WIP Weds

Today finds me button hole appliqueing by hand on all these watermelon seeds.  At this writing 16 are done so that leaves 13 1/2 to go.  How do I have a half seed?  That one is under the crow.  I am liking how it looks so may continue to just hand button hole the lettering and the crow as well.

Since I last posted, I completed the Lil Twister Christmas wall hanging as well as the vintage spoon.  Both are shown below.

I have also gotten some batting joined, labels on two quilts that were turned in with them and re-did up the binding since I sewed two sides into the quilt.  Quilt document is updated and quilts put up in the closet in a holding pattern.  Lots of hand work as you can tell.  Oh, and spent a big chunk of the day un-sewing a pile or abandoned blocks so I can re-purpose the sections and fabrics.

Jane had asked me to make a run over to Ashville House Quilt Shop today as she had missed the Block of the Month this past Saturday due to the Friendship Quilters sew-in.  Also the owner Pat had ordered something for her that she needed to pick up.  Jane had gotten a new sewing machine for her birthday and this was an ancillary piece.  We also ran into a husband and wife quilting team for her guild in Gadsden.  I know the couple as well from helping to set up for the quilt show.  They had wonderful quilt that was similar to Lady of the Lake with a lot of Civil War fabrics in it.  Kathy said they had used other pieces in their stash to make the top.  Howard reported that he had learned how to do log cabin blocks recently.

The shop was having 20% off everything and 25% off Christmas related items and will till the end of the month.  What did I get?  Boring old white Moda solid, LOL for the Farmer's Wife Sampler.  Not sure if it is block backgrounds or sashing bits yet but I believe I got plenty enough to at least get started----one of these days!

Since it was lunch time we shot over to Gadsden and a Mexican restaurant that Jane had  been to before.  I was home by 1:30 and back to watermelon seeds while I try to back up my computer files.  I do it monthly and today is the day, even though I had to leave in the middle of it.  Woohoo!  It is finally done. just now and had started at 8 a.m.

A quilter acquaintance from the Jacksonville quilt group had called and left a message about my possibly piecing two quilt tops for someone using her two daughter's clothing.  I do not know why this person was calling other than she does know me nor do I know how Carolyn had gotten my cell phone number.  Few people use it including me, LOL.  I don't know what sizes of tops or any details other than the woman is ill (can't do it herself?) and is willing to pay to have the work done.  I begged off.  Even if  I were caught up, which I am not, she wants them in time for Christmas.  Don't they always?

It will take me a month to get done what I need/want to do at the very least.  Should I get the 8 pinned donation tops on the armoire quilted as well as the two summer Button Ups done, there are still 8 more donation  tops to be pinned along with 3 other personal project.   This is starting to sound like work, not fun!  I am all about the fun, right?   Some of the long armers will set a September deadline for when they will take tops in order to have them done by the holidays.  It is a losing proposition as well---no one is ever willing to pay what you should ask for something like this.  I am also a little curious as to why no one in their actual quilt group is willing to do it when I have not been a member of that group for some time.  One of the last t-shirt tops I did for Out of the Box, the woman actually wanted the actual shirts fastened to the top, I guess.  Last I heard Joan and Susan were going to tack baby socks on to it after it was quilted.    You can't win.   I pass.  Ask someone else.

Elsewhere around the house,  DJ and I discovered that we have a real mess under the kitchen sink.  I was getting out something the other day and noticed that the bottom of the cabinet had completely buckled up.  Also we got a mold/mildew thing going on.  When we were going thru the 3 different dishwashers saga a few months back, we would take everything out from under the sink plus take one of the cabinet doors off the hinges to allow for access to the dishwasher hook ups.  We had applied new contact paper and noted no such mold/mildew situation.  At some point I noticed an odor but because we didn't see anything, I thought it must be the drains or something.  We don't use one side of the sink much and I needed to keep it flushed out better, I thought.   There was no standing water, no dripping from the hose, it is dry under the dishwasher itself.  I had visions of water having seeped under the laminate flooring or something and growing a bunch of mold.  DJ pooh poohed that notion.  Who knew about this mess though?

For now he has tried to clean out the area and of course, is working on removing the bottom board and spraying it again this morning.  What a mess!!!  I feel bad that DJ is having to deal with it.  He has watched enough of "Holmes on Homes" to know what NOT to do.  He tried calling a mold remediation guy but they charge 150 bucks to just come out and consult, before they even do anything----he said forget that!  My main job was to find some place to put the kitchen towels and dish cloths as well as the cleaning supplies and storage bags plus keep Skyler out of the way.   The joys of home ownership.

And sew it goes-----back to the watermelon seeds for me.