Organizing

Good morning, my friends. For all my tough talk about unpacking yesterday, I didn't get very much done. We were both pretty well wiped out after our drive to home on Wednesday, and neither of us was much in a mood to spend more time in the RV. Of course, there was/is a mountain of laundry to do, and I'm four loads into what will probably end up being about eight loads. (I'm washing all the bedding and towels, which ups the number of loads significantly.) 

As you might guess, this little girl was pretty happy to get some outdoor time. She and Smitty were out for a couple of hours yesterday morning.

This morning, I'm feeling a little more energetic, and I'm hoping to get more done. I brought in the things I need on a day-to-day basis, and a few things from among my clothes. Today I'd like to get my clothes brought in and then at least get a start on the food. My fondest desire was to get my sewing projects brought in and my whiteboard updated. After telling myself I had to save dessert for last, I decided it didn't matter what I did when. It's going to take the same amount of time, no matter the order. So, okay. I convinced myself to eat dessert first. Life is short. 

Well, you didn't think I could do sewing room things without kitty help, did you?

Smitty was there to help too, but his picture didn't turn out very well.

He was holding down the fabric I bought while we were traveling. The fabric was so excited about seeing its forever home in my sewing room, it was flopping around crazily. Thus, the blur. (You believe it, right?)

Emptying the bins I brought in from the trailer, I added the Gumballs quilt blocks and the Raggedy & Friends quilt blocks to the "Quilt Tops to Finish" section.

The "Gumballs" quilt has been newly designated "Red Gumballs." That's because I enjoyed making those blocks so much, I want to make another one using different colors...this time, blues, greens, and aquas. It's a great scrap buster, and so why not? But moving the Red Gumballs and Raggedy & Friends out of that category left me with two openings on my WIPs dance card.

So I went digging through my quilt patterns and came up with two I've had for a very long time. The first one, "Where the Cows Come Home" was a block of the month during the 14th Century. I saw it online and bought the pattern, even though I wasn't intending to participate in the block of the month. It's barns, right? I like barns.

Also this one: "Across the Wide Missouri." I enjoy making quilts that teach us something. There is a story associated with each of the blocks. I'll share the stories as I make the blocks.

Okay, and so that fills out my list of WIPs. If you're wondering, "R" means I'm making the blocks a row at a time. "B" means I'm making them a block at a time. I'm making the Northern Wilderness blocks two at a time simply because there are 20 blocks (I think), and I'd like to finish it before I die.

And then, I added all these little quilts to my list of small quilt tops to finish. The list was empty when we left home at the end of December. There's plenty to keep me busy now. (Also, that should say "Hawksbill" Honu, not Hawksville. I must have been thinking about the Last Train to Clarksville, or something.)

Finally, I need to get going on this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt. Of course, I'm three blocks behind now. My goal is to make January's blue block and February's green block in March. Then, in April, I'll make March's red block and whatever April's color is. Doing it that way, I'll be caught up when April's block is made. This is the block I'll be making this year. 

I so loved the quilt my friend, Kate, made from these blocks. You can see Kate's very creative version of the finished quilt right here. And you can find the free pattern for this quilt block right here.

Okay, and in my laziness yesterday, I didn't get any slow-stitching done at all. I'm going to do it this morning. No more excuses. And then I'll get busy with the unpacking. Hopefully, I can get it all finished no later than tomorrow.

As for tomorrow, I'm planning a trip to the farmer's market with Erik and Mae. My plan is to take a couple of days off from blogging. Probably, I'll be back on Monday morning. For now, there's a lot going on, but none of it is particularly interesting. By then, I should have Eliza back, and we'll get started on some quilting. There's a charity project facing a deadline, and so I'll start there when my quilting machine is back on the job. I'll say more about it when I get back from the drudgery of unpacking. Hopefully, your days will be drudgery-free for the time being. I can pick up the slack at this end.