Another month has come to an end. Do you know what that means? It means October begins tomorrow and October is the bestest month of the year. The world is changing around us -- yes, I mean nature and not the craziness of people -- and we need to stop and embrace it. It's a wonderful time to be part of this beautiful world ---- I AM going to enjoy each and every moment outside and bring the joy into my heart. Coming along?
If you are new to the blog, you may be asking, "just what is a monthly update?" I decided long ago that I just can't keep up with blogging daily. I just can't. Sooooo, what happens is I document a day in my life within one post and if something special happens, a separate post takes place. See, you can stay caught up with a once a month check and then, if you're interested, see the other posts too. It's a great system for me.
In years past, I have set goals for each month and I will continue to do that simply to keep myself on track. I AM still in an ongoing UFO mode around here and trying oh so hard to use or clean out the stash. It will be an continuing project this year. If I want something to come in -- something has to go out. That is one goal. The balances change each month (hopefully) and will always show up at the bottom of the update if you read that far - and they are joined by links to the previous monthly updates for the year.
Now, grab a cuppa and sit back for a fun read and perhaps a new idea or two. (P.S. I format on a computer, so if you are reading on a phone, well sometimes the pictures will be before or after the story. It is what it is.)
So --- here's October and all the wonderful joy I found. Please remember that any links in here will open in a separate window so that you can keep your place on this page at the same time and there are no ads or popups EVER.
1st - We are starting the month out right by being at retreat. Honestly, is there a better way? To check in on us and join in our fun, here is your LINK to the blog post.
My main goal for today is backings and labels. After an unexpected trip to Fort Worth and helping a friend who needed to go to the hospital, upon my return I turn my focus to the RS backing. It is TA-Done.
2nd - It's the third day of retreat and I'm focusing on laying out some quilts so that I can web them at home. First up is Orca Bay --- it's the first time I've seen the colors playing together and I LOVE it! Each row is picked up carefully and pinned together. I'm ready to web.
3rd - The dreaded Sunday has arrive and that means packing up and heading home. But first --- the Boo Pillow Crew.
Now, clean up, pack up, and say good-byes once again. Some will be together again in six weeks, but for others, it will be longer until I see them again --- likely next year. I am ALWAYS super thankful for those who stay and help me shut down. These ladies have my heart today - no doubt.
The drive home consisted of many phone calls and catching up with friends and family. It's just the best time for me and makes my drive seem to go quicker. Unloading, unpacking, and getting ready for family to arrive takes up the next couple of hours and then my grandson departs in the car I've had for 16 years. SIXTEEN years. Oh my. Actually, we all depart and head to Jake's for dinner.
On the way home, Mister and I make a stop at Vector for a beer and I spot this lovely line of turtles made from champagne tops. We are sitting on the patio and are blessed to watch a marvelous sunset. Ahhhhh, October. I do love you so much.
Back home and I manage to get ALL the computer stuff accomplished except Facebook posts. It is what it is. Time to run some errands and stop for lunch/dinner. Today is Udon. We stop at a new-to-us spot called Marugame Udon. It's in Old Town and I am pleasantly surprised. I would have preferred less egg drop in the broth but that is my only complaint. They also have Oak Cliff Soda here and we try and Lime and Coconut one that is to die for. Oh so yummy. More errands and then a stop at White Rock Ale and a nice relaxing time together.
5th - Mister is back working today and I'm ready to rock and roll. We are leaving on vacation Saturday and I need to be a wee bit ahead on the two quilt-a-longs that I'm hosting. Today is a Ruby Slippers (RS) day. For those of you who are visiting for the first time today -- It's actually Emerald City by Bonnie Hunter.. I'm on the move and sashings are going down today. A few nine-patches too, just for good measure. In fact, nine-patches are first.
Followed by sashings of various types. Parts use red and white and other parts use only longer pieces of white. I'm so fortunate today in that all these parts are already cut. I just don't have time for cutting as well today. Sometimes my OCD plays in my favor. Sew, Sew, Sew and I web batches of these strips one right after another until I have all the strips ready for assembly into the sashings.
6th - So much on my mind the minute I wake up and I hit the ground running. Even before breakfast, I'm out the studio to select fabric for the round robin I picked up at retreat. I have a plan and will only have to pick up one fabric for it. As I sit and look at this picture, I can't help but laugh. It is NOT a girl in a bikini. I promise.
