Six Months Down

Can you believe we are halfway through the year? Thank goodness I keep this journal, because otherwise the last six months would be nothing but a blur of activity. We’re never idle, but it’s often hard to remember particulars of 180+ days or, in this case, the last 30 days. June was spent completing the Master Food Preservers program, canning, preparing the condo for new tenants (although, that was mainly Verne’s mission), setting up an Etsy site for my totes (at Jana’s urging…that’s putting it mildly; actually, it was a tongue-lashing for not having done it sooner), and doing a bit of quilting.

I accompanied Verne on two of the ten trips he made to Nevada in June. There isn’t a prettier time to drive Highway 88. The aspen were beginning to leaf out at the beginning of the month and were fully electric-green by month-end, when the wildflowers were also in full bloom. Breathtaking! We found Cece mostly recovered from her skiing accident in January, which left her with a broken right hand and broken ribs, and busily piecing/quilting new projects. I have to admire Cece, as she’s as gutsy with quilting as she is on the ski slopes, just charging ahead full of energy and enthusiasm for a new challenge. I’ve discovered she is a master at the satin stitch. The pumpkins in this adorable fall wall hanging are set off by the most perfect satin stitch. 

This second picture is of a fall table runner she made from fabric scraps leftover from her batik quilt she made last summer and very nicely quilted with a figure eight design.

Last time I was over I found her making the most adorable raw-edge appliqué of an elephant, which she planned to satin stitch, rather than leave raw edged.

As for my Etsy site, it’s up, but not entirely running. There’s a lot to do before anyone knows it’s there. I’m in the process of reading a book on setting up an Etsy business for dummies. An Internet business is quite different from traditional businesses and I’m feeling rather like a dummy, so the book’s title is fitting. I’m hopeful that it will eventually be a success, so I’m alternating my time between tweaking the site and making more inventory.

With all of these distractions I waited until the last few days of the month to fire up the long arm. I was hopeful that I’d complete three quilts and I would have, had it not been for a mishap on the third quilt on the 30^th day of the month. I got up early that day and spent about 30 minutes quilting before I noticed three tucks on the backing. Not good! I then spent the next 3-1/2 hours picking out the stitches at which point I folded up the quilt and put it back in the queue to be quilted another day. As for the two quilts I completed, the first was a holiday Snappy Square quilt Maria made the first of this year. The second, which is pictured below (prior to quilting), is a wedding gift for Lauren’s friend and roommate in Southeast Asia, Zenia.