Thursday this and that

 My gardening for this spring is done.  I have 3 flower pots and they are planted.

OK - I will confess - these all contain fake flowers and greenery, with solar lights and a rain gauge tucked in with them. The back deck gets so hot that it's a struggle every year to keep flowers alive.  I ordered these flower "picks" from Amazon and they are supposed to be fade resistant.  We'll see.  The rain gauge is in the pot on the left.  The front porch stays in the shade so this is the 3rd year I've put a fake geranium in that big pot on the porch.  This year I've added additional greenery and red, white, blue twinkle solar lights.  These are all fake, but still look lots better than dying droopy real flowers.

The rest of this post will demonstrate that I'm struggling to focus on any one project again lately.  Actually the decluttering has contributed to the lack of focus because I keep moving things around in the sewing room, and finding things that need attention.  

I'm having a flare of the Achilles tendonitis that plagued me a few years ago.  That means it hurts when I just stand for long periods of time.  Yesterday I worked on the decluttering for awhile, then sat and sewed for awhile - then repeated that process.  Several RSC blocks were cut and sewn as well. 

Some of the Salt Water Taffy blocks have also been sewn, but there are still lots more to go.  Because the cutting was already done I've just sat down and sewn a few when I needed to sit for awhile and let that Achilles rest.  

As I sorted scraps yesterday, I set aside some that were big enough for some Quilts of Valor blocks. Rather than adding those scraps to the RWB bin, I cut them to make 4 more of the Echoes QOV block.  I think I'll sew these up right away today because they are really fast to make with big pieces. 

The tracing has begun for the Beach Bums project.  There are 9 pages of shapes to trace onto fusible.  I'll need to buy more because those shapes won't all fit onto the 2 yards of Heat n Bond Light I just bought.   

 There is a small bin holding various parts and pieces for doll quilts, mug rugs, and placemats that are "in progress". While decluttering in my sewing room this week, several mug rugs were trimmed up and ready for binding.  A few even have binding attached now. That bin is now emptier, and organized.  Plus - I cut batting scraps that were too small for other things into squares for future mug rugs. And I threw away some poor quality batting scraps I found.  Yay for this push to declutter!!! 

 

A big task yesterday was emptying this bin of scraps plus a canvas cube of selvages.  I dumped a bunch of smaller containers into this bin, then worked my way through it.  I need to be even more ruthless but I filled 3 bags (1 gallon) with selvages, so the cube is no longer overflowing on the shelf.  And 2 bags (2 gallon) of scraps - joined the rummage sale collection.  They can give those away, or throw them away.  I even threw away all the really small pieces.  That bin is now empty and on a shelf in the basement storage area - NOT to be refilled with fabric scraps!!!  I promise!!