And then there are the birds!

I have to laugh as I looked at the title of yesterday's post -- The eleventh quilt is done! The deadline for this particular push on the Quilts of Valour quilts is November 11. Yet the date yesterday was October 1? How is it that I finished something more than a month in advance? You know --- finishing the last quilt at the 11th hour? I think the old Elaine is still walking the Camino! However, I want to do a second grouping of 11 quilts, and that one may be down to the wire!

Anyway -- something has changed in me. This past month, I could focus on only what I wanted to do -- I didn't have to multitask, although I did throw other stuff into my quilting routine. But next weekend, the treadmill starts, and I hope that I can keep ahead of it. I should be able to as I still have lots of down times and not too much new stuff that needs to be made. OK -- -who am I kidding -- it might not be new, but it needs to be finished!

I've got so much to share today -- I may not have time for it all. Let's get a move on!!!

First, thanks to friends (Gwen), here's a picture of the orange quilt from the Brant Heritage Quilt Show. The maker started with the center block way back in 1976. 

The orange quilt

I don't know why I like it -- OK -- so the maker was bold enough to make an orange quilt - back in 1976! Orange is still not a popular color, and to make an entire quilt in that color -- I just love it!! Here's what the back of the quilt looks like.  

The back of the orange quilt

Hey -- if you don't have enough of one color, use another! I think this might have to be my next colorway for a quilt. I don't really have an orange and neutral quilt, and I've got loads of fabric in that color! I guess I didn't win anything as I never got a call. The money went to a good cause, and I didn't need any of the stuff anyway! 

Let's get the quilting stuff out of the way first, and then I have a couple of funny stories to share. 

I was back at the long-arm yesterday, but it's time to move to customer quilts. This was a larger quilt, but it is quilted and trimmed, and I need to contact the customer for pick-up. It's an unusual colorway -- grey and orange, with a neutral!

Customer quilt - DONE

I don't have a huge pile of customer quilts, but I want to get moving on them. So it was onto the next one, which was small. 

Customer quilt - DONE

And she made a pieced backing for it, which is super cute!

The backing for the whale quilt

That one is also quilted, trimmed, and ready to be picked up!

Not to be a slacker, but the next quilt is already loaded and ready to go later this morning. Today is technically the LAST day of my downtime, so I'm going to focus on getting ONE quilt done a day this week, which will put me in good shape with customer quilts. 

I'm booked for October, but if you want a quilt quilted for Christmas, now is the time to get your name on the list, or the time will be slated for something else! More community project quilts, or maybe even one or two of mine!

Since I didn't have to rush around and make the backing for the next quilt, I got to the sewing machine to work on the bindings of those Quilts of Valour quilts. 

Binding number one!

Not only did I manage to get one done, but I got three done. 

Binding number two!

Binding number three!

That leaves ONE quilt left of the eleven that needs to have the binding put on. And the sewing machine is all set up to make that happen this morning. I know -- that work table is still covered with stuff. There is some serging to do (for pet mats), and I found two small projects of my own that need binding, so they got moved from the current project table to the work table. Since I'm in the mood for binding, I might as well forage ahead. And there is the first group of the small quilts that must have the binding finished! I'm on a roll and almost hate to stop the momentum, so I could work on samples! 

Getting ready to attach a binding

While sewing the binding to the quilt (not the top stitching), I'm using up those partially empty bobbins. I'm going through them like mad but I still have a few to go. 

Using up partially filled bobbins

And so it was with a bit of dismay this morning when I realized that my Halloween quilt -- the embroidered one is beneath this pile of quilts. It was placed there so I could make a hanging sleeve for it. If I were good, I could grab the end of it and WHIP it out while not moving anything on top? Could it be done? And then I remembered that I have a hanger in the family room with CLIPS, so technically, I don't have to put a hanging sleeve on it. I'll dig it out and hang it up later today. 

My Halloween quilt is under all those other quilts

So things are under control in Studio B -- more or less. But later today, I MUST look at the calendar for next weekend, see what needs to be prepped this week, and get to work. 

It was such a nice day, and I needed to get out for my walk. I also needed a couple of geocaches to get the required points for this month, as tomorrow is the deadline! OK --- so if you ever spot anyone along the side of the street, the road, or anywhere for that matter, and they are doing something ridiculous, they are likely geocaching. I swear people must have thought this grown woman crawling under some junipers in a public place was a bit of a looney toon. 

There is a geocache in this photo, but where? 

A cleverly disguised geocache in this photo

I almost gave up on this one, but I persisted and found it. So I sat on that curb and logged the cache, trying to look calm and collected! I still had to find one more, so off I went, only to discover that I now had bits of juniper in my underwear, which was a tad uncomfortable. So I don't know which was worse, me trying to get the bits of juniper out or crawling under them, which got the bits there in the first place! 

