Quilting is done and work continues in the garage

Yes, the quilting is finally done on the Harley quilt! It seems I have been working on it forever! I don't think I will be able to get it done for May, but that is no big deal. I just want to get it done! I will try and get the binding on it later today.

I spent 6+ hours yesterday since it was cooler on the great garage cleanup project. Yes, that seems like a lot of time to spend on such a thing! My goal was to get some space to work on projects. I had two library tables that were stacked on top of each other that I had salvaged before they were destroyed when the old high school project I was working on was being demolished. I had permission just in case anyone was wondering! I got rid of an small table that I picked up off the roadside and replaced it with the library table. I swept and spent time putting stuff back where it belonged. I now have two surfaces to stage materials and I finally have the space for printing fabrics!

In the middle of the cleaning I decided to take some of the trim that I had bought years ago for several projects and trim out the garage man door. Here is the before and after. I still need to fill in the nail holes, give the door a good cleaning, and paint the door jam, but at least I used up the trim and finished out this door! It looks so much better.

Today will be another cooler day so I plan on working on the opposite side of the garage where I keep my gardening tools and my home improvement tools. They all need a bit of organizing. There is also the garage window that needs trimmed out like the one I did a couple months ago in the laundry utility room. It is going to be another busy day!

Harley quilt progress

It got a little crazy around here the last couple of days with the roof and doing my job, but I managed to get a bit more of the Harley quilt quilted. I am now 86% done! I just had this one corner left to quilt.

The roof was completed except for the skylight. Somebody - not me - didn't measure correctly and the one that was on site was too big. LOL!! The contractor will be back to install it once he gets the right size. Meanwhile the new roof looks beautiful! This is a shot of the backside of the garage from my deck.

I also got a bit more cleanup done in the garage. I am trying to be brutal and get rid of stuff I have been saving just in case I might need it. For example since I now have only one more window to trim out, I pitched all the extra extension jam material I had only keeping what I need for that one window. Why keep all the leftover? I loaded the car with the items that will be going to the Goodwill and will deliver those on a day it is not raining like it is today. I just scratch my head and wonder how it gets so bad! LOL!!

A busy day around here

Yesterday the roofers showed up and got a lot done. They worked until about 2:30 then stopped because it was so hot - 89 degrees. They got the house done, but are coming back to do the garage. They had to take off the satellite dish to shingle under it. When they put it back I had no signal. I called my provider and they gave me an appointment for June 1! Being alone the tv was company. The good news is I got a recorded phone message that they will be here today between noon and 2 to realign my dish. Yeah!

I had forgotten about planting the marigold seeds and panicked that the heat may have killed them. I looked at them about 6 p.m. and saw a lot of little plants so I gave them a big drink of water. Marigolds are tough and I think they will be fine.

I went back outside at 8 p.m. to mow since the front and side yards were completely shaded by then. It was still hot and the sweat was running in my eyes. The grass had gone wild and needed a haircut badly. I was too wiped out to trim.

Update on the Harley quilt progress

I have quilted as much as I could over the last couple of days on the Harley quilt. Just quilting all those black shirts gets a bit boring so it is hard to stay focused! I now have 76% of it quilted.

Every day I try to spend some time in the garage and straightening it up. I still have stuff that I tossed in the garage that was in the laundry/room. I had moved it so I could do all that work in there. Then there is paperwork that need shredded, leftover bits of wood, and on and on. I have started a pile of boxes for stuff that is going to the Goodwill. I need to make the time to haul that over to them this week. I decided I needed a shelf for my battery chargers for my mower and string trimmer. I had some scraps of3/4" birch plywood and after two hours I had put together a shelf. I had set up a table in the garage and ended up using the miter saw, drill, brad nailer, and multimaster to put the shelf together.

I went thru all my other bits of leftover wood pieces and tossed stuff I had no use for. I painted the shelf and then got it installed. I added a hook for the mailbox key and screwed on the paper tower holder. The paper towel holder was in the spot the shelf now hangs. My speaker unit for my iPod sits nicely on the top and now when I am working in the yard or garage I have a place to put my phone.

I made bread yesterday and it rose really fast with as hot as it was yesterday. It overproofed, but it baked ok and tastes good. Glenda, it tastes like the bread we had in Austin! Today I have the air on; the humidity and heat is just too much for me.

