Making Tracks

Yesterday was one of those days when I left home and then proceeded to pile up reasons why I should never leave home. Traffic. People. Road construction. Irritable drivers. Did I mention the traffic? Oy.

My pedicure was the only good part of the day, and it went downhill from there. When I tried to drop off my two quilt entried for the show, I was told they weren't ready to begin receiving them. "Come back next week," because you know I really don't mind the hour's drive in both directions. Besides, I worried and hurried trying to get those sleeves and labels sewn on. If I'd known I had another week, I wouldn't have felt so rushed.

The last insult of the day was having a woman push her cart inches away from my body and then demand I move along...even though she had plenty of room to go around me. In truth, I'll admit we were probably both behaving like this person:

Me: Is there some reason it's easier for me to move out of the way than it is for you to simply go around? Am I in a no parking zone? Because I don't see the sign.

Her: [Throws hands in the air and moves along, unsurprisingly, finding a way to push her cart a few inches to the left of my body.]

Sheesh. Later, we passed in the produce aisle and I ceremoniously gestured for her to go right ahead."After you, Your Majesty."

At that point she wanted to rehash the reason it hadn't been rude for her to behave so aggressively.

Me: I don't want to talk to you. Please remove yourself from my life immediately.

Okay, so enough ranting, but I needed to get that off my chest. Blissfully, I only needed a few things from the grocery store, and so the put-away when I got home was brief and I was able to do some sewing. I needed to sew for countless reasons.

While I was working on the free motion quilting sampler, I learned that creating a mantra is very helpful for keeping oneself on track with stitching. It's a little like creating a memory hook for spelling, and I've always loved those.

"I" before "e", except after "c" or when sounded as "a" like in neighbor and weigh.

So for my chicken feet, I created this mantra to keep me moving in the right direction, and so I could remember when to start stitching the actual feet: "Humpback, left, center, up, humpback left, center, down," and repeat. And look at these chicken tracks!

I've bumped up the contrast in that image, and so I'm hoping you can see it. Satisfied that I could do the tracks, I moved to a different part of the quilt and started filling in the background. First, I outlined the chick, and then I started in with some simple swirls. These cover a lot of ground, but they'll also allow the quilt to be flexible and soft.

It might be easier to see from the back.

I'm using a variegated yellow thread on top,

and a variegated purple on the bottom.

Even my thread tension is cooperating enough to accommodate both colors of thread, and so I'm feeling pretty confident about the quilting on this.

The 18th block for the Bee-utiful Quilt is out now. Isn't this cute? This one is called "Bee Bountiful".

Block #17 isn't finished yet, but I drew this one out this morning just to be sure I have plenty to stitch over the weekend.

As for the weekend, I'm signing off again. What a slacker! I know. Right? So what are we up to this time? Well...we're heading off to Eugene (about 2 hours south) this weekend for a fundraising event at the Cascades Raptor Center.

When we made our trip to the beach back in May, I spotted a poster about this place at a rest stop. Since then I've been scheming for a reason to visit. Enter this fundraiser called Talons, Tastings & Tidbits. Here's the description of the event:  Experience raptors up close while migrating from station to station tasting wine, appetizers and discovering more about the Cascades Raptor Center. Then feed your soul with fly overs and dessert. Wait...wine and food? And birds? And dessert? Count us in!

So that's what we're doing. And since we rarely spend much time in Eugene, I'm expecting to hunt down a fabric store while we're there. Sounds like fun, eh? And all of that to say that I've got plenty of packing and food preparation to do. We're taking the fifth wheel this time around, and that means the kitties will be going with us. It'll be Sadie's first time in the trailer. I just know she's going to love it!

Wha-huh?

Truthfully, she's not a kitty who likes to be held, although she does love sitting on our laps. Picking her up, however, is a big no-no, at least for now. She wiggles and wriggles until she's free, and she's not above using her claws if necessary. Just to be safe, we're crating her up just to move her the ten feet from door to trailer. Also, it's a darned hot day, and so we'll be running the generator and the A/C during the two-hour drive to Eugene. It can get very hot in the trailer, and so I'm glad we can keep it nice and cool for our two furry passengers.

Okay...enough yacking. Time to get packing.