Yeah it is Friday!

I surprised myself and got the rest of the quilting done on the lavender quilt! I want to get the binding on it this weekend and then other than a label, it will be done! I will be handing it off on the 23rd so I am ahead of schedule on this one.

Usually I spend Friday after work goofing off. Maybe I will do some cross stitch while I watch Project Runway that I taped or just doing nothing. Not tonight. I have too much I want to get done this weekend. I would like to get the rest of those lavender blocks sewn together so they don't get set aside and forgotten. I would like to get a bit more yard clean up done too. A lady at work is going to help me mark out the backup platform cover I need to get made so I would like to get the material cut to size so we can work on it on Monday. We can lay the material out on the big tables at work; she will hold the end of the ruler where the center will be and I can mark for the 8' radius. This will be so much faster than me having to do this by myself. I need to get this cover done and shipped. Probably a trip to the grocery store and then who else knows what I might get into! Have a great weekend!

Lavender progress

I made good progress on quilting the lavender quilt. I am quilting it in lavender thread (a bit more on the red side, but it looks good) because I already had a bunch of bobbins wound that I didn't use on another project so I didn't have to wind bobbins which was nice. Here is what I got done

I will have to go digging thru my quilts to figure out one to give away. At work we have an intern from Uganda - remember she was here before and I had made her a quilt in 2019 to take back with her to Uganda.

Well, she is back for a year and had to move out of her sponsor's home and into a camper so at work the women are having a ThanksGIFTing party for her to help her furnish her camper instead of having a women's gift exchange Xmas party. I sure hope this is just temporary since campers are not warm in the winter time. I learned this from my friend who had to live in one for months in Louisiana when her home got flooded in a hurricane. So anyway, I will be digging around to see what I can give her. I sure wish I had a flannel quilt stash! I have plenty of flanne;I just need to get some quilts made!

Elle, thanks for the correction that it is no longer daylight savings time. I don't know what this time is called, but I don't like it! LOL!!!

Basting, stitching and a card

As soon as I got home from work I started doing some cleanup in the flower beds. It was too nice to go inside! I filled a wheelbarrow then went inside as it was starting to get dark at 5:15!   I hate daylight savings time!   I worked on putting together the first lavender baby quilt and I have it almost all pin basted.

I had enough linen leftover from that last little red sampler that I could start stitching the French sampler chart Cherie had sent me. It will be a French sampler stitched on Italian linen using Japanese floss! Here is the sampler picture and my little start which I will post updates every Tuesday.

In the mailbox was another birthday card. This one was from my sister. So cute!

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!