In the gazebo with a book!

It's so good to be home! Yes -- I'm now home for at least three weeks -- can you believe that? I can barely believe it, and the even better news is that my commitments are much fewer this month, so it'll positively feel like a vacation! I'm going to be totally lost! 

OK -- that's a lie since I have some long-arm quilting to do, blog posts to write, articles to put together, plans for the fall quilts, and a lot more paperwork, but I won't have so much happening on the weekends. Yeah!

We all got up yesterday and sewed until lunch, and then it was the quickest pack-up ever, and we were out of there by 1 PM, which is the norm. What a great retreat, and I really am blessed with great friends. They have ZERO drama, just good chats and lots of fun! And just the indisputable fact of relaxing with zero pressure. That was the best four days I've spent in years! I barely walked either, so that was a total shutdown!

I got quite a bit of cutting done in the morning, and I came home with the lids fitting on both brown scrap boxes - who knew that was possible? 

The brown scrap boxes

I think it's easy to see that the one on the left is the unsorted box, and the one on the right is nice and neat. 

And here are the fruits of my labors. 

The cut scraps

I think I surprised myself that I cut continuously for 3 days. I would never manage that at home, but with great company and good conversation, I didn't even notice what I was working on. 

I stopped on the way home to get a geocache. Oh gosh -- I don't know if I can keep this up for one more month, but I'll try. I might have to get my bicycle out and use that to get to some close to home, but a bit far to walk to. I certainly HATE using the car for that in my neighborhood, so let's see how it goes. 

The best part about geocaching is finding these historic plaques or other oddities in places you've driven past countless times but never knew were there. 

Historic plaque

The worst part is standing on the roadside in knee-high weeds and grass, trying to find a cache and looking inconspicuous. That's a hoot! I bet people driving by just shake their heads and wonder why some grown woman is messing around in broad daylight in the weeds. But here's the log, so it was a legitimate find!

Signing the cache

One of the things we all agreed that we should do less of is be on our devices. I do not play games on ANY device. And I'm really trying to keep my time on Facebook and IG at a minimum. I like to see at a quick glance who is doing what, but I want to avoid watching countless reels or following clickbait, and I DO NOT care what people eat. So the less time spent there, the better. 

OH MY --- I somehow gave permission to a Hindu newspaper to send me notifications on my phone, and every day I get tons. It's the only site, so how do I change that? Great! I turned off notifications from Chrome, so that should stop it. 

What we all agreed to do more of is to pick up a physical book and read it! So I've been trying to read this book for months and have yet to get past the first chapter. So upon arrival home and unpacking the car, I got that book and my tea and was out in the gazebo. 

Relaxing in the gazebo

It was glorious, and even though I had many things to do in the house, I said they could wait! But there was a certain someone, who shall remain nameless, in my face like a dirty shirt. 

MOM -- PLAY BALL WITH ME!

Let's just say that I had to hide the ball because, within minutes, it was INTENTIONALLY dropped in the pond multiple times. And if I didn't get it, she barked non-stop! Oh, Muprhy!  -- I love you, but have you not heard of a lazy afternoon? 

At one point, I tried napping but wasn't comfortable, so I popped into the house to nap on the couch. Only to be joined by Miss Lexi. Notice that her ears are perked up to hear everything going on, but she's pretending to be asleep! 

MOM -- I can hear you taking my picture!

But she is a cutie, so you can't complain about her, except that she is a princess!

MOM -- I'm beautiful! 

Then I got some ambition and went downstairs to see what damage control needs to happen this weekend. Hmm -- there's space to cut and sew, so that's good, and I puttered a bit to clean up some of the stuff from the week. I swear I took pictures, but I did not. 

As I found new homes for all those cut pieces, I was thinking that should I not come home one day, those cut pieces will be a jackpot for any scrap quilter out there! 

And in thinking about where to go with the scraps, this is what I did. I went through my patterns to find two specific patterns for scrap quilts that I knew I had. Hmmm --- that led to a couple more, and I think I now have 14 patterns for amazing scrap quilts. NO -- I will not share the patterns with you. You'll have to wait. It drives me MAD when I pull out a pattern to sew, and other people feel compelled to sew the same pattern. My new motto -- JUST SAY NO and keep some things to yourself! 

Searching for scrap patterns

So I'll note the size of the pieces, but I think I'm good with what I'm cutting and what I plan to further cut from those boxes, and my ultimate goal would be to NO LONGER have scrap boxes, but only boxes of cut pieces. That is going to take a TON of discipline to get there, but I have time during Monday sewing and Virtual Retreat to make that happen. It'll be nice to see all those scraps under control! 

And now that I have confirmed sizes in mind, anything smaller will be tossed into the pet mats. My logical brain likes a plan, and I'm now going to be a happy camper, creating an even more valuable resource. I'm still not 100% sure how to store them - by size for sure, but by color? Or don't worry about it and pull out what I need when I start to sew? As I continue to go through the boxes, there will be about 10 different sizes. I may start containers for each of the fourteen quilts and sort it that way. 

I'll do some contemplating as I work away this weekend. 

Having those naps and starting that book was not good for sleeping. I couldn't sleep, so I was up reading. Oops -- but no matter -- I have nothing on the agenda for today -- well, lots to do, but no appointments or anything, so I can nap if I need. 

On that note, I'm out of here! The girls are getting excited for their walk!

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!