checking in...August 28

Yep...still here and happy to say I am now 2/3 done quilting Max's quilt.  It certainly reflects my long break from quilting but I think a 1 year old won't mind if the quilting is not perfect!
We met my son for dinner last night as his family are out of state visiting family.  How wonderful to be able to sit and chat and catch up!  He works more hours as he climbs the management ladder and so time with him is very special.

I have been in the accepting mode of having my sons be in the prime of their careers and dedicated to spending their spare time with their families and/or their personal interests,..leaving me behind as they live their adult lives.
We age, we change, we evolve on into our lives..time moves on.  I love my sons and know it's not that they love me any less...it's how life is...we grow up beyond our immediate family circle, creating our own families and that cycle goes on...and on...

I am enjoying my gradual return to being creative via quilting...I am reading blogs and my favorite group email list..gaining that sense of quilter community and "catching up".
I marvel at how many quilters can accomplish so much!  The amazing quilting going on is so inspiring!

I am doing a lot of book  reading ,  just finished Bel Canto by Ann Patchett.    It's based loosely on the takeover of the Embassy in Peru back in the late 90's...when my sweetie flew in to visit friends who lived in the city there.  I can remember hearing on the news about it and knowing she was on a plane headed into that crisis.  It seems a very long time ago now.   I have to say I agreed  with her, it is really a good read and yes, sad.

Tonight I need to spend some time in the yard as I pretty much ignored it this last weekend and worked on clearing up clutter out in the garage-I am closer to putting my car back inside!  It takes a lot of time when you go through a box of keepsakes and decide most of it can be tossed...I am determined to go through these boxes rather than just shove them into another holding area...I really need to pare down and I find the end of summer, going into autumn to be a time when I have the focus to be effective.

Ok...time to get dressed for work and shift into the work world mode!  

Hope your day is filled with all that is wonderful !!!

weekend update

Gardening pretty much took up much of my weekend...with breaks to chat online with quilting friends and catch up on blog/email reading.  We are having our house painted and that means I now have a deadline on removing all the weeds that sprang up beside the house...with our 90 degree plus weekend weather, that meant mornings of manual labor on my part followed by a shower and rest.  We met up with family to enjoy Sunday afternoon of  http://www.atomic-arts.org/ bringing along a blanket and cold drinks/snacks.
It was at Cathedral Park located under the St John's bridge...at oh 93 degrees out we sat in shade with friends prior to the show...moving over to our blanket in the sun (killer view point however) knowing the sun would shift behind the bridge in time for the show to start...and it did!!!  ah sweet shade.

A great show..live performance is so much fun and they did their usual outstanding show.

We stayed up Saturday night to go over to a friends and watch the meteor showers...it was pretty fun to lay on the lawn and watch the sky...but staying awake until 2 am to catch the show was a challenge!  We managed to see some but really the surrounding city lights and a cloud cover that crept in dampened the show.  We left at around 2:30 am getting home at 3 am...oh my...another reason for not getting to my quilting.

So went the weekend ...poof!  here it is Monday morning and time to drive to work and kick off 5 days of doing the day job.  I love the work I do and have a wonderful boss...but I sure do envy my sweetie being retired and doing as she pleases every day!

I know...no photos!!!   really...before the end of the week...I will post a photo...don't give up on me.

enjoy the day!  Cher

progress on Max's quilt

I put together the back over the weekend and last night I pinned the sandwich-now to clear the sewing table and begin quilting.  I am going to do some practicing on free motion quilting first...it's been a few years since I last did that type of quilting, usually I do straight line quilting on donation quilts.

We have been watching the Olympics and enjoying them very much.  Evening hours fly by too fast!

  I did more cleaning out in the garage looking for my small basket of quilting tools...now half of it is cleaned up and put away...I have about 3 good size containers of various paperwork to sort through and a few more containers of fabrics to figure out where to put.

Alice and I have been talking about a new quilt for her.  I asked her if she didn't already have plenty of quilts and the look she gave me was so funny...clearly she thinks more quilts are in order LOL...I am not going to start one for her any time soon..I actually have a pinned to quilt sandwich  in her new favorite colors...pink and purple I did a few years ago when I was making a quilt for my DIL, ( I had bought so much fabric, I made two tops on a quilting retreat).  She has many already and uses all of them in various ways...a lot of tents/forts mostly...it is lovely to see quilts strewn around her house clearly being used.  I noticed her daddy's baby quilt needs a new binding - the edges are getting quite frayed looking-back then I just stitched around like a pillow, no binding to protect the edges at all.

oops!  time this morning is running out...I do have a job to get dressed for and still need to eat breakfast!

Have a most wonderful day all...Cher