Didn't Want to Iron Twice

I have a bunch of quilt tops in a to-be-finished pile. Today I decided to work on preparation of backing pieces for the tops. I got two smallish quilts folded up with their backings. Then I did the third, medium-large quilt .. I had to piece the backing and got it done and all nicely ironed.

The top was ironed, too. "Self," I thought, "do you really want to iron these bigger parts again when you decide to do the quilting?" "NO!" I answered. "Let's get it done right now!"

So, Self and I launched right into sandwiching and quilting the top. I figured that would be more fun than setting it aside, having it on my conscience to finish later, and ironing it again at that later time.

Took me most of the day to quilt this and then bind it. Now that it's quilted, I like it better than I did at first. I'm still kind of turned off by the orange (this was made from a jelly roll which I could not see clearly and didn't know was so much orange), but I think it'll be fine. I'm going to send it to Happy Chemo, as part of the Hands 2 Help challenge. I'm picturing an adult using this for warmth while getting chemo treatments. Or.. anyone who likes orange.

Now I'm happy I finished it and didn't just add it to my to-be-done pile.

In other news -- it really isn't news, because it's the same old thing. Another winter storm! I cancelled my plans to visit my mother because of a winter storm warning on April 18. Good grief. The birds are wondering what's happening to their world, hunkering down and trying to stay warm.


robins


mourning dove

Julie in Czech Republic

Remember this quilt? I made it for a friend's new granddaughter. I could never be specific, because this friend reads my blog, and the quilt was a surprise gift. Of course, once she reads the customs form that is required on the outside of the box, it is no longer much of a surprise. But the package was unexpected, anyway. Friend's granddaughter is named Julie. They live in Czech Republic.









I sent off the quilt, along with a little doll and doll blankie made from the quilt scraps, and waited for word. I have now received evidence that the quilt has arrived, and Julie has tried it out! Isn't she so cute??





It was expensive to send (wow, international postage rates have gone up a LOT since I last sent anything outside the USA), but it was worth it. I love seeing Julie with the quilt I made for her. I hope she loves it and the cuddles that it provides.

Pet Postcard Project

I saw this posted at Facebook and went for it. The Pet Postcard Project asks for postcards showing pictures of your pet. Various pet food companies sponsor projects, and the number of postcards received determines which project gets the most free donations of food for animals in shelters. The project they are doing now is pitting dogs against cats. Let's have the cats win! Dogs get all the attention! Time for some cat love.

Look at the project details here. There are a few simple rules that your postcards need to follow.

I made this postcard showing our cat, who is the most scared-of-everything Scaredy Cat in the world:





Here is what he thought of my entry:



Turns out he is smarter than I am, because it's past midnight, and I should be sleeping, too. Nighty-night!

Quilt Show Photos

Last Friday afternoon I had an Adventure Day all to myself. I headed out on a 35-mile journey to see a quilt show. I already showed you the raffle quilt which I declared I should win. Hmmm... the drawing was Saturday afternoon, and it is now Sunday afternoon, and I have received no phone call. Maybe they're just busy and will call me on Monday.

Well, before arriving at the quilt show, I had to turn around in the parking lot of a little strip mall. My hair had really been bothering me, and I desperately needed a haircut. While turning around, I saw one of those cheap, walk-ins-welcome type of haircut places. I decided to stop in .. what harm could they do? I just wanted a couple inches chopped off. The haircut, which I thought would be simple, took an hour. And when it was done, I looked ridiculous. Looked like she had put a bowl on my head and cut around the bottom.

Well, what could I do? Off I went to the quilt show. It was beautiful. Here are pictures of some of the quilts:






selvage edges wrapped around a big ball.. or just wrapped to become a big ball. I'm not sure which.









note to JS: this one was made by your friend, Sandy





After the show I called the person I usually go to for haircuts. What had possessed me to go elsewhere? I asked her for an appointment to fix a bad haircut. I was embarrassed to admit where I had gone. Well, she managed to fix me up, so I now look presentable. Lesson learned.

Here is a photo of the purse I bought at the quilt show. So pretty! And now it is lighter, because I ended up having to pay for two haircuts.

Tiny Squares

A while ago a friend and I went to a quilt show. I noticed a quilt with tiny nine-patches in it. Each little square in the nine-patch finished to a half inch! I thought I would try a few of my own. I am just piecing these the regular way, not paper piecing. This is what I have made so far. I have a general idea in mind for these, but it may morph in several ways before it's done. You as well as I will have to wait and see.