On the downside

I have gotten a lot of quilting done on the Harley quilt the last two days. I now have it 56% quilted.

I worked in the yard for three hours last night and three hours Wednesday night. Since there is a lot of rain in the forecast, I have to get out and work in the yard whenever I can. I have been mowing a lot! The grass has been growing like crazy with all the rain so I end up mowing a couple times a week. After finishing up mowing the area I didn't get done Wednesday, I decided to clean up the area under the deck. I had used this area for my extra cora bells. I have a contractor coming next week to give me an estimate on replacing my rotted deck so I wanted to get the area cleaned up.

I dug up more than a dozen plants, cleaned up the leaves and weeds, then transplanted the cora bells into the bed at the side of the garage. I weeded the bed as I transplanted, gave them a good drink of water and now I just have to wait for them to perk back up. The cora bells that were already in this bed are looking so much better this year and some of the plants have shot up flower stalks. The hummingbirds like these so I will have to watch for them.

I am still tired this morning and I am sore from crawling around last night, but I will be ok.

Harley quilt, plants, and batting

I made some good progress on the Harley quilt. It is now 41% quilted. I have outlined the quilted area.

The forecast has changed and no rain for today or tomorrow. I need to get out and work on my garden. I spend some time repotting my squash seedlings. They are not looking so good this year. Absolutely pitiful! LOL!! They didn't thrive at all in the trays. They are now in individual pots so we will see if they recover. I plan on sticking a seed in each pot just to have a back up.

My next project is a quilt for a family member. They got a new bed and need a quilt to fit it. I bought a bolt of king size batting - hint, hint - yes, it will be a king sized quilt. The pattern that was picked is a disappearing 9 patch. I know the color that the room is going to be painted so I need to figure the fabric. The bolt is still sitting in the foyer.

Harley quilt, masks, yardwork

It has been a busy three days! I managed to get 25% of the Harley quilt quilted. The area done is outlined in green.

A fellow I work with wanted a couple masks. He picked out the fabric and I got them it the mail to him on Saturday.

I had received my rebate coupon for the utility/laundry room flooring I had bought so it was time to head to the store and cash it in for weed & feed, potting soil, tomato cages which I will use for squash, seeds, and some plants. I did spend a bit more than the coupon. It was easy to do!

I got the fescue planted. They are so cute!

I had space between the fescue and a clump of Shasta daisies so threw down some marigold seeds. My mom always planted marigolds and the deer won't eat them.

The row of Shasta daisies in my flower bed at the curb had a clump of plants right in the middle that were small. It looked bad last year and they still didn't get big enough to fill in the space so I dug up a bigger plant and moved the low, smaller plant into the spot where the bigger plant was. The front looks much better with the bigger plant. The transplant is a bit wilted, but with rain in the forecast over the next seven days, Mother Nature will help it recover.

Since my neighbors replaced their fence in the back I need to redo the bed on my side. This is where I planted my squash last year. I dumped the left over dirt that was in storage in my driveway last fall and I have never spread it out. I got started by pulling out rocks, pulling weeds, leveling the ground, moving some dirt and began to put the rocks back. This job is going to take a while! What a mess!

After about 4 hours it was getting too hot outside so I went inside, got something to eat, and then started on some mending for my neighbor. Got the mending done! Patched the jeans, shorten sleeves, and fixed some seams that had come apart. My neighbor is going to help me cut down some unruly bushes in trade for the mending. I think I am getting the best part of the deal!

The Harley quilt progress

It is time to start keeping track of the percentage of quilting that is complete. I just like to be able to put my progress in terms of a number. As of this morning I am 7% done. Not much, but better than a stick in the eye! LOL!!

More yard work

I was tired yesterday, but since rain was in the forecast for the next 5 days I wanted to get outside and get some fresh air. I worked in the yard for three hours for the second day in a row. I first cleaned out the cora bell bed then went on to the Lenten rose bed. It was full of leaves and at the back along the foundation of the house there were lots of weeds. Here is the before. I had already dug out two baby Lenten rose plants out of the area in the forefront.

Here is another baby plant that was growing between the rocks!

