Finally something quilty

This has been a non-quilty week for me since I last posted. I don't do so well when I can't do a little something quilty almost every day - quilting relieves the other stress in my life. Challenges at work got bigger each day, and came to a head on Friday. The result was that I stayed 5 hours later at work on Friday than I originally planned, and I brought work home that I must do today. I refused to let that put a damper on my weekend, however.

Saturday we celebrated my son's 30th birthday, which really is today. I can hardly believe my youngest is now 30! And he really is, as he was born at 2:45 in the morning. We spent a lovely day with them and our daughter and her husband. He says his new job is fine. He drives to a park-and-ride less than 10 minutes away, and then has a 40 minute bus ride to downtown Portland. His new company pays for half the monthly bus pass. That saves him at least $175 a month in parking, plus the cost of gasoline. His co-workers are a quiet bunch, but so is he so he fits right in. It's just so good to have him employed again - even if it's not at his first choice of careers.

In spite of having customer quilts to do and documents to write for work, I was determined to do quilty things this weekend. So Friday I started prewashing my fabric gifts and purchases from the last few months, including a bunch I bought for my medallion quilt class at the retreat in March. I spent the evening pressing them. On Saturday morning I washed and pressed the rest. Here is a basket full all ready to take to class next month for her "yay" or "nay". I'm eager to see how much I've learned by her going through the other students' fabric. I know I have a bunch on my shelves that should work also, so I'll pull those before the next class. I hope to have my center block finished by then also.

Yesterday I caught up on email and blog postings, and then loaded my friend Kathi's quilt. I must have this done by tomorrow as it is a graduation gift for her niece (I think). I'm having fun doing this one, as it has a lot of "scope for the imagination" as Anne (of Green Gables) would say. I'm almost done with the stitch in the ditch - the hardest part. Then I'll start really having fun doing leaf veins, flower tendrils, trellises in the sashing and ivy on the outside border. I have a top from another friend that I need to baste for her for hand quilting, but I probably won't get to that today. So much for having time to do my own quilts! Oh well, cash coming in to support my habit and pay for Gandalf is always a good thing.

Yesterday I slept in very late so got a late start on the day. I guess I just needed the sleep. So today I was wide away by 4:30 a.m., so decided to get up. I can't start quilting until Fred is up, as the quilting machine is right over our bedroom and I don't want to wake him up. So this is a perfect morning to catch up on posting and reading the new posts on the ring. If he's not up by the time I'm done I may be forced to start on the work project, which I'd rather save for after I finish Kathi's quilt.

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Gratitudes:

1. Hot tea with milk for morning sipping.
2. My big board, which makes ironing fabric and quilt tops SO much easier.
3. Our digital camera, which makes sharing pictures so easy.
4. The sound of a well-oiled, cleaned longarm machine
5. My loving family

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