Signed Up For A Virtual Class

 Here I go again. As if I don't have enough going on, I signed up for another Brazilian Embroidery Class! Just what I needed. But I do love the Stumpwork Glads that Loretta Holzberger designed and is teaching! She's so much fun. 

Today I was working on the laundry. Then forgot about it. I was playing my games and then decided it was time to get moving on my leg warmers. I seriously had trouble reading and seeing the pattern! The more I did what was told, the more it didn't look right. Once I figured out what and how I was trying to get the twist, it was easier to do. I don't like the "back" stitch method. So, I'm thinking I will do it the "normal" way next time and see which I like better. I can use a couple leg warmers and as much as I don't like the yarn, I have enough to do 2 sets at least. 

It took me a good hour just to figure out my stitches and where they went. When I started it didn't do what it was supposed to. I think if I did the double stitch again, it will be the front way and not the back way. I think it would look a lot better. 

While I was trying to stitch, I had a visitor that decided she wanted me to pay more attention to her than my crocheting. She even got a part of it wet for me. UGH! 

She had to relax on my yarn I was using. I keep it in the plastic because of this. Of course, she had to sleep on the plastic! Purring the whole time. 

The stuff I put up with! lol 

So, today was working on my leg warmers. I need to get the last round robin piece done but haven't gotten there yet. Which doesn't keep me from saying I was Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Getting A Few Things Ready

 This morning, Patrick was up early. I'm betting it's because he gets up early for golfing and now it's hard to break the habit. 

I heated up downstairs, thinking I would go down there. I played on my tablet for a while and Patrick watched his western shows. 

I cut and got pillowcases ready to be sewn. We will be doing them on Wednesday. I will need to do a few more. It was fun getting fabrics that will work better than the fabrics we were getting. 

After putting pillowcases together, and calling it done, Patrick asked if I needed to get the kits ready. So, we went downstairs - again - and he helped me pick colors for 4 quilts. One is complicated but the others are pretty easy. We did 2 panel ones as well. They should be easy enough to work on. That was going on while the first set of football games went on. 

My yarn arrived yesterday, so I decided to work on the leg warmers. I pulled out the instructions and got started while the Seahawks game was going on! WE WON! But then it wasn't hard from what I saw. I am so ticked!! I ordered Lion yarn and it's CRAP! I couldn't believe the yarn was so loose and is easily broken or split! I have had better yarn when I was growing up and the Lion yarn was supposed to have been better than Red Heart, but NOPE! I'm going to keep making this, but it's going to take a lot longer than I normal do, because of the yarn splitting. A major pain in my rear. I like good quality, but this isn't it. I will go to the Ewe & I shop next time and get what I want. It will cost more but will be worth it. This isn't cheap in price, but it's cheap in quality. I will know better next time. 

The good news is that my day turned out pretty good. I worked on a few things to be prepared. AND I was actually Happy Quilting/Happy Stitching!

Quiet & Busy Day! All In One

 This morning, Patrick went golfing and I just cleaned a few things. Then I played my games. I was listening to my audio book and didn't want to do anything else. BUT I did go out and walk 2 laps around the neighborhood. I will try and get back to making it a habit. 

Patrick got home and we had to head out to Olympia for his blood tests. I was waiting in the car for Sherry, since she was delivering the last quilt, we had up there. It's a panel, so I'm happy about that as well. Things are looking up with the panel quilts and quilts in general. Debbie sent me a text about the message Mossyrock put out there for donations. I don't know why they spend that much money on their stuff when we pay half of what they do and our donations go a lot longer. But then it's not my worry. Sherry and I chatted till Patrick came out from having his blood drawn. Then we headed over to Costco. 

It's interesting when you go to Costco. One can spend a ton of money without realizing it. We spent $300 and I remember giving dad a hard time when he spent that much. Ours was mostly food - go figure! We picked up stuff we needed. And we always get cat litter. Anyway, some of the stuff was on sale and yet we spend more than we used to. Guess prices are going up faster than I thought they would. 

Speaking of prices going up! We are now going to be part of Chehalis, so we will be paying Chehalis prices. Plus, our water is a well. So, the city is looking into taking over the well. Not only that, but we have also been in a "sew district" since we moved here. We pay $35 a month. When it goes over to the city, we will be looking at $100 or more a month. BUT that is usually water and sewer. They will have to figure out how we only pay sewer. It's really going to be a pain in the butt! More money out of our pockets at this rate. 

