August catch up

 

Middle of August already and I don't even feel like I have had a summer.  Mostly I feel like I have been unhealthy the entire time.  Covid in Mid June with a cough that never did go away, sewed through my finger recently which healed within a week, and now I have head congestion and my cough is at the level where I can't sleep and my chest is killing me.  Calling to see if I can get in with a doctor today- that is after calling all last week and not even getting the phone answered.  I am VERY upset with medical care these days.  

I absolutely have to be well in time for my vacation at the beginning of September!!!!

But, I did get a quilt bound that had been waiting for a great while.  It is on the wall in my dining area and I really love the colors!

And, this is the second of two large beach bags I have sewn in anticipation of our trip.  It came out okay.  I am not great with boxed corners.  Still need some practice.  I have a hard time making the seams line up with the side seams.  Better if there is no thickness.  

Here are two sides of a smaller beach bag I stitched- it is actually purse size.  It is an in-the-hoop project from Sweet Pea Machine Embroidery.  This is where I had more problem with the boxed corners not lining up with the side seams because of the bulk.  

Cosmo made sure to be up close the entire time in case I needed help.  This is the design that I was doing when I sewed through my finger- the flip flop beach bag.  It bled a little, stopped quickly and healed within 1 week so I have no complaints other than the medical cost.  

Cosmo turned one!  I stitched him up a birthday neck cloth which he chewed the entire time it was on, and my daughter made him a pupcake.  

I love this pup like crazy but he has been a challenge.  His Sheepadoodle behavior is crazy and we have had to resort to some very serious training to be able to live with him.  Not a breed I would suggest in the future.  He still frustrates my husband to no end.  And now that I am home instead of working, he is even more attached to me.  That means having him lay at my feet constantly- tripping hazard for sure, and walking with his body touching my leg, pretty much everywhere we go.  And, he behaves as if he weighs a dainty 5 pounds instead of close to 70.  

I have been doing a great deal of machine embroidery on my new to me Bernina 700.  This is the back of my swimsuit cover up that was purchased for last year's vacation and will be used again in September.  I also added some designs to the front.  

It stitched out beautifully on the thin terry cloth with some thin cut away stabilizer underneath and Solvy wash away on top. 

 And this is my first time ever making Free Standing Lace.  I am very happy with it and will be making many FSL ornaments for a church craft fair in October.  In fact, I should have the machines both going right now...

Underneath is a quilt (topper for my TV cabinet) I have been working on which has now been free motion quilted and just needs a binding.  Maybe it will be an August finish too!

Where has summer gone?

 I saw this on a blog the other day (withstringsattached.blogspot.com)

 and asked if I could share.  

It was posted at the ALA conference.  Its a great quote!  I have moved away from my days as a librarian, for now, but libraries are still my most favorite places!

I feel like my summer is just getting started as most people are making plans to return to school, as early as one and a half weeks from now...

I feel very blessed to not be looking at returning this year.  

My family has all suffered through Covid, my poor daughter had it twice since March.  We are all pretty much healthy now with some lingering coughs that seem to, maybe, be dwindling... finally.  Prayers to any one who is experiencing it.  It was not fun and lasted much longer than the regular flu would, though that is pretty much how all of us felt, like a really bad flue with a great deal more tiredness.  

I have finally felt good enough to return to church and that includes providing the arranging of the altar flowers every week.  Such lovely, bright colors made me want to share...

These lovelies were at the zoo, this past weekend, where my husband and I spent our 27th anniversary.  It is one of our most favorite places and an incredible zoo for our small city.  

There is a new baby orangutan which if you look very closely at the next picture, you can glimpse, attached to mom's right side...

Our zoo is currently under a lot of construction.  Seems like it will be double the size when they are done and we already have an incredible zoo, so it is exciting!  

I have done some sewing.  My UFOs are about to take over the house.  Pulled this one out instead of organizing the sewing room a couple of days ago.  All cut and ready to go but I made no notes about what I meant to do with it so I made it up as I went along.  

