Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Midweek update

Well, folks, I have hit "submit" on my last grades, returned my library books, thrown out the old pens, and now I am free for the summer!  Okay, free-ish, because I still have a *lot* of work to do this summer.  I was making a schedule for myself a few days ago and there is just not enough time to get it all done.  I may have over committed.  What a surprise, huh?

So far I've been letting my brain rest a bit by working on the yard and the plantings around this place.  It's been neglected for years and years and we're finally taking care of it, so there is a lot going on.  Yesterday, I planted three trees and two bushes:


After that I stopped because I thought it would be bad for my neighbors if I passed out on the lawn and they had to see it.  I was just thinking of them, you know.  We have a huge landscaping project ready for the backyard, but we have had storm after storm that has delayed it.  I'm okay with that, as long as I don't have to be the one driving the bulldozer when it's 95 degrees outside.

All of the work that I have to accomplish means that this summer is going to be a little different for my sewing, but in a good way!  I have several projects to finish off before I start what I'm thinking of as "the summer projects,"  so I'm really planning for a flurry of finished things in the next few weeks.  I basted the two small practice quilts and got started quilting those with the walking foot:


For these, I was planning to leave out the batting because I put flannel on the back and I'm donating these for Sarah's Hands to Help Challenge.  One of the organizations this year wants quilts that fit into a backpack, so I thought they would fold up a little smaller without batting.  I didn't like them when I layered them, though, so I got this batting at the J-store:


This is new to me and made by the same people as make Warm and Natural, which I think is very heavy.  This is much lighter and is working out okay so far.  For those who know Hobbs 80/20 batting (which is my favorite), this is lighter than that, too. 

The only other sewing thing I've done is buy new fabric!


I had an epiphany about reds, so of course I've been buying some to test my theory, which is okay because I have so very little red.  New fabric in any color always lifts your spirits, though, doesn't it?

That's the big update from here! One last thing-- is anyone else having a rash of new followers with names like "sexylana" and a Russian address?  It seems like they're following random blogs, including this one, then they get deleted, then they follow again.  I talked to the hubs about it (he knows about these things) and he's pretty sure it's nothing to worry about, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this experience.  Of course, we all know why they'd want to follow quilting blogs-- that lingerie can't be very warm.  They'll need several quilts!

Okay, I'm rambling now! My brain still needs rest! Have a good week!

The third tree is there, just hiding! It has a white tag as well.

Sharing at Let's Bee Social.

11 comments:

barbaradougherty126 said...

My guess is they are trying to get your readers names? IDK though. I don't trust stuff like that. Good luck with the landscaping! Can't wait to see it.

piecefulwendy said...

Yay for wrapping up another year at your college, and on to summer projects! Hope it all goes well. I have gotten some weird followers too and been wondering about them. I've been choosing to ignore them as well. Interested to see what you are doing with the reds!

JanineMarie said...

There is nothing like being on a academic year to put excitement into the beginning of summer! Have fun with your landscaping projects. (What kinds of trees did you plant?) Thanks for the tip about the batting. I’m always looking for something lighter weight. I haven’t had weird followers in awhile (that I know of, ha!), but I did go through a string of them about a year ago. I just kept reporting them and they finally stopped. Have a great summer, Mari!

Preeti said...

You are buying red fabric. Do I sense a Christmas quilt in the making? It would be just in time for all the "Christmas in July" hullabaloo :-) Enjoy the rest and peace. You have earned it.

Annette Mandel said...

Wish I had a user name like that! Enjoy the 'normal' time of summer. Kinda quiet without students...a78mandel at yahoo dot com

Bernie Kringel said...

Hahahahaha - you are hilarious - So glad your neighbors didn't witness your keeling over on the lawn. And, yes - I am absolutely sure your new followers are after a nice cuddly quilt. So funny!!

Barbara said...

Yes, my Wordpress blog is getting a lot of email followers like that, all with outlook.com addresses. I can't figure out what they would get out of it other than being able to post comments that would get marked as spam and deleted by most blog writers.

Louise said...

Poor sexylana! She must be freezing. Put her to work in the yard, I say. Thanks for the tip about the Warm100 being much lighter than the Warm and Natural. I use the latter and it's definitely too heavy and thick for the Little Lambs pieces. Since I often buy online, it's hard to know how heavy a batting might be.

suzanprincess said...

I got a notice from Bloglovin yesterday that I have a new follower (a first name and several numbers) and I DON'T HAVE A BLOG!

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Yay!!! Let the summer begin!!! and have some fubn ;-)

Kate said...

I hope most of your students were as relieved to see the grades as you were to get them submitted. (The SIT was holding her breath till she got her calculus grade). I love your reds. Looking forward to seeing the experiment you've got in mind to prove your theory. Enjoy your summer stitching.