Tea for two!

Let's start off with the progress report on the green scraps. 

I watched an entire episode of The Quilt Show, and all the while, I was pressing scraps.

Pressing scraps

Does it look like I'm making progress? I think so. This is what the basket looked like last night. 

The basket last night

And for reference, here's the basket from the previous day. 

The basket the previous day

This basket of scraps will be a good example of how slow and steady will always win. The amount of usable scraps in the basket for the 365-day quilt is shocking! Imagine if I had thrown all that away? People just don't have patience anymore. Only some people want to work with little pieces, but it's a good lesson. 

It's not just a quilting thing but a life thing! We want everything, and we want it now! Instant gratification, the inability to read anything longer than a magazine article, or watching an IG reel—our attention spans have gone to mush! I am doing everything possible to avoid losing my attention span, so a slow and steady pace works for me. Or perhaps I should say that I'm doing everything possible to regain it!

Let me tell you about the tea sets. I have three tea sets that I believe all came from the farm. Again, I'm unable to ask for their history, which is sad. My Mom has NO IDEA about the chaos she has created and how many memories are going to die because of her desire to have everything! I'm over it, but it's annoying! 

One of the sets is this blue enamel tea set. It's pretty cute, and I needed a spot to display it. The other day, I was at the thrift store and spotted this small wooden crate. I took no measurements with me, just a mental picture. I think I did pretty well! 

A display case for my tea set

See how that one plate is falling in the back? I glued a wooden BBQ skewer to create a plate rail inside the crate. 

My plate rail

And now the plates remain in position. Yes, I know. The cups should be hanging, and I've got some mini hooks on order. They should arrive within a few weeks, as I think they are coming from China. 

The plate rail is in place

I suspect the tea set belonged to my mom or her sisters since my mom seemed pretty good at pilfering their possessions. Did I say that out loud? Well, it's true and has caused huge issues amongst the sisters. 

The set is well used, as there is some chipping along some of the edges. 

Chipped edges on a plate

Anyway, I have a second set made from ceramic. It includes one teapot, four cups, and one plate. I spotted this shadow box at the thrift store, and it's perfect!!! Again, I need those mini cup hooks to hang the cups. I'm also going to paint the box white. 

A shadow box for another tea set

I've been tempted to put this table away, but I might leave it out as it's a good sit-down work table. I just need to make sure that it stays clear except for the current project. I have two light bulbs to change, so that's why the box of bulbs is on the table. 

My sit-down work table

There is a third enamel tea set, which is going in the small cupboard you see on the table above. I needed a plate rail in that one, and that's done. I should have put one in the shadow box since there's a plate. I might do that today; it won't take long. 

Where will all these be displayed? I have a shelf in Studio U that will be perfect. There's already a TEA trivet on the shelf. I'll find a new home for the things on the shelf, and this will be the tea vignette. 

A shelf to display the tea sets

At least I'll be able to enjoy them, and I had fun setting up the displays.

I got the giant quilt quilted, and it's off the long arm but not trimmed. That's a job for later today. I believe this is a Thimbleberries quilt. I haven't seen one in a long time. It was purchased at the Mennonite Relief Sale. 

Customer quilt - DONE

My last border on the Cabin in the Woods quilts is now ready to be stitched!! I will try to get to this today, but it's not looking good, as I have other things to do. But I must keep at this, or it'll never be done for our next UFO class. 

The applique on the last border is fused in place

I also started on the QUILTsocial stuff, but I can't share that with you. You'll see it when the posts are published. 

I also hung all my digital cutter mats on that big metal shelf. Hmmm—some of the mats don't have a hole for hanging! WHAT??????? How here's a mystery. Where are all my Brother mats? I can only find my scanning and fabric mats, but the low and high tack? They're nowhere to be found. 

Digital cutter mats

It's kind of like my library book. I returned it to the library yesterday, and to unblock my account, I took it to the librarian and explained the issue. She kind of tut-tutted at me, but hey—at least I returned the book. I have another book due today, so I must keep up with it. We have no fines anymore, but because the book was very overdue, I had to pay $5 in fines! 

