Long Time No Blog! Update on Life and Quilting

Update on Life:  The month of September and most of October has come and gone and to me it is still too hot.  During this time, Clay and I caught the upper respiratory bug in September, which slowed us down to a crawl.  We were originally scheduled to go to Durant for 2 weeks in August but rescheduled due to the hot weather for September and then the September trip was rescheduled for the month of October.  We were able to leave on the 2nd of October as scheduled and stayed at the Choctaw Casino KOA.  Plans were to stay the entire month, but about 14 days into the trip we decided to come home.  We had a great time going to the Casino (almost everyday) winning and some losing, but it was all fun and so relaxing.

For the past 17 years (since retirement) we have traveled in our “home away from home” travel trailers.  We started in 2000 with a 26′ pull trailer, migrated to a 30′ pull, and then in 2004 we purchased a great 36′ fifth wheel along with a great one ton truck to pull it with.  We have spent 3 to 4 months in Arizona during the winter each year, but the last year we realized that those trips were becoming more of a chore than fun.  So during this last excursion we made a decision to sell the rig and purchase a new truck or Navigator and just pack up whenever and travel with less work and more fun!  We had to laugh when we realized that in 3 or 4 years at the age of 75 or 76 we would be nuts to do what we have to do in order to just arrive at the point where we can drive out the gate!  Amazing how the mind thinks young, but the body says something else!  LOL

Fabric Shopping: When I planned this trip there were 2 quilt stores that I wanted to visit,  HNT Quilt Store in Durant and Happiness is Quilting in McKinney Texas.  Well, HNT has closed their doors and the trip to McKinny (about a 3 hour round trip drive from Durant) really turned into a bummer and wasted day.    I will not bore you with the fun details, but that trip ended up driving a total of 3 hours without even finding the store, or if I could have, it would have been impossible to find a place to park a one ton Dually truck in the old Historic District of McKinney where “somewhere” there is a quilt store called Happiness is Quilting. After that lovely mess, even Clay was ready to hit the Casino to try to forget the horrible experience.  Quilt stores really need to wake up and realize that some customers do not live in their town and need accurate directions.  So it was their loss and my frustration!

Quilting Burnout Resolved:  During the summer months, I was really experiencing some major quilting burnout and just not sure what I wanted to do with my hobby.  It is amazing what a change of scenery and time away from the “same ‘ole thing” day in and day out can do for a person.  Time to reflect and to think about the remaining years on this earth and how to spend them.  One of my answers came when my Kay (my cousin) called one afternoon while we were in Durant, trying to find one of our great Aunts on our Smith/Harrison side of the family.  This was all it took to kick-start me back to one of the things that I love dearly – researching.  Talk about clearing out the cobwebs in the brain – working on family history is so rewarding, inspiring, and for me RELAXING.  I will  set time aside to work on finishing the family genealogy and attempt to document all history for the Cook and Chopin line.

Speaking of Kay she is more of a sister to me than a cousin and will be going in for open heart surgery next Tuesday.  I am praying for her and just know that she will feel so much better when this ordeal is over.  She is such a sweet and caring person and has been special to me all of my life and always there for me, I love her dearly.  She and her husband have raised such a beautiful family and she is the love of their lives.  So Blessed.

Project Updates:  OK – now on to where I left off on my projects.  I believe my last post showed fabrics that I had purchased for Rowdy Flats Library quilt by Susan Smith.  I purchased some wonderful fabrics from B & B Quilt Store in Buda, Texas on the way home from the Austin Quilt Show in September.  My quilting buddy Jan and I left them with some $ and we came home with the perfect fabrics for our quilt projects.  They have a wonderful selection of Civil War prints that I have found in a while.  At the time I was trying to hold off and purchase from Happiness, but am so glad that I bought all those lovely fabrics when I did.

Grammy Squares have been placed in a permanent “never to be seen again” file called Trash Can.  I have never ditched my work in the trash, but I really made a mistake when I did not use a black background for the squares!  It was not going in a good direction and I knew I would never ever finish that project.  WHAT A RELIEF.  I will make the quilt, but will use different fabrics (probably batiks) and a black background to showcase the fabrics!  I have finished more of my mini Dresden Plates, but am now cutting out more and will showcase those at a later date.  I finally finished Block 5 of Bountiful Life in September and have kept up with Circa 2016 until the middle of September.  The final setting was provided on 7 October.  I believe I have 9 blocks to make along with 120 HSTs to make for the border.  I will post a picture of the quilt when I have finished it.  I have really enjoyed working this project and hope to have it finished in the next month!   Ms Potts summer blocks are completed but have not worked on the block for September or October.  I have completed the “replacement” for Block 20.

I thought it would be nice to put the finished blocks on the design wall to see how my colors were blending.  I am pleased.

Leaving on a Positive Note:  I have really missed blogging, but this break in my “routine rut” has really lifted my mood and spirits.  Thursday was a day that provided me with 4 positive changes in my life.  Positive Number 1 was the trip to the Dermatologist which confirmed that my stress level has been too high this summer – my Rosacea is off the charts.  (Amazing what stress does to a body).  This was good news for me better than a pre-cancerous issue.  Positive Number 2 was  the decision to devote time to Genealogy research for the Cook and Chopin families will provide me the mental challenge I have been looking for (better than getting a part-time job – LOL)  and will probably settle me down stress wise.  Positive Number 3 for Thursday was taking time to  check out a yarn store in San Antonio called Yarnivore.  What a wonderful yarn shop, with personality plus and teaching classes/lessons available that will fit my schedule.  Positive Number 4– I had placed an ad in the local paper looking for quilters in the area that would be interested in joining a Quilting Bee while in Durant.   When one lives in the country it can be exciting to find someone who shares your interest.  As we arrived home from San Antonio, I received a call from a lady (Dorothy) who was very excited and interested in a Quilting Bee.  We plan on getting together in November and hope to find a few other ladies that would like to join us.   Sometimes we just have to “getaway” from home to really clean out the clutter in the mind and develop a new perspective on life.   Maybe the last 2 years are finally behind me.

I think I have mentioned in a previous blog as to what I do if a Black Cat crosses my path – I turn around and go the other way – Thursday morning as Clay was locking the gate, my neighbor’s black cat did just that, and I did exactly what I usually do, I turned around and left our subdivision the opposite way – and look at the good luck I had all in one day – of course Clay thinks I am nuts and always has a good laugh on me, but that is fine.  I am convinced that turning around did it for me!  LOL

Have a blessed day and if you have not voted, please remember that it is an honor to be able to participate in the election process.  ME – I am in the Basket of Deplorables!!!!!!