March Quilt Update

Welcome to the Monthly Update.  What does that mean?  Well, it's just little ol me trying to recap what took place during the month so that I can keep track.  I kind of use it like a journal.  Please sit back and enjoy a peek into a month of my life.

Any links that you click in this post will open in a DIFFERENT window, allowing you to continue reading this without losing the page.

The previous 2017 monthly update links are located at the end of this entry.  I hope that you make it that far.

Goals:

Easy Street (ES) - quilted, bound -
Garden Party (GP) - Clues 5,6 YES and backing, binding, label made

Sewing Mats - 5 bound - YES
Midnight Flight (MF) - blocks made
BOM (blue) quilted and bound -
BOM (Thimbleberries) set, backing made, label made, quilted and bound -
BOM (pink) quilted and bound -

1st  - It's an organizational type of morning.  I'm trying oh so hard to get all the finished quilts from last month put away.  That means I need to write on the labels first.

Once that task is complete, I want to put them into the armoire with all the other quilts BUT it is completely full.  I remember a trick Bonnie Hunter taught me on how to roll a quilt so that it takes up a very small space.  That will mean emptying the entire armoire and rolling them all but I am up to the challenge.  It's amazing, but I am able to add the five additional quilts PLUS another one that was just hanging out.  Now it is full and I need to figure a new plan, but for today - I'm happy and the day is just about shot.  I have an appointment this afternoon so now I need to prepare for that.


I am going to start this month out right.  Mister has been asking repeatedly if I am going to cut my hair.  I think that means he would like to see me do it.  I now have the bangs long enough to work with so today is the day.   Oh, that feels nice and we celebrate with a night out.  Woohoo.

2nd -   Garden Party is the project today and here is the Clue 5 LINK.

3rd -  We (yes, Mister is coming along for a change) are off to Abilene bright and early to help Jen with kids for a couple of days.   I take a project to work on but don't touch a thing today.  Some old personal blogging and that's it.  You can see how our day went in THIS LINK.

4th -  I've gone back in time and remember that this used to be much easier.  We have soccer games all day and it is dang cold out.

At least I'm not alone.  Mister is just as miserable as I am and why on earth doesn't Jared look cold too?

5th -  Still in Abilene and having a great day with the grands.  We have played games all day and laughed ourselves silly.  What a choice moment.

Heading home and yes, the sun is going down.  So glad Mister is driving as I don't do as well with night driving as I used to.

6th -  I'm taking it a bit slow today.  One of the items I ordered the other day arrived today and I'm laughing at the packaging.  I ordered some new retreat charms from Missouri Star and forgot to order enough.  I went back in to order some more and it said they were sold out.  So, I went directly to Pin Peddlers and ordered them.  The second package is the one that arrived today.  The one from Pin Peddlers.  Seems straight forward right?  Think again --- the envelope was from Missouri Star.  Same company only I got to pay extra for the charms. Hmmmm.

The evening is a Quilt-Cam one so I settle in and bind sewing mats.  By the time I have to go to bed, I have managed to complete three of them.  That's a good start anyway.

7th -  I have decided to start setting Garden Party.  The new clue is out and I want to get the top together.  Once I have it laid out, it takes up all the space in my living room so I slide my machine over in the corner by the window and quietly stitch away.

8th -  I have a noon deadline to have this set.  Woohoo -- two halves become one by then.

For my evening entertainment, I bind another two sewing mats and now they are all complete.  Oh, that makes me happy.

9th -  Allison is over today and my plan is to work on the missing four-patches from Midnight Flight.  I am still so frustrated over the fact that I couldn't count when I first cut the fabric.  Math -- I thought you were my friend.

While with Allison, I get all the strips sewn together and cut into twosies.  After she leaves, I just keep sewing.  I feel like Dory -- just keep sewing, just keep sewing . . . .

However it does pay off and by the time I am ready for bed, all the remaining four-patches are finished and ready to go into blocks.  Whew.