I transplanted this one and another one I found that had sprouted up near the place where I put all my yard waste. How it got there I have no idea! I love finding them! When I was at my brother's house helping to clean up the yard months ago, I found one there. I must have brought a seed that was on a tool or my shoe. I dug it up and brought it home.

I found more smaller plants as I cleaned out the bed and I will be transplanting those.

Here is the cora bell bed where I put the transplants.

Here is the bed after the initial cleaning. It looks better, but there is more that needs done. I want to move some plants around, but that will be a big job. If we get as much rain as they are forecasting, it would be good to do the rearranging with the ground wet and the plants nice and hydrated.

Since it is raining today I can't work in the yard so I plan on getting back to the quilting of the Harley quilt.

Some quilting, fawn and bulb updates

I have been busy. I finally went to the grocery store after 5 weeks. It sure is a lot of work buying enough groceries for at least 4 - 5 weeks. Wiping everything down, hauling it all in the house, and putting it all away is a lot of work! I am grateful that I still have the ability to buy groceries when so many don't have the income to feed their families. It is just so different buying that many groceries at one time! I just want to limit my exposure. Since it was cold yesterday morning at 6:30 a.m.- 38 degrees - and it was raining, there were not many people in the stores which is what I figured so that is why I made the effort to get up early and get this job done.

I did get started on quilting the Harley quilt.

The sewing machine bulb - it finally dawned on me to try to put on one of my Playtex gloves to try and grip the bulb. It worked beautifully! I had the bulb change in less than a minute! Thanks to everyone with their suggestions! With the bulb shedding light, it makes it so much easier to quilt especially since the Harley quilt is mostly black.

The fawn - I finally went outside yesterday to work in the yard. We are forecasted to get rain for the next 5 days so I needed to get the grass mowed. The front yard wasn't all that bad, but the side yard and the back yard had not been mowed yet this year. The side yard was covered with sticks from the neighbor's trees, so I raked and picked up two wheelbarrow of sticks so I could mow. It took me 3 hours to pick up sticks and mow. I went down to where the fawn was and it was gone. Something took it. There are a lot of predatory birds around here, but I am not sure who got an easy meal and frankly I don't care. I am just glad I didn't have to deal with it!

Finally pin basted

I finally got the Harley quilt pin basted. I also have bobbins wound so I can start free motion machine quilting it. The light bulb on my machine burnt out and I can't get up in there to change the bulb. So frustrating! I may have to email my repair guy and see if he can give me some pointers. I looked at the directions in the manual and I still can't get my fingers up in there to change the bulb. Since this quilt is mostly black I will have to work on it during daylight hours after work.

It has been cold here and we have had snow. Really? I am so over the weather!

Tomorrow I may have to a yucky job. This doe has been hanging around. She looks like she has been hit by a car a while ago. There is a big patch of fur missing on her left shoulder and she cannot put weight on her right rear leg so she is limping badly. Well she had a fawn last night, but it didn't survive. I saw her this morning licking it and it didn't move. She doesn't wander away from it too far and keep coming back to see it. The fawn in the grassy area of my yard so I am going to have to move it. Not looking forward to that.

Done for now

I finished up the masks I had which was another 50. I got an email from work that with these last 130 masks they have enough for now. I may need to make more later on, but for now I am done with masks for work. Yeah!

I already sent an email to the division managers and project managers that I was available and to send work my way.

Yesterday, I made a big batch of chili. This will be enough for several days so I won't have to cook again. The house smelled wonderful!

Busy weekend

I was happy to get so much done this weekend. The weather was beautiful and having the windows open was so nice! I spent time making masks and here is the pile of 80.

I decided to cut up some fabric I have been saving for years and turn it into blocks then eventually quilts. Here is the before pile.

the after. I saved the yardage here to make backing for the future quilts.

I also went thru my stash looking for dark blue, dark tans, and off whites, that would go with the marron and wine fabrics I had cut. Here are the strips hanging on the design wall just waiting to be made into blocks. It was a two days of cutting to make all these strips of fabric.

I even took the time to cut up the scraps instead of just chucking them into a scrap bin.

While I was waiting for some off white fabric to be washed and dried, I sewed together the backing for the Harley quilt.

Mowing the grass rounded out the weekend.