You know I'm feeling better when I get back to sewing. I bought a bundle of fat eighths of a Moda line called Tulip Tango and plan to make a quilt with sawtoothed stars in different sizes to show off the lovely prints. Here is the first batch of blocks.
As I was cutting four 8" blocks at one time this morning, I saw the following on one of the selvages.
I've never seen such a sweet sentiment on a selvage, but I sure agree with it! Thank you, Lady Bird, for brightening my day!
Well, I have it. After all this time, avoiding crowd situations, wearing a mask when no one else was, and just being careful, I think I caught it from the church secretary Tess and I visited last Thursday to discuss set up for the state quilt guild meeting. Elizabeth had said she'd meet us at 8:30 am sharp Saturday to unlock the building, so we were surprised to see another lady, Sandy, who merely said, "Elizabeth is very sick." Oh, brother.
I had woken up with a slightly scratchy throat and a slight cough. By the end of the day, I was exhausted, but I figured it was because I had had to run the meeting, introduce speakers, and keep things moving along. I'm usually tired after such a long day. I did take a COVID test, which was negative, so Paul and I went out for salads. But by Sunday, I was much worse, and my next test was positive. The doctor has prescribed Paxlovid, which Paul will pick up today, and I hope it speeds recovery. This is the worst sore throat and drippy nose I've had in a long time, and I just want to sleep!
I just hope Tess, Paul, and all the people who came to the meeting don't get it. I sent various messages to people I've been in contact with since Thurs. So far, both Tess and Paul have tested negative, thank goodness. I won't be going to tonight's quilt guild meeting, yoga tomorrow, or Thursday's genealogy club. My dear friend Cindy is flying in Thurs. from California for her granddaughter's college graduation, We had planned to get together Friday and, hopefully, I'll be well enough to sit with her outside to catch up. We were so looking forward to this, and we had also planned to drive down to NH to visit another friend on Tuesday. One day at a time!
We haven't walked in the Town Forest in two years. The first year, the pandemic was in full swing, and last year, Paul wasn't up to it, our dear walking friend was dying, and other walkers were busy. Paul and I resolved to get more walks in there this summer and took our first one this morning. We left home around 8 am, before it got too hot. The leaves are just beginning to pop out, so much of the area was sunny or very lightly dappled. It will be deep forest in a few weeks. It was good to get out today, though, because it's quite busy in the forest on weekends. It's a multi-use trail, so there are walkers, bikers, disc golfers, and the occasional horse.
The Old Man does bear a slight resemblance to what used to be the Old Man in the Mountain in New Hampshire before it fell down. There's a picnic table and a disc golf hole nearby, so it's a nice spot to sit and watch the world go by. We proceeded on to the #6 Quarry and then along the Mainline trail for a while before returning to the car.
We walked a little under a mile and returned home by 9 am when it was already getting hot out. Glad we went, we hope to get out there a few times a week now.
Spring is an exciting time in Vermont. After that long, cold, and often gloomy winter, things seem to green up awfully fast. Often we have frost one day and 80 degrees the next, making spring rather short. But we'll take whatever we get as long as it's not snow. Hope you had a nice Mother's Day. Chris came for lunch, bearing a pretty calla lily plant which I will find a place for in the garden.
I did find a little time to sew some "Favorites" blocks for Aby's block of the month. The one on the right is a little smaller because I don't have the tool she recommended for the "Peaky and Spike" pieces. I will fit it in somehow, though. This quilt has a variety of sizes with a center medallion 18" and blocks either 6" or 12". Aby's directions so clear that they work up quickly using this "Pressed Flowers" background fabric.
My lackadaisical attitude is due to today's busy-ness - the memorial concert at the library for my dear friend Christine who passed away in September. She was the president of our Friends group, and tonight's concert will feature two musicians who like sing-alongs as much as she did. The Friends will be setting up chairs and providing refreshments, and of course cleaning up afterwards. It should be a lot of fun, and I think Christine would have enjoyed it, too.
My eyes tell me the pollen count is increasing, and everything outdoors is really greening up. The lilacs have big buds and all of my bulbs are in full bloom. It won't be long before the blueberries and crabapples start blooming, too, especially because sun and warm weather are in the forecast for the entire coming week.
Yesterday, I got busy on the RSC blocks for the month. The color choice is sage and forest green, but I'm just going with a variety of greens because that's what I have. I made four pineapple blocks, three house blocks, and five bowties.
We had a fabulous weekend, weatherwise - sun, warmer temperatures, lots of things turning green outdoors. I opened windows to let the fresh air in and got out pots to let them catch any rain that may fall today, and Paul even washed the car. Tulips are about to bloom - one did open and I took it inside to enjoy.
I cut out and sewed a few of the 14 blocks for Austen Jubilee each day, my version of the mystery quilt using Bonnie Hunter blocks from Quiltmaker. I had to dismantle one completely, but mostly, the May blocks are together.
The Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for May is sage/forest green. Hooray! I really need to get into my green tub and do some cleaning out. I'm not sure when I'll get to my various blocks of the month, though. It's going to be a busy month, with Christine's memorial concert on the 7th, the state quilt guild meeting on the 14th, and lots of appointments and meetings in between. I'm sure there will be planting going on here, but also a few rainy days for sewing pineapple, house, and bowtie blocks.
