This has been a tremendously… unproductive week. Between a toddler that is into EVERYTHING and a baby rapidly following in his older brother’s footsteps… I’ve not had a chance to work much on anything really. I started last week with such great ambitions and now… maybe more humble expectations are in order?
Finished Projects
*Crickets chirping*
…
…
Ok…. Moving on…
Current Projects
New Quilting Program
I’ve not touched this program this week. Hence the same image as last week. I’ve got lots of ideas for patterns I’d like to try… just haven’t tried them yet.
OTD Free SAL
I really really struggle with the “fill” portions of this… The patterns and designs are fun and interesting, and I love going from one pattern/color to the next, but the fill… ugh. Yes, some people love it and it would not be the same without it, but it just doesn’t keep me interested and it makes it so hard to keep going.
Of course, this week I ran into additional motivation challenges. I did a large section of the navy blue with my X stitches backwards. I stitched / then \ instead of \ then /. My husband thought I was crazy (he couldn’t tell the difference and thought it looked fine), but that did not stop the frog from visiting… three days later… After I got over the desire to throw the project across the room.
Then, during my backward stitch frustration cooldown period, my toddler got into my thread box and, very meticulously, removed every color number label I had on my floss! Granted, most of the colors are distinct enough that it was not a total catastrophe, but the added frustration while I was already frustrated did not help.
Nevertheless, stitching will continue… hopefully by next week I’ll have a finish.
OTD Bargello SAL
No. Just, no. Read above. I’ve (again) not had a chance to work on this this week. My goal was to get part 7 of the Free SAL completed first and come hell or high water part 7 will be DONE.
Upcoming Projects
Because… why not?!
Springtime Masks
We were very fortunate to get our first covid vaccines this weekend! (My arm now hurts like I got hit by a sledge hammer, not a tiny injection, but otherwise no complaints! Beats catching a virus! At least supposedly.)
I now have a (moderately irrational) hope that masks will not be required in the near future. Hence, why waste the fabric? Or the time? Right? Right?!??
*Gazes enviously at Texas*
Any day now……. Normalcy is coming here too… or we’ll move.
I’d like to move…
Queen-Size Quilt
This is going to take much longer (even to just get started) than I thought… My new rulers are in the mail… got an add-a-quarter and a 6″x24″, but I’m not sure how I’m going to get a chance to meander through a craft store anytime soon and brainstorm ideas for my fabric.
Admittedly, I’m now especially reluctant just to go to a craft store at all since last time I went to a craft store (months ago) with all my kids it was… rather embarrassing.
(Story time! Skip if desired!)
A very nice older woman had let me and my kids go ahead of her in line (we were, of course, standing outside and it was fairly cold that day so I was immensely appreciative and thanked her profusely), but when someone left the store and the employee at the door just shut it and didn’t let us in… I was confused and thought maybe they miscounted the people in the store so they just needed an extra person out first?
Then another person left… then another… and I realized they were counting each and every one of my kids and myself as a “customer”, including the baby!
I felt absolutely terrible! This very nice old lady behind us could have been enjoying her shopping run all warm inside and she was stuck behind my massive road block of a family!
Originally she was the only other person there, but every time I looked back the line was getting longer and longer…
Finally they let us in and, after being forced to stand still in line for 30+ minutes my middle 2 get in the store and very excitedly attempt to scatter. They instantly are wanting to touch everything and ask if they can get this and that. So I tell my (mobile) littlest ones to hold hands with me while I ask my oldest to get a cart since my hands were more than full with a baby and the 2 middle kids.
He, of course takes a lifetime to figure out the carts were right next to us and then wanders over to the carts and just stares at them so, between feeling the disapproving/judgmental glare of the employee at the door, with another customer essentially blocked from leaving with the 6-foot distancing requirements and everyone outside watching us like a circus, I felt I had to rush over, get the cart myself, round up my littlest ones, load all 3 as fast as I can into the micro-cart, remind my oldest to hold onto the cart and not touch anything else (didn’t work), and rush further into the store… just to get the floss I needed for kits that day.
Needless to say, I’ve not returned to the craft store since.
Yes, there are technically better ways of getting the shopping done.
I could order fabric online, but then how will I stack up all my colors/patterns of fabric to make sure they get along? Not to mention the little problem of the fact that the computer/phone screen is not going to display the colors 100% true to the actual fabric…
TLDR: Shopping with 4 kids is a nightmare during covid, this whole situation is a mess… and I’m ranting a little bit.
Conclusion
Maybe I should just let the whole situation with the craft store go and just try again? It was many months ago now and the building occupancy restrictions have been eased (very slightly) so maybe it will be easier next time?
It would be so amazing to be able to just go to a store (of any kind) and not have to be afraid that we’ll be kicked out just because my almost-3-year-old gets tired of wearing a mask after 10 minutes and then my 4-year-old gets upset because “why does he get to take his off and I don’t?!”
…
Ranting again, sorry.
…
Should I maybe set myself the goal of going to get my fabric this week (or maybe next week) regardless? What do you all think?
Anyways… Thanks for reading!
…I’m going to go put some ice on my arm or something…