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.
So . . . . If you have followed me in the past, you know that I have set CRAZY goals each month and it's tough when they just don't happen. I think goals are wonderful - believe me, without them I fear my lack of movement. The thing is -- I just don't want another year of unattainable goals making me feel stressed. I have a busy year ahead with lots of surprises, family happenings, and retreats. Those items alone give me PLENTY of deadlines to deal with. As a result, I am introducing the new goal section - hahahaha, it's the same, only reasonable. Let's hit the ground running . . . or not. How about a hot drink and a good read? See, life is good. Oh, and the goals each month are at the end of the post now.
The previous 2018 monthly update links are located at the end of this entry. I hope that you make it that far.
1st - March definitely roared in like a lion last night. Wow. I do love storm season. Speaking of seasons - we are entering spring here in Texas and I do love the beauty of everything in bloom. It will be a colorful month and to start it out right, another step in the Quilt-A-Long begins today. I am certainly loving this Texas Tumbleweeds event. Within a couple of hours, I have it complete. Here is the WEEK FIVE LINK.Yesterday, my sweetie had noticed an estate sale that contained a ton of red hats. A quick call to my friend, Cynthia, and we are both off to check it out this morning. Sad to say, the picture on the sale was better than the actual thing but I did manage to find one hat and a few extras too.
For the remainder of the day, I work on the red/white quilt and complete 5 blocks. I'm getting really excited about this quilt.
2nd - First order of the day -- clean my disaster of a room. Check. I start cutting the carryall to discover that I needed to order more In R Foam. Ugh. Off to the computer and order in. Returning to the living room, I figure out that I ordered incorrectly, race back to the computer, cancel the order, re-order with a different size and now will have enough to make two. Whew.Perhaps I should quit cutting until my brain is sure of what it is doing. Moving onto this month's beach block, I grab leftover bonus triangles saved from A Day At The Beach and start making pinwheels. Either I can't sew or I cut them all screwy last summer, but I don't have enough good ones so another plan is required. Oh my brain hurts today. I know, I'll use plain squares as well to make the rows and throw the bad pinwheels into either the back or the label, but not today. Just tired of road blocks.
Perhaps I can handle some work on the trip instead. Back to the computer. Yeah, that was fruitful (heavy sarcasm). After losing my mind with the Eurail page, I finally figure out the airfare, stops along the way and number of days I need rail. Ugh. I know the trip will be fun, but what a pain to get this far.
3rd - Flights to Spain are booked. Woohoo.! It's a good start to the day. Please let it continue. Now, back to the beach mess. The new plan goes well and I soon have little beach rows that will attach to some old row by row blocks. They aren't perfect, but I can live with them. Time to go shopping with my love.
4th - Weekends are for Mister and today we are off to the Dallas Arboretum for a quick peek to see if the tulips are out yet. They're not quite ready so after a nice walk we decide to head out. We did manage to see some beautiful displays though and here is the Dallas Blooms LINK .
With beautiful weather, next stop is the Zoo for a peek at what's going on there. You can come along with this Zoo Fun LINK.
On the way home, Mister asks if there is anything else I need to do. Well . . . . . Lori dropped off her machine at the BLRC and we could go pick it up. He agrees and off we go. Several friends are there and it's fun to visit for awhile and I even get to meet a few new friends. Perfect.5th - With Mister at the office today, I have complete access to the home office. That means I also have access to watching something during the day. I am going to take advantage. I have to work on a tea set and my Whims blocks. Locating all the Oceans (yes, I'm a lover of Danny Ocean and company) movies I set to work.
Movie one --- tea set underglazed - check. I'm missing two plates still and have another call into the ceramic shop.
All the other pieces are boxed up and ready for firing.
Movies 2 and 3 see both Whims blocks laid out and fused.All the fabrics for the appliqued parts are also fused, cut out, and ready to assemble by the time my movie binge comes to an end.
6th - Mister has a company event today and tonight so I am once again alone in my palace. After sewing the watercolor backgrounds, I settle in for another round of greenware cleaning. Tea set number two is the goal. Two more movies are ready to go.
Now for the applique on my watercolor blocks. Yes! I am so loving these projects.
Now to move around a bit. I REALLY need to finish cutting the Carryall bag out and while I'm at it, I work on the rain poncho's too. Isn't the fabric just too cute? I love it.I finish the day with paying bills and doing taxes. Such fun, but necessities all the same.
Before picking it all up, I make some selections on backing and borders. I am short binding so hopefully I can find that at the quilt show this week.
