Twelve

Before I explain the title to the post, a few updates...

I feel much better about working on one deadline quilt at a time.  If I do that, I feel like I'm making progress and then the other stuff I am working on is stuff is that lying around from Magpie Syndrome.  I did finally get the right sized ream of newsprint, so that does help.  I did enlarge the pattern as I was supposed to.  I still haven't found the gift certificate, but I'm not giving up hope.

So today's post is brought to you by the number 12.  Why 12?  Because we moved here 12 years ago during spring break.  I have the actual date written down somewhere,but I just observe it during spring break week and call it good.  We moved during Renee's Kindergarten year.  Last week, we made the reservations at a local park for her high school graduation party. 

Overall, it's been good.  I've been involved, sometimes more intensely than others, with Girl Scouts.  I've done some other volunteering as well, and overall, my active volunteering days are over I think.  I am just tired and people either want me to lead things or do accounting things and those are my day jobs and I don't really need more of that.  Volunteering for 2 hours to hand out t-shirts?  Sure!  Volunteer at the food bank and make pallets?  Great!  Organize a badge training for 70 girls?  No thank you.  I'm glad I figured this out about myself.

Workwise, it's been overall good.  The bad 2.5 years actually got me the job I have now, so it all worked out in the end.  I'm so happy this all worked out.

Housewise, it's time to do some updating!  We've done pretty much nothing, and it shows.  "Pride of home ownership" would not be the words I would use to describe my home right now.  I think it will be better once she heads off to college and he and I can just work on stuff.  This is fixable and doable and all fine.

Quilting-wise, which is more like craft-wise, I got back into knitting and learned how to crochet.  Both things make me happy.  I finished a baby blue afghan last night after we came home from Admitted Student Day.  It's nice to have 3 crafts and all of their stuff everywhere - you can be creative at any time.

So sums up how I feel at year 12.

On to other fun stuff!  While I am woefully behind in my reading of stashbuster email, I did sneak around for what is the April pre-cut for the challenge and it is shapes, namely tumblers and apple cores.  Whoo hoo!  I've got one sitting the thhe handwork pile, but I did a little review of my sewing area and lo and behold!  There's another tumbler quilt in process.  This one is number 4 of 5 in a series of food quilts I am doing.  This one is Fruit Cups.  I would love to complete it this month, so I will make that a goal.

The Taxes are Done!

Let me just start there.  The taxes are done.

I am a CPA (note the blog name) but I work in industry, not in the attestation function, which is where doing other people's taxes fall.  I do my own and that it is.  And I dread it just like everyone else, even though I am competent at it.  I did get a refund, even though it is down.

(I will not entertain any tax or political comments on this post about this.  Do not get me started, and as a CPA, I probably can win the argument.  People have tried and told me I was stupid and now they wonder where their refund went.  Please, let's all be friends and leave taxes to Caesar.)

(/rant)

On to the fun stuff - quilting!

Since last I wrote, I found!

A ream of newsprint for paper piecing
2 of of the 3 fabrics I need for said paper piecing project

However, the ream of newsprint is 9 x 12 and I need 8.5 x 11 so I ordered that.  No cost, as I have a ton of American Express points sitting over there on Amazon.

Renee and I did go shopping on National Quilting Day.   She had a horrific cold, but she wanted to go and get some fresh air.  We went to the new shop up in Hudson and found Peeps fabric.  That had to come home with me.  Also found a remnant of newsprint fabric, which was one of the two types of fabric that I was missing.  Renee scored it and figured it was a backup plan.  Smart girl.

We then went to another quilt shop in town that is in a warehouse, but wonderfully bright and cheery on the inside.  I scored a desired coordinated fabric and her loyalty club is to shop there once a month.  I've already figured out what my April purchase will be.  After that I had spent enough and Renee was toast.

This week, I've done a fair amount of thinking about deadline quilts.  Mentally I have some deadline quilts, like 6 or 7 and that is overwhelming and then I don't want to quilt and then nothing happens and you can see where this is going.

So I've decided that I am only going to force myself to work on one deadline quilt at a time.  The first one is Kim's retirement quilt.  I can now start because I found the fabrics!!!  (See the panic?!?!?)  I am so excited to have all the piece-parts that I need - 3 fabrics, the pattern, the newsprint!  This needs to be done by 05/17/19 and I should make it.

So if I'm only forced on that one, what have I been working on?  Well, I had started a top of all the tumbler shapes that came in the Bits 'n Pieces club.  There were never enough tumbles in any one color / shade / type to make anything.  So I just threw them all together.  I got it to a flimsy, sandwiched it with a frankenbatt, got it quilted it, trimmed it and got the binding attached.  It's sitting in the pile, waiting to be finished.  I hope to have tumblers to come up in the pre-cut challenge and then I can get a finish out real quick!

