My Mundane Monday...

Had a productive day... gotta love that!

The weather has changed to lovely cool temps- it's barely topping 60*. (so sorry Tamara- maybe you can find some vicarious enjoyment in ours.) Windy. While quilting this morning, I heard a loud droning. There's a small airport about 20 miles north of us and sometimes smaller planes will fly over- or maybe a crop duster. An occasional military plane. But this sounded different. Louder. Longer- it went on and on. Finally, I go to the door to investigate- didn't need to look up so much. There, hovering over the soybean field, was the Goodyear blimp! Bright yellow and blue and amazingly, alarmingly low. The kids and I ran out to get a closer look and it was pitching and yawing something fierce- I was getting sea sick just watching. The kids would squeal at certain times, sure that they were going to see a catastrophic event. He was slowly making his way Northeast- into the wind. I hadn't thought they would fly in such weather, but I guess he had to be somewhere. It doesn't take much to give someone a thrill when you're living in the middle of thousands of acres of corn and soybeans, I guess.

I found out Sunday, that a friend from church is getting married in three weeks and her wedding shower will be in two weeks. Whoa. Time to get a quilt made. I wasn't sure how I would pull it off, time or money-wise. Bill lost his job about a month ago- silly man, he is always laying things down and forgetting where he put them... Anyway, as it turned out, her bedroom is the same colors as mine- brown and blue. I've been stashing fabric away for a few years now and I could use it for hers! No, that's cool 'cause I've already cut a quilt out for me. It doesn't coordinate with my room, but then... why start all that matchy matchy stuff now, hmm? I had a $50 budget. I tend to think I need to hang onto money when I have it, 'cause I might not have it next week. But that's "stinkin' thinkin' " as my brother would say. God does provide and He will provide. So onward ho! I found a queen cotton batting at Jo-Ann's for only $15. It was the only one they had and wasn't marked but when I got up to the counter, it was on sale! And then I only needed one feature fabric- which was regularly $8 a yard but on sale for $4.29 a yard- bought enough for the blocks and the binding. I just happened to have a blue and brown backing that I had tyed-dyed a couple summers ago. So the grand total was only $30! At $20 under budget, I'm pretty thrilled. I love it when a plan comes together. God is good.

I'm using the BQ pattern and it's going very quickly. I've set a goal of sewing 10 (very simple) blocks a day and that way- with school and other obligations- I should be able to get it done in time. The cutting table has some lovely stacks of blue and brown fabric.

I also got a quilt for a client quilted up- mostly. I would've finished the bothersome thing, but I had to use a different thread than what I was accustomed to and the tension gave me fits- isn't that the way it works- dozens of quilts of your own and not a hitch. Soon as you decide to take a paying customer, things go sideways. Sigh, worked out the kinks. Oh well, I'm proving that "things done, can't be undone" to be not entirely true. They can be undone, but it's time-consuming. I had about a three hour sit-down with that quilt and now it should only take about an hour or less to finish. Loafing on the couch wasn't an entirely unpleasant experience. So thankful for those zipper leaders!

I've been staying up later than I should, crocheting. As anyone else who takes to the hook will tell you, it's addictive and extremely difficult to put down once you pick it up. I've been using 10 weight thread 'cause the one I prefer (20) isn't easy to find . Hobby Lobby has it in various colors of cream, cream or cream. That's OK. But I do notice that the 10 weight is a bit more of a challenge to pull through the loops and I get this interesting groove across my thumb. Nah, it's not permanent or anything, but it remains sore. Ah, the price I pay for my art...


So, for those of you that have made it thus far- bless your hearts- I have a little give away. Don't get all worked up, it's small enough. See that pink doily? I just bought the thread 'cause it was a pretty shade, but the practical application for a pink doily is questionable. Fun to work with, though. I'll pop it in the mail for you if you let me know you'd like it. I was thinking that maybe you could re-gift it- no worry about offending me- it's not like I want it! The doily isn't small- about 20" across. If by some slim chance more than one person is willing to take the poor thing home, I'll just draw a name. Ya got til Friday, OK?
Hope everybody has a great week!