A big thank you!

Thanks you all for your kind birthday wishes! I received phone calls from family and a visit from friends. Last evening my friends brought me the cutest little cake

Some potstickers

This cool water glass with an extra lid, stainless steel straw and cleaning brush, lots of stuff to flavor the water, and a gift card along with a beautiful card.

They also brought the fabric for the backing for the king sized t-shirt quilt that I am making out of his shooting t-shirts. The Navy camo is for his father who was in the Navy.

In the mail, I received this gorguous cross stitch pattern from Cherie. I will probably stitch it in that red Cosmo thread I got in that huge mix of floss from ebay.

My sister had given me this cool skull for my birthday when she and her husband were in Ohio about six weeks ago. It sits on the table next to my sewing machine and I love it!

And then about two months ago my brother, SIL, and nephew gifted this neck fan for my birthday. I love this thing! My nephew is already booking his band for shows next summer so I know I will put this to good use for that and working in the yard.

Lavender quilt(s) progress

There is no way I could just make one! LOL!! Here is the top I was first aiming for all sewn together.  It is much prettier in person.  This picture is kind of dark. 

The back is all sewn together using the biggest left over pieces I had.

The batting is cut and ready to go too. Here are the blocks for the second quilt.

I decided to go ahead and cut up the little remaining lavender fabric I had into strips. I know there will be enough blocks for the second quilt and at least a good start on a third. I had several yards of a solid lavender in my stash so that got cut up into 3" strips for binding and the constant fabric since I ran out of both the light and darker tone-on-tone lavender fabrics. Here is the pile ready to be turned into blocks.

Saturday I mowed the entire yard after I leaf blew the leaves in the one side yard and about half the back. I think this will be the last time I will have to mow the back, but I might have to mow the front and sides one more time.  Mowing the yard in Ohio in November - global warming!  Sunday I got my covid booster shot, cooked some, did dishes  and laundry, and watched the Browns game. Tom Petty once said "If you are not getting older, then you're dead". Well, today I am another year older! YEAH!

Blocks ready to sew

I got a bit more done on the lavender quilt. Here are 8 blocks ready to sew and one sewn, but not pressed.

I did a quick count and I will have more than enough blocks for one quilt. So you know what that means? I will continue to make blocks for two quilts! LOL!! My next delimna will be to come up with fabric for the backs. The furnace company called me yesterday afternoon and will be coming to take care of my equipment once they get thru taking care of the mountain of calls for people that don't have heat. Still haven't heard from the glassman. This weekend will be all about the lavender quilt and getting some yardwork done. Have a great weekend!

Lavender progress and two steps back

While I was waiting for the duct cleaning guy and the glass guy to show up, I worked on the lavender quilt. I went digging thru my scraps that I had spent months on cutting and organizing last year and found a two pieces I could use. Blocks 1 and 3 are from the scrap bins. I barely had enough to make block 3; it looks so much better in person. This photo is a bit dark. I had enough of the batik in block 1 to make another block, but I am going to have to do more piecing to get a block since I have one longer piece and two short pieces. I also dug thru my Halloween fabric and found a piece just wide enough to make block 4. I have enough for a second block.

For my constant in each block I am using the darker and lighter tone-on-tone pieces. I was figuring out if I could make the whole top using just the darker tone-on-tone, but I quickly realized a yard was not going to be enough. Here are the strips I have sewn together in pairs

And here are the strips yet to be sewn together

Here are the bits I still have. Once I get the blocks made out of everything I have ready, I can then use this to make anymore blocks I need. It is strange making one baby quilt. If I cut fabric for one it usually turns into at least three or four! LOL!!

The duct cleaning guy showed up around 4 and could  not do the work. He was starting his prep work and found mold on the insulation around the A coil in the furnace so he couldn't clean the ductwork. He was really helpful and told me I needed to get some filters to put on the registers to capture any mold that might get into the air once I turn the furnace on.

I haven't had the furnace on yet this year, but yesterday the house was getting a bit cold even for me. The temps were going to be below freezing so I knew I finally had to break down and turn the furnace on. So I headed to the home improvement store at 4:45 to get the filters then got to work covering the registers. For the downstairs, I taped the filers over the registers; I was not going to unscrew them, put the filter in, and then screw them back in place! I would have to do all of that again once I get the furnace cleaned and that would be just too much work! I had seven downstairs to do like this. The tape didn't stick to the filter medium very well so I ended up going thru at least a half a roll of tape.

By the time I got all the registers done it was 6:45! The glass man never did show up or even call me. Gurrrrr!

Next project

I am taking a half day vacation today in order to take care of some house tasks. The glass man is coming to measure for a shower door and mirror for the primary bathroom. I have to get this done before I could ever sell the place. Then the duct cleaning guys are coming. It has been quite a while since I have had this done and I have not turned on the furnace yet.  I don't mind the house being cold, but one of these day I am going to have to turn the heat on.   After I did dishes, went downstairs and headed to the fabric storage room. I needed to clean up the room a bit to make it easier for the duct cleaning guys to get to the ceiling diffusor. While I was in there I dug around to try and find enough lavender fabric for a baby quilt. I am not a big fan of lavender so I don't buy much of that color. I need to hand off the baby quilt on the 23rd so I had better get started on it. Here is the fabric I found.

I have no idea what design I am going to make. I am going for cute and quick!

Red sampler done

When I got home I first made the appointments I had been forgetting to do: eye doctor and the dentist (haven't been there since the pandemic started), changed my car service appointment, and left a message for an electrician. After that I headed outside and did an hour of yard clean up. Pulled three 5 gallon buckets of weeds and stuff. It made a difference, but there is more to do. The sun was shining a bit so it was pleasant. The time changes this weekend (crap! Why?) so that will really mess me up. I then went inside and finished the red sampler. This is small - 5 3/8" x 5 5/8".

My brother called and it was nice to talk to him for a while. His son jumped on the phone and we talked a bit too. He has another amp that he needs a cover for.

15th quilt finish for 2021

Yes it is done! I put it on the fellow's chair this morning and he said it was awsome. It finished at 64" x 88". I used Warm & Natural batting and various quilting threads.

I did make a trip to the town where I use to live on Saturday to go to the credit union, bulk food store for spices, and the meat market to get chicken that was on sale. On Sunday I did some laundry, cooking, dishes and watched the Browns lose.