This n That

 My brain seems to be on overdrive lately - planning, scheming, and dreaming. That's a good thing, I think, except for maybe getting distracted with new ideas.  Squirrels are everywhere!!!

Saturday morning we got up early and drove to Canton SD to watch 2 of the grandkids play soccer.  It was cold but sunny and the kids had fun.  After soccer, we had lunch with them, and then my daughter and I took a little detour without the guys or the kids.  Our first stop was Our Timeless Day - a quilt shop.  They had given me a gift certificate for my birthday and it was time to spend it.  

Canton's downtown area has some very interesting old architecture, including a quilt retreat building that looks like a castle.  The quilt shop is just one of many neat old buildings.  Notice the antique sewing machine being used as a door stop?  And how about the gorgeous detail on that inside doorway?  We really enjoyed shopping there!

Sunday was cold and windy, and I spent a good share of the day sewing. I got all of the blocks made for Rectangles, made with brights and black.  The next step on this one is to sew the rows together.  

Monday was much warmer and finally NOT windy.  I spent the morning working - walking that cemetery again with my maps and clipboard.  I was able to verify all of the grave locations and added some missing info from my first pass through there.  I was able to hand over all of the data and maps to the drafting guys this morning so they can put together that directory for the client.  

Tuesday morning I woke up really early, which is highly unusual for me.  I'm not generally a morning person.  But the benefit of being up early was quiet time to sew before sitting down at my computer for work tasks I needed to finish.  

I finished the last couple of Wisdom blocks for a charity project.   These 12 blocks will be in the mail today.  The host of this block drive asked for this block done with light backgrounds and bright primary colors for children's quilts.  I used a lot of scraps from my stash for these.  Ironically the colors are much brighter in person than in these photos.

Two pillowcases from the 6 I had kitted up have now been completed.  There was enough fabric for 3 of those frog ones.  The other 2 are pinned and ready to sew.  There was enough fabric for 2 of the road pillowcases, plus just enough for the cuff of another.  

One of the 2 Farmers Wife Sampler blocks for this week is completed.  This one is Whirlpool, number #102 in the book.  Seeing the photo now, I see it needs to be pressed better.  

And now for the squirrels . . . which are a product of lots of quiet windshield time on Monday.  My brain was busy dreaming up new projects while I was driving.  

After finishing that Jelly Belly Bars quilt recently I realized that the pattern would make a lovely Quilt of Valor too.  So I made a couple of sample blocks on Tuesday morning.  It might even be a future block drive for our QOV group to make as they are quick and easy.

And while the patriotic fabrics were on my mind . . . here is another squirrel.  I'm taking inspiration from another blogger I follow who has been posting some wonderful table runners lately.  I even created a set of instructions for myself combining her idea and links to the Missouri Star video tutorial, and it is all tucked into a project box so I can find them when I want to make this.  Sooner rather than later, hopefully.  I'll explain more on this one another day.

OK, this post just kept growing didn't it?  Just like the project list has been growing lately.