A quilt road trip

 I went on a little shopping trip yesterday. I got to walk amongst bolts of fabric, look at kits, spools of thread, look at samples. It was quite a heady experience. I will NOT mention the name of the store - I don't want them getting into trouble. But I was in the store by myself. I did a little retail shopping, which I'll share with you either today or tomorrow - it depends on how much time I have this morning. 

Initially, I went to do curbside pickup, which went a bit further than the curb. I'm OK with that. The shop isn't close to me with an obscure address. I didn't think the wacky navigation system in the car would not find it. Oh yes, it did. No wrong turns - except that it wanted me to take the toll highway. I must figure out how to turn that off. 

I'll try NOT to mention the navigation system again. I know it sounds silly, but trust me, getting this thing to work was a big issue. I had to reboot my phone before I got going yesterday - for some reason, it wouldn't sync with anything - even my FitBit. But once I rebooted, I plugged in the address, and away I went. 

The navigation system working once again

I'd like to thank Rose as she was the one that identified this shop to me. They ordered the product I needed, and all was good to go. 

I passed a barn quilt on the way. 

A barn quilt

This is as close as I could get with my camera. I'm not sure if that's a real quilt block or one they made up. I should check the map for more details. I did spot another one, but too late to stop and take a picture. The next time that I'll be in that area, I'll stop. Oh yes - there'll definitely be a next time. 

Closer shot of the barn quilt

Let's not forget the country roads! Yes - roads without pavement! I thought those only existed in Saskatchewan. Thankfully, it was teeming rain, so the mud is gone from the car. 

Country roads

Oh - one last thing about the navigation system. It brought me home a completely different way. I wonder how and why it does its calculations?? 

What was with the weather? It started off cold and rainy. OK - we can all live with that. I have a great raincoat - but I'm noticing that it's not as waterproof as it used to be. My sweater was wet when I took the jacket off. The jacket is over 20 years old, so I guess it might be time to buy a new one. I like the jacket and nothing wrong with it. OK - so there is something wrong with it. I didn't take an umbrella, I just put the hood up, and I'm good. 

At one point, it really started to rain, but thankfully, I was in the forest at that time, and the canopy of leaves really makes a difference in how wet you get. 

A beautiful walk in the rain in the forest

Speaking of the tree canopy, did you check out the latest issue of A Needle Pulling Thread? The theme of the magazine is trees, and my quilt is my interpretation of the tree canopy. Check the pictures are the top of that link. There are four banners, so you may have to wait to see my quilt. 

Lexi and I had quite the adventure. We were following a man through the forest, and all of a sudden, he turned back towards us. A fox had crossed the path. Why he turned his back on a wild animal is beyond me. But the fox was RIGHT there. He looks pretty healthy, and he's about the size of Lexi. He trotted across the path and into the section behind our house. He was scouting for breakfast. We did NOT see as many rabbits as we normally do. 

No picture as my phone was tucked in a pocket beneath my raincoat. Drat!!! 

And we also saw these fungi. I had NOT noticed them before, but they are both HUGE. At least 12 inches across. They are gorgeous. Now that could become an inspiration for something. 

Triple-layer fungus on a tree

Single-layer fungus

When Murphy and I had our "urban" walk, this is what we found. Yep -- a roll of toilet paper in a plastic bag. This occurred near where I found the eggs. So what's with this? 

Toilet paper?

And a bit further down was another roll. Now that's a mystery. If you needed to borrow toilet paper, you sure wouldn't leave it on the ground. Unless you were being chased by a fox? Another neighborhood mystery. Both rolls were gone when I took my afternoon walk. Yep - a LONG walk in the rain in the afternoon. Why not - I'm not a sugar cube - I won't wash away in the rain. 

More toilet paper

I saw that Tesla again - the pearlescent gold one. It's beautiful. I wonder what a pearlescent orange would look like? I need to win the lottery for that!

The quilts are all trimmed and ready to go. Yeah!!!!  I'll be working on another one later today. With a fleece backing! Oh, joy! Actually, once the quilt is loaded, it's easy to quilt. You just have to be careful to not stretch the fleece. 

I watched a bit of The Quilt Show and did some trimming. All the components for the double wedding ring that are sewn together are now trimmed. 

Trimmed components for the double wedding ring quilt

 I've now got everything that was cut sewn together, except for these units. There are less than 20 units to sew. I've no idea how many blocks that will give me. I'll just sew away. 

Components left to sew

I've got a lot of sewing to get these blocks together. This is part of the components. Once these blocks are sewn, I'll lay them on the design wall and see what I have. Hopefully, there'll be enough to make a second quilt. There is still a bit of fabric in the containers. Let's just get this next step done. 

The pieces for the block construction

I realized that I've been slacking off in giving you assignments for decluttering. Well, I've been decluttering myself. Slowly - ever so slowly. This corner in the kitchen was piled with stuff, and look - it's empty now. WAIT A MINUTE - there are two light switches there. What are they for?? The higher up one is for the outside light, but the other two? No clue. 

An empty corner in the kitchen

I've discovered the FreeStuff page on Facebook. Yesterday I got rid of my water cooler. I used to be a picky water drinker and could NOT drink water from the kitchen tap. Don't ask me why. Then I decided that was silly and started to drink it from the tap. It's fine!!! The water cooler has been sitting for over a year. And now it's gone! 

The water cooler - GONE

I've got many other things that I'm going to try and get rid of on FreeStuff. I have a couple of things to sell, and then whatever is left over will go to the community recycling depot in hopes that someone can use the stuff. 

I'm also happy to report that the last massage I had has finally broken the knot in my neck. It's still stiff, but the "drive a knife in my neck" pain is mostly gone. So more manipulation by me and stretching should have it back to normal in a month or so. Good grief - let's hope that doesn't get repeated, but I hear the darn thing clicking and clacking away, so god knows what's going on there. 

So your task today is to check out the FreeStuff website in your neighborhood and find stuff around your house to list. I see a LOT of stuff that we no longer use, and why are we hanging onto it?? Oh boy -- we could have nothing left in the house if I keep this up. OH -- how I fantasize. That's going to take a LONG time before that happens. 

OK -- the shopping trip stuff will have to wait until tomorrow. 

I did get a lot of sewing done yesterday - homework for the Urbanologie class last night. I'll share that with you later this week. 

I forgot to post the QUILTsocial link yesterday. Here's the post from Thursday.   Easy ways to put in a zipper in a cushion. 

Don't forget that there's a Virtual Retreat this weekend. Just because it's an extra weekend. Here's the information you need. Stop by and say HI!!!

Saturday, May 29 -   6 PM -- 9 PM

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86290033234?pwd=cWpvaks5L05RVTF1d0htVlE1SURmQT09 Meeting ID: 862 9003 3234 Passcode: 016601

Sunday, May 30 - 2 PM -- 8 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87654746667?pwd=S0lyZHpvMWVxQzQzZkZhWnkwZHdSUT09

Meeting ID: 876 5474 6667
Passcode: 457858

Good grief -- I see it's still pretty cool out there this morning. All well, bundle up! I wonder what mysteries I'll spot on the walk!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!