It is now this...

and the back is done as well.  

So, as soon as I get some quilting time, it will battle with the others in line for some attention.  It will be a great little baby quilt when I get it done.  

Unfortunately, there was no noticeable dent made in the UFO mess.  

Today, I made a beach bag out of some outdoor fabric I have had for a few years and a pineapple embroidery design from Urban Threads.  Pictured here is the front side before I sewed it together.  I am happy with it but will be trying a different pattern for the flamingo fabric I have waiting.  

My husband and I will be going on a long, beach vacation in the near future- kinda like a 3rd honeymoon/looking for a retirement beach to dream of...So, we will need these big bags!

The first honeymoon was Disney World- 27 years ago.  Second was Hawaii- 14 years ago.  This year will be Florida again, hitting many beaches, Harry Potter World (yes, we will do 2 of the Universal Studios parks but HP is why we are going there at all), and the oldest city in the US!  

Now that the kids are back in the nest, we have built in house/pet sitters!  

I visited a friend a few days ago who pulled out her mom's old sewing machine.  She said it was from the 50's or 60's so when she revealed this 1910 patented machine, I just about fell out of my chair.  Once I gushed about it, she wouldn't let me bring it home with me.  Guess I should have played it cool...

The paint was almost immaculate and the cord was in pristine shape.  I hope I get to sew on it one day...She was gonna take it for service.  

I have been doing a lot of sewing but nothing much more to show yet.  I have also been trying to do some cleaning and organizing but not much progress made there either.  So, I will leave you with the picture of the happily married couple at the zoo- in front of the flamingos that did not photograph well.  We wore our 25th anniversary shirts.  Across our backs it says "together since 1995".  

I love this man more every day and realize I would never have made it through raising kids and putting up with work for all these years without him!  I hope you are all as blessed to have a best friend you can count on for any and everything!  

Last few days of summer

So, its back to work for me on Monday, so I am trying to make some progress on the huge "to do" list this week.  I should be able to get this Harry Potter quilt ready for quilting later today.  It will eventually hang in my office- the school Media Center office that is.  Would be nice to get it finished to hang by next Monday but that is a pretty lofty goal.

In addition to the space being my office, it also houses the school ID machine so it has to be student friendly. 

This is one wall.  the blue square to the far left is the background for the ID machine.  The machine and camera will go on that grey desk.  This picture is taken from my side of the office. 

Eventually, I hope to finish my Project Of Doom quilt for the third available wall.  Here is a not so great picture of the blocks I have done so far.   I haven't decided how many more blocks I will need to make but am aiming for getting this done so only a few more. 

We spent a lovely weekend in the Jemez Mountains, a place that is a big piece of my childhood. 

Here you see little speckles that are actually Elk in the Valle Caldera.  I am hoping my husband got some better pictures with his fancy camera but haven't had a chance to look at them yet. 

These pictures were taken a Fenton Lake, which is definitely smaller than it was when I was a kid and I am not sure that is all due to me being bigger.  It seemed small!  And the area was naked of trees due to recent fires. 

We like to stay at the Aspen Ridge Alpaca Barnhaus.  Its a lovely little home away from home, stocked with everything you could possibly imagine needing.  The weather was so nice, a cool respite from the hot weather we have been having here at home.  The evening showers were refreshing and wonderful.  It made it a bit more difficult to return home to the 100 degree weather. 

My insomnia seems to have returned just in time for the school year to start up again.  No surprise there.  You would think a 6 mile run and cleaning/sewing all day would earn me a good night's sleep.  I do my best not to make enough noise to wake up my bear...I mean husband.  He turns in to a bear when his sleep is disturbed, mostly because he gets so little of it with his own insomnia bug. 

Next summer we are planning on an island vacation, lets hope the coffers agree when the time comes.  For now, its back into librarian mode to kick off the school year with lots of energy!