Hello it's Me.

     Long time no see.  I'm popping in to let you know that I am still alive.  Yes I did come down with a nasty virus three plus weeks  ago but my energy levels are finally getting back to normal.
     And yes I have been working on things quilting related in big and small ways.  Not all these things can be shared at this point but eventually.  Here are some things I can share.
We had a bee day at the local guild and I worked on cutting some kits prior to bee day.  Then just before bee day the chair of the outreach committee came down with the same virus I had so as she was on the downward spiral and I was on the upward spiral I ran bee day which was super easy because all the committee members know what they are doing and pretty much did everything.  Here are some of the quilts tops that where created.

and here are some more.  There are more quilts that others have.

     I have put together about 8 quilt backings and these will be kitted up with backing for guild members to quilt after which they will be donated to the local sexual assault/domestic violence unit in our town.  
     Since Wendy, Cyndy and I got our sitdown longarm we have been doing some of the quilting for the guild ourselves.  My practice has been to quilt one of my own quilts and then one for the guild.  Here is a closeup of the latest guild quilt I quilted.

     I was practicing wavy lines and curls.   I can definitely see progress in my quilting.  When I was sick I watched a lot of quilting videos and I like to think I learned something from them.  Over all I'm finding that I really enjoy using the machine and things are getting much smoother.  I'm not sure how many gazillions of hours I will have to spend before my stitch length gets consistent but I'm not entering these quilts into shows.
     I got three quarters of the way through my current project when I ran out of thread.  I was wanting to use a 40 weight thread because it worked so well for me on the frog and turtle panel above so Wendy gave me a King Tut thread she had.  I was doubtful that there was enough on the spool to get through the quilt and I was right.  Now I have to wait for our local supplier to get it back in stock before I can order it.  It's a good thing I have a couple of weeks before my deadline.  
     I guess I will get to spend some time working on my other projects.

Goal for November

     Boy this virus is a doozie.  It hit me like a ton of bricks last Tuesday and I've been hanging out in bed pretty much since then. I've read several books, done several Sudoku's and watched several  Handi Quilter videos for the Sweet Sixteen.  Helen Godden, I'm a fan!

   I've managed to get the odd easy quilting related thing done.  I trimmed up this quilt to get it ready for binding and I have been working a bit on get quilt kits ready for our guild bee day which is on Saturday.

   But now it's time to think of a goal for November.  Because I have a lot to do I've decided to pick a fairly small goal for the month.  In the summer I started the 2019 Summer Sampler but I found it overwhelming to work on while I was still working full time, so I set it aside.  I've decided to pick it up again.

     Here are the two blocks I managed to do in the summer with the huge stack of instructions.  My goal for November is to complete 3 blocks.  Now if I just get and stay healthy, I can probably complete this goal along with the other projects I want to complete this month.

     I guess what!  I won the  pattern Three Dogs and One Sassy Cat  designed by Mary Hertel which was the pattern prize for the October Goal.  It's a perfect pattern for little kids and there are a lot of them in my extended family now.  
I'm off to the November OMG linkup at Elm Street Quilts.