Now, 2 more movies and underglazing the second tea set. Oooooh. I am moving forward on these and it feels great.
Another set ready for firing.
8th - Ugh. I need to finish cleaning house today. Yuck, but necessary. I have stuck in a little bit each day all week but Sheri is arriving tonight and that means it needs to be done. She is spending the night and we are going to the Plano Guild for Maria's Presentation (Yes, that is the link.)
It's fun to spend time together and help Maria at the same time. Nope, no pictures of us at the house -- I know, I must be slipping.9th - Today is the Dallas Quilt Show and we are off for some fun and friendship. You can join us in this QUILT SHOW LINK which is definitely worth a click as the eye candy is amazing.
Upon my return home in the afternoon, guess what???? The peach tree is starting to blossom. I am thrilled and there appears to be tons of blooms. Now, please let there be bees too.
10th - Saturday means time with my sweetie once again and our first stop is the coffee shop where I spot a cup that makes me smile. I had just posted this exact same statement in the Facebook group yesterday. It's perfect.
With coffee in hand, look out Arboretum, here we come for round three. Today is a GREAT picture day and finally, all the tulips are amazing. Here is the Part 3 pics link. Enjoy. Oh, and here is my favorite picture of the day.
A little thrift store shopping is next as I am on the hunt for a pair of saddle shoes for the June Red Hat meeting. No luck yet, but I do manage to find quite a few other items I can use for meetings. Even a Red outfit for my birthday months. The variety is growing.11th - It's baby day!!! My grandson has arrived.
Please welcome John Paul Ashton. I can't wait to meet him in person. Here's a quick peek as his big sisters get to hold him for the first time.
Mister and I have spent the day helping Mom H. We are going to have dinner with brother Rick and his wife in a bit so have some time to kill. Hello Tuesday Morning. Ooooh, I am definitely set for retreats now. Fun, fun, fun. Now, let's go get some dinner.The restaurant is right across the street from the Los Colinas mustangs and I've never seen them up close and personal. A quick walk across the street rectifies that.
12th - I want to work on the carryall today. I mean, after all, I'm teaching this in just a couple of days. It might be good to have at least started mine, right? My day does NOT go well and after 6 hours of misery, I do not have much to show. The quilting is just not going well. I've ripped more than I've sewn. What on earth is the issue. I've changed needles, thread, cleaned the machine, ugh. That's it --- done for today.
13th - A good nights sleep and my mind is clear. I'm going to try switching to a larger eye on my needle and see if that's what is wrong. Bingo.It's another full day for sure, but my Rockport Carryall is finished and I have lots of dos and don'ts for the ladies who are making it at retreat. Whew. (Psst -- I DO like it though.)
On the brighter side, John Paul went home today. So, so sweet.
14th - It's one of those organizing, grocery shopping, haircut getting, pot roast baking, packing kind of days. Oh, and peach blossoms and hawks. Interesting for sure, but not very quilty.
15th - Woohoo!! Retreat day has arrived once again. Once the room is set up and all is in order, my focus today is on underglazing the last tea set. I have decided to do it like a little Fiesta set. It's super cute and I'm really loving it.
There is a little time to spare so I make a travel pillow that I've been holding onto since my last trip to Montana. It's going to Colorado with me later this month. Oh --- here is the Retreat LINK so you can see all the fun that takes place.One thing I will share here is Darlene's birthday cake. Oh my. It is simply delightful and I am coveting big time.
In the wee hours, I even add the borders onto the wall hanging that I started last month at retreat. TA-DA.
16th - I have tried this retreat to not give myself as many "must dos". It just makes everything too stressful. On today's agenda is the setting of Texas Tumbleweeds. I just didn't get to it before leaving and want to attempt to stay up with this. I really don't want anther UFO. I make good progress on it but the day also includes walks down by the river. I do so love being here.17th - First things first. Happy St. Patrick's Day AND I am blessed with this picture first thing --- ahhh, my heart. He is laying on the quilt I made, only the soft back of it.
For Day 3, I would really like to finish my TT top and it's a success.
Moving on, the backings and bindings for it and the wall hanging also both are complete. Additionally, I have the label for TT too. Now they are both ready for quilting. Perhaps next month at the rate I'm going. Here is the final Step 6 Texas Tumbleweeds LINK for you. This one has indeed been fun. I'll update it when the quilting/binding is complete.18th - For some reason, it's an early departure from retreat today. It's been so fun and new friendships were formed. These events feed my soul and keep me sane. It's true, although some would question the sanity part.
