Moving along

This weekend went by too fast. Saturday I was still trying to recover from being in the heat all week so I didn't get much done. I spent most of my time working on the project I can't show you yet. I finally figured out the best way to tackle the design so I think the project will go faster and better from now on. Right now I am about 1/4 the way done with the flimsy.

I did cut the flannel strips that I had pieced.

I did some cooking and laundry, but was unable to do any yardwork. It rained all weekend! We needed the rain. The ground will be nice and soft for pulling weeds now. We must have gotten at least 2 to 3 inches over the weekend. Since it is cooler today - the high 70 - and cool tomorrow and overcast, I might work on the yard after work. The temperatures are going back up in the 80's over the weekend.

It is cooler here at work too thank goodness. That heat just takes the life out of me and it is hard to get anything done after work.

TGIF

It was a very warm and humid day at work yesterday, so I am tired and very glad it is Friday!

Over the last few days when I was out on site, I have been gathering up smaller rocks as I find them and fist sized ones that show up at the base of dirt piles. I had a pretty good pile so this morning I loaded the car.

I am going to try and do a bit of weeding this weekend. We did get .1 of rain so that might be enough to make it a little easier. Of course some sewing will happen to.

Have a great weekend!

Better than nothing

I had a hair appointment right after work. By the time I got home, watered the plants, and took a shower it was going on 8 p.m. so no time to sew. I was up early since I was having a hard time sleeping last night so I got a few strip sets sewn together. It's a start!

When I went to the grocery store the past Saturday I was surprised to see Halloween candy displayed. Well you know if you buy it this early it won't last until Halloween! LOL!!!

I will guess Christmas candy will be out on November 1.

Pairing up flannel and the perfect pencil

I was beat when I got home from work. It was 92 yesterday so that meant it was at least 92+ inside where I work. After taking a shower to wash off all the dirt - I had to clean my desk 4 times yesterday because of the dirt settling on my desk so I can imagine how much dirt was in my hair! - and fix some food for breakfast and lunch today, all I had energy for was to pair up the flannels. I like using a solid with a plaid and I cut the strips in half - it just makes it easier to press the strips.

On another project I am working on, I needed a pencil that would make a nice mark without pulling on the fabric. Remember when I was at the high school and I would pick up pencils every morning on my walk?

Well, I started pulling out the different brands and found the perfect pencil - a Papermate Mirado Classic HB 2. It holds a good point and makes a good mark.

I sorted thru one can and I found a few more. I guess I will be set for awhile! LOL!!

Today it is forecasted to be 93, then 82 on Thursday and 79 on Friday with the lows 66 and 62. I just have to get thru today. I brought a small cooler and filled it with ice so I could keep my cool towel in there at the ready.

Cutting and sewing flannel

I had a busy three days. Saturday I did the grocery shopping, stopped at Lowes, then trimmed and mowed the grass. I decided to sew the rest of the blocks together out of the flannel.

and made as many blocks as I could out of the scrap pile. Here is the before scraps

and after I also cut the sports flannel up for a baby quilt

Here is what my scrap pile looks like now

I was able to make 16 blocks out of the scraps so I now have 88 blocks

I need 32 more blocks so I cut up flannel strips for those. This will be good easy sewing when I come home from work and I am too exhausted from the heat to think.

In the pile of scraps there were enough strips of this flannel for the binding so I set those aside.

So while I was on a roll of cutting flannel, I decided to attack a pile of pink and lavender flannels. Some of this was leftover from a quilt I made my sister, and a few pieces I bought so I would have enough to make another good sized quilt. Here is the pile with the piece on the left the backing.

And after cutting most of it up - I kept two pieces for cutting up later if there was a size I needed to finish this top - here is what the pink flannel looks like now. Ready to sew!

I did bring home two more large rocks and some smaller rocks I gathered up from around the site.

Yesterday I worked on pulling weeds for almost 3 hours. Oh my flower beds were such a mess! It is like the crabgrass was on steroids! Here is the bed along the sidewalk to the front door. Yikes!

After an hour of work it looked much better. I accidently pulled up some Shasta daisies so I planted those next to the house and planted a lavender plant by the big rocks I am now using as an accent. I want to move some plants around still, but at least it looks a lot better than it did!

