Morning Glory Studio

unravel wednesday | 5.30.18 | converging ...

 

Convergence Quilt by Barbara Dahlberg

• Tomorrow, I'm taking a quilt class on how to make a convergence quilt. I first ran across the concept April 2017 and signed up for a class scheduled for July. Unfortunately, I was the only registrant so the class was cancelled. As fate would have it, the instructor came to our quilt group this past February; I shared my tale of woe and she followed up by letting me know about tomorrow's class . Two of my Thursday stitching friends will be joining me. The photo above is an example made by the quilt instructor, Barbara Dahlberg; the quilt was on display at the courthouse with my Flower Garden this past Jan-April. 

 

fabric on my design wall

• For the past few days, I've been culling through my stash, looking for fabrics to make my quilt. I think I want to use the fabric pinned to my design wall...but, I am also being cautious. So, I've decided to make a practice quilt using other fabrics. 

 

• Of course, looking through my stash created the right conditions for me to do a little döstädning: purging, fondling, discovering, rearranging and getting reacquainted with my stash. Oh my - the possibilities are limitless. But in the meantime, I also have to figure out where I stashed my sewing machine cover! I may have to make one!

 

• ...And at 3:12 pm, today, I began 4321, on Audible....Will be a good companion to more döstädning and converging.

Joining Kat and others here...

Cheers~

I'm not much of a Pinterest fan but there are some great examples of  convergence quilts on the site.

tiny-tiny moments | Memorial Day 2018 weekend...

 

 Baby Elias’ first visit on his six months’ birthday, Sunday 27 th

Top Left to Right: Looking at the ceiling fan; a snuggle from Mommy...

Bottom Left to Right: A big smile for Great Grand Auntie Honoré ‘s camera and a nap in Mimi’s (his grandmother) arms.

Other  Holiday Weekend moments: 

1. Finished - at last the 4th Inspector Gamache novel:    Four down, nine to go! Numbers 5 & 6 are queued in my Audible account, ready for the big listen...
2. Enjoyed our family gatherings, Sunday: my nieces and Baby Elias. Big brother Chris was otherwise engaged ( with his dad) so ;-((.  Monday: Norman’s son visited...
3. Completed the major döstädning of my craft and sewing rooms...well, at least, the first pass through...Over the summer’s 100 days plus, I plan to tackle the closets/storage areas; books; memory keeping and quilting projects, supplies; stuff and clothes ...
4. Watched a bit o’ baseball and a movie or two ...
5. Appreciated the quiet of the “world slowed down” a tad thanks to the 3-day weekend.

What magical tiny tiny moments filled your holiday weekend?

Cheers~

FriYAY | 5.25.2018...

 

 

YAY!  The weather's been 99% perfect. Blue sky; sunshine and  low to mid 80s temps! Perfect invitation for a walk to Zeke's for an iced caramel latte´ (made with decaf and almond milk) and a sit-outside on the Avenue ( Rhode Island/US 1 in DC). 

YAY! Journal Club resumed today... a good reason to schlep my iPad and iPhone, journal and pens/colored pencils with me to Zeke's.

YAY!! For inside and outside WiFi at Zeke's; outside was too iffy so I easily gathered my stuff and moved inside and perched at the counter with a full view of the Avenue and easily continued with Journal Club. 

YAY! A wonderful start to the long holiday weekend. Family comes Sunday - Elias'  first visit! Enjoy your weekend!

Cheers~

thursday's 3 | 5.24.18

Nature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished ~ Lao Tzu

        Today has been absolutely lovely ... a preview, I hope, of June, just seven days away. Where does the time go?! I spent the day with my Thursday stitching group, joined by one who underwent major surgery just three weeks ago - she's doing wonderfully! T'was good to see her...and her yard, which is where I took the above photos.

I love the :

• flowers (and the fence...still working on that); 
• two frogs a leaping;
• the turtle and the inscription!

Perfect for a perfect day ... and a blog post!

Cheers~

Joining Carole and others for 3 on Thursday here.

 

unraveled wednesday | 5.23.2018...

For the past two mornings, I've enjoyed an extended MSQT - morning solitude and quiet time...and today, the sun even shone! Wahoo!

Sunday, I finished stitching the binding on Elias' quilt...and he gets to see it Sunday (I'm going to keep for one more week to take to a June 4 workshop). I'm delighted with my friend Diane's quilting: On the blue inner borders, top, right and bottom, she inscribed: "To the Moon and Back"; on the Left inner border: " A Star is born...Elias ~ 11.28.17 " And in the polka dot blocks, hearts! 