Once everything was put away, we had supper. Then we sat to watch TV. I had to order my floss and stuff I needed to finish my cross-stitch piece. Once I had that, I ended up paying $10.95 for shipping!!! OMG, it should have only cost me about $5! BUT then again, postage has gone up as well. UGH UGH UGH!

I decided to balance my stuff for QOV and it took Patrick and myself over an hour to figure out what the mistake was! They put my recent expenses into 2025, when it was supposed to be 2026. That kicked my books in a tailspin! Patrick had it all worked out and now I need to contact them to get that fixed as well. My days aren't getting any easier, but they are moving along. 

Today, went from slow and quiet to fast and busy! Now, I'm sad because I didn't get the chance to be Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

What A Day!

 This morning, I woke with a sinus headache. Not my favorite thing to wake up with. I thought last night when I went to bed it was a migraine, but NOPE it was a sinus headache! Lucky me!

I took the day easy. I didn't feel in the mood to do much, so I enjoyed the morning watching my shows I had recorded. Patrick came home when I was done with the first 3 and he watched the other 2 with me. Now, I'm caught up. 

After my tablet died with 10% energy left, I decided to sit and work on my cross stitch for a bit. 

I added the white area on the top left. Then I went looking for more of the threads to find that every online site I went to was out of the thread. Apparently, it's popular and is sold out. I must have looked everywhere, including Etsy and eBay. All sold out. 

I think went to the right bottom area to find I needed to use my 730 DMC floss. Of course! It wasn't in my box, and I couldn't find it anywhere - yet I used it when working on this last time!! What the HECK! So, tomorrow I need to stop at Micheals to find the thread. At least I hope they are still carrying the floss! Could things get any worse?! So, I stopped working on it. 

Patrick had a meeting to attend, so I decided to try again and work on this. 

I started working from the top, down. I was able to get some more done. Just not as much as I would have liked. At least I'm getting there. I will need to roll the fabric again soon. I'm frustrated that I didn't have enough of the white area to do this piece. I'm not sure what I'm going to do to be able to finish it. Not much luck at this point. May have to take it all out and find another color that will work. But DANG, that's a lot of work!

We'll see what tomorrow brings. At least I was able to be Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Casino Day

This morning, was not a good morning. Around 4 am, I woke to an upset stomach. Which meant I needed to get to the toilet fast! After about 3 times, I was feeling a lot better. I wonder if it was something from the potluck or just something I ate yesterday. 

I was able to sleep again, so I slept till about 9 am. Patrick went golfing and I stayed home. I got the Roomba working down the hall. I also got some laundry going. 

I waited for one of the quilters to drop of 2 quilt tops. They are pretty. I will work on them tomorrow. She wasn't able to get a couple more kits because I didn't have them ready. She told me to text her when I have more. 

Patrick came home and wanted to know if I felt up to it to go to the casino. I was up to it. We left shortly thereafter. We were at the casino for about 4 hours. Stopped to eat there before coming home. Didn't want to cook and wasn't sure I could eat much. I had the Chicken Noodle Soup. It was good but couldn't eat it all so brought half home. 

We relaxed when we got home. I took the quilt tops downstairs and had to check my panel that I have to do next. 

That is where I will need to use the Army material I have. There are different colors there to work with. I will see what I can do. I have a couple patterns I need to print out too. 

Because I wasn't 100% today, I didn't do anything that would make me Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Meetings

 This morning, I wanted to enjoy a few minutes of time to myself. Then I had to get a few things done for the meeting at the museum. 

I left around 10:10 am and stopped at the post office. I was able to get the package out in the mail. Then I went to Dutch Brothers. 

Next stop was the museum for our meeting. A few were there before I got there. I was a little late, considering I wanted to be there around 10;30 am. It was a good meeting. We ate and then talked about what's going on with the group. We decided on a few things, and we also decided to have another meeting in March on a Saturday. Actually, my daughter's Birthday. We got a lot done but it wasn't until 1:30 pm that we were done. 

Before we left, I took a picture of the quilts I put in the museum for later. 

McLaughlin made this one. It was from the kits I had done. I think it's okay, but Patrick picked the colors. I haven't showed him yet. 

This one is one Colleen and her sister did together. It's different and works. 

Came home with a quilt for mom and left it in the car. Then I went downstairs to clean up a bit before Jo came with her quilts. 

The table was packed, and I was able to get a few things done. I took the bigger fabrics we had and rolled them on the bolts. I have more to roll on bolts, but it did get a few fabrics off the table. I may have more to do as well. I need to work on the panel I have on the wall, but Jo showed up and we got her set. 

