Trying to Stay on Task

They say if you want something done, give it to a busy person. I think there is a lot of truth to that. I'm not good at just sitting. If I'm sitting down, I'm reading a book, making a list, doing some hand sewing, planning a new project...you get the idea.

Yesterday I managed to finish the applique on the topper I was working on and start another. So far, I've been basting and quilting each right away and not starting another until I was finished with one, but I was in the middle of watching the Cubs game and was comfortable where I was. Since I had 3 toppers ready for applique, I just picked up the next one and kept going, which worked out great.

Our church is having a ladies spring luncheon. I rarely go to these things for several reasons. My walking partner of late is on the decorating committee and the theme is "Homemade Love" so they are wanting to decorate with quilts, flowers and other handmade items. I've been helping her figure out ideas for the tables, etc, and we're on a budget so it's been fun and challenging.

They were also hoping for some type of favor to put at each place as a momento of the luncheon. I told her about the pincushions I'd made for a guild prize several years back and she loved the idea. As they are filled with sand, they could be used as paperweights for any of the women who don't sew. If you look closely you can see the pattern printed on the paper.

I asked how many women they were expecting. 80 - 100 was the answer. The luncheon is now just over 3 weeks away, so I need to get busy! I found a pattern for a square in a square variation, and printed out 100 of them. While Ruthie played outside yesterday I sat on our porch trimming the edges of the patterns I'd already cut apart (I could fit 6 on a page.) I tried pulling fabrics but was having trouble deciding. The last I'd heard we were going with a variety of colors but were exluding red. My friend has since talked to someone who will make lovely little watering can and flower centerpieces for a reasonable price and the flowers will be pink, purple and yellow. With a smaller color palette to work with, it will actually be much easier to pull and choose fabric.

Since I love scrap quilts, it's very hard for me to throw out even small bits of fabric. I've gotten better as realistically to wade through tons of little pieces is not something I'm likely to do, so I try to keep them only if I really think they might be useful. One thing I have kept are the trimmings of backings, they were too big to justify throwing out and I figured they would be useful for background for smaller projects, scrap quilting and probably some uses that I hadn't yet discovered.

The pincushions are best lined because they are filled with sand. I can dig into my "whites and off-whites" box and cut the two 2 1/2 inch squares needed to line each pincushion from this array of "cast offs."

I'm about to head out for my morning walk. Today it's to the bank and a local grocery store, which will help cut down on my errand time when my husband arrives home with his van, sometime mid to late morning. Once the groceries are put away, there will be his lunch to make, his box lunch to fix for when he leaves for work, and some dishes I put off from last night because I was enjoying the baseball game too much. By the time all that is done, it will be just about time for my babysitting job to begin. Dinner needs to be made while he's here, but about 6:00 everyone is fed and where they are going for the evening and I should be able to sit and sew some. I'm hoping to at least get fabric pulled during all of this so I can begin cutting today. I don't often do machine work in the evening, but I'll have to see what tonight brings, I may be anxious enough to get these going that it will appeal to me.

Ruthie has made great strides this week. We walked to the park yesterday afternoon and the smaller children's equipment is in a big sandbox that has a step down into it. Up until now she mostly crawled up and down even small steps. This one was probably only about 5 inches. She sized it up and stepped down. Then crawled up. Then stepped down again. Then stepped up. She went up and down several times, quite pleased with herself.

She also walked a good part of the way home, and at a much quicker pace than I've seen her walk before. She was nearly at a run a few times, another of the skills we've been working on with her.

She looked outside later and saw my husband's van here (he rides a bike to his evening job when weather permits) and said "Dad home!" Both relatively new words in her spoken vocabulary.

The other day I looked out to see her reading my Chinese cookbook out on the swing, I believe she's making Dim Sum for dinner! Well, maybe she's not quite advancing that quickly, but the days of her sewing and cooking with me don't seem so far off.

I had planned to post this before the walk and just as I was about to submit it I deleted the picture by accident...just as I had to be walking out the door. So the walk is done, and I have a little time before my husband gets back, which means I can get the dishes done before shopping. This will ease up my day a bit. Perhaps I'll even have time to pull some fabric and get the cutting area set up before I go!

Happy Quilting!

Sue and Ruthie