tree’ blocks yesterday and will start cutting & piecing the pink blocks today.

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I’m 10 business days away from retirement 😮 omgosh, it feels so weird to say that but I’m so stinking excited to not be responsible to someone or something everyday I can hardly put it into words. I received my new medical insurance card so that’s all settled for me… I still need to get DH’s stuff all wrapped up, of course Social Security is taking it’s sweet ass time 😦 Mind you I submitted all the paperwork back on Feb 7th!! Oh well, not gonna worry about it… I’m sure it will all work out (fingers crossed!)

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That’s about all for now… have a great rest of your weekend

Woven Star top

I got the Woven Star top all pieced this week… it took longer than expected because I made a few mistakes and had to rip out a few seams 😦 But all’s well that ends well!

I know it looks a little wonky in this picture but it’s really not that bad 😉 LOL It measures 50×50 so it will make a nice crib size or child size quilt.

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We had a bit of winter weather here this weekend… so pretty when it only lasts a few hours, haha! The picture with the wild turkeys was taken about 4 hours after the ones with the snow.

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I just finished watching the Australian Open Men’s Championship match between Rafa Nadal and Daniil Medvedev… if you don’t want to know the outcome… STOP reading now!!

It was an epic 5 set match that could have gone to either player and it included some phenomenal shot making. Also on the line was a chance at breaking the three-way tie between Roger, Novak & Rafa of 20 grand slam titles… and the winner was:

RAFA NADAL!!!!! Wow, it was a crazy roller coaster ride! He lost the first two sets and it appeared he was physically done…but if anyone has watched Rafa you know he’s never out until the very last point has been played. In true Nadal fashion, he rallied to win the 3rd & 4th sets. He broke Medvedev’s serve early in the 5th but was broken back to bring the score to 5 all. Rafa broke Medvedev again to take the lead 6-5 and was able to serve it out for the WIN!!!!!!

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There are two big NFL games later today and wouldn’t you know it we’re having problems with our DirecTv service. It started last night so we called and of course they can’t get anyone out until Monday morning 😦 Luckily I was able to use my smart TV to stream the tennis match on ESPN+ otherwise I would’ve been furious. If it doesn’t clear up for the football games, I’ve got my laptop jerry-rigged so we can watch on the app but use the TV as the monitor. Oy!! what a mess!!

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That’s all for now… have a great rest of your weekend!

Finished quilts of 2021

Two posts in one day? I figured if I didn’t post this now I never would…so here goes!

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Wow, such a slow year of quilting for me… if it wasn’t for Debby Brown’s QAL I might not have finished anything 😦 I kept up with the monthly patterns until June and then I made the Sept pattern.

I also spent time working on these quilts and double oven mitt I finished for a friend whose mother has stopped sewing

And I did finish a few other small projects…

All in all, not a very productive year by my standards 😦 Here’s to hoping 2022 will be much better ❤

Another Color Blocks quilt!

This week I finished the September pattern called “Gather Ye Rosebuds”. I got it basted last weekend and I did the quilting in the flower buds and leaves. That left the background which needed a meander. I worked through that on Friday and by the end of the evening I had the binding on 😀

These pictures were taken at night so the colors are a little off… the binding is not as dark as it seems and the backing fabric is not as ‘peachy’ as it seems. I’m really happy with this final result and I’m sure it will be loved when it finds it’s new home.

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We went out for Thanksgiving dinner this year – we had gone to Carolina Roadhouse a few years back and enjoyed the food so we did it again. They work strictly by reservation and it is a plated meal, not a buffet. We got the full plate below plus a basket of mini corn muffins. For dessert, our choice of Pumpkin or Pecan pie. We went with the same friends we share most holidays with here in Myrtle Beach. I was so stuffed at the end of the meal!!!

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I got my Moderna booster last Monday and all went well. Other than a sore arm for a couple of days, I had no adverse reaction. Of course now the new Omicron variant is looming…uuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh, I really want this all to be over!!!

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On a brighter note (pun intended), we got our Christmas tree up and decorated last week!

Lights off….. Lights on

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That’s about all for now… have a great rest of your weekend!!

Basting and quilting

Yesterday I finished basting the “Gather Ye Rosebuds” quilt and started quilting on it. I decided to follow Debby’s suggested quilting motif and had to re-watch her videos to refresh my memory. The Color Blocks QAL (which is free!) has been so much fun and now I have all the patterns, tips and instructional videos to use forever!

I finished the specific quilting in the flower buds and leaves all that’s left is the meander in the rest of the background. I’m using three different threads on top: a variegated pink in the bud, a medium gray in the leaves and although Dove Grey is show in this picture I’ve decided to use white in the background.

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We pulled out our Christmas tree yesterday and got it assembled last night, now I’ll take my time this week decorating it. The weather has turned chilly here so I think I might be getting into the holiday spirit (only 39 this morning but should reach 69 later today 😉 ). Hopefully I’ll have pictures to share next week!

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In other news, on Friday the CDC approved all adults 18+ can now get the covid booster shot so I logged on yesterday and made my appt for Monday @ CVS. Hubby got his a few weeks ago and unfortunately decided to get his Flu shot at the same time – let’s just say I won’t be doing the same thing! He felt like crap for 2 days afterward and we honestly think it was the Flu shot or the combination of both at the same time that caused it because he had zero reaction after the first two Moderna shots earlier this year.

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I broke down and bought Sammie a few shirts from Amazon… the one I made for her worked ok but it really didn’t fit her well and I had to adjust it every time she moved 😉

(affiliate link)

These worked so well I bought a second set in green :-p She usually hates wearing clothes but these are light weight t-shirts and she doesn’t seem to mind. Of course the colder weather probably helps!

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Our fall turkeys are back! Several days last week they were wandering just outside our fence. Of course, as soon I let Sammie out they scattered!

That’s about all for now… have a great rest of your weekend!

Autumn distraction

I did get my May color blocks top basted but I have not started quilting on it yet. Here are the pictures of how I glue baste. I use Elmer’s washable glue sticks – they’re purple when they go on but dry clear and wash right out after the quilt is finished.

In the top four pics I show how I center the sandwich on my ironing surface, fold up one side of the top fabric to expose the batting then apply dots of the glue to the back side of the fabric. I cover enough of the fabric the same size as my ironing surface. I roll the fabric back down, smooth it out with my hands and then go over that area with a dry iron. I reposition the sandwich so the next area is on the ironing surface, fold up the top fabric to expose the batting and apply dots of glue to the back side. I roll that fabric down, smooth & iron. I keep repeating this until I get to the end, then pull the sandwich back over the ironing surface until the other side is on top. I repeat that same process before flipping the whole thing over and doing the same thing on the backing fabric (hopefully all that made sense!!)

After top & back are done, I give the whole thing a good pressing again on both sides. Now it’s ready to quilt 😀

Then I had a little autumn distraction when I received my order of Crumb Quilts by Emily Bailey. One of the patterns includes crumb applique leaves and it was calling to me… so of course I answered! This was so quick and satisfying ❤

I had a little fabric shopping spree this week, first I bought some fabric from 5bucksayard.com. I saw the prettiest floral fabric that I think will be the perfect backing for my Rosebuds top.

While I was online I picked up a couple of other fabrics for my stash

Then, after I finished my autumn leaves pillow cover, I had an itch for more Fall fabrics so I went to my LQS Quilting at the Beach and picked up 5 half yard cuts. I have no plan for them at this time but for some reason I just HAD to have them 😉

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That’s about all for today… have a great rest of your weekend 😀