What makes you happy?

I had a GREAT day. What's more important is knowing what makes me happy and what doesn't. The trick is having fewer moments that make me unhappy and more that make me happy!

What makes me happy? Well, it's finishing things and then having the time to tidy up before moving to the next project! I love tidying up! What drives me mad is when I can only complete something as much as necessary, and then I have to move on to the next without finishing the first thing. Oh my—that never bothered me, but it bothers me a lot these days! 

When you have too many things on your plate, it's very challenging to complete them! So yesterday, I got to do everything that makes me happy! I didn't need to start the next item immediately; however, I have THREE classes this weekend, which all require prep. So that's on the agenda today and tomorrow! 

My main priority yesterday was to finish and submit my Cherrywood challenge. I decided it needed to be quilted on the long arm, but before I could do that, I had to quilt the community project quilt that was loaded. So that got done! 

Quilt for community projects - DONE

Then, when I came upstairs for lunch, the scissors attached to my magnetic scissor holder fell off, and my brain registered that, but only the fall, not the location. And for whatever reason, I was in a hurry and didn't pick them up! Only later, when I needed them, I traced my steps and memory bank and found them on the floor under the kitchen table. You have to question your sanity at moments like that and wonder what I was doing that was so important that I couldn't bend down to get these scissors. 

My "lost" scissors

I received an email in the morning reminding me that the Cherrywood challenge was due in 24 hours. There was no pressure! But at that point, I only had to bind the quilt, take pictures, and submit it. 

Tick tock!

After trimming the quilt, I made and attached the binding to the front. Then, I went into the backyard and handstitched it in place. YES—I'm hand-stitching a binding! 

The hand-stitched binding

I had to stitch that binding in place, take and edit the pictures, and write the artist statement, and I still had twenty hours remaining. It was as easy as pie! Why do I leave everything until nearly the last minute?  

More than enough time before the deadline

Of course, I had to pay to submit my piece, but I knew that. Over the years, there have been ten Cherrywood challenges: Wicked, The Lion King, Van Gogh, Prince, Bob Ross, Diana, Graffiti, Monark, Poppy, and Abyss. I may or may not have those in the correct order. 

I have worked on five of them - Van Gogh (not accepted), Prince (not finished), Bob Ross and Diana (both accepted into the traveling show), and the Abyss (waiting to see what happens). 

If it gets in, that's a bonus. If it doesn't, I love the piece, and I'll share all my pieces with you once I hear the fate of this one. I don't know when we'll hear back, but I suspect it'll be at least a month. 

Then I got to work on something else—this part makes me super happy! Well, I was already happy that the challenge was over. I love working on challenges, and this is my second one this year. If you go to Quilt Canada, check out the Trendtex Challenge quilts. 

Anyway, I got the binding stitched to one of my quilts. It went on the back. 

Finishing the first round of stitching for the binding

Guess what? I actually got a chance to stitch it to the front as well. Yeah me!!!! While I know the corners need to be hand-stitched in place, I'm not good at doing that. So I've prepped the necessary supplies to do this, and it's on the kitchen table. This afternoon, I'll stitch those down in the gazebo. 

Binding stitched to the front!

And one more spool of thread is gone! 

An empty spool of thread

Now for the tidying part. After completing those two items, stuff that needed to be put away was hanging around. I dumped it all on the cutting table. Almost all of it was put away, so I did a bad thing and put a few more things on the table. This makes me happy, and if I can squeeze in a few more moments like that, things will be great. 

The next items that need to be put away

This brings me back to the question of cutting back and potentially retiring, which I can't do yet. Part of me fears that I'll become a slug when I retire and nothing will get done, although I can't see that happening; it could. But the other thing is that so many people say they are busier now than when they worked. OK -- so what are you busy with, and do you need to do it? I refuse to take on anything else, because saying yes gets me into trouble. 

Will I volunteer? Nope—I've done my time—years and years—and I'm done with the pettiness of committees, etc. I will volunteer by quilting the quilt tops made by Diane, finishing them, and donating them to various causes. I will donate my time and money in a way that will make me happy and allow me to clean up my place! It works for me!

I've talked about change lots and how I don't like change. Well, I went to the grocery store yesterday and one of the items on the list was soup! I gave the labels a cursory glance, grabbed two cans, and threw them in my bag. It was only when I got home and was putting them on the shelf that I realized I did NOT buy the right ones! I am NOT taking them back - I'll manage just fine with these, and next time I'd better pay closer attention. However, the one I want is always on the far right, but maybe not!

OH dear - wrong soup flavor!

It's like Lexi. I gave her a treat yesterday, and she ran to her favorite mat to eat it! 

MOM - this is my spot to eat treats

I got the most recent issue of A Needle Pulling Thread, Number 69, which was all about scrappy, one of my favorite topics! Remember, you don't have to buy the entire magazine. Go to the link and browse the pages. Then, if you see a pattern you like, you can purchase it separately! 

Issue 69 of A Needle Pulling Thread

Here's a picture of my quilt. It is definitely scrappy and a good trip down memory lane. I won't tell you what scraps I used to make that quilt - you'll have to get a copy and read it for yourself!!

My scrappy quilt

You can buy a digital copy or find it at Indigo. 

Murphy just loves to entertain. I take some of her toys, particularly her pink squeaky ball, wrap them in several blankets, and then leave them in her dog bed. When she needs to be entertained, she tries to find the ball. It's hilarious; she mostly does it when I sit at the kitchen table. 

MOM - I know my ball is in here! 

I put the pink ball inside this hollow stuffie to challenge her even more. She found the ball, but how will she get it from the stuffie? She puzzled over that one, then shook the toy, and the ball flew. It was hilarious!!! Murphy! You are a clever girl! 

MOM - My ball is in this toy!

Then it was time to test out the new tap. I think I mentioned that the other tap, which is in a ridiculous place, had burst once again over the winter, and so while the crew came to set up the pump and everything, they couldn't put water in the pond. So we had someone come and install a new tap, and I've needed to fill the pond for a couple of weeks now, but I just didn't get a chance. I had time - it just wasn't a priority. But the water level was getting so low that it became urgent. It took almost 30 minutes to top the pond up! The new FROST FREE tap works fine, except we need to figure out how to handle the gate issue. More on that another day. 

Filling the pond

Then I plugged the pump in and voila - water falls! 

The waterfalls are back!

Of course, Murphy was in there quicker than I could say anything to check it out. 

MOM - What's this? 

I swear she loves to live dangerously. She doesn't climb onto the rocks without the waterfalls. Why not? Because she can't get messy, that's why!

MOM -- there's water here! 

I had some extra time last night, so I spent it weeding and performing other backyard tidy-up duties. Of course, Murphy was there to help me. 

MOM - I'm helping

Does she not realize that those are flowers she is lying on? I cleared a few sections and must work on the other side of the path. It shouldn't take too long, but I must remove all the dead leaves to add more mulch. I hope to do that this weekend. 

Making progress on the weeds

My back isn't used to bending over like that to weed! All is good. My leg/glut is feeling pretty good these days. I watched a video to see what exactly this is all about, and well, I can see what happened. Overuse, tight muscles, and voila—a recipe for disaster! So I'm continuing to take it easy, and it's all working out great. 

Well, there is paperwork on the agenda today, as I have TWO events that require coordination with other people and one event that requires samples to be made! After those three, the calendar is pretty wide open until September, and it's going to stay that way!

Well, it's time to get the day started! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!