It's National Quilting Day!

And I have misplaced:

A gift certificate
A ream of newsprint for paper piecing
2 of of the 3 fabrics I need for said paper piecing project

I have:

The pattern for the project
1 of the need fabrics
The entire day in front of me
Good weather for LQS shopping

So I will make the best of it.  There are 2 more places in my house to hunt for the missing items, so all is not lost.

Oh, and we are in desperate need of groceries.

Pre-Cut challenge status

Yeah, February was FQs and nothing happened in February.

Well, lots happened.  Renee turned 18.  That is a big deal!  It feels like a great achievement for us, getting her to the age of majority.  She can now carry more than 1 person in her car and there are no more curfew worries.  Please note that Renee is Miss Low-Key and as a rule, does not engage in risky behavior.  She checks in, as we do with her.  (In the era of cell phones, I think checking in with everyone in the family is a good behavior.  We have a family text thread going all the time.)

Back to quilting.

The UFO I want to unearth is one of a set of YBR baby quilts that I have kitted up.  I love them for retreats because I can cut and piece in 4 hours, sandwich in 30 minutes, and quilt ESS with the serpentine stitch in the afternoon and evening.  By the time I go to bed, the binding is on and I can throw it in the handwork pile. 

I still plan to dig through the closet of UFO's and get it out and do it.  It will be an easy one to accomplish, albeit late.

For March, it's jelly rolls.  Well, I actually don't buy jelly rolls.  I don't think I own one.  But I love making jelly roll races quilts for donation or quick giving.  I made one 2 years ago for a baby shower where interspersed I put in white squares and put an applique critter on there.  The fabrics were greens, blues and purples and the critters were a dragonfly, an inchworm, a butterfly, a bird.  Years ago I joined Keepsake Quilting's Bits 'n Deices club, which for $20 per month, you got a pack of something.  I have hundreds of applique shapes.

So for March, I pulled 12 applique shapes in warm (pink, orange, yellow) and cool (green, blue, purple) to make 2 quilts.  I'll pull out my 2.5 strips drawer and see what I've got and then I'll hit up my scrap bags and then the stash yardage if needed. 

No promises they will get done in March, but it will be nice to have 2 fun new starts to work on while I try to plod on with the UFOs.

In My Defense...

I know I said I planned to post once a week, but last week got away from me.  In my defense, I was sick.

On March 1, I drove north to my sister's high school and watched the Disney musical Newsies, based on the 1899 newsboy strike in New York.  My sister was the Assistant Director, and since is this her year of retirement, it was her swan song for the theatre department.  So I went.  

But I had an ulterior motive.  

Most weeks, Ted and I play pub trivia.  Sometimes Renee joins us, sometimes not.  (I don't cook when there's trivia, so her motive is free food.)  We play with another couple and another friend and her FIL.  The 3 ladies were all in grad school together and have remained friends ever since.  Sometimes trivia has theme nights and when it's Disney, we go and even add in another couple for fun.  

The one thing we ALWAYS get wrong is Newsies.  Every. Single. Question.

I told Kim I was on a mission, explained the situation and she got me a ticket.  

The show was incredible.  Far above high school level - at the collegiate level, and I think I can say that, as my college theatre department had a Broadway actor as its head.  (In fact, the head set guy on Newsies actually went to my college when the Broadway actor was there.  I told Kim this was officially a big deal.  She did not doubt me.)  They were judged for some honors.  I hope they get tons of accolades!

So Saturday morning, we went t o breakfast as a family - just Kim and me - to a place we had gone to since we were kids.  We have no memories of our first time there - we just always went there.  Twas delicious and then I headed home.

I was dying of thirst.  And then a migraine started.  I made the decision to power through and not stop anywhere.  The drive is 2 hours.  I was also trying to beat bad weather, which I did.

I got home and collapsed.  I would get up, made it about an hour sitting and then back to bed.  I chugged a lot of water.  It was a long day.

Sunday was less worse, but no desire for food.  I made a whole chicken - nice bland food.  

Monday was a day off for me and Ted - it was David's 20th birthday and we felt it was worth a day off.  Renee came down with how I felt midday and I told the nurse to sent her home.  I made chicken and noodles for dinner - more bland food.

So I was Saturday into Sunday.  Renee was Monday into Tuesday.  Ted was Wednesday into Thursday.  Friday was a low key day but we all made it to school / work.   We survived.

And so went the week.