Limping along

I don't know when I'll be able to drive over to Burlington to drop my machine off for cleaning/service.  Replacement screws arrived in the mail but do not fit, even though the online ad said they would.  I will let the service people know that the screw is inside the machine so they can put it back after cleaning.  At any rate, the machine is working OK these days so I'm gently using it to make some Dear Jane blocks.  That's what I mean by "limping."   I put the six blocks from last week away and have started on a few more.  I love the way they're turning out, using brighter scraps on various black and white backgrounds.

Yesterday was raw, gloomy, windy, and just plain cold, but I did get out to walk around delivering flyers about the neighborhood women's lunch next week with fellow organizer Sue.   I'll be thinking about what I can do or make for each person to take home - candy? a flower? something else?   It's supposed to be a little warmer today so I hope to get out to walk at least once.

Tonight is our monthly guild meeting, and I'm on the program "team."  That means bringing some refreshments, helping with set up/clean up, and, in my case, doing some of the program about UFOs and how to deal with them.  "Do as I say, not as I do!"  I have one hand quilting project from the mid-1980s but I do work on it, albeit slowly.  I get distracted by other projects, and of course that's what generates many UFOs.  I have a bagful of these to show and, I hope, a couple to give away for others to finish.

I've decided there are a few kinds of quilters:  (1) those who work on one thing at a time until it's finished, (2) those who work on several projects at a time (maybe using different techniques) until they're finished, (3) those who work on several projects at a time but are easily distracted by other projects.   I've read that the key to finishing is to set goals, but I find it's harder to set them now that I'm retired.  I like to goof off sometimes!

I may be one of those in the #3 category, but I do usually finish things... eventually.  The ones I don't finish are things I get frustrated with or don't like as I work on them.  The Austen Jubilee mystery quilt I worked on last year from Quiltmaker using Bonnie Hunter blocks is a case in point.  As I started to put it together after the reveal, it just looked too busy to go queen-sized.  Eventually, I saw that making two quilts - baby-sized and twin - would work better.  The twin is ready for long arming, and the baby one was being quilted until my machine got cranky.  It will be the first thing I work on when the machine comes home from cleaning.