I see the finish line

Quilting is the perfect thing for a weekend that's too cold to play outside, and that's exactly what I did.  We had "wintry weather" last week.  There was a little ice, a little sleet.  Bridges froze over and because Austin isn't equipped to handle that once a year event, everyone was asked to stay home.  That didn't affect me much, but Rob was home Thursday and Friday.  We ate lots of soup.  There was still a little ice on the ground yesterday in shady places, but I was able to be out in shirtsleeves and a cap for a little while.  It wasn't the kind of weather I wanted to work in the yard, tho.

So, I quilted.  I quilted lines and pearls and filler and when I was done with all that, I moved out to the boring, boring border.  Up.  Down.  Up.  Down.  Up.............  All in the ditch.  I'll never be afraid of ditch work again.  I missed the ditch on a few of them, but not many.  Ditchwork takes a lot of concentration and every so often, I'd get an idea in my head and suddenly I'd be out of the ditch.  My theory is that if I can find the errors when all the quilting is done, I'll correct them.  It saves me so much work stopping and correcting every little thing that I notice because I'm 10" away from it and laser focused.  I used to try to correct every one, but one time I left one for later and then couldn't find it again and decided that was a good idea.  Anyway, I'm 3/4 of the way around.  That's a very good thing.

I also finished the water lily block for the Flower Garden quilt.  I enjoyed this block.  And, I made adjustments.  At first, the white petal extending down into the pink center bothered me, but now, I'm kind of liking the imperfection of it.  I always look up the flowers for color inspiration and the pictures I found had overlapping petals where the colors changed, so that's cool.  If it bothers me long term, I'll adjust it again.  It's easy enough to do, if I'm very, very careful.

I made the block (sorry for the big shadow in the pic) and looked at it and thought 'meh'.  There was something off about it.  The flower didn't feel very "round", so I took it back to the cutting table and picked out a couple seams to lift some petals and took a couple petals out and played with some color.  and rounded out the pink center a little bit.  This is what it looked like before. 

This is just me bragging.  This doesn't happen on every block, but look how the lines all came together as I was piecing.  Sometimes a petal will be a little off and I have to make adjustments, but this one came together nearly perfect.  

After last year's big winter event, I made a plan to add some insulation to the greenhouse.  We bought a really big tarp and a rope and planned...well, it's easier to show it.  

The forecast low dropped Wednesday afternoon, and I decided I wanted this on, so I pulled it out and unfolded it and ran the rope through the grommets around the edge.  I used two long poles, tied to the two far corners and lifted it over the peak, one side at a time and tightened the rope.  It only took about 40 minutes and about that same amount of time to take it off, with Rob's help.  I checked the temp in there pretty often and I never saw it drop below 40*.  Love that!!  I put some old blankets over the plastic greenhouse behind it and a floodlight and I didn't lose anything in there either.  It was great!  This felt very innovative, and it made me feel even better when it was a success.  

The only thing I think I lost was a birdbath.  How did I forget to empty the birdbaths????

A lot of progress was made with the manager last week.  He had to administer my performance evaluation.  All the things I do and all the potential for things I can do.  It gave me the opportunity to talk about myself, what I want, what I like, what I enjoyed.  Before he talked to me, he talked to his boss, who I worked for about 13 years ago, about me and what I'd accomplished over the last year.  I think the thing he said to me that impressed me the most was that I always have an opinion and I'm always willing to share it and even if a different decision is made, I'm willing to make sure the project succeeds.  Self promotion is very important.  

Everybody have a great week!  Stay warm.  And, try to get a little sewing done.

Lane