She brought back this quilt. It's all hand quilted and ready to give out. I told her we will be doing the panels with the active-duty veterans in February and she marked the dates. I hope she has another quilt done by then. 

This is one of my favorites. It reminds me of my father when he came back from overseas. I love this quilt! She did an awesome job on it. 

We worked on getting the backing and batting for 2 other quilts. AND I gave her one of the QOV panels to work on as well. She's set now with 3 quilts. She asked about the garage sale we are having. Said she has some stuff to get rid of. I told her we did too. I think our garage sale will have a lot of stuff!

After all that, I call it done for the day. I was working on stuff but not what I would count as Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

The Day Wasn't Mine

 This morning was for Brazilian Embroidery. At least I was looking forward to it. 

First things first, needed to go to the bank. I decided to go through the drive-thru because in the PAST, it was quick and easy. They have since changed the bank to a credit union. That's okay, but not when I go through the drive thru and I have to sit and wait while they hand over the deposit to get given to the gal in the lobby. Then, wait for it to come back. Which means, wait, wait, WAIT, okay, here you go. UGH

Then I had to go to Colleen's to drop off quilts. I chatted for a bit, and she gave me another quilt. Then I headed to Dutch Brothers and ended up going to the window because of the line. WRONG choice. I ended up waiting there, but at least I could chat with the guy that works there. He's going to college up north soon. I will miss him. Next, I THOUGHT I could go through the bank outer box. I drove up, put my card in, and punched my pin numbers in. NOPE, try again. I put in the next set of numbers I had, NOPE, try again. Then the third time I did it, I got a ticket saying it's DENIED. So, I drove around the credit union and went into the lobby. She asked what I needed, told her my pin didn't work. She called from her headset to the main office for support to reset my pin. The headset wasn't working, so she had to go get another phone. She called again. Then she got it all set so I could put a new pin in. AGAIN, a waiting game! I was 15 minutes late because of the stuff that happened. 

I finished the block for Bob's grandson. It's ready to go. I gave it to mom. Then when everyone left, mom asked me to go to WinCo with her to pick up some stuff. I said, fine. Thinking she was back to driving and no clue why she asked. We shopped and got to the counter. I boxed everything up and mom was TRYING to use her debit card. NOPE, wasn't happening. AND I FORGOT MY WALLET IN MY CAR AT MOMS! She tried 5 times, no luck. They put the stuff off to the side, while mom and I went back to her house. I told her I had to get to the post office, but we were going to get my car and she could follow me there. Afterwards, she could go to the bank and work it out. She wanted me to go to the bank with her because this is the 5th time they have changed her card. I said, no, I need to go to the post office. She followed me to WinCo, where I told her to stay in her car and I would be back. I went into the store and paid for mom's stuff. Then took it out to her car, where she proceeded to re-bag everything I bagged. I took what I bought, not much. Then I headed to the post office to drop off my fabric for Barbara. I get in there, get a bag to send it in, and then go to the counter. The address I had, didn't work. He tried 3 times. Okay, so I paid for the bag, then brought it home. I sent a message to Barbara that I had it wrong and she told me what it is, so I can mail it tomorrow. 

Came home and wasn't in the best of moods. But I did get the salad ready for tomorrow and I worked on the water stuff, forgetting to pay a bill by the way. I will do that tomorrow and drop it off Wednesday. 

Even though it really was not my day, I found time for Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Cleaning Today

 This morning, I was trying to play my game but realized it was our day to clean. So, I got busy. 

I did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and bathroom. Then I realized I needed to get my backing and batting done. I had to go and cut the backing and batting for our quilts. Then I had to wash the backings. I was surprised at how much batting I've used so far. I just opened the batting last week and it looks like we have used half of it up so far. I'm good with that. Means we have quilts out there getting done for QOV. 

I pulled out another panel and will try and decide what to do with it before the group sew day. I also need to register myself for the National Sew Day. 

I received my Smart Watch today. I wanted to keep track of my walking, but this has everything! I don't even know the real extent of it yet. 

Patrick and I went to the store today so we could get a pork roast for supper. We picked up some water as well. I have a few things for me. But all in all, it was a quick shopping trip. 

My Smart Watch will be keeping me busy for a couple days till I get it where I want it. OMG! I have now got a Smart Watch - which I swore I wouldn't get. But now it's back to a watch, and I have to learn to use it on the right wrist, when I have always worn it on the left. Being left-handed doesn't help, because I prefer my watch on the left side. Now I have to get used to this way.......ugh. 