Yesterday I went to another quilt show, alone this time. This is the raffle quilt that I am going to win. It is my favorite color - blue - and my favorite block pattern - Ohio Star. (I can pretend, can't I? I mean, someone's ticket will be drawn.. why not mine??)

Friday Books: Books for Middle School

I bought a book written for middle-school aged kids. I am thinking of giving it to the kid I tutor, and I wanted to read it before I give it as a gift, just to make sure it is good enough.

I read it in a day and loved it. The book is Once by Morris Gleitzman. It's about a 9-year-old boy during the Holocaust. You can read my review in the Goodreads shelf in my sidebar. Just put your mouse on the "Once" icon and click. It'll show you my review.

There are more books that come after this one: they are called "Then", "Now", and "After". I don't know if I will read them all, but I will if they are all as good as "Once"... I ordered "Then" from Amazon (for 4 cents) and put a hold at the library on "Now." I'll wait on "After" and see if I want to keep following the story to its complete end.

All I know for now is, I gave "Once" five stars. It wouldn't be too hard to start a Who's on First kind of conversation with these titles of Then, Now, After, etc etc. I'll spare you.

The photo above is the young man who coordinates tutors in the school where I tutor once a week. He was hired through AmeriCorps. He does a great job. This is a picture of him during his spring break trip to Mississippi -- reading (and the stone-faced man seems very interested, doesn't he?)! Good for him!

I am Six and Eating Noodles

This morning when my husband left for work, I was still in bed. He came to say goodbye, and I told him, "I'm six, and I'm eating noodles with butter and crinkle-cut carrots." I was so excited about it, too! I remember telling him that, but don't remember much else. About an hour and a half later I woke up, and I was soooo groggy! It took me a long time to fully wake up. Why are some mornings like that?

I'm so lucky that I'm retired and can have mornings like that. I didn't force myself to wake up, just went with it. Had a lazy morning. I had intended to go to the gym, but I was too groggy for that. So by about 11:00 AM I was finally awake and got ready for work.

Worked a nice 3-hour shift; the time went very quickly today. Then I went to the gym after work instead of before. I am trying hard to be a regular at the gym. There is no reason to NOT go. I'm feeling good, and the work-out (mostly the treadmill, once in a while the elliptical) feels just about right, with an occasional increase in distance or time. I guess it's working out OK for me. In answer to some previous questions, the gym I go to is so convenient, and it's not full of skinny, tight-clothed aerobic princesses. It's a nice variety of regular people -- my neighbors. I fit right in, especially because I can go during the day, there are other oldies like me there as well.

Lately I have not been in a sewing mood, so I have been knitting instead. I have nothing new to show, however, since I showed you my funny mitten. I have not yet started Mitten #2. I have also been reading.. started a book yesterday and finished it today. It was short.

One reason I'm not in a sewing mood is the state of my sewing room. It's a mess! Yesterday, to add to it, Mr. Cat decided to jump up onto my sewing table when I was in the middle of something. I was telling him "no! no!" but he insisted on coming to "help." I tried to shoo him out of the way, he tried to run in the opposite direction, chaos ensued, and several boxes and piles of things went flying. I just didn't have it in me to clean it all up. So it's even worse now. I know once I attack it and get things put away I will once again feel motivated to sew.

I desperately need a haircut! I could go tomorrow, but a storm is coming, and they are predicting a foot of snow. Can you believe it?? Happy April, everyone. The good news is, April snows never last long. It'll melt soon, and we need the moisture.

I bought a few zillion balls of cotton yarn on sale at Michael's .. only 99 cents through this Saturday .. perfect for home-made dish cloths.

A Mitten Humbles Me

I finished my first-ever mitten!! I was feeling kind of proud of myself as I worked through the mitten. It was looking really good.

The thumb is the last step. Oh, boy. I found that part a tad confusing. And I realized halfway through, it was turning out inside-out. How did I do that?? I don't even know. It's a beautiful thumb INSIDE the mitten, but on the outside it's the wrong side out. Looks like a thumb that was hit by a hammer.

