Trumped

It's been a while since I sat down to put pen to paper.  My last quilt was the graduation quilt for my niece Caroline.  Since that time she has gone to college, graduated, gotten engaged to a young man who owns a cattle ranch and is basically living her dream.  Her little sister graduated and I put together a colorful quilt for her.  This quilt I secretly named, "Trumped".  You see it was during the time before the election, and the Donald was campaigning.  I was busy putting together this lovely lap quilt.  My son stopped by and I proudly held up the completed quilt top for him to look at.  He said, "is that a swastika?".   I looked down and my quilt and back at my son and uttered a 4-letter word.  Several times.  I don't know that it was a true swastika but it certainly resembled one.   My son snapped a photo and texted it to his wife and she responded with, "is that a swastika?"   He responded with, "my mom is saying a lot of really bad words" to which she replied, "it's a very nice swastika".
Again, my most used tool, the seam ripper, came out of the drawer and we went to work.  The quilt was finished in record time and presented to a very happy graduate. 

If I would just slow down and pay attention.

2013 - the year to finish big

I've decided there are several things that keep me from finishing my projects. The computer (Facebook is evil) and TV (TV is evil). I first of all must say I am not a prolific FB poster, but I am a stalker. One of those quiet people who just views what other people post, and then makes my silent judgements. I do not like FB. I don't like the drama (those people get blocked), the games (those apps get blocked), the political fear mongering posts (deleted), and the bad grammar and spelling are enough to make me cry. I find that I get easily annoyed when I am on FB and yet I can't turn it off. I have excuses for not quitting. "but I have my relatives and how will I ever find them again (whinny sounding voice)" And TV - I turn on the TV and sit and stare at the screen. I watch the same movies over and over. I love to watch Jurassic Park, Anaconda, Arachnophobia,.....those kinds of movies that I can really not pay attention to because I have seen them so many times. Or Monk marathons. Those days are the best. So this year I thought it was time to finish some of those projects I have piled up around. First of all I have decided my little craft area is just too small. When I need to sew I have to go to the kitchen. Yesterday I pulled out the sewing machine and the strip quilt that I cut out several years ago. I decided it was time to put together a quilt top. I managed to sew it all together and lay it across my bed and I did not like it. So off to the kitchen counter I went where I cut the strips into completed square strips. After assembly I had a queen sized quilt top that is 8" squares and very pretty, although I wish I had used Hydrangea and bird fabric instead of the green and butterflies. But it will do. Now I measured it and my next stop will be for backing and batting. BTW I used a pattern out of a magazine for the strip quilt when I started the project (it's long gone - probably one I passed on to someone else) and as usual it called for a lot more fabric than I actually needed. Do I hoard the left overs or pass them on? I think I am going to give them to the senior center for their little craft store. Someone else might want the larger pieces I have left over. With the quilt top finished and being the largest quilt I have ever assembled, I can't imagine how I am going to quilt the piece. I will have to do some research. I have a regular sewing machine. It's going to be a chore, unless I were to pay someone else to do it. But I won't do that, I will figure a way to do it myself. My son just moved out and my daughter is planning to leave. This will leave us with two bedrooms! One will be a guest room, which I will set up for guests. The other will be a work area for my husband and I. We shall share this room. He can have his arrow making gear and whatever else he needs in there, and I can have a sewing area. I have big plans for this year, lets see if I can get them done. So for all of you out there ready to finish a project let's get busy! 2013 will be a productive year!

Hot Hot Hot

We went right from winter to summer. whatever happened to spring? It was 105 yesterday. When Debbie and I went for our walk, it was still nearly 90. Too hot for walking in the sun. As we were tooling along I realized Debbie was at least a step or two behind me. So I slowed down. Everytime I slowed down, she did too. We were dragging in the heat.
I reread my posts, pledged to write daily, and wondered if I ever finished those Halloween projects. I think I did, but I am not sure. The Block of the Month sits unfinished, too. And it's been 9 months since I decided to make a hat and bought a bag of ties. I sold several of them in my booth.
I've been thinking about giving my booth up completely. While Debbie is expanding to 2 booths, I am thinking about packing it in! I enjoy it, but think of all the free time I would have if I wasn't hauling crap around - buying it, cleaning it, pricing it, hauling it to the store, arranging it, rearranging it. And I'm barely breaking even! I could go back to just selling my greeting cards on commission and making the same amount of money. So I thought about this and decided perhaps I would wait until after the holidays. Or at least the end of February, because December through February are usually good months. Then I could give it all up. Have a big sale - keep the stuff I like, and move on to finishing my quilting projects.