Getting it all done

It's finally cooled off here.  Temps are below 100*.  Some mornings, I even need a jacket to walk the dog.  That's a very welcome relief, but the heat this year left my garden looking a mess.  I spent about an hour yesterday cleaning up and still have many jobs to do, but at least it was a start. 

I spent most of the weekend in the new studio.  Loving it in there.  I worked on the star quilt and finished the last block and got it assembled and the borders on.  I'm not very happy with the one dark border side, but hey, it is what it is.  I'm hoping that when it's bound with a dark binding that won't stand out as much.  I've also thought about taking the top and bottom borders off and moving them to the opposite sides.  That star in the corner kind of merges into the border and if I move it to the other side, it will contrast with the star blocks better.  But, we'll see if I do that.  I really enjoyed making this little quilt, coming up with the blocks and making them from a limited quantity of fabric and making it mostly of leaders and enders.  I used almost all of the fabric and am happy with the results. 

 

 

I also worked on this.  It's the real priority.  Rob's niece is going into the hospital for an extended treatment stay and he asked me to make a quilt...in two weeks.  We went through the tops I had already assembled and there were some nice ones, but I cautioned that someone in treatment was less likely to use a very nice quilt, fearing they'd damage it, so we picked this Linus top and Saturday morning, I got a back ready and pin basted it and started the quilting.  I finished yesterday afternoon, got the binding on and have started to hand sew that to the back.  I quilted it in a swirly wind pattern and it came out really great.  Much better than in my mind's eye. 

 

 

I asked what her favorite color was so I could pick a back.  They said autumn colors.  My answer was "you know that's not really a color, right?"  But, we picked a lovely falling leaves pattern for the back.  I'm sure she'll love it.

 

Last week,  I really let my star shine.  What I thought was dinner with the team on Monday night turned out to be dinner at a very fancy restaurant for the team and 30 retailers and their plus ones.  I wore jeans and a shirt that didn't fit very well, but had at least been ironed.  I was very out of place.  The next night, I was dressed to the nines and fit in much better.  It's weird how much  feeling underdressed played with my mind, but I didn't let it stop me.  When it was time to sit, the rest of the team jumped to tables with their biggest and most profitable retailers.  I sat in the back with two very out of place looking young women.  We were joined by another member of my team who should have been a comedian and then another couple.  We had so much fun.  We laughed and talked and told kid stories and work stories and celebrated a birthday.  The next day, someone said they heard I was at the fun table.  Okay.  We had our meeting on Tuesday and all went well...and I was appropriately dressed. 

 

Tuesday night, there was another dinner.  I sat at the table with a very out of place "country" couple and a nice lesbian and a friend of hers.  Again, we laughed and told stories and joked and poked fun at the company I work for and it was another great time. 

 

The next day, someone said "you were at the fun table again last night."  I answered honestly, without realizing it was going to be funny.  They weren't the fun tables until I got there.  I'm glad I can look past who the big players are and make sure everyone has a good time.  And, I'm very proud of my ability to relax and do what needs to be done instead of standing in the corner, trying to disappear before anyone realizes how very uncomfortable and out of place I feel.  Life is good. 

 

Everybody have a great week!!!  We'll see what I get up to.  Whatever it is, I hope it's fun. 

 

Lane