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 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


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!

Comments

raised beds really help for gardening don't they - looks like your strawberry plants are going really well!
Vicki in MN said…
Let's start with Welcome back!! Julia-we have been trying to get her up here to our longarm group, but Covid interrupted. Glad the shoulder is healing, hope it stays that way. No gardening happening here yet, brrr.
piecefulwendy said…
Wow, you've had quite a week! I'm so glad you found the two guilds, and I'm sure you will enjoy them. Fun to read about your golf game, too, and that you're still enjoying it. Your vacay photos are gorgeous!
grammajudyb said…
Gardens going and a tropical vacation. I must say I'm a bit jealous! heehee. We had 19 inches of snow last weekend! I hoping for planting weather soon. I'm not a golfer, but have friends who are. So glad you are having fun getting back in the "swing"!
Hope your show us your projects from your guild memberships! Fun!!
Linda said…
Wow you have been busy! You are so darned cute in your photo - so glad you got away for what sounds like a fantastic vacay. I'm sure the guild ladies felt like they had struck gold when you offered to quilt "as practice". :D Thanks for sharing your garden photos. Have you ever tried watermelon, or are you a fan? The last year we lived on our acreage, some volunteer watermelon plants came up and produced the most delicious small sized watermelons. They take up more space than squash though!
Thanks so much for linking to To Do Tuesday!
Linda said…
I forgot to ask, what kind of mulch do you put down in your garden?
Bonnie said…
That looked and sounded like a great break. Sigh. It looks like you have a lot of fun things to look forward to, especially all the new learning for the long arm. Have a fun quilty week.
Vickie said…
Such a fun read!! Cannot wait to see where the Longarm guild takes you and your progress with Lucey! Also, at the time I saw the pic of your sister’s quilt, I didn’t know it was an Irish Chain. I found a tutorial/pattern I am toying with trying. I love how the blocks seem to float in the background.
Anne-Marie said…
Julia is awesome! Glad you got to hear her and also get away for a vacation. I'm jealous of how much is growing in your garden. My stuff is just barely sprouting right now.
Home Sewn By Us said…
Hi Cheree! Wow, what a nice newsy post. Lots of goodness going on in your life right now. I'm so glad you were able to join the guilds, especially the long-arm one. I think you will find lots of support from those members (or I hope so anyway). Your gardens look fab already! We're still having frost so it's way too early for me to think about that. I think my asparagus might be coming up. Also, I think I need to replace the timbers on my raised bed - it seems like they have rotted away over the winter. Enjoy your week! I'm looking forward to seeing that Christmas charity quilt in progress! {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne
Looks like a wonderful getaway for you and DH! And hooray for golf - my group of friends has been out twice in the last week, and it does definitely feel good. Good for you, joining the guild and long-arm group! They'll be lucky to have you. Enjoy!
You have had a great week and what a fun getaway. The photos of Mexico are amazing. I got tickled when you got yourself into some trouble. How fun that you joined the quilt guild. I am sure you are going to have loads of fun. Have a great week and thank you for the sweet visit to my blog.
Sharon - IN said…
Krista Moser is so much fun to listen to and learn from with her exuberance! What a great kick off to your new guild membership. Sounds like you are enjoying all things quilting and life right now!
chrisknits said…
How I wish there was a long arm guild here! And for such a major city as I live next to, you would think there was! We have a lot of long armers in the guild, hmm, maybe we should start a long arm group and gather to learn and teach? Glad you got away for a wonderful vaca!!! I don't know why I don't just steal Squish and take her to Florida every other month!! I guess cause her momma would miss her.