To-Do List

We're back from our weekend away. We had a wonderful time. The weather was nice the first day and then got worse from there. Saturday was rainy most of the day, and that meant we stayed inside and kept ourselves entertained with things from home. By the end of the day we were so relaxed that further relaxation would have rendered us pulsating blobs of protoplasm. It was a welcome respite from our usually busy day-to-day schedule. We talked about this being one of the joys of living in a small space. The list of things to do is very short.

There was a stack of magazines to catch up on. Mike had some other reading he was enjoying, and of course, there's always hand-stitching. I finished up the "Road Trip" block.

It still needs trimming and two borders added, but that shouldn't take too long. And that means I've added something else to my to-do list, which is to make up the tenth block for Hocuspocusville. The next one is Hagatha's Dirty Laundry. It seems entirely appropriate since it's impossible to come home from a camping trip without a pile of laundry.

The kitties were glad to see us. Oh yes, the laps are back! I was more in the mood for sewing than I was for unpacking, and so I got straight to work on the ninth Solstice block. As you might guess, I had plenty of helpers. Smitty was at-the-ready to help me choose fabrics for my block.

Sadie was happy that someone turned on the fireplace so she could warm her furry self.

Sadie's life is all about staying warm, and so she's also happy to have someone at home to arrange her quilts for her.

As for the Solstice block, Block #9 is called "Among the Stars." Mine is marking Valentine's Day. That candy heart fabric has been in my stash for a long time, and so it was good to finally put it to use. This is a large block at 32 inches square. It would make a cute doll quilt all on its own.

Pat Sloan has two layouts for the quilt we're making, and I like her asymmetrical layout. This latest block will go in the center.

The to-do list is rather long for the day. First, I need to finish unpacking my clothes and food from the camper. Also, I need to make up a grocery shopping list. The shopping can wait until tomorrow. If I can get both of those things accomplished, I'll finish up the Summer Holiday block pictured above, and then get to work on the second clue for the Welcome Home Mystery Quilt Sew Along from Kathleen Tracy. You might remember that I made the little house block a couple of weeks ago. Mine didn't want to lay flat for its picture, but rest assured, the chimneys are straight.

When I add the second clue, the chimneys will behave a little better. The second clue is to add a border of half square triangles around the whole thing. 

There are also another dozen or so half square triangles to make, and those will be added at some point in the future.

That kind of takes care of today's to-do's, but look who decided to pop up while we were gone.

The tomato seeds are growing! Yay! You're going to make a lovely pasta sauce in a few months. There are three seeds in each cup. Most cups have just two seeds germinated. A few cups have none, but we're off to a pretty good start. I expect the remaining seeds to germinate within the next day or two.

Oh yes, and I have to back way up to last Thursday and my visit to Boersma's with my friend Lenelda from Ft. Worth, Texas. I didn't have anything in mind for our fabric shopping trip, although Lenelda picked out some very pretty fabrics to go in a quilt she's making for her brother. We spent quite a bit of time figuring out the yardage for that. As for me, I love Boersma's because their whole basement is devoted to bolts of fabric on sale. I can always find something I like there for a good price. I picked up these two. The one on the left reminded me of bricks or board siding. I thought it might come in handy for the walls of a barn at some point.

The one on the right will probably end up in a binding or something. I just liked it. It occurs to me that the Hocuspocusville quilt has some orange and black nine patch blocks when I start sewing it together. That fabric would work well in one of the nine patches.

So that's my plan for the day. Plenty to do, and never enough time. Be sure to check back tomorrow. I have a fun giveaway planned, but I'll say more about it in tomorrow's post.