Needless to say, I had a good laugh over it, and that probably makes people think I'm very strange when you're walking by yourself and having a good chuckle!

The second cache, which happened to have bonus points was also in a very public place, but standing nonchalantly along a very busy street and waiting for the lights to hold up traffic, I managed to get the second one. And VOILA -- I got my 500 points for this month. 

I made my 500 points! 

The counter resets on Monday, so I get to do it all over again! There are quite a few in my neighborhood that I haven't found, so I could attempt to do one a day on my walk. Speaking of which, I did end up at the mall and have now realized that the new theatre is some new concept of theater. Cineplex Junxion. The theater itself isn't that huge -- only 6 screens, but apparently lots of other exciting things to entertain us, including an outdoor (on the roof) place to watch movies. I guess that will be next summer. 

The new cinema

This is the little shopping bag that I take to the grocery store or anywhere I need to shop. I used to use my backpack for the grocery store, but I can usually fit everything in this small tote bag. The bag came from Stonehenge in England and, of course, is NOT that great of quality. I see that it is wearing thin in some spots. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My handy tote is wearing thin

It's funny that it's wearing along that bottom edge because it hardly ever sits on the floor. I guess the fibers are just breaking down. I may have to cut the sides off with the Stonehenge logo and applique them onto something else. The handles are fine, and they are made out of that same fabric. 

A hole in the bottom of the bag

I may have to take the car to the grocery store today. I see Loblaw's has watermelon on sale for $3. But I learned my lesson the hard way -- even the small ones are HEAVY and not to be carried home on foot. 

You know you have a problem when you're obsessed with the Swifter. I can't help it; I'm constantly sweeping the floor in Studio B. It's not that Lexi ever goes there, and Murphy is rarely there, but you would be shocked at how quickly the dust and lint accumulate. I can't imagine having carpet in a sewing space. Anyway, I was running into all the nooks and crannies and trying to keep the floor clean, so when I cut batting or whatever, it doesn't get covered in lint and dust! Look at all the lint from that black flannel, and this is after sweeping about four times! 

The Swifter gets well used

OH --- I rarely pass the broom on the main floor. Why? It's only in the important places that I dust and sweep!

So our girls are pretty funny. While Lexi likes to sleep on the sofa with her Dad, Murphy likes to be close to me when it suits her. And even though there is a HUGE floor space for her to sleep on, she has to be as close to me as possible. I was afraid of backing up and running her over! 

MOM -- I need to be close to you!

And this is the two of them yesterday morning. We have a small swimming pool for the dogs, which hasn't got put away yet. The two of them were running around, and Lexi must have thought the empty pool was the time-out zone? The "don't touch me" zone? 

I'm safe -- no one can touch me!

It didn't matter; Murphy attacked her anyway. Seriously, Murphy has issues! But it was so cute!!!!

Hey Lexi -- there is NO safe zone in the backyard!

And then what's with the neck gnawing thing? Murphy LOVES to chew on Lexi's neck. 

Hey Lexi -- let me gnaw on your neck!

They do this while I'm putting my shoes on in the morning to take them for their walk. 

Neck gnawing -- yum!

So what does this picture tell you? Murphy was complaining that Lexi didn't want to play fair! 

Mom -- Lexi won't play with me! 

But Murphy is JEALOUS. I put this mat on the floor so Lexi would feel welcome in the office. And up until yesterday, she was the only one to lay on it. But when Lexi wanted to come in yesterday, someone had already plopped themselves down! 

Mom --- Lexi can sleep somewhere else -- I got here FIRST

On my walk, I spotted this. The ground is covered with acorns. It was interesting to see that some trees along that street were very prolific in nut production and others not so much. I think there's a thing with male and female trees? 

Tons of fallen acorns

But the Canada geese seemed to be having fun with the nuts. Do they even eat the nuts? It seemed like they were. 

Canada geese eating the nuts

Wait --- what is this I spot? A heron, you say? Yep --- that pesky heron is back, although I don't think he ever really went away. They know we have fish in our pond, and this is the perfect vantage point to peer down and see what's on the menu. 

One of the neighborhood herons

DH captured the heron sitting on the neighbor's roof from our bathroom window. I know there are in the area as I see them flying around from time to time, but this is the first time in a long time that we've seen it perched -- watching! 

We have had them fly into our backyard and help themselves to fish, although that was years ago. The trees have grown in quite a bit since then, and their wingspan is pretty large, so I don't know that they would feel comfortable coming in, but for food? You never know. 

And where were our "guard" dogs? They may have been in the house waiting to go for their walk!

Well, that wraps up another great day!!!! And I've got a lot more work to get done today --- I'm amazed at how motivated I am these days, so let's hope that continues. I'm very goal-oriented, and that keeps me going. Getting rid of all that fabric or finishing those projects is a HUGE motivator at the moment, and that makes me happy!

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!!