Crocheted rag rugs

 A couple of observations before I start. I was up early (as usual) and off to the gym. I wanted to go, then I didn't want to, and finally, I just said - get your butt in gear and go! There are very few people at the gym at 5 AM. I walked for 2 KM on the treadmill, and to keep myself entertained, I turned on the TV. Good grief! Who can watch this stuff? I had the local news channel on, which would be the equivalent of CNN?? 

Anyway, the type of station that has people talking (I couldn't hear them - no headphones), but also headlines flashing by, the weather, the traffic, and everything else, or so it seemed. There's so much information on this screen; it's overwhelming. You feel COMPELLED to watch it constantly because you might miss one of the headlines, even though they are in a loop. But what if they change? 

But when one reads the headlines, everything is depressing. Earthquakes, volcanoes, coupes, pandemics, murders, accidents -- I swear - if I watched that daily, I'd go mad. Who watches that stuff? I watched for less than 10 minutes, and I was done!

Then I popped off to the "famous" US news channel. Only because I'm reading a book called Hoax and well, I was curious. I've never watched that station. Without headphones, it wasn't too exciting, but what's with the five minutes of commercials. Oh yes -- I sure couldn't watch that either. 

Next time, I'll take my audiobook, or I'll watch HGTV. At least that's somewhat entertaining. Not realistic, but entertaining. 

Shoot -- I thought there was one other observation to share with you, but POOF - that is gone! 

Another SUPER day yesterday!  I swear that this past weekend was the PERFECT weekend. I got lots done - well, not lots, but enough to make me happy. 

We had UFO club in the morning, and I promised three things to people, and before I had lunch, the three things were done and sent, and the list of homework assignments was typed and sent. Who has kidnapped me?? 

I will say that it felt good to get those tasks off my back immediately. No need to feel guilty about not getting them done!!!

I was out geocaching in the afternoon. It was a puzzle, so my mission was to gather the information needed, and then I'll figure it out at home and go find it later today or tomorrow. What's amazing about geocaching is that you find things that you've driven past for years and never knew were there. I was looking for a plaque on a building. I knew the building but had no idea that the plaque was there. I love geocaching for that.

OH -- I got a little gift in the mail last week. I swear I took a picture of it but can only find the tag. It's adorable. I'll try to remember to take a picture today. Thank you, Cathie -- I LOVE it, and we're going to use it. There'll be no saving of items for that special day at our house! We use stuff and enjoy it!!! 

The tag for my new tea towel

After reviewing the list of UFOs for the last couple of years, I decided I need to get my butt in gear and get some of those done or STOP adding new ones each year! This one was on the list for 2019. It was a disappearing 4-patch made with 5" squares, so there was a LOT of sewing involved. And it's quite large at 69" by 80". 

The quilt top was sitting on the table of current projects waiting for backing and binding. I quickly surveyed the pile of backings and found something that was perfect. It's not only about the color but the quantity. So that backing got made. 

The backing for the UFO

And then, not to be deterred, I got the binding done, and this got moved to the "to be quilted" pile. And I've crossed it off the UFO list. 

The backing, binding, and the quilt top

For my UFO homework this coming month, I'm working on TWO different UFOs, one from the 2018 list and one from the 2019 list. The 2018 project is the LAST one on that list. I WANT that one to be done this year. There are six left on the 2019 list, and I CAN get those done if I really focus. 

I was going to quilt a customer quilt but decided to do one of the community projects instead. I'll get it trimmed this afternoon and then goes in the pile for my MIL to bind. 

Community projects quilt - DONE

This is the quilt I quilted on Saturday. YES -- the double wedding ring quilt is quilted!!!! I'm thrilled with the way it quilted out. Actually, considering that two different people sewed it and with all those curved seams, not all the blocks were square, but you wouldn't know it!! Lesson learned here -- you don't need to be super precise to have something turn out excellent. 

Customer quilt - DONE

Here's another lesson. I quilted that with an overall pattern. GASP!!!!  Yep, and I have no guilt over doing that either. The quilt pattern is strong enough to stand on its own. And choosing the correct thread color makes all the difference. The thread does NOT overpower the quilt. 

Edge-to-edge quilting pattern

So the next time you have a quilt, and you think it needs to be custom quilted, think - do you really need to custom quilt it? How much negative space is in the quilt? How much extra will it cost? Can you find someone to custom quilt it (or do it yourself)? What is the end game for the quilt? Going in a show? Being given to a kid? Does it have a special meaning? How special? 

I have decided that I will NO LONGER do custom quilting for anyone other than myself. For some reason, I don't enjoy custom quilting other people's quilts. I love doing it on my own, but it takes so long that it bogs the rest of my schedule down. I can't afford the time it takes to do custom quilting. 

So the other thing I did yesterday was to sort some scraps. I had several bags of flannel scraps that needed to be sorted. These were the leftovers from the 30 quilts that Diane made. My MIL had done somewhat of a sort, but the final process was to put them in containers by color. 

OH GOSH -- Murphy -- DO NOT put your ball in the basket of scraps. "But MOM - play ball with me!!!!!"

Murphy and the ball are everywhere!

So now I have seven (I think) baskets of flannel scraps sorted by color. There are still a few more scraps to come, but not many. I will chop these into lengths of about 6" and sew them together in rail-fence-like blocks. Then I'll sort the blocks into quilts, and someone can sew those blocks together. 

The purple flannel scraps

I did a bit more sorting in the storage room where all that community project stuff is stored. I have ONE large container of cotton scraps as well to deal with. It seems such a shame to throw those scraps away, as I bet I'll get about 10 more small flannel quilts from the scrap!!! 

Done right - they can make attractive quilts. 

OK -- so we have the weirdest dogs in the world. Last night, while eating on the deck, DH swatted a wasp away from his beer and knocked the glass over. The glass did not break, and thankfully the glass was almost empty, but it spilled on the deck and the table. Murphy ran to lick the deck, while Lexi decided to lick the underside of the table to get what seeped through the edge of the table. Sigh............

Lexi licking the underside of the table to get some beer

I finished the crocheted rag rug!!!  Now that took about 1 hour in total, and it sat on that shelf for a few years. It doesn't matter - it's done now!!!

Finished crocheted rag rug

I dug out the next hand project from that shelf. This is Lexi's rug that used to adorn her kennel in the house. Miss Murphy decided to chew the corner of it. Since it's crochet, it's relatively easy to fix. I had to undo two rounds of crochet - I'll rejoin the strips when they were chewed and then crochet it. Easy fix, and I might get it done tonight. 

Crocheted rag rug to fix

As soon as I brought it out, Lexi was right there. "That's MINE!!!!! Where has it been??? MOM!!!!" 

Lexi and her crocheted rag rug

And I have to confess that about 7:30 PM - I was chilled sitting on the deck, so I came in the house! Good grief!!! 

It's only 14 C this morning, and it's lovely!!!! But I think we are getting some heat this week. 

I wanted to share this photo with you - this is from our cross Canada walk. There are four of us, and we're taking the northern route so walking right up the west coast of Canada, from Victoria to Whitehouse, and then we take the northern highway across Canada, ending up in Labrador. We're getting closer (not close), but closer to the BC/Yukon border. The scenery is amazing!!!!

The scenery in Northern BC

On that note - it's Monday sewing, and I have to walk the girls first!!!

OH yes -- don't forget the Virtual Retreat this weekend coming. Saturday, August 21  (6 PM - 9 PM) and Sunday, August 22 (10 AM - 8 PM).  I'll be working on UFOs!!!!

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!