10th -  The Dallas Quilt Show is today and Stephannie has set up a breakfast before it.  Even though I am preparing to leave town again tomorrow, I want a day with friends.  It's a great day and I even arrive back home with a few treasures.  Yes, I took lots of pictures but they are in a post of heir own.  Please go to this Quilt Show Link for lots of delicious eye candy, complete with information.

11th -  It's trip time again and I am off to D.C. with Jen and Jacob.  You can follow our adventurein this DC LINK and it has some mighty nice pictures if I do say so myself.

Once we get to the hotel in the evening, I take some time to put together the April woolie so that I can get some hand stitching done while on the bus.

Yes, hotel rooms can be used to create things too.  I've done it before, will do it again.

12th - Washington D.C. and guess what?  The cherry trees are in bloom.  Too early for sure but oh so pretty.

I am so busy looking out the windows of the bus and trying to make memories everywhere I go that I don't even once think of taking out my hand project.

The evening is spent on a riverboat dinner cruise and it is such an enjoyable time.

Back to the hotel late and exhausted.

13th - Today is Arlington Cemetery and it proves that there is beauty and inspiration to be found absolutely everywhere.  I adore these soft colors together and may need to figure out a way to work with them soon.

14th - It's our last day here and I still haven't touched a needle.  Ugh.  Oh well, sometimes the eyes need to be busy elsewhere.

We fly with the sunset and the lights of the metroplex are a welcome sight.  I do love these trips ,but dang if they are not just crazy exhausting for this old lady.  I'm not gonna stop doing them though.  I still have two Texas grandsons who will be going in the future.

15th - It's not a recovery day.  I only have today to get the bookwork, packing, and laundry completed before retreat.  My sweet Mister cleans my machines and finishes the pedal helpers in case anyone needs one this weekend.  He is just so good to me.  I am so very unprepared for retreat tomorrow and yet, somehow -- it's okay.  Life goes on.

16th -  With an early morning start, I arrive at Brazos with plenty of time to get set up.  Hello Old Friend.  The patio beckons and I really would like to just fall into one of those chairs and stay there all day.  However, it's not meant to be just now.  Forward girl, forward.  For all the wonderful descriptions and events of the retreat, please give a click to THIS LINK.  You won't regret it.

My accomplishment for the day is to get the inner border on my Garden Party top.  Wow -- it has a neutral look to it now.

17th -   Today I worked on finishing the outer borders to Garden Party and it is once again a purple look.  I like it.  For all the fun in finishing Clue 6, here is your LINK.  The rest of the time is spent making the back, binding, and label.

It's also game night and fun is being had all around.  Oh, by the way - Happy St. Patrick's Day.  May you always have a bit of the Irish luck with you.

18th -  Another day and today I have to stop procrastinating and get to work on these slippers.  The days are quickly passing and I will need gifts ready to go.  I am not at all sure why I just can't get on board with these this weekend.  Finally -- after pushing HARD

A trip down to the river makes me smile for sure -- as do these lovely ladies who came down to join me.  I've had a rough weekend and they have made it much brighter.

19th -  It's hard to say good-bye but I finally get some porch time.  I've had a good time but am ready for a few down days.  Do I have any?  I should probably check the calendar to see if I can sleep a bit.

Ah, my sweet man knows just how to end a retreat.  A quick date night.  Thank you my sweetie.

20th -  Finally - a recovery day.  I've been wanting one of these all month.  All I'm doing is working on the retreat pictures and getting some blogging finished.  Period.  Jammies all day.

21st - I knew I should have looked at my calendar better before I thought I'd have some down days.  I had one and should be thankful for that.  Today is unpacking, laundry, packing, and preparing projects for tomorrow's trip to Colorado.  At least I got the wool organized in the process.

22nd -  I am off to Telluride for the rest of this month.  Any pictures from here on are not developed at all so all I can say is Oh Well.  All the programs are at home, not on my laptop.  I fly first thing and am in Montrose before noon.  The snow covered mountains don't bode well, BUT here is the view from the house.   I can live with this.