Well, I will try to make the same mistake on the second mitten, so they match. Maybe someone will think it was intentional. You think so? Hahaha.. just goes to show, don't feel too proud of yourself while working on a new challenge until you get to the very end.

Great Weekend!

What a great weekend! I had a lot of fun.

Friday Hubby and I stayed home and had fun catching up with each other. He is excited about a work-related project he is focusing on. It's fun to think about the possibilities that may ensue.

On Saturday the yarning group met at my church. We had two new participants, bringing our attendance to 8 which is the most we've had so far. One woman was doing her first-ever lesson in knitting. It was fun to see her figuring it out and making progress. The other new person had basic skills in crochet but learned some tips from our crochet expert. All 8 of us made good progress on our projects, had fun show-and-tell along with some good laughs. I hope our new participants come again next month.

After our gathering I felt inspired to make a dish cloth which I started, but then for some reason I also felt the need to attempt my first pair of mittens. Abandoning the dish cloth (I can work on that any old time), I jumped into the mitten project. Here is my first mitten, so far. I'm very excited about how nice it looks. The pattern I am using is quite easy to follow. I can hardly wait until I complete my first pair! I am making them to give away, but I may need to hold onto them and love them up for a while before I can part with them.



I am also working on a colorful hat. Isn't this cute yarn? The hat will go to Craft Hope's current project, Rally for Roma. They are looking for blankets, hats, scarves -- warm winter items for Roma people in Romania. These can be made using any technique and in all sizes: knit, crochet, sew, tie fleece, anything that is warm. The items are due on May 20; they are collected during the summer and will be distributed next winter. You can easily participate. Just click on the Rally For Roma button in my sidebar.



Oh, I distracted myself again. The rest of my fun weekend was what happened on Sunday. Church was Humor Sunday which happens the Sunday after Easter. The idea is that Easter played a joke on Death. We celebrate the joy of it, with jokes and even funny music. Quite fun. After church a friend and I went out for lunch. The food was good, but mostly the chatting was great fun. We stayed in our booth for quite a while and talked. Good for the soul!

I came home and found this very cute picture in an e-mail from my friend in Czech Republic. It's her granddaughter. Isn't she adorable?? I want to snuggle those cute, fat cheeks!



I am rejuvenated and ready to tackle another week! May we all have a great week, with the weather we hope for which suits our preferences (hot, cold, warm, whatever.. may it be so).

Trying Again.. for the 46 Millionth Time

I decided to keep my gym membership and try to get back into the exercise habit. Of course, I never developed the habit. I just had one somewhat good month of fairly regular attendance. I don't call that a habit. I have heard so many times: just keep doing something regularly for two or three weeks, and it will become a habit. That has never worked for me. Maybe it works for you "normies," but it doesn't seem to work for a person like me with ADD or whatever I have... short attention span, easily bored, distracted by what seems loads more fun. It could even be pure laziness. I'm still hoping for that magic pill I can take that will make me slim and beautiful, and able to eat whatever I want.

My doctor sort of inspired me. Or maybe it was my good numbers. My warning-sign numbers were all good (blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose), but my triglycerides need some work. Exercise and weight loss are supposed to help those numbers go down. So, with a heavy sigh, and a nod to my aging process, I am trying once again to make it a habit to go to the gym. Really, it's not that bad. If I can just get myself out the door and on my way, the rest isn't so bad.

Spring is still coming VERY reluctantly here. Yesterday we had snow in the air. It stuck to the grass for a while and then melted. We still have clumps of snow where it was piled high and hasn't melted yet. I don't believe we've been into the 60's yet this spring. We'll likely get snow again before it stops for good. I hope we don't miss spring entirely and go directly from cold to 90 degrees F and humid. That's been known to happen!

Whatever it does, I hope I manage to get myself to the gym the proper number of times. Maybe even lose a pound or two. I can't let the weather be my excuse, since the gym is heated and cooled as needs dictate. It also has lighting, nice equipment, and I feel safe there. All my excuses are gone.

I'd still rather be doing this:



It's my first attempt at knitting mittens. I've made a lot more progress on this since I took the photo. I'm working on the thumb gusset (is that the right word?) and hoping it looks OK and doesn't leave too many holes. Holes and mittens go together like ice cream and sour kraut. Yum.

