Miscellaneous Meanderings

The best laid plans and all that jazz....by the time I picked up a needle yesterday it was late afternoon. After the shopping trip, I put the vinyl over the cloth on the swing table. In the course of these projects, I'd used the last of the staples from my staple gun. I bought the staple gun quite some time ago, it was a very light duty one with plastic casing. I've been having trouble finding staples for it. Last time I needed some I did find some that fit, this time the ones I bought didn't. ugh. So I could go back and try another size staples or replace the gun...which is what I chose to do, knowing I'd have an easier time finding staples in the future.

Also on this shopping trip I picked up a few silk flowers for my porch. In the morning hours, my porch is shaded and a nice place to sit. In the spring and fall, when the air is still cool, I sit out there in the afternoon when it's warmed by the sun. I had this all set up last summer, but with work on the house and various other things, our porch became a drop off spot for various things. That drove me crazy! So I took my porch back and spruced it up. Here is the final result....not fancy, but a comfortable place to sit and sew or read or just watch the world go by.

I have a friend who designs quilt patterns. She needs testers for them to make sure her directions make sense, there are no typos, etc. I often do this for her, it's a nice little diversion from my usual work. She usually either sends me fabric or sends me a fabric allowance to shop for myself.

While I was out, I looked for a focus fabric that might work (this pattern has some fussy cut squares on it) and found one on a clearance table. Also there was a beautiful yellow. I love yellow and nice yellows are sometimes hard to find. I bought what was left on the bolt (5 yards) and happily came home with my purchases. Here are the fabrics pulled so far for this project, I still need to search for a couple more in my stash.

So while I didn't get as much quilting done as I'd planned, I did feel like I accomplished quite a bit. The plan for today is to do a couple of loads of laundry, keep the dishes done so I don't end up with a huge mess tonight, and do general sprucing up...but mostly to quilt. So far only my little ones are up and that seems like a doable plan.

The fragrance from my cup of coffee is wafting toward me, and I can hardly wait to get the needle in my hand so off I go. May your day be as quilty as I hope mine to be!