Blue Denim Day

 Good morning, my friends. I'd say it's a Red Letter Day, but Blue Denim Day fits better. I'm happy to say I found some jeans I could live with...or live in, depending on how you think about it. Several of you mentioned the Gloria Vanderbilt Amanda style jeans. I shopped at Kohl's (since that seems to be the only store that caters to women of my, um, maturity these days). They had racks and shelves of Amanda jeans. I was looking for a darker denim, figuring they haven't been pre-washed as much. (Isn't pre-washing just a way to wear them out before they reach the consumer?) When I tried on my size of the darker denim, it fit just right. When I tried on the same size, same cut, everything identical, but lighter in color from pre-washing...well, then, they fit more snugly than I like. I don't know about you, but my legs need some breathing room.

So, I made my decision about size and color, but they had just one pair that I would consider buying. I wanted three pair. And it makes little sense, but if I can't get as many as I want, then I won't buy anything. I suppose it's a form of protest, but I can't really say that for sure. We have to go out again today, and I thought I might try our local Bi-Mart store, where I made my last jeans purchase. 

Then, I came home and checked Amazon, and I found the same Amanda jeans for 1/3 the price of those I'd seen at Kohl's. So, I ordered three pair, and they've already been delivered to the door. I know I'm supposed to be mad at Amazon, but I can't help myself. I 💗 Amazon. The jeans have already been washed and they're in the dryer as I'm writing. It's like getting a new lease on life.

Speaking of getting a new lease on life, my toes got an upgrade yesterday. While I was at the spa, I snapped a picture of their blooming Andromeda. Ours should be blooming soon.

Arriving home, I noticed the flowering plum trees that line our driveway are beginning to bloom. This is one of my favorite spring flowers.

With all that going on, it was late in the day before I was able to get any sewing done. I quilted another row on Jericho's Wall, and then laid the whole quilt out on the floor to have a look. I'm pretty happy with how this is going. I've done the four rows beginning with the third from the left. Today I'll reach the first row on the right. 

Here's another picture a little closer up.

When I quilted the setting triangle, I realized, I could just keep going and use the same loop and ellipse design at the corner triangle, and so I did that too.

And I left it needle down at that corner turquoise block. I'll finish this row today. If I think my wrist and elbow can handle it, I'll probably quilt that row of setting triangles today too.

This was Smitty's contribution. Sometimes a good cat nap is the best way for felines to assist.

The only other sewing room activity was to trace the embroidered sections for Block 6 of Raggedy & Friends.

If it isn't obvious, this one says "simplify."

Blocks 7, 8, and 9 have just one embroidered section. I'll stick with my one-block-per-day schedule and enjoy the shorter daily assignments for the next couple of days. It'll give me more time to work on sewing together the blocks for The Story of My Day. Here's where I left off with that.

There are three more rows of blocks to sew together before I can begin to assemble the borders.

When I came upstairs from the sewing room, I glanced out the window and across the field to see this hawk sitting on our fence. It was hard to see it from such a distance. I believe this is a red-shouldered hawk. I was zoomed way in, and so the picture is a little grainy, but it's the best I could do in such low light. It's always fun to see the birds of prey that inhabit our area.

So we have another busy run-around day planned. We have one errand to run, and then we're going to go get our fifth wheel. It's been in the shop having some work done on two of the slides. It's the kind of thing Mike can't do because he doesn't have the proper equipment. Both slides had to be removed from the rest of the RV, and there's no way a DIY guy can do that at home. It's been gone for months, and so it'll be good to have that behind us. Also, our pockets were so heavily-laden with cash. It'll be good to lighten the load some. Yeah...if only.

With all that going on, there probably won't be a whole lot of time for sewing, but I'll get as much done as I can. Either way, the day looks a little brighter just knowing my jeans-shopping expedition is complete. And at my age, maybe they're the last jeans I'll ever buy. (It's kind of hard to know what to hope for in that sentence.)

Okay, so carry on, my friends. Thanks for the jeans recommendations. I'm so glad we talked it over before I went a-hunting.