Friday Books: Changing My Method

You may know from my bookshelf in the sidebar that I am a member of Goodreads(dot)com. That is where I keep track of the books I have read and books I am hoping to read. I also joined a book group there and enjoy our monthly book discussions. When I finish a book, I write up a review and give the book a rating: 1-5 stars.

I have been posting the same book review here at my blog. Sometimes the book I read shows up on my Goodreads bookshelf (in the sidebar) several days before it gets posted here at my blog.

I have decided to change my Friday Books postings a little. From now on I am simply going to tell you the names of the books I finished during this week, and refer you to the Goodreads shelf in my sidebar. To read my review, just click on the book on the shelf. This way you can read my review right away when it appears (if you wish to), or you can wait until I remind you on Fridays, and then go read my review using that bookshelf.

Got it? I hope this makes sense. It was beginning to feel silly to post a review at Goodreads and then, several days later, post the same review here at my blog. Friday Books will now just be a reminder to check out my shelf and read my reviews, if you haven't already done so.

The book I read and reviewed this week was A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Gou. It is the red-cover book on my shelf. When you hold your mouse over the book, its title and author show up just under the book icons. Click on the book, and you'll see my review.

Au revoir for now, and as I say to the student I tutor every week, "keep reading!"

Goings-On In My World

Lately we have had some fun times at my women's group at church. (I'm co-president this year, which is an improvement from being president all by myself in the past.) First event was a sewing day. We had about a dozen women, and we had lots of fun. We sewed school bags for kits that will be sent to places in need around the world. These bags, filled with school supplies, have gone to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and other places in Africa, also Haiti and even the USA after Hurricane Katrina. I've heard that the presence of these school bags, filled with supplies, can make the difference between a kid going to school or not going.









Next up... a cooking lesson in how to make authentic enchiladas. Very fun, and delicious, I might add.







Another event was the delivery of the quilt I made for my hubby's 100 year-old aunt. She was very sleepy, so I didn't stay long. I talked with her a little bit. She claims that I knew her sister much better than she did. (This is the same sister with whom she was "inseparable" last time we chatted.) I read to her a little bit. That just put her to sleep, which wasn't hard to do on this visit. I'm getting educated on life in nursing homes as I hang out with Aunt Dot.





The other thing going on around here is SEWING. Are you surprised? I also managed to finish reading a book today.


I'm not crazy about this quilt; even less so after I added the borders. I was going to make interesting, pieced borders, but I got lazy. Hopefully the quilting will improve the like-ability of this quilt.


I recently purchased (very cheaply) a bag of already-made Ohio Stars. I made a couple of my own, and voila - a bunch of projects ready to go. These will be baby quilts and doll quilts once they make it through the finishing steps.

Decisions

inspired by "Dancing With the Stars" -- can you guess how?

a bunch of doll quilts - and I'm making more!


Pictures above have nothing to do with verbage below, exept that the pictures above represent what I'd rather do (make quilts) than doing what the verbage represents (exercise).

If you've been around my blog for even a short time, you know that I occasionally try to convince myself to turn into a physically-fit person. My most recent attempt was to join Anytime Fitness. I was so sure that, since it is less than a mile from my house, and I drive past it daily, it would be easy to pop in for a quick workout.

Well, surprise, surprise, it hasn't worked out for me yet. I joined in mid January. I went faithfully for a couple of weeks. In February I went a tad less faithfully. In March I found myself making excuses and went even fewer times.

I don't want to keep paying for this thing if I'm not going to go. That's what I did at the Y. I paid that membership for several years while my attendance dwindled down to ZERO. Now I'm trying to decide what to do.

Should I keep paying and hope I get on the ball? History would suggest that is NOT going to happen. Should I save my dollars and accept reality for what it is? Should I pretend I'm still going to do work-outs but at home and outside on my own? (That's a laugh.)

The one thing that is holding me back from facing what is probably an inevitability is that I had started to feel a lot better after those first few weeks of faithful exercise. Do I really want to give that up? I recently went to the doctor and had all those usual tests: blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. I'm fine in all areas (hooray!) except one (boo hoo). I have high triglycerides. Exercise and some weight loss would help that a lot.

So I'm torn. I'm not a person who loves to be physically active, at least not just for the sake of being active because I should. Yet I don't want to give up on myself. Arrgghh!

Tomorrow is April 1st. Maybe I will start the month with new resolve..... then again, that might just be a big April Fool on myself. What should I do???