Home to my sweetie, off to the Arboretum for Dallas Blooms Part Four. Take a peek at the pictures, today I learned about evening light and shadows. Now for a beer.
19th - It's a computer work, packing kind of day. Never picked up the camera once. Busy, busy, busy.
20th - Delivered tea sets for firing, underglazed last two pieces, working on blog, packing. Once again, the camera is resting.
21st - It's a travel day for me. I am off to Telluride, CO for some time with my grandsons. It's a wee early morning flight and I'm excited to see Amanda and the boys. Let's get this plane in the air so I can nap in my "whole row to myself" area. See ya in Colorado. You can follow my week's adventure in this Back in Telluride LINK.22nd - I am helping Amanda out and doing a bit of blogging today. That's about it. They leave late in the afternoon and the evening is spent at a concert that Caleb is performing in.
23rd - I am on my own now and I only brought hand projects to work on while here. Today my first plan is to draw the parts for next month's beach block onto the fusible web. Done. Yay. Next, I want to get all the handwork finished for my nativity piece this month. I choose the Angel, thinking she'll go quick and she does. With one down and a lot of day left, I move onto the camel and lickety-split, that one is complete too. All that remains on these is the final stitching and stuffing.Third in the rotation today is to get a start on my second redwork block and a little bit of blogging finishes out the day.
I have, indeed, managed to create quite the mess. Wow.
25th - Another day of solid redwork but I do manage to complete a second section. Woot woot. For the evening entertainment -- Ryan has snow blindness. Fun times ahead. Skiing without goggles --- Oh my.26th - I move onto the next section of redwork only to discover that I am out of red thread. I brought two new full skeins and went through them both. Well, that's as far as this will get. At least I only set a goal of "work on" for this particular item. Goal met.
27th - Back to the beach block. I would like to get all the parts cut out and ironed onto their respective fabrics. When I'm back home, I'll have to still cut them out and put it together but it's a good start.Once that is accomplished, it's back to the nativity. Netflix and I are good friends today and I get Joseph and both sheperds to the point of sewing/stuffing. Score for me.
28th - I'm still on nativity duty. Three wise men round out the whole thing today. I can't believe I have all the parts ready to assemble. This will really speed up the completion of this UFO. (The pins are holding the backs and bases to the front part so that I don't lose everything.) It's time to clean up this mess and start packing. Wow -- time certainly flew while up here.
29th - I'm going home. I'll miss the boys but I'm ready to see my sweetie. It's a long fly day and I'm not back in my own home until after midnight. No stitching at all today.
30th - I took it slow and worked on redwork again today. Still haven't completed the fourth section, but I'm moving forward. I should be out quilting as I won't have a UFO finish this month, but as I said at the beginning of the year, "I am not stressing over these things." So much of life is to be lived. I'm enjoying the moments.
31st - What a beautiful day with my sweetheart. Starting with Week 6 at the Arboretum (Yes, that's a link to the amazing pictures) and then grocery shopping, a stop for the annual herbs, home to deliver that stuff and eat lunch, and then back down to Jimmy's for wine and pasta. Whew. Once home, it is time to get those herbs planted. And that's my day. And the end of the month, too. I'll see ya in April and can't wait to see what fun it brings our way. For me, it's vacation time!!!
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.
Personal Goals:
REPLY TO COMMENTS: This is a big one for me. I want to stay on top of it and will work very hard to do so. It may not happen the day of the comment, but I will be fairly current.
UFO for this month:
Pineapple Blossom - quilted and bound - Nope, but on the frame
Garden Party - quilted and bound - Nope
Current Projects:
March Retreat Project made and ready to teach (Rockport Carryall) - DONE
April Retreat Project made and ready to teach (Rain Ponchos) - Cut
Texas Tumbleweeds - set, backing, binding, label - DONE
UFO Monthly Items:
2 BOM - Whim's - DONE
1 Beach block - DONE
Red/White quilt - five blocks sewn DONE
Handwork Items:
Clean 1 tea set - DONE
Underglaze 2 tea sets (need both before May) - DONE
Fire both tea sets - ALL THREE SETS DELIVERED FOR FIRING
Wool Nativity - one item completed - None completed but all embroidery finished on whole set.
Red/White quilt - one embroidery block worked on - 2/3 of the way through it.
Links to Previous 2018 Monthly Update Posts:
February 2018
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