On the reading front, I'm almost done with the fourth Inspector Gamache novel ~ just 39 pages to go! I plan to finish Saturday 26 May! And then, I will begin to listen to the rest of the series. I'm hatching a plan that I hope will facilitate more fiction reading over the  summer  as well as enable me to a) walk  and b) stitch (knit and quilt),  more. One thing for sure: I'm reducing the trips I make to Columbia each week, especially since gasoline prices continue to grow. And speaking of reading: PBS is sponsoring The Great American Read  Quite possibly there are titles that will play into Mary's  Summer Book Bingo, too.

Joining Kat and friends too...check out the comments to see what's up with them.

Cheers~

tiny tiny moments | 5.22.2018...

 

The story of yesterday, 5.21.2018: About two weeks ago, I upgraded my iPhone to the latest iOS operating system...and decided that I'd use the fingerprint recognition. Worked just fine and I was happy that I didn't have to key in a passcode... Somehow yesterday, I managed to lock my phone, couldn't use either the fingerprint recognition or the alternate passcode! All of this happened when I was getting ready to go to my weekly quilting gathering  followed  by plans to go to a quilt shop...NINETY + minutes later, with the patience and assistance of Apple, I was able to use my phone, again! We wound up having to erase everything on it because, of course, I hadn't backed up the phone to iTunes...Fortunately, my photos are in "the cloud" and also on my iPad. Whew! I have to  re-download my apps...that's fine and as I think of them, I do...

I arrived to the meeting right before it was over...afterwards, a friend joined me for lunch. I decided I'd go quilt shopping another day... I arrived home just before 4 PM and decided to create the day's layout, shown above. Dolly sent me those photos a couple weeks ago; love the boys in their matching SpiderMan outfits...and especially Elias' looks at his brother. I think they're going to be "best buds." 

Having spent so much emotional energy on my phone, I didn't have any left for posting...so, I had a glass of wine and called the day OVER! 

Happy to report that today - Tuesday - has been just fine: no pressures... just a thunderstorm...and that's about to end at at any moment.

Cheers~

forward to tomorrow...

 

 

 

Yesterday we had driving rain, all.day. and-in-to-the-night-long! After spending the morning to mid-afternoon with my Thursday stitching group, I drove to meet up with Laura, my dear friend and former VA (virtual assistant), from Florida.  She has been in the area all week and this was our one chance to meet. We met outside a library in Howard County - she was there for a closing training event for new library associates (people with bachelor's degrees but do not have a master's degree ) who provide public services to library customers.

We had a fun couple hours! First - in the driving rain, we went to Barnes & Noble - yes a bookstore - sharing, as we browsed, books we've read ... and then drove to a local restaurant and had a light supper. About 6:30 pm, we left: she had at least a 2-3 hours drive and I,  1.5 hours; both in PM rush hour traffic and rain, rain, rain! I also wanted to be home for an online Q & A with  Gretchen Rubin about the Four Tendencies. I arrived with about 5 minutes to spare.

After the session, I realized I had left on my "to do" list, :

• Complete Day 17's layout and
• Write blog post.

I ran out of steam after I made the layout and went downstairs to join Norman and doze in front of the TV...which brings me to today! Shortly, in about two hours, I am going for a haircut! My hair is really.getting.greyer and wiry (I think)...  After, depending on the weather, I'll either go to the grocery store or go straight home. My money's on the latter. Which leaves tomorrow for me to finish prepping for our monthly Friendstitch Sunday gathering - I'm hosting - and I hope, a trip to the local nursery. The weather people tell us tomorrow will be dry and sunny...

I hope that all the items on your to do list are done!  And if not, just forward to tomorrow...or the next day or the next... Enjoy your weekend!

Cheers~

unraveled wednesday* | 5.16.18 ...

 

sunset 5.15.2018 ~ 7:55 pm

12:57 pm 

*not only on wednesday but every day...or so it seems. From time to time I make reference to a "groaning board agenda," something I'm quite prone to create for myself. Apparently my eyes are bigger than my stomach and/or I have no concept at all how long anything I set out to do will take...and today's no exception. On today's list: 10 things...and as of this writing, I've accomplished 50%. Of course, the day's not quite 50% done. A quick review, however, holds promise...and maybe, I will "push away from the table feeling not only full but accomplished"...time will tell...

Be that as it may, I've already forwarded two items to Friday and am tackling three in the next hour or so...so, onto today's topic:

Knitting/Stitching: Have not knit a stitch since last week but I am three-quarters finished with stitching on the binding of Elias' quilt! (Binding is the next to  last thing one does on a quilt; the last is usually to sew on a label)  I think I'll finish tomorrow when I join my Thursday stitchin' group!