In otherwards, I was not Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!

Finishing Up The Quilt Top

 Today, I slept in. I realized I have been sleeping till around 9 am anymore. Guess I don't want to get up. 

I decided to go downstairs and finish up the quilt top. 

It took most of the day. When I had it done, I noticed the size was not where I thought it was supposed to be. Then I realized, I missed a white border that was supposed to be there. Oh, well. It's a good size and I'm going to leave it at that. 

I made the mistake of putting the red on the wrong side of the quilt, so I had to remove the red border and resew it where it should be. I took too long for my liking. Oh, well. 

When it was all done, I show Patrick, then I came upstairs. I needed to get my box back upstairs that has stuff I use for my projects. 

I took an hour going through the box, putting stuff I needed in my embroidery backpack. I wanted to make sure I had all the stuff I needed for when I go on Mondays for embroidery. Plus, I needed to clean out the box and put a few things away. I had cross stitching, quilting, and embroidery stuff in there. I put away the stuff I don't need in there. Then I went through all the pens and throw out the ones that didn't work. I love pens that feel good, but when they stop working and I try to get a refill, that never works. So, I when ahead and throw them away. I won't know they are gone. I have tons of pens. Patrick thought I was hoarding them, and I think he was right!

That was my day. I gave up after an hour of cleaning out the bucket. I made for a good day of Happy Quilting/Happy Stitching!

Time For Sewing

Patrick went golfing and I went downstairs to work on the quilt.

I thought I might be able to get it done today, but then I realized when my stomach decided to act up, I couldn't stay down there to finish it. But I did get a bit done. I should be able to finish it tomorrow. Then I will think about doing another one. I won't have 2 done for Colleen by Monday, but we did get 2 quilt tops from Val to get ready for quilting. 

The sides are sewn on it. I just realized I cut some of the strips that were for the border, so may have to cut another strip. Oh, great! 

Patrick thought a green or light blue would work great for the last border, but I was thinking there is a rhyme to this and the borders are part of that. I need to do 3 more blocks and then I can put the top and bottom together. It was fun to work on today. I had the room warmed up for me to go down there. 

I sent a message to both mom and Georgie to let them know I needed 20 - 10" Finished or 10 1/2" unfinished blocks that are all the same. I got a phone call asking about that. I don't know how they couldn't figure out what I wanted, but I told them. They wanted to know why, and I told them it's for the panels. Georgie was looking for 10" blocks to work on. She's also thinking of the log cabin. I told them it was up to them as to what they wanted to make. I just needed that size. Then mom wanted to cut down the 13" stars to fit. I told her not to touch those and to leave them alone. We can use them. 

I worked a little on QOV stuff. I had to get some emails out.

Then I gave it up for the day. So, at least I can claim I was Happy Quilting/Happy Stitching!

Presentation Day!

Today, I was all set for the presentation. It's been almost 2 months since we had a presentation, and we all were looking forward to it. We have our meeting next week and the following week is our sew days. We will see what we can get done. 

But today was a good day for presentation. Mom knew 2 of the veterans personally, so she was excited about giving at least one of the quilts away. We had 6 quilts that were brought down from Bellevue and presented by the gals that made the quilts. I let them know they were more than welcome to become a member of our group. They liked that idea, so I think I will be getting more from them.

We had the honor of honoring these veterans today. 

David Wiggins - Air Force

John Wilcox - Navy

Michael Mozzone - Army

Mel Wedvik - Marine Corps

Neal Maas - Army

Richard Espen - Navy

Donald Bartley - Army

Andrew G Graham - Navy

Since I was having trouble getting my photos to the computer, I will do what I can. Gmail wouldn't let me transfer from my phone to my email. So, I had to use my second email - hotmail - to get it to go through. Took a lot longer than I wanted. lol 

Mom had to give David Wiggins a big hug! This was the one she wanted to honor herself. You can tell they are close. They attend church together. It was an honor to meet him as well. 

This is the 8 Veterans that we had the honor to honor! Mr. Graham (second from the right) is the husband of a good friend a quilter of ours. I will miss not seeing her on Fridays. He is a sweetheart and a lot of fun to be around. 

Came home and just took the rest of the day off. it was fun and I love doing it, but it does take a lot out of me. I did talk my brother into coming and honoring the active-duty group next month. He's got it scheduled and he will help in presenting the quilts. 

As for today, I had more fun giving the quilts away than I did being Happy Stitching/Happy Quilting!