While I was pulling the weeds something was moving thru the leaves. I looked and looked and here it was a toad. I ended up seeing another one, but he was only about 3/4" long and was too quick for a photo.

Next I started on the center bed. What a mess!

As I was pulling and digging I saw another toad! Maybe I should have just left the mess since it was now a toad habitat! LOL!!! I decided to keep pulling and got two wheelbarrows of junk pulled. It was getting too hot to work anymore so I had to quit. I made a dent but there is a lot more that needs done.

While cleaning up around the coneflowers I ended up pulling some pieces of coneflower with roots out. I went and stuck them back in so that maybe they will grow and I will have three more plants. I will have to remember to water them!

I saw the twins Monday morning. My goodness they have gotten big! Their white spots are almost gone.

Laundry, doing dishes, cooking, and baking cookies for the guys at work were also on the list yesterday.

This morning's sunrise.

It is suppose to get up to 92 today which means it is going to be really hot inside where I work. I brought a small cooler and filled it with ice from that nifty new machine. I put my cool towel inside since the fridge didn't keep it cool enough last week.

More flannel blocks sewn

After leaving work I went just a couple blocks down the street to the Giant Eagle to get some beverages. I walked into the beverage cooler and felt like I was in heaven. It was so nice and cold. After a day in the heat it felt so good I didn't want to leave. I eventually did decide what I wanted.

I opened one of the lemonade's when I got home and it tasted so good! I sipped it while I unloaded more rocks. That pink one - it is a big one and is 22" in length! I am going to use it as an accent where I cut down an overgrown Alberta spruce.

The other rock I found in a dirt pile on the site and had to roll it 30' to get it over to the pile of my other rocks the guys are saving for me. I also picked up six smaller 3 to 6 pound rocks that would work for the shade bed in the back as it is not quite finished because a need a more small rocks.

After resting a bit and getting a shower, I sewed more flannel blocks together - 16 last night. That gives me 45 done

and I still have these to sew together. The blocks finish at 9 1/2". I forgot to measure what I cut the strips at.

I am looking forward to a three day weekend. I plan on mowing my hayfield other known as my front yard and spending a lot of time sewing. Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Flannel and rocks

I have my go to project ready for when I am exhausted from the brutal heat all day at work. I laid out all of the flannel I have except for the pink and lavender flannel. Those will be for another time. So here are the nine patch block pieces I have ready to sew together and the 17 blocks already sewn together.

Here is my pile of flannel yardage and the light gray flannel for backing I bought this summer at a great price

and then the always present pile of scraps/odds and ends! LOL!!

My plan is to make one more flannel quilt like this one.

This quilt takes 120 blocks. I made 12 blocks last evening from the pile circled in this picture

Usually I am very bad about keeping track of the number of blocks I make or need; usually I just make a bunch. I want to keep track because I want to change the design for the next quilt so I don't want a bunch of leftover blocks. Here is how many I have made right now.

One thing I do when I sew flannel is nip off a bit after I sew the seams to reduce bulk.

Last night I brought home two more rocks. There are only a few more on site to drag home.

We are getting ready to turn over part of the space to the hospital in the next month so finish work is going gangbusters downstairs. I have to make a list for each room of what is still missing. The flooring is going down in the corridors as well as many of the rooms

The accent wall on the right was painted yesterday. This is the office area for the x-ray rooms

Here is a new x-ray room

Here is the waiting room for radiology. Needs a bit or work! LOL!!

I am feeling better today. Tuesday and Wednesday I was not feeling good because of the heat. I had to leave a meeting and find a cooler place to sit because I was feeling so bad. Today's high is suppose to be 77 degrees so we get a break. Next week we are forecasted to be 89 every day. Thank goodness it will be a four day workweek.


The hospital put in a water and ice machine in the main lobby. I now don't have to haul filtered water from home and I can have ice in my water all day! I have an insulated tumbler, but by noon the ice is usually melted. I will be visiting that machine often! You can also buy coffee for $2.00 a cup. I don't drink coffee. I will just need to find a hot water dispenser for my tea this winter. I may have to go visit the cafeteria for that.