I was at the laundromat the other day, washing some oversized items. 

At the laundromat

As I sat there, a guy came in with FIVE big bags of clothes. They had oversized heavy zippers and looked like parkas. I was trying to see if there was a logo on the items, as they looked like work clothes. I spotted something that looked like this, but how can that be? 

Do you recognize that logo?

Then another man, who was emptying his washer, asked about the bags and said they looked like parkas. What would anyone be doing with parkas on a hot day? AHA—the bags were for Wal-Mart, and indeed, they were parkas and snow pants. Apparently, it's for the logistics team that works in a cold facility. This guy washes the five bags of items every day. Can you imagine having that job? 

I don't know how many outfits there were, but let's say at least ten, and how they were washed—well, I don't see how they could have been clean. He rolled them up and shoved them into the washer until no more would fit. He stuffed those five bags into two large washers! Cost savings! I suppose. 

As I waited and chatted with the owner, which was challenging since her English was limited, someone brought in a cheesecake he had made. So I got a piece. 

Cheesecake at the laundromat!

Lexi and Murphy were standing guard when I got the oversized items home and laid them out in the backyard for final drying and bleaching by the sun! OK—this worked if squirrels wanted to attack, but not if a bird wanted to use them for target practice. All was good. 

The girls are on guard!

Except I used their soap, which was NOT scent-free. Oh god—that's horrible. I do not get the fact that people LIKE those smells. They are so artificial and strong that they could make you gag. And then we wonder why people have so many breathing issues? We do NOT use anything in our dryer—trust me—with the type of fabrics in our clothes, we have no problems with static. And we use UNSCENTED everything, except the hand soap in the bathroom. One house - one smell. We don't need many!

My dehumidifier is working overtime these days. It runs for a couple of hours and needs to be empty. I guess we should have it connected to the drain, but we don't. That's more steps up and down the stairs to empty it. I'm OK with that. 

Dehumidifier working over time

And yes, we are likely the only ones in this neighborhood with our windows open and no AC. It's beautiful listening to the outdoors and feeling the breeze. And yes, there are times when it's a bit hot, but nothing that a well-placed fan can't help. Studio B is freezing and would be worse if the AC was on. I would need one of those snowsuits to survive! 

The dogs are good. Murphy can go downstairs if she needs to cool off. Lexi doesn't need to cool off. Look at this girl. 

These pictures were taken on a hot, sunny day. In the first one, she was lying in the shade. 

MOM -- I'm good! 

But here? She's right in the sun and couldn't care less. I guess that's what happens when you are born in Qatar!!!

MOM -- soaking up the rays!

More gardening happened, and I placed ¼ of the bags of mulch. So, there will be more weeding tonight and more mulch. I might go back and get another twenty bags, as one bag doesn't go far. I just don't want a bunch of mulch bags hanging out in the garage, so so far, so good for emptying them. I can't empty them unless the garden is weeded, but I have enough weeded now to empty all the bags that remain. 

As for actual sewing, I am trying to remember when I last sat at my sewing machine and pieced a quilt. It's been months. I had to make that quilt backing the other day and then sew the seam on this last border, but it's all little stuff like that. There is definitely no piecing. 

The next quilt is loaded on the long arm and ready to go. I had to join four pieces of batting for this one, but it's all good. I've got a list of quilts for this month, and I should have no issues completing them. There are even a couple of last-minute ones from customers that were added to the list. 

I've walked over 65,000 steps in the last three days! Yikes! And despite the heat, I'm on for my regular walk, and this week, I've been carrying stuff home, like my new pillow, which was in a box and was awkward! But I managed. 

Someone asked me a question the other day that would have required a lot of writing. The topic was what things are necessary in a retreat house. I had written that information and emailed it several years ago. Could I be so lucky to find that email and just forward it? It took a bit of digging, but I found it! So, that task got crossed off my list! 

On that note, I'm out of here! I completely forgot about my car errand yesterday, so I have two today, and both must be done. Plus, it will be like Christmas here later on as I ordered some stuff online (GASP), and it's all being delivered today. No worries. Online was the ONLY way to get this stuff. There will be more on that tomorrow. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!