Reading: I've about 100 pages left in Louise Penny's 4th Inspector Gamache Novel : A Rule Against Murder. This one intriques me because  included is a story about Gamache's father, whose name also happens to be Honore´... I'm curious to know why he's in this novel... As I've mentioned before, Fiction is not my "go to" genre of choice so I'm glad I've found Inspector Gamache. I plan to read the rest of the series via audiobook - except for a couple titles. ...And I'm thinking about "summer reading" choices - they make wonderful walking companions! 

And that's the way it is this Wednesday... just as I was penning this post, the fence estimator called...he was able to come early. So, perhaps I'll get through my list before the sun sets... Ha! no worry today: it's grey rainy ...and that's the way it's gonna be! Joining Kat and others today!

Cheers~

simply*a*moment | tuesday 5.15.18

 

 

 5:15 pm. ~ thoughts running through my mind:

Today has been hot and humid...Glad I took a walk earlier today...current temperature: 88°...

Deciding if I want to move the cabinets in the Great Room and hang my Flower Garden quilt there - it's home!

T'is a good thing I'm not a betting woman 'cause I'd have lost re: the oven. The repair technician arrived about 9 am this morning and fixed the problem: reset the oven's computer that locks the door when the self cleaning cycle is engaged. Norman thinks he may have accidentally pushed that button rather than the bake button. Best news: the service only cost $160.00. We're rich...

I have at least ten things going on at once; among them:

Looking out the window, I see a little one on a two wheeler -without training wheels- someone is holding the seat as he balances...I don't remember learning how to ride a bike? Do you? I just know I did...

Laundry in the dryer to collect...making a list of errands to run tomorrow: flowers for the deck and front porch; a new wind chime - the last major wind storm we had totally did in ours...remembering a 3 pm appointment to have measurements taken for the fence!

Loving this photo of Chris' and Elias' mother's day card that Dolly shared...

6 PM! Time to post this and move on to finishing today's layout...Trust you have had some exciting moments, today, too!

Cheers~

 

 

 

Weekending ...

  Photos from L to R: Friday - My now 17 years' old niece Kayla's 10th birthday pool party; Saturday - Dolly's Senior Prom, 14 years ago; Sunday - Mama and me (decades ago) in honor of Mother's Day...these layouts are part of my Layout A Day -LOAD 518 - Challenge. 

 

FriYAY 5/11

T'was a quiet and productive day, somewhat! This is what happened: 

We made an appointment for measuring the fence - after going to two more fence places . Once home, I

• finished the day's layout; 
• Read a lot - more like dipping in this and that: decided one book I bought earlier in the week  goes to the "free library!" I thought it was poetry...and is but I don't care for the first poem - just not my cup o' tea;
• Spent several hours döstädning scrapbook cardstock and pattern papers - I decided to separate by color/type: pattern and plain..

 

SATday 5/12

     8:15 am: Feeling rather lethargic...perhaps up too early. N even slept in late. Read, sort of journaled, piddled ...about 11:30a, decided I needed a nap ... and I did. Slept til 2-ish. Piddled around in Craft Room and then decided to take a walk - to Zeke's Coffee Shop!  On the way, I stopped at Art Enables: open house and free collage -making art activity  for visitors...I was quite impressed with the collages  self-acclaimed newbies were making. I like collage and have a huge stack of magazines I'm saving for just that purpose ... Note to Self: Family gathering the end of this month...maybe we'll collage and paint...I'm feeling a little more energy...and the breeze is delicious ...busy on the Avenue today...Zeke's is a popular pick-up point for Lyft & Uber it seems...

 

SUNday 5/13

7 am: Planned Obsolescence strikes again:  This time - the oven! Seems that something's gone wrong with the controls... so, we call tomorrow to see what if anything can be done...my bet's on a new oven! Why not: after all, it's Lucky 13.* 

8:32 am: Listening to Sunday Baroque while N has msnbc on...he was up too early - the oven...it's raining quietly and the air's cool... Lots of flute on Sun Baroque today, in honor of Mother's Day. Light, playful, joyful, delightful ... Time to delve into a book...and maybe fix a bite to eat: fruit; remainder of the lemon ricotta muffin...N wants to go to the grocery store later, early afternoon. Guess I'll make a list ... a list! The bane of my existence...

Otherwise, t'was a quiet day. N watched baseball, Turner Classic Movies, news shows, napped... I read and spent a goodly amount of time looking at YouTube videos on digital bullet journaling...a whole new adventure - or not! * And to bed, to bed about 10 pm!

And that's how the 2017 Week in This Life Ended ! 

 Cheers~

PS. *Tomorrow, Tues, 15 May, a service call has been scheduled...and two milestones to share: 1- My car clocked 140K miles this morning and 2 - this is my 1400th post...suppose I need to play the number 1-4-0?