Make a list!

Yesterday was definitely a ying-yang kind of day. I did get some writing done, and I accomplished a lot of prepping for the upcoming weekend. I did an errand after lunch that required the car, and it started to rain while I was away, and you know what? I copped out of the afternoon walk! I haven't done that in a long time. I still walked 8.5 KM but missed my goal of 11.5 KM. And then guess what I did? I had a nap! Yep -- and I had no guilt about any of it -- well, just a wee pang, but that quickly passed. 

Then just before I woke for good this morning, I had a dream. I was off for a cycling adventure, and Little Bear came with me! Oh boy! 

The trip to the quilt store was long overdue, and it was great to see Gail and Heather at The Hobby Horse. I used to be there every day, or so it seemed, and well, I haven't been there much in the last two years. I went to buy some reds for my barn blocks, and I picked two different fabrics. Of course, I didn't take swatches of what I've been using. 

When I got them home and put them on the ironing board, I knew they were the WRONG reds. Sigh.........  I have yet to dig out the barn block box to see, and I'll do that today. But I did get some blues as well, as I needed to supplement what I had for Wanderer's Wife. 

My fabric purchases

The blues are right, but those reds are NOT!! Oh well, I'm sure they'll get used somewhere else. They look positively PINK! And then I realized that I had NOT purchased my background for the Tula Pink Butterfly quilt. So I guess I'll be making another trip and here's a lesson for us all. When you go to the quilt shop -- be sure to take along the swatches of stuff you're matching. And make a LIST! OK -- so I still have a couple of running around errands that I need to do, so I need to list the places I need to go and what I need to buy at each. That's a job for later today. Why wait until later -- I just made a list. Three places! That'll be a job for next week to go and get at least two of those errands done. 

I also picked up some batting and more thread for the long arm. That wasn't at The Hobby Horse but at the distribution center. I suspect prices will be going up at some point, and I decided to get more batting even though I don't need it now. It's amazing how much thread is on backorder. All the neutrals that we regularly use -- backorder! Things like black, grey, and light brown -- it's totally crazy. I'm not out, but I don't want to run out. 

More thread for the long-arm

This magazine has been sitting on my desk for a long time, and well -- I'm trying to clear the desktop, which is NEVER going to happen. 

This is McCall's Quilting from July/August last year. Yikes  -- just a wee bit behind on putting this one out. 

McCall's Quilting from July/August 2021

Here's the quilt -- the theme was travel, and I used Northcott Oh Canada flannel and made an inukshuk quilt. 

My quilt in the McCall's magazine

This is the latest issue of McCall's Quilting, and yes -- there's another one of my quilts. This has been out for a month, but I only recently got my copy, and it's become hard to find these in the stores. It's the March/April issue. 

McCall's Quilting March/April

Here's my quilt made with a fabric collection from the Daisy Delight collection by Kanvas Studio for Benartex Fabrics. It was a fun collection to work with. This is also the quilt that got caught in the trap of UPS and wouldn't get released for almost a month! I should take a close-up of the border because the border print is pretty amazing. 

My storm at sea quilt

I haven't been doing a lot for the US magazines lately. I see the submissions and just let them go! But I see one came in yesterday, so I'll put my thinking cap on and see if I can come up with something. 

I had to pay for something online the other day, and this is how they indicated the payment method. A plastic card! I thought it was funny!

Paid with a PLASTIC card

I had sent a card a while back, and the darn thing got returned to me. We couldn't figure out why - I originally thought the address was wrong. It turns out the stamp was gone! I still have a few of those non-denomination stamps, and I guess the glue has pretty much gone. So when I used the second to last stamp from that roll the other day, I taped the stamp in place. Hopefully, it got to its destination!

My stamp had to be taped

I swear we have more dog beds around the house than we have real beds. Besides Lexi's kennel in the living room, there are three other dog beds in that room. Two in the family room, one in the office, and my crochet rugs in the basement for Murphy. Those girls sure take up a lot of real estate in the house, and they love to sleep in all the beds. 

Those eyes are watching!

Murphy will sleep on any of them. Lexi is a bit more particular. She will only sleep in the big bed in the family room, never downstairs or upstairs, not in the office, and her kennel and two of the three beds in the living room. She's such a princess!!

I have to share this photo with you. Kelly at Thimbles and Things has been running some scrap quilt and orphan block classes. They've been hugely popular. Since I'm not in the classes, I haven't really seen any of the results of what the students have done. But I know they are madly using up their blocks and scraps. Here's a quilt made from one person's orphan blocks, which I have to share with you as it is STUNNING. 

Linda's quilt from orphan blocks

Linda had to make TWO small filler blocks. Isn't that wild?? I love this quilt, and it makes me want to get out my orphan blocks and have a different look at them. I've done that several times but always approached the quilt in a totally different way. Now that I see this, I want to have a second look. 

OK -- I was intrigued. I dug out the box and added my courthouse step blocks. 

My exploding orphan block box

So I have lots of blocks to work with. It's time to get working on a quilt or two!  Not that I have time, but it's something that can go on the design wall and be played with. I'll start by sorting the blocks into color themes. As I mentioned, that is NOT how I looked at the blocks before, and well, now I see them much differently. 

Well, I'm off to spin class today. The sidewalks were awful yesterday -- everywhere. I would imagine they will be just as bad today, although we did have a lot of melting yesterday. I'll walk the girls and then - well, we'll see how the day goes. 

Here are the links to the Virtual Retreat on the weekend. Remember that it's free for anyone to stop in and say hi. You can sew while you chat or just pop in to say hi. That's your choice, but certainly more fun than sitting at home alone. 

Saturday, February 26 - starts at 6 PM EST

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89254233911?pwd=VGQrTnFybW1HMWpleHA4M2Q2NGVwZz09 Meeting ID: 892 5423 3911 Passcode: 982797

Sunday, February 27 -- Start at 11:30 AM EST

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81693717518?pwd=STNoVVQzbDd4ZnROQndNNlpvcC90QT09 Meeting ID: 816 9371 7518 Passcode: 579285

Be sure to pop by -- it's always loads of fun!!!

On that note, I'm out of here!!!

Have a super day!

Ciao!