Looking Back & Looking Forward #10: Wherein There Is A Lot of Whooping Going On

Osteosperum in my flower garden

Life has been so much better this week. No more train wreck. I'm chugging along very well and at pretty good speed, I might add.  My quilting is back on track. My yard is blooming with flowers. The weather is wonderful. I get to see all my children this Sunday!
I have packages being delivered here almost every day. Most of the fabric I ordered came in today.

I'm not sure what the name of this flower is. If you know, you can put it in the comments. Every day I take a stroll around my front yard flower garden. I like to look for things that are coming up, new blooms, and just enjoy my lovely flowers.

Right now, the lilac and the iris are just starting to bloom. I just adore lilacs. Their smell! The tiny little flowers. Did you know that my lilacs put on buds in February, April and November. Crazy flowers. I tell them that all the time. "What do you think you are doing?" Obviously they ignore me because they keep doing it year after year. The only time the buds come out to flower, though, is in April.

It was 10 minutes to sunset when I started writing and there just wasn't enough light to take a good picture.

But I digress...

Looking Back

I did so well this week! Happy dancing is going on all through my house. Everyone else in the house (the dog, the cat and hubby) all think I'm crazy...you form your own opinion.

Goal #1
My conservative goal is to get the yardage package(s) out of the mailbox, open them up and iron the fabric.

This was the orange fabric to make my grandson's High School graduation quilt. I had started out with some orange, but there just wasn't enough variety. For the whole backstory, click here. The fabric all came with three of the five arriving in the mail this afternoon.

I was going to try and hurriedly iron them to make my goal. But I was making split pea soup and had to go in and make the Irish Soda Bread that goes with it. I have a different bread that goes with many recipes I have. See this post for my thoughts on bread AND a recipe for bread.

I vote that I met this goal since 3/5th of the fabric didn't arrive until this after noon.

Here's the new fabric. To hear the accompanying details for this story, click here.

The top four are just different oranges with lots of design. The lower one is  shades of medium orange to burnt orange. I have a couple of other oranges in my first set of fabrics that are a burnt orange so this should work in just fine.

Goal #2:
Chip's One-Year Birthday Quilt
2.  I have the fabric ready and already have the pattern. Since I'll be free most of the next week, my goal will be to cut out the pieces.

Here's the fabric! Isn't it sweet?

I had ordered a yard of cowboy fabric for Chip's quilt, but it wasn't enough. I had to fussy cut all the fabrics and since it was in rows I could only fussy cut every other row. I cut out all the fabric I could and ordered more. It came today.
The blocks for Chip's quilt are 6-1/2" square. You need 20 squares for the quilt.

The picture on the left shows the two fabrics that will be bordering the blocks.

The bonus is that once I've cut the fabric for Chip's quilt, there's enough left over to make a baby quilt. So I fussy cut the remaining fabric and will cut the rest.

The blocks are 4-1/2" square. It needs 20 blocks and makes a baby size quilt.

Below are a couple of pictures of this pattern. The one on the left is a baby quilt made for a co-worker of mine. The one on the right was made by Firstest when he was eight.

Looking Forward:

Next week I plan on putting most of my energy into Firstest's quilt and maybe a little time on a couple of side projects.

1.  Firstest's Quilt:  

     Cut new fabric into pieces.

     Assemble 10 blocks

 2.  Military Mom Quilt (see here for post with explanation of this quilt)

      Figure out and draw up the layout of quilt

3.  Computer chair pillow

     Make cover for pillow

That should keep me busy. Since we are going to a SFGiants game on  Friday afternoon and to Firstest's Court of Honor for his Eagle Scout Award, I may not get everything but #3 is a wish, and any work on #2 will do.

I hope you have a wonderful week with lots of flowers, happy circumstances and joy with the ones you love.

Nyd din dag! (Danish for "See You Later!")

I'll be sharing this post on linky parties. Be sure and jump over to them to check out what other accomplished and fascinating quilters are doing. The Linky Parties are listed by day of the week.  

Really Random Thursday

I have been so busy trying to clean house for when TGS and OSLW come for a 10-day visit next week, that everything else is falling into ruin. Now the kitchen isn't staying clean because I'm too busy trying to shovel out the guest room! My laundry isn't getting done because I'm trying to get my vegetable and flower gardens weeded...You see how it goes?

