Tuesday, April 24, 2018

To Do On Tuesday: Pineapples, Feathers -- Oh, Yeah, and GROCERIES!

OH MY GOSH -- today is my 16-year quilting anniversary!  I finished my very first quilt sixteen years ago today, a Roman Square I Spy quilt for my oldest son's first "big boy bed."  

My First Kid and My First Quilt!  April 24th, 2002
And here he is today, nearing the end of his junior year in high school:

Same Kid, Sixteen Years Later
Good happy Tuesday morning!  I've decided that I like this Tuesday weekly goals linky.  I like it because it gives me all of Monday to recover from a busy weekend before I have to make plans for the new week!  As far as being held accountable for the goals I posted last week...  Well, that part isn't my favorite, but here goes:

My big accomplishment from last week was Battling the Bloody Quilt-Wrecking Fabric in my Jingle BOM.  I started a new pineapple log cabin block, but it isn't finished yet.  I got majorly sidetracked on a Princess-and-the-Pea style audiophile odyssey that I may tell you all about later this week, if I get around to it.  My next two weeks are really busy; I'm singing the Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem this Sunday afternoon with the VOX chorus and I have a few shaky passages that I need to tighten up on my own in before the dress rehearsals.  One of my sons has three improv performances this week that I'm looking forward to attending, and I also have a bar mitzvah and a friend's birthday this weekend.  My husband is out of town on business this week so I'm holding down the fort solo and handling all the chauffeuring duties (Bernie doesn't like me to tell the Internet when he's out of town, but I'm protected by two hundred pounds of Rottweiler with a combined bite force of 1400 pounds.  Anyone planning a home invasion should be sure to set their affairs in order first).    

Rottweilers Are For Snuggling, and For Eating Intruders
Meanwhile I need to learn the alto line in two a cappella pieces that I'm singing at the wedding of other friends who are getting married next Saturday, I've barely even looked at that music, and I have no idea what I'm wearing to the wedding...  So those are my excuses -- just letting you know up-front not to expect too much from me this week!

In fact, these are my goals for the next TWO weeks:

  1. Finish Pineapple Log Cabin block #36 and reevaluate whether I really need the additional row of blocks for this quilt in order to fit my California King bed.  If I just go with 36 blocks I would be DONE and my quilt would finish approximately 106.5" x 106.5".  But that's before quilting and before laundering..
    Must. Finish. This. Block!
  2. Finish quilting AND binding Tabby Mountain.  My ailurophile friend's birthday is coming up in a few weeks, so that's my soft deadline for finishing this Disco Kitty quilt.  I don't want to rush it, though, because I'm using this project to work on skills acquisition.  And NO, I'm not going to just freehand the feathers for two reasons: First, because there is such a thing as muscle memory.  Remember learning to write in cursive in first or second grade, how they had us trace over beautifully formed penmanship first and THEN practice writing it on our own?  My theory is that tracing over nice feathers over and over again will build the muscle memory for freehanding nice feathers faster, as opposed to spending 40 hours teaching my muscles how to draw lumpy ogre toe feathers!  And I have an idea for marking those lovely feathers on all 96 triangles in a blink of an eye...  I'll tell you all about it once I've tested it out!
    Maybe Feathers!

And that's about it, folks.  Except OH, YEAH -- Hopefully at some point this week I'll manage a trip to the grocery store, because otherwise we will be having some really weird meals consisting of raisins, rice, and olives from that jar in the back of my fridge.  Have a great week, everyone!

Oh, and if you're local to the Charlotte area and you are into that sort of thing, I'd love to see you at the VOX Brahms concert on Sunday afternoon.  You can get your tickets here:

I'm linking up with: 
·       To-Do Tuesday at Stitch ALL the Things: http://stitchallthethings.com

4 comments:

Home Sewn By Us said...

Hi Rebecca Grace,
What a pretty name! I think you are well covered from intruders! Anyone stupid enough to consider breaking in would probably appreciate the warning and rethink their vocation. Although those two rotties look like pussycats - at least when you're around. Good luck learning all the lines you need to. It sounds like a lot, but if you enjoy singing you can do that anywhere! During the car rides, grocery shopping (disregard the looks), etc.
~smile~ Roseanne

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

you are doing wonderful on all your quilts considering you are so busy with other things it is a wonder you get as much quilting done as you do. I would love to hear you sing but alas I am way to far to come. I hope you get all your projects done when you want them to but the world won't come to an end if you don't but some work well under pressure - good luck to you!

KaHolly said...

I read your comment on Pink Doxie's most recent post and said, 'I’ve got to meet this girl'! I’m glad I stopped by. What a delightful and engaging post. I look forward to taking the time to peruse your archived posts. In the meantime, good luck with your performances (and the grocery shopping, a task I hold with disdain), and with reaching your goals. Love your 'pups'!

Christine Slaughter said...

Wow, I am behind on posts (again), and you sure had a busy week! Those Rotties have the sweetest faces! I'm sure they wouldn't look as sweet were I trying to force my way into your home though...LOL! Happy quiltiversary!! So exciting!