2021 Tuesday To-Do #5

Warm Tuesday greetings from a frigid

winter wonderland.  I have oodles to share so

you may want to grab a cup of your favorite

hot beverage and settle in.

Not only has it been snowing lightly for days, there

is snow on the weather menu for every one of the

next eight days.  Hallelujah!

The temps will be in the teens on down to -8 so it

seems winter has finally come alive here in Kansas

and the garden is finally getting a good, hard freeze.

(What does a groundhog know anyway?)

On Friday the hubs and I took off for a little road trip.

After a short visit with my brother and his wife, we spent

a few hours shopping in KC and then headed up to a

very snowy and cold Omaha where we visited our son

who attends Creighton University.   We woke up to even

more snow coming down, bitter temps and treacherous

highways but we still had a great visit and you know

I enjoyed all of that snow!   I had smartly done my

homework so on our way out of town, I checked out

the Country Sampler, a new-to-me quilt shop.

Single-digit temps can make one forget to take any

outdoor pics so the one above pic is from their website.

Inside was nice and warm, however, so I snapped

plenty so I could show you all around.

The shop seemed very new but it was clear by the

huge inventory and the numerous quilts on display

that the The Country Sampler was no spring chick.

I learned from their website that they've been

serving their community for 25 years.

We had a 4 1/2 to 5 hour drive ahead of us

so I tried to take it all in quickly.

I also had some shopping to do.

(More on that in my to-do list)

A peek into the classroom in back.

For you Lori Holt fans....

All three of these were so pretty in person!

I do love a good clearance section so I was a little

disappointed to not find one.  Did I just miss it?

Still, this is a great shop and well-worth the visit.

If you're ever in Omaha, save a hefty chunk of time for

a visit to this one.   Undoubtedly, I wish it was closer to

home but at least we'll be making more trips up there.

After our son graduates next December, it looks

as if his current internship with a great company will

turn into a full-time job.  Like the quilt shop, I'd prefer

he was closer but I'm happy to see him so well-settled.

Now, on to the to-do list!

1) Snowflake quilt:  Make 2 blocks

Only one block done.

Between reacquainting myself with paper-piecing

and forgetting that I've chosen to make the inner

star gold (a little ripping!) I only got one of these

made.  I feel like I've got it down now though.

Yes, it's a little tedious and messy but it does

result in some nice piecing.  These blocks

seem to be fairly easy to tackle, too.

I'm using a children's drawing pad for my papers.

(The same as coloring book papers).  I did have

one piece jam in our printer (which I find to be a

a little finicky anyway) but the rest worked fine.

It's significantly cheaper and easier for me to buy.

2) Charity quilt contest:  finalize quilt(s);

start getting fabrics lined up.

Done.

I found a few things in my stash but nothing that

would give either of the main fabrics direction.

Enter the visit to The Country Sampler:

Juvenile prints aren't my favorite so I'm trying to

focus on colors and fabrics that I know I'll enjoy.

I wouldn't have considered Grunge for a baby quilt

but the shop owner steered me in this direction and

I like where it's going.

I have my patterns picked and I'm hoping to start

soon so I'll have something to share next week.

3) Make a simple fabric tracking spreadsheet

Done.

I was going to have hubs help me out here but then

I discovered those templates in the Numbers app.

I'll likely adjust it as I go but I think it does the

trick nicely so far and I hardly needed any help.

OCD Hubs struggled a bit with not having reference

point, a "beginning balance" so to speak.

Me:

"You want me to figure out how much fabric I have

in there already?  Bah ha ha ha."  Oh, the hilarity!

He finally accepted that it's purely for motivational

purposes:  use more than I buy.

The above image is a little blurry so for full disclosure

of last week's activity, 5 yards of fabric were added.

Sigh...

(Clearly still working on that motivation.)

That's it for the official to-do's but I

accidentally left the knitting off of my list.

All that road-tripping = decent progress.

And I know I said no more squirrels but they do

 have a way of getting into things so here's yet

another one that showed up in the sewing room.

Remember all of those scrap HST's I'm working on?

This little table runner was made from the

trimmings of a quilt I gifted to my brother-in-law

so I'm sure it'll head to their house for Christmas.

(Yes--I'm working on Christmas gifts already!)

9x17.5

Maybe I'll whip out some matching coasters?

If there ever was a week for staying in and sewing,

it will be this one so on to the list for next time:

1) Snowflakes:  Three more blocks.

2) HSTs:  any progress

3)  Knitting:  any progress

4) Baby quilt contest:  start cutting one out

Lastly, I have a few pics of the cadet taking

first place in a recent meet against Villanova.

Oh, those intense faces!

I find most people find haven't seen much, if any,

pole-vaulting.  I think it's just amazing to watch,

especially when they hit those crazy heights.  

As a mom, do I ever worry?

When he was younger, I was asked that a lot.

Over all, not really.  I trust God and I trust my son's

ability, and then I focus more on being supportive.

At this meet, he won with a height of 15'2".

(He has cleared over 16' in previous competitions.)

He's a little camera-shy so we're not going to tell

him that I've put these on my blog, right?

Update:  Even cooler, he showed up on Army's

Instagram post this morning.  That's him in slow-mo

toward the beginning of the video.  Make sure the 

sound is on--the hype music makes it cooler.

(Click on audio button at bottom of video)

(You don't have to have an account to view)

This mom is pretty proud!

Stay warm and happy quilting!

Linking up to

Home Sewn By Us Tuesday To-Do #79