23rd -  Amanda has to work so I hunker down at the house and do some work on the personal blog, organize retreat stuff, and pay some attention to the budget.  Basically not such a fun day.  Best part was that I had visitors in the yard.  Not so best part -- weather changed.

24th -  After getting the kids on the bus with Amanda, she leaves and it's my show now.  I run errands in the morning and the kids are home by 1.  Raef takes a hike and gets a great picture from the top of the hill behind the house.  (Yep this is a picture of his picture.  Maybe by the time I'm home, he'll send me the original.)

The Sudoku game I made for Christmas is out and we are having a blast with it.

25th -  It's a delivery and pick up day and I'm a pretty unhappy person by the time I get back.  It doesn't take long, though, and I'm good to go again.  It's movie time and then I take them all out to dinner at the restaurant right by the house.

26th -  The weather has definitely changed and the view quite different from when I arrived.  I manage to bag up some snow to put in the freezer so we can make snow candy after we buy some maple syrup.  It's a day of Uno games, crafts, movies, and baking cookies.  Perfect.

27th -  The kids are back in school and I'm actually going to work on a project or two or three.  Yes, I have three retreat projects going for April and May.  It's a lot of pencil and fusible web work today with some ironing thrown in for good measure.  I even stay up late after they've gone to bed and get my samples cut out along with all the others kitted up.  Whew.

28th -  There isn't any school today so we are off to Montrose to check out the new recreation center.  I get off to a bad start when they say that in order for Caleb to swim, I have to.  That was not anywhere on the website and I didn't even bring a suit with me from Texas, much less Telluride.  Ugh.  We go over to Penney's and $135.00 later, Caleb can now swim.  OMG.  On the bright side - we have a super fun time.  Lunch, a stop at the grocery store, and home to watch a new movie we bought.  Oh, and yes, I did need a new suit and I DO like it -- not the point.

29th -  I have spent the entire day (when not transporting kids) working on my personal blog.  Oh goodness.  Why did I let it get so far behind?  I am super hopeful that by the time I leave here, I will be down to 13 entries in draft format.  That's closer than I've been in a very long time and they are all still from 2016.  Procrastination is never a good thing.  Yes, I should listen to myself more often.

30th - I spent today doing laundry from the past week and I am absolutely amazed at the lack of underwear.  What is it with boys and changing their underwear?  I have three boys.  They have showered every other night.  There are two pair of undies.  Ewwww.

When the boys get home from school and ninja class, it's finally time to get that maple snow candy made.  We have made it before and I put the recipe in that post.  You can find it HERE.   We finish out the night - our last night together - with pizza, popcorn, Dr. Pepper, and another new movie - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  Excellent.  What a great time we have had together.  I am sad to go and yet ready for time with my sweetheart.  Besides, I'll see these guys in Florida next month.

31st -  And it's the end of another month.  I know - never start a sentence with and.  Tough.  We go to the donut shop for breakfast - yep, totally nutritious today - then once I drop the boys at school, my time with them is over.  They will be picked up by Dad and they start their first week of Spring Break on an adventure with him.  I'll see them the following week for Mom's half of the break and we are all going to Daytona Beach.  The day is spent cleaning the house and preparing for my departure tomorrow morning.  I do find some time to finish prepping my samples and MAYBE I'll even take out some thread while at the airport or in the air tomorrow.  It could happen.  Stop shaking your head at me.  Now to go pack.  I'm going home.

Well, I certainly didn't get much done sewing wise this month, but family memories have been made and I need to forever keep that perspective.

 As always, thank you so very much for checking in with me again this month.  I do this for ME and appreciate you so much for peeking in now and then.  Since it is for me, I keep it ad free and hope for it to stay that way.  It's just a way of holding memories tight.  Check back in now and then (or sign up for email notifications and you'll never miss a post) and please check out the link to OUR QUILT BLOGS at the top of the page for many of the quilt groups are starting to restrict the posting of blogs into the groups.  If you want to still have a long monthly read and time for your tea, join the group.  Thanks for sticking around this long -- I am grateful for everyone who reads each month.

Links to Previous 2017 Monthly Update Posts:

January 2017
February 2017