Monday June 2, 2025

Welcome June.  Or maybe I'd rather have a few more days of May.  USA Today says summer forecast calls for "overwhelmingly above normal" heat starting in June.  We've been in the low 70s this weekend. By Wednesday it'll be 87 and continue for several days. That's seems too hot, too soon. Hum, I guess I'll just spend more time in my basement studio.  It's generally much cooler than the main floor.  So, how did I do on my goals this week?  Not bad, not bad at all.  See below. 

5/26/25

✅Bind 3 yd project & make label — done and given to recipient. 

Add borders to UFO project —  nothing done.

✅Quilt one of my projects — quilted top from 2022 or so.

✅Pick a project to cut out for future retreat sewing — picked out but didn’t verify there’s enough fabric nor cut it out. 

✅✅Sing two shows with neighborhood group — two great concerts with appreciative audiences from our neighborhood. 

The private project I was working on was a quilt for Rochelle who has been the Spotsylvanian's accompanist for many years. She and her hubby are retiring to Michigan. She is a terrific pianist, a giving person, and makes us laugh.  She will be greatly missed.  I was asked to make her a quilt to be given to her by the group just before our concerts the first week of May. First problem was finding music fabric but not instruments. Luckily I found some musical notes of various colors on a beige background by Quilting Treasures at Marshall Dry Goods. I was also lucky to find a red, light blue, and navy blue from MDG. Considering the time limit I decided on an easy 3 yard quilt. I chose Pretty Please that had been a free pattern recently. 

Here are the pictures I took as I made it. 

Blocks . . . 

And with the borders . . . 

I decided to use Susie's Magic Binding. Mainly because I cut too many of the lighter blue strips. I decided it really looks good with the light blue flange. 

I bought a new quilting design called Aria from Urban Elemenz.  Stars and musical notes -- bonus! You can see the design on the blue/red block but not so well on the print. 

Here are Darrel and Rochelle showing off the quilt. (Aren't those hydrangeas beautiful!) Darrel was one of our bases -- so we will miss both of them -- a lot. 

Last picture is of the backing fabric and the label.  I used a EQ Printables to make the label.  I may have gotten a bit wild on the font size. 

I was able to use the top of the fabric sheet to make some basic labels to put on quilts I've made this year and am actually keeping.  Hum, am I even keeping four of my quilts this year? Time will tell. 

Now on to this week.  All concerts are done, there are no rehearsals to go to. I should be able to spend time quilting, knitting, and reading. Awe -- a perfect week! 

6/2/25

Bind my quilted top 

Bind 2 placemats quilted after the above project

Cut out the new project for upcoming retreat

Make additional blocks for June UFO project

Add borders to May UFO project

Make some more string blocks

That seems like enough to keep me busy, especially if I try to do a little studio cleaning: put fabric away, do a little dusting, get rid of old catalogs.  Maybe some of that will happen or maybe not! 

Just a note about Marshal Dry Goods.  I give them kudos for helping me with a problem. The blue fabric I purchased from them for the backing ended up having a lighter streak on the fold line.  They were willing to refund my purchase when I told them about it.  I would have bought something else from them but I was lucky to find a dark blue with lighter dots from what was left at my local JoAnn Store.  I will be buying more backings from Marshals when I use up the last few backings I currently have.  

And, related to backing fabrics -- I'm making a decent dent in my collection of tops needing quilting.  At the beginning of the year I had none of my plastic hangers available to add more tops.  After quilting another top today there are six (6!) coat hangers waiting for new tops. I am not finishing tops at a high rate these days which is probably better. 

I've maintained my 100% 15 minutes of stitching. Amazing. 

W/ending 5/25/25. 152 days of 2025

• 15 minute days/May = 31/31
• 15 minute days/June = 1/30 
• 15 minute days/2024 = 152/152 days
• Success rate = 100%

As usual I'm linking up with these parties:

Stitching Stuff

Oh Scrap 

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Here's a bit more info on what is in the budget bill. These are a few of the items mentioned in USA Today earlier in the week. 

There's a provision in the bill that would restrict judges' ability to hold people accountable for violating court orders. To me this means weakening the judicial oversight that is part of our Constitution's balance of power.  This is definitely an important area of my concern. 

There would be a ban on federal regulations on Artificial Intelligence. It would prevent states from creating new regulations for AI and block states that have regulations from enforcing them.  (Side note: In my reading this week there was an article about AI refusing to stop its programing when instructed to.  EEK That just sounds awful to me. AI maybe a great leap forward but it must have regulations about its use and purpose.) 

New fees would be charged people who are trying to immigrate to the USA. Here are a few suggested fees:  $1,000 to request asylum, $550 payments every 6 months for work authorization, $500 to apply for temporary protected status. 

There is a lot more in the bill but those stick out to me. I keep waking up in the middle of the night worrying about what the United States will be like for my grandkids.  That is one reason I pay attention to multiple news sources regarding the happenings in Washington and across the country.  If you are worried about the ramifications of this budget bill write your congressional representatives.  Send them a post card. I've read where that is a much more visual way of communicating your opinion.  The cards end up on someone's desk. And if enough people do it, it can be overwhelming.