Hello and welcome to Week 5.
Last week brings finishes to the table today--huzzah!
I don't go outside of creativity much here on the blog but after
I talk quilts and such, please read about the strange activity
that led us to discover a mail fraud/scam. Hopefully by
spreading the word, I can keep it from happening to others.
Quilt Goals for Week 5
1) Finish Fallspice (bind & label): DONE!
Fallspice (71 x 83)
The pattern is Petite Antique Lace by MSQC.
2) Put sashing on Star Twist; re-name: DONE
"Christmas Star Twist" (72 x 86)
I feel like I could've done a better job with the fabrics on
this one but I'm going to chalk it up to being away from
my sewing room so much over the last months. I guess
I kinda lost my edge or something.
This may not be a fave but the fabric line is so pretty that I think
it kinda makes up for it. I also love the Holly Twist quilt design
by My Creative Stitches.
3) Choose fabrics for Unity QAL: DONE
(Gosh, I didn't think I had so much gold until I saw this pic!)
It has been many years since I joined a QAL. I wanted badly
to do Lisa Bongean's QAL last year but I couldn't find the
time to get it started...so I never did. This time I may have
gotten a late start, but I did start and I'm off and running.
It's still very early so if you'd like to join along, check it out.
Note the print-out for checking off each week's work as you go.
I chose to make my own charm packs from my stash and
scraps. By the way, 990 5" squares = 23.6 charm packs!
Fortunately, I find cutting out to be insanely enjoyable so
even though it took me several days, it was fun. Every
single one had to be sprayed with sizing, dried and ironed.
I'm using Lisa's triangle papers for the first time. They're
not tricky like foundation paper piecing and I love the 100%
accuracy but I'm glad the weekly assignments are spreading
this HST-making (3,560?) out over 8 weeks. I'll be pulling
paper and trimming ears in the evenings.
It has occurred to me that I could easily knock out a second
one with my thousands of HST trimmings I've saved over the
years. If I knew what the quilt looked like, it might make this
decision a little easier but for now, I'm going to keep the idea
safely up in my head. That would be a LOT of trimming and
I wouldn't have the accuracy of the triangle papers...but hey,
maybe I'll get inspired. Gotta use those things up some day!
Other Goals
1) Choose knitting UFO and begin (again); toss UFO #2
I did most of this but I didn't get a time to actually knit.
2) Finish one of my books; find one on audio
I didn't finish a current read but I did finish 2 audio books.
3) Lose 2-3lbs; add in treadmill.
Weight lost but no treadmill time.
4) Play a round on the simulator (golf)--didn't get to it.
The weather might allow for a round of golf so that, along with
a few things going on, might cut into my week a bit. It's hard to
beat last week's two completions but I'll see what I can do.
Quilt Goals for Week 6
1) Pic & list latest two quilts
2) Work on Unity QAL; post pic to group
I'd like to get way ahead on the weekly assignments as a
sort of "buffer" in case things get busy around here.
3) Start on West Point quilt (requested)
4) Work on quilting jobs (3) now that Lucey is fixed
The Walmart [or other] Scam
For privacy reasons, I'm going to keep the info minimal.
About a month ago, a bag of just a few groceries showed up on
our front porch (generic white bread, alcohol wipes, Q-tips).
We assumed someone was sick and had a friend drop off a
few things but got the wrong house? But over the month,
we got more very small orders, occasionally with a Walmart
code and the name "Jimmy Lin". We also began receiving
packages from Amazon and Walmart.com, all addressed to
Jimmy Lin. I called Walmart many times but received no
help; their delivery team never bothered to come get the items.
I returned everything else by catching the delivery guys at the
door (FedEx, UPS, Prime and USPS).
Hubs watches our credit card and accounts closely already but
he upped it to checking multiple times a day and I started changing
passwords. Then a good quilty friend warned me of a scam going
on so I decided to file a fraud report with the USPS Federal Law
dept, just to get something official out there. My insightful friend
then got the idea to have our kids check their accounts. At the very
moment we were texting the family, one called to tell us of almost
$4,000 fraudulent charges on a card.
They start with cheap things to see if they can get away with it
and then switch to their address to go shopping. This child has
always stayed very on top of finances but working full time,
travelling constantly for school, and getting through the
holidays, the small charges went unnoticed for a bit.
I believe the only reason we figured this out is because the
"old address" the scammer chose was actually the victim's
parent's home. Any other person wouldn't know where the
previous owners moved on to so that they might alert them.
Please, if you get this activity, don't forget to have any family
members that might have also lived there check their accounts!
I feel there are lots of flags here for criminals:
1) This child had just moved again so not only had there been
another change of address (triggers ads, etc so the info is out
there somehow!), it could be a busy time with lots of purchases.
2) It started during the holidays. Lots of purchases. 'Nuff said.
3) Travel. We have had fraudulent activity occur from travelling.
The bottom line is, when life gets busy don't forget to be vigilant.
It frustrates me to no end that we have to think as a thief would
but there it is. You really can never be too careful. As of now,
it appears that everything will be covered but it's going to take
some time. Meanwhile, new cards, changing passwords...
sadly, you probably already know the drill.
Spread the word on this one.
Spread the word on this one.
Now, go have a great week and happy quilting!
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