Shiftless

It was a lazy day yesterday. My sewing mojo has left me for the past couple of days. Only time will tell if it is returning to the scene today. It's not like me to not fill most of the day with productivity. Life is short, you know, and it feels as if I have to keep moving sometimes so that I don't run out of time. Some days, I have a hard time dragging myself off the couch where I'm snuggled up under a flannel quilt with my Warmie. So, I guess I'm blaming it on the cold weather. Also, it's been raining almost steady for the past two weeks, and it will continue to rain for the next two weeks. We were lucky to get a nice weekend while our friends were here. When they left to return to Texas, they took the sunshine with them.

But that's not to say nothing was accomplished yesterday. For sure and certain, I wanted to finish up the November Posie block. I completed the embroidery...that didn't take long.

After that, I added the borders. I'm doing November's block in orange since I skipped over that in September. 

This is a free BOM from Jenny of Elefantz, but it's also my project for the 2021 Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I'll be linking up there on Saturday.

Of course, I finished that up under the watchful eye of Himself. He was testing the Kitty Cat Alphabet for snuggleability. It kind of looks like it's getting a passing grade, doesn't it?

After that I wandered around the house bumping into walls, trying to decide what to do next. I could quilt the Kitty Cat Alphabet. Or, I could get a start on November's OMG project by quilting the Fancy Cats Quilt. Or, I could start on the next Calendula Patterdrip block. Or, I could take a nap. The nap won the day, and when I woke up, I was in the same position as before...wandering around the house bumping into things. Finally, I decided to get a start quilting the Fancy Cats quilt. But when I went to my mid-arm machine, I found all the maps and guide books, and Milepost, and other materials I'd left there when I interrupted last week's attempt at planning a tentative route for next summer's trip to Alaska. No time like the present, I thought. And so I spent a good part of the afternoon finishing that up. 

Here are the route maps I created using Google Maps. As an explanation, I can only enter ten destinations on Google Maps, and then I have to start with a new blank page. So each new page starts with the last destination from the previous page. 

This is only a tentative trip. It won't be finalized until I've made some RV park reservations. As it stands, the only reservation we have is in Healy, Alaska, where we'll stay while we visit Denali National Park. Mike wanted to be there on the longest day of the year: June 21st. 

After that, we'll head south toward Seward and the Kenai Fiords National Park. There will be some cruises and some bus tours involved at some of our stops. Also, I've learned to give us plenty of time at each stop, so we'll have some free time for relaxing and spur-of-the-moment sight-seeing. It's a 10-week trip of approximately 6,600 miles (not including sight-seeing).

Some of our destinations were chosen simply for the number of miles we'd be traveling in a single day, and none of this is written in stone yet. COVID restrictions are still in place for crossing the Canadian border. I'm hoping things will be different at the end of May, 2022, but there's no guarantee of that. As it stands, proof of vaccine is required, and a negative COVID test within the previous 72 hours is also required. That part could be tricky, and I'm not sure what it means when multiple border crossings are involved. It could turn into quite a hassle. I can't get too worked up about it at this early date since a lot can change in the next six months or so. It could be that the border will close again too. As with so many things involving travel, we'll just have to wait and see. Travel and flexibility must go hand in hand.

So with that finished, I still had time in the day, and I returned to my now clean mid-arm machine where the Fancy Cats quilt has been hanging out literally for months.

I noticed Sadie was napping on the kitty bed that was provided for them long ago. It hardly ever gets used, and so I was happy to see her snuggled up there.

And that flash photo bothered her, so she covered her eyes.

I'd already selected threads for this project. I'm using this Aurifil variegated aqua thread on top.

This next documentation is for my own reference. I'm often looking back at my blog to remind me of things I've done. It's a 50 weight thread.

For the bobbon, I chose a similar thread, but solid aqua, rather than variegated.

It's essentially the same thread, just in a different color.

Mr. Fancy Pants was snoopervising the testing of thread tension.

The only idea I have about quilting this quilt is to follow along with the paisley design. Each cat has a paisley pattern, and so I quilted over some of the lines and outlined the cat and her face.

Here's how that looks from the back. It's okay, but I'd like to do that traveling with a little more accuracy. This isn't great, but I'm leaving it as is, and I'll work to get better traveling accuracy as I go.

Each cat block has a narrow paisley border, and I'm doing some feathering there.

As for the rest of the quilt...I have no idea what I'm going to do. I'll have to see what I quilt when I get there. In a previous life, I worked for an attorney who had a framed embroidery design hanging in her office. It said, "How do I know what I mean 'til I see what I say?" That's exactly how I feel about quilting. Sometimes I know what to do. Most times I don't, and I wait to see what my hands decide.

This morning I took the first stitches on the next Calendula Patterdrip block. It's a large block, and I'll be stitching on it for quite some time.

In all of this, I'm thinking about what projects to take along when we head south for the winter. I've decided I'm going to do as I did with Grandma's Thimbles on our last trip. When we head south, I'm going to print all the Blackwork Baskets onto some Sticky Fabri-Solvy...

and then work on that single project while we're traveling. In preparation, I've ordered more of the Sticky Fabri-Solvy sheets and I've scanned in all the patterns. I'll print them out when I receive my order. Also, I selected this fabric to use as the background and ordered 1-1/2 yards for this project.

I wanted something rustic looking for this project. There were other fabrics I liked, and it was hard to choose. In the end, I went with a fabric that wouldn't distract from the embroidery too much. Oh yes, and I needed more black embroidery floss. That too is on order. 

Okay, so for not doing much yesterday, I managed to prattle on in my usual verbose way. Today might be a little more productive, but don't count on it. Eventually the gray weather will weigh less heavily. For now, I'm settling in for the cold and wet to come.