Tuesday To-Do 12: I Get Around

Hello and welcome to another round of To-Do's.

When you are done here, please stop over at

Texas Quilt Gal to check out what all the other

quilty friends have been up to.

Now let's get to it because I can't wait to share what

 I've been getting myself into these last two weeks. 

And where I've been getting away to!

1) Quilt sis's Irish chain

Didn't get a thing done on this.

2) A whole bunch of other stuff that I'll share next time!

I think I did waaay better here--but you be the judge!

Cool thing #1

With the shoulder doing a little better, I thought I'd try

some golf.  (I'm right-handed so my left shoulder really

only does a downward motion that doesn't cause pain.)

I didn't keep score but for skipping a few months,

I felt I picked right back up where I left off--and

that's not so bad for a newbie.  It just felt so good

to get out there and get some exercise!

Cool thing #2

A new quilty friend and I decided to check out the local

 local guild so we attended their April meeting together.

Before it had even started I'd gotten myself into a decent

amount trouble.  First things first, I joined.  Then I picked

up a few QOV blocks  to piece up.  And then I discovered

the charity quilt group and their magical boxes of tops

just waiting to be quilted.  As you can imagine, they were

all-too-happy to let me practice on their quilts so I chose

a large Christmas one, thinking it would be perfect for

practicing the holly panto I'll use on the Christmas tops

in my to-be-quilted pile.  I won't be able to join in on

their sewing days for quite awhile but I think I can

at least make a dent in their "to be quilted" pile!

The guest speaker [by video] for the meeting

 was Krista Moser of The Quilted Life.

Krista is a very energetic and bubbly quilter with what

might be the best "what led me to quilting" story that

that I've ever heard!  I don't want to give away more

than I should but basically she had learned everything

there was to garment sewing by the time she was 12

(yes, even wedding dresses) so she started teaching the

class!  By the time she was 16 she was quilting,

creating her own designs and, again, teaching.

Even more amazing is how she allowed her

disability to propel her down her creative path!

While her quilt style is more modern than I usually

 dip into, her methods (and rulers) are interesting

 to me and I want to give them a go soon.

If you get a chance, check out her patterns and ideas!

Cool thing #3

I made a bit of a last-minute decision to attend a

second guild meeting.  Just for longarm quilters,

it's a much smaller and more personal group so I'm

really looking forward to getting to know them all.

And can you believe my luck on the guest speaker?

Julia Quiltoff started by showing us her amazing

free motion quilting and then shared tips on listening

to a quilt for the best ideas of how to quilt it up.

In the afternoon, she gave a class on FMQ where she

had us all doodling away.  And then:  could my timing

get any better?  She touched on rulers just a bit too!

  I've been toying with learning to work with them but

haven't wanted to take on anything new until

buying Lucey so I was definitely all ears there.

(Speaking of ears...Chloe the photo-bomber.)

Class attendees received a nice discount so I came away

with a signed copy of her free motion quilting workbook

and nice selection of rulers to get me started.

(Now to buy the ruler base for Lucey!)

It's pretty amusing that I've gone all these years without

joining any guilds...and then I up and joined two in 5 days.

And boy do I have a lot of work play to do!  So many new

techniques to try out!

Ok, how about one more cool thing?

Hubs and I ran off to Mexico where we spent five

days on a beach south of Puerto Vallarta!

I'm not much of a resort-traveller but hubs and I were

really needing R&R more than we wanted actual

vacationing, so to speak:  sun and reading

while having someone else take care of everything.

I think we chose our resort very well.

 This one was in a nice little cove so the beach belonged

 only to the resort and the inhabitants of the tiny little

 village next to it.

Seeing the little village every time we stepped out

 of our room made it feel more like we were

actually in Mexico, if you get my meaning.

I guess it's just not possible to get fully away from it all

but even with family business interrupting daily, I got

a nice tan while I read two books, started a third and

worked my way through more of  Shelly Pagliai's

Quilting For Hire when on the plane.

(Btw, The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan is a good read.)

We worked quickly to get things caught up back at home

so we were free to hit the golf course again on Sunday.

 (At least I was tan this time!). It was gorgeous out!

And I killed it...right up until I fell apart around #13!

Well once again, that's life!

I learned later that my golf buddies had been quietly saying

how I was well on my way to break 100 so I blame it on them.

(Bad juju, or whatever you want to call it.)

Anyhoo that, my quilty friends, is how I get around.

But I'm kinda done getting around for a bit.

I want to try out the things I've learned!

Sew on my quilt!

Quilt some quilts!

Garden in the garden!
And play more golf, if the 'ol shoulder lets me,

because the exercise and fresh air are doing

wonders for my overall attitude and energy level!

Oh, a quick garden update!
We already have an abundance of lettuces/spinach,

 radishes and asparagus hitting the table.  And the herbs!

I think I've missed the flavors of summer more than ever

 over this past winter!  Parsley, rosemary, thyme and dill are

 already up for grabs.  Oh--and mint for mojitos! <wink!>

I'm still working to cut back on my gardening.  Yesterday

I planted 13 tomatoes, 21 peppers, 8 cabbages 

(purple and green) and small row of green beans.

Today I'm laying cardboard down for weed block

and topping it with mulch.  This should leave about

1/3 of the garden--the part not pictured--unplanted.

I'm toying with putting a few squash plants on the

other side of our house in one of the herb gardens.

Will that fool the bugs that were so bad last year??

I also prepared the large planters on our front porch.

Not much growth showing here but soon they'll be

lushly filled out, and up.  Since we put the front

gardens into rock last fall, a huge portion of my

weed-work has been eliminated!
Hallelujah!

Alrighty, let's see what is on next week's to-do's!

1) Piece QOV blocks

2) Quilt sister's Irish Chain

3) Sew on Blue Waves

I'm doing horribly on my monthly block challenge

so this needs to be a bit of a priority!

4) Finish gardening; cardboard [weedblock] and mulch

I'd like to add quilt the charity quilt, order ruler base, start

working my way through Julia's FMQ workbook but I'm

trying to contain myself on the list-making here!

We'll just take it as it comes.

Happy quilting!