I've now fed Mister and am settled at the machine for what I anticipate will be most of the day. Blocks and I go to the ironing board at 4 p.m. Wowzer, what a day. I feel as though I've totally lost track of what I was doing at least 10 times and that usually doesn't happen to me with blocks. They're done though --- perfect? NO. But done.
8th - This morning an errand list that seems super long is setting the pace for me. One of the items is some muslin for a Round Robin I am participating in and I really need that to move forward. I'm about 3/4 of the way through the list when I remember that there is a local quilt show today. It's only about 10 minutes out of my way and I make the calculation that I have enough time to play for ONE HOUR. Please join me for some delightful eye candy in this Plano Quilt Show LINK. Just for a teaser here, check out this still life. It is phenomenal and I just cannot bow down low enough to the maker. How crazy cool is this? Now, back to the remaining errands and packing.
9th - The day has finally arrived and we are outta here for vacation. The beach is calling and you can follow along in our fun with this Day 1 LINK.
By 6:30, we have arrived, unpacked, and settled into our lovely little home away from home for the week. Relaxation is already happening and I know this will be just the perfect week for my sweetheart and I. The sunset is helping us along and a calm has settled over us both. Even projects were pretty much left at home. 
10th - Happy Anniversary to us! Eleven years ago this amazing man said he'd share his life with me and I've been oh so spoiled ever since. Love you so much Mister.
We are awake and ready to walk the beach for our first sunrise here. You can come along with a click on this Day 2 LINK. It's worth it for pictures alone but the lockout story is decent too.
When I made it this morning, the red crab popped out at me and memories of a dear friend flooded back. I think she may have walked with me this morning as the beach was littered with "angel wing" shells, all intact. This is just a few that Mister brought home.
Mister and I walked the jetty tonight and thanks to me, we both came away soaked. First time that's happened out there. 
12th - 'Good morning from Surfisde Beach. ' That's what this crab is appearing to say as we come across him before the sunrise has even begun. For this a more fun, here is your Day 4 LINK.
and a stop in Dickinson gave me the opportunity to pet some fabric. A click on this Teo's Treasures LINK will let you peek in the store along with me. It's a great shop and several treasures found their way into the car when I was finished. We have such a great day together and our adventure takes us many places we have not been to before. Some are the last thing we expected to find, but oh so beautiful.
13th - Walking the beach today is simply mind numbing with the beauty that nature can provide. Here is the Day 5 LINK and it is filled with amazing photos.
14th - It is our last full day on the beach and we both want to soak up every minute of it. The gorgeous sunrise starts us out and this is just the tip of the iceberg for moments of sheer beauty. Give this Day 6 LINK a click and enjoy them for yourself.
College Station's quilt shop was on my mind from the very beginning of this trip and it did not disappoint. Oh goodness, what a delightful place to be. Please click on this Lone Star Quiltworks LINK to see just how wonderful it really is. I want to go back NOW.
17th - It's the LAST day of fun before reality comes back to play and once again we are out of the house bright and early. Here is the Day 9 LINK so that you can follow along and if you like pumpkins, please do so. There are just so many fun pictures.
18th - My friend, Val, called before I left on vacation and said she would be coming through Dallas today so we made plans to meet up for a bit. It's been ages since we could chat and a quilt shop was the location to come together. Here is a Not Your Mama's LINK so that you can check out the store. I am holding onto these pics here as I treasure my moments with her and I know others do as well. This is a great shop and the people there were so helpful. I may have spent a bit more than normal, but it's all good. I can always use the fabrics and the pattern will be great for next year or 2023 or . . .
19th - I am actually sewing today - in between working on the vacation pictures and blog posts. All of these little units need to become sashings.
It takes me a bit for my brain to figure out the best way to get the points to line up, but using my light and pin-pointing the spot to add a pin finally turns out to get them where I want. Too bad, it took me over a 1/3 of them to figure that out, but I'm okay with it. The sad part is that I already knew this trick and used it on my Sapphire Blues quilt, but the memory - sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It takes quite a bit of time to get them done and I guess I'm just not up to completing the task today. It's okay, I've already reevaluated what I can and cannot finish this month. I had to as my expectations were totally unrealistic with all the traveling involved between a retreat, a vacation, and another trip north. It is what it is, as my daughter would say.