I feel like my life is dedicated to randomness lately. I have to really fight my tendency to "squirrel" (see explanation in  this post!). Start to clean guest room. Oh, here's a dish I need to put in the kitchen. Trot down the hall. Oh look! I didn't put away the cereal from this morning. Clean, clean, clean. Oh yes, I was cleaning the guest room. Start to amble down the hall. Oh dear, I left my sweater hanging on the railing of the living room, I should put it away. Stroll to MBR. Oh darn! I forgot I was going to put in some laundry. Drag laundry to garage. I can't believe I forgot to clean the cat litter. Carrying bag of "cat poopies" at arms length to garbage can. Look at all those palm fronds that have fallen with all the wind lately. I'll put them in the yard waste can. Oh shoot! I'm supposed to be cleaning the guest room.

Does this even sound slightly familiar?

But I digress...

My random presentation for this week are some awfully adorable girls. These are my two granddaughter, Curly and Sweety. I was having a Skype chat with them and captured these pictures.

Curly showing me her Easter loot. That's Nancy Drew in the background.

Sweetie and Curly on the egg hunt

Curly looking at picture of herself on Skype.

I tawt I taw a wabbit

Look at my egg!

Showing Nonny the candy in their mouths.

*Sigh* I sure wish they lived closer. Thank heavens, stars and moon that we have Skype!

I'm linking up with Really Random Thursday at Live A Colorful Life. Click on the badge in the right column and see what other random people are doing randomly.

Design Wall Monday

I have a different sort of design wall this week. I've gotten very little quilting the past two weeks. And yes, I am doing fine...not perishing from lack of quilting.

Along with quilting blogs, I also follow a blog called A Simpler Life, Creating a Simpler, Saner Life. I've signed up for a Decluttering Class there with Beth, the blogger and person behind the simpler life. She sends out weekly Simplicity Tips and has a Declutter Calendar for each month of the year. The class starts tomorrow. I really need this class, I mean, like, really need this class. I know all of you out there are so organized and together, but there are people like me...less talented at keeping it together.

In a couple of paragraphs you will see the depth of my need to declutter. However, Beth gave a challenge to the class to take on a small task to finish before the Declutter Class began. I chose to weed and plant my lettuce.

This picture is now lost because somebody deleted it from the hard drive

TaDa!

No peeking below!  Just look at this garden box in wonder and awe!

This is my design board for the week!

Yes, I got 6 lettuce seedlings in, plus another row of lettuce seeds planted. And a row of green onions planted.The weed cloth is covering the seeds from the birds, they always forget to look there.

And what's ahead of me...this year we have had a bounty of weeds. And I don't weed until right before Spring starts. So Exhibit 1 and 2 are below. Or as I like to call them:

Yucky One and Yucky Two

These pictures are now lost because somebody deleted them from the hard drive

And here is one of two planters with strawberries coming back very nicely.

Now just follow me...keep walking, we're walking, walking...

You see, my son TGS and his OSLW are coming to visit at the end of this month. Hurrah!  I can't wait for them to get here and I'm glad it's a few weeks away. I bet a few of you know of this conundrum.

Most of the house is fine. After all, my sisty ugler was here a few weeks ago and we got the house purtified. The other things that didn't get done, we closed the doors on. I'm one of "those" people who put dirty dishes in their oven when guests come over. Ask my kids. They'll tell you the story of the time I put a plastic colander in the oven. A few days later, I turned on the oven...sniff...sniff...what's that horrible smell??? Baked colander!

I also will gather things up quickly into a laundry basket and put them out in the garage. Or in the tub with the shower curtain pulled.

Stop snickering! You know you do it too!

There's some little straightening, dusting, floor mopping, vacuuming to do. And then there's THIS!

Guest bedroom, right side

Guest bedroom, left side

 And THIS!

Back porch, left side

Back porch, middle

Back porch, right side

I'm glad none of you know where I live...not that you'd want to come after seeing this!

The sad fact is TGS & OSLW read this blog. No secrets now, blabber mouth. I just want them to appreciate how gorgeous the house is when they come. Or pat me sympathetically while they say, "The pictures didn't do it justice."

I've linked up with Judy over at Patchwork Times. Click on badge in right column to see quilts on real design walls!