A preview of what's to come

 

No, this isn't going to be about upcoming classes! Although I do need to get myself organized and try and figure out everything coming for the fall. Several of the clubs I run were set for six months, and they end this month. I think it'll be an excellent idea to take the summer off for some of this stuff. I need a break, and I'm sure some of the participants do as well. 

It'll be interesting to see what happens this summer. The official "stay-at-home" order expires today, and for the first time in months, we've got no extension. Things are looking up, and that's a positive thing. It's put a positive spring in my step. However, NOTHING will change until the beginning of Step 1, which happens in 2 weeks. Provided that the numbers continue to come down. 

But no - the preview is about the backyard—more on that in one minute. 

Another customer quilt is done! Time to do some trimming so they can be picked up. My goal is to get them trimmed later today. 

Customer quilt - DONE

I had to chuckle, though, as I was playing bobbin chicken, and well, I lost. I'm on the last row, the bottom is looking great, and I know that I don't have enough bobbin for the entire row, or do I? So I stood and watched. Will it get to the end, or won't it? And sure enough, I ran out of bobbin thread with about 6 inches left to sew. I don't know how many times that has happened to me. 

Bobbin thread runs out

My goal is to get the next quilt loaded today. But I've got a crazy day, so not sure that'll happen. If not today, then tomorrow, which is a quieter day. 

So here's the thing. We've probably all participated in fabric exchanges. You know how it is - you get super excited to have loads of different fabrics, so you say YES. The organizer makes up the rules, and each person scurries around to find the appropriate fabrics. 

I organized a fair number of exchanges and other group projects over the years. I haven't done one in a while, and NO DESIRE to do that. I'm far from using up what I already have. 

This is the result of ONE fabric exchange. The idea was to swap a 5" by 20" (more or less) piece of fabric. Actually, it was brights, and you needed to include red, yellow, blue, green, purple, pink, and orange for a total of seven strips. I'm not sure how many people participated. And for some reason, I have some duplicate bundles. 

Results of a fabric exchange

But that's a LOT of fabric. I have a magazine quilt that I need to get done, and fortunately for me (OK - so I designed the quilt that way), I can use these strips for half of the quilt. I need close to four hundred 2 ½" squares. So it's super easy to cut a 2 ½" strip off the end of each and cut that in half to get two squares. I'm almost done cutting, and I haven't touched all the fabrics. 

Yep -- that means that I've cut HALF of the quilt from these bright strips, and the basket doesn't look like a dent was made in it. That's scary!!! How many other baskets of exchange fabrics are in the stash room? More than I want to admit!

I have to laugh when I see pictures of people's studios as I see this IKEA trestle table leg in many places. It's great as it provides a shelf to put stuff on. The height is adjustable, and I LOVE it. I have two tables made using these legs. 

IKEA table legs

It's where I like to put my ongoing projects, so they are easy to find. Well, one of the rungs is broken. It's been like that for a while. 

Broken rung

I decided it was time to fix it. I checked, and NO carpenter's glue. I did find a clamp in the toolbox. I walked down to the hardware store to get glue. Surely, the hardware store is an essential service. NOPE - curbside only. Oh well, the hardware store is on my walk, so nothing is lost there. I realized I need something else from the hardware store, so I'll make an order and go and pick it up. 

Once the rung is fixed, I can get all that stuff in the box and put it on the shelf. 

As I was walking through the forest yesterday, I noticed this plant. I swear it's giant rhubarb. Well, not giant as it's the same size as what I'm used to. 

Wild rhubarb

The stalks don't seem to be red and not as big as what I'm familiar with. 

The stalks on the rhubarb

Well, just like that - I googled it, and YES, it is wild rhubarb. Not edible. 

So our backyard is mostly "wild". We don't do much to help it grow. And for the most part, it's green. However, things are blooming like mad or will be in a few days. Have a look. 

Here's one of the water lilies. 

Water lily in bloom

And there are more buds just ready to pop later today. I counted nine buds. I hope they all open today or tomorrow. 

Buds waiting to bloom

The peonies are ready to pop in the next couple of days. 

Peony bud

And the roses are just started to open. 

Rosebud

The bees are going to be beside themselves. 

And last night, while we had dinner on the deck, a huge dragonfly attached itself to the wall of the house. I did NOT know that some of them had clear wings with brown spots. Gosh - I'm learning so much this year about the garden! I LOVE the dragonflies as they eat the mosquitos. They are very welcome in my backyard. 

Dragonfly

I also got some writing done, but I need to finish off some hand stitching before finishing the next assignment. I need to take TODAY and get everything up-to-date. The sewing and other deadlines can wait until tomorrow. I would really want to get this off my back. SIX things need to be finished before the entire round starts over again! 

I've got two presentations today, and I need to finish a wee bit of prep for one. 

We've been slacking off in the cleaning up department. I've been focused on paperwork. I'm getting through it, but still, lots of stuff to deal with. Still loving my shelf. I can find stuff, and that's whats it's all about. 

So your task today is to clear up some paper. Pick at least three pieces of paper and deal with them. Recycle them, file them, or call and have it go paperless if it's a paper bill. 

Well, that's it for today. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!