When I'm ready to go to the machine, I decide to work on the borders at the same time - as my leader/enders. The webbing is complete, however, I discover that I missed a critical part on the border pieces and have to take them all apart again. Grrrr.
Settling into a comfy chair to watch television with Mister, Jack comes along and we get to work. I cannot believe I did this --- why oh why did I miss the whole required step? It just goes to show that my mind is exploding from the lists of things to accomplish before the end of the month. It doesn't take long and I'm back to where I was this morning. Enough for today.
22nd - It's a domestic day - kind of. Laundry, beginning to gather supplies for an upcoming Christmas party and staging for November retreat. Ordering, ordering, ordering. It seems like I've been racing to the computer every 15 minutes to add to an order. Goodness, now if it will just all get here before I leave at the end of the month.
I mentioned the other day that there was more to see at a spot downtown and since we still have time before the DMA opens, we're off for a little adventuring. Here is the Thanks-Giving Square link to follow along and see our fun.
I did a whole day post for all of the other amazing things we saw and you should check it out - some funky, fun things. Here is the Daytripping LINK. Our stop at the DMA has a separate post for all the amazing Van Gogh items and this is your Van Gogh LINK. I will share one item from the museum here as it is fiber related. This is Shades of 73: Composition for 1980 and created in 1980 by Al Loving. The placard reads, "In this work, Al Loving revisits a style he first developed in the early 1970s, which marked a radical shift from his earlier hard-edged paintings. Scholars attribute this shift to several factors, including a personal tragedy and the criticisms that Loving received regarding the supposed political neutrality of his geometric forms. 'I felt stuck inside that box,' he later remarked. Partially inspired by African-American quilting traditions, Loving began cutting up many of his paintings and experimenting with ways of putting them back together, integrating stained and dyed canvas with other fabrics, such as velvet."
KAREN SPENCER - DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER UNLESS YOU WAS THE SURPRISED SPOILED.
25th - This is my last week at home as we leave Saturday for Montana once again. I still have multiple "must does" on my list and so this morning I hit the ground running. First things first --- I HAVE to have the current Round Robin ready to take along as hand work. That means the cutting needs to happen now. Starting with the muslin, all of my border strips are cut.
One little BAD block happened towards the end as a leader/ender. However, it is one less that remain to do. I'm calling it good for today.26th - I have to move forward on the two tops today. Remember that the SOM one is already webbed and laying on the living room floor - yep, still. Now to get the next one to the same place.
As I start in, it dawns on me that I can go and get the SOM and sew a row as a leader/ender for the RS webbing that is taking place. It works soooooo well, but hefting to very heavy tops (there are just so many pieces and seams in both of these) around is certainly giving my arms and back a work out. Soon, the webbing is complete and a quick check to make sure nothing is out of place before moving on.
That sends me to a comfy chair in the den and I soon have all the freezer paper leaves and berries cut out and ready for pressing. I'll leave that for tomorrow - I'm pretty done today.27th - First thing, while the oatmeal is cooking, I press the papers onto their pieces. It's another little item finished and that makes me feel good.
Taking the time to enjoy breakfast and a phone call to my mom, I am now ready to tackle those two beasts once again. Seriously --- I am not joking. So heavy and so many seams to match each time.
So, THIS happened as a result of these two finishes. TWO empty project boxes and not really anything hanging out waiting for a box. That's odd around here but with the release of colors for Bonnie's mystery on Saturday, I'm sure one will start filling up. The other - I'm still thinking. 
Family means everything to me. I am so thankful for these moments to make lasting memories and wish my momma a very happy 82nd birthday.
We are at the end of another month. Are you ready for November? I am looking forward with excitement for all that it will bring. Also ---- I'm calling this day done and heading for some sleep. Fingers crossed anyway. I'll leave you with this -
Thank you for reading this far. If you made it here, kudos to you. Hope you have a great month and find a way to bring joy into your life. Stay creative y'all.
UFO's to quilt:
BOM #2 - quilted and bound
BOM #3 - quilted and bound
Winter Wonderland - quilted and bound
Current Projects:
UFO Items to work on:
All Neutral strings -
BAD blocks as leader/enders - Orange finished, working on purple
UFO Handwork Items:
Hand Quilting --
Links to Previous 2021 Monthly Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment