Waiting

I'm struggling a bit right now -- lots of yawning these days.

And the temptation to sit down and "wait" seem to be becoming too familiar a state of mind?

At this moment, I'm waiting for some rain to arrive.

I'm waiting for the kettle to boil.

I'm waiting for the storm to cool off the air so I can open the house back up.

I'm waiting for inspiration for this blogpost and what to make for supper and how to quilt my grandson's quilt?

Of course, I know how this works -- inspiration doesn't usually find me unless I'm working along. 

Just starting to ramble along here might lead some where?

Searching through the fridge might reveal a supper idea.

Starting to stitch in the ditch along the edges of the sashing strips might inspire the next step.

Now if I could just stop yawning?!?

Afternoon coffee in hand!

Folks who know me face-to-face know while I can be intense I also have an "oh, look!" habit!?!

Yesterday, I "realized" (thanks to a local preserve that I follow on Facebook) that the second annual Bumble Bee Watch is currently underway and it's just this week and all I need to do is submit photos and some data via the I-Naturalist app.   That's all!?!

Since the current batch of monarch caterpillars are almost all in the chrysalis stage, why not?!?

(Weird view -- looking up into the butterfly enclosure)

  So I watched a training video from the Minnesota Extension Service on identifying bumbles and embarked on a frenzy of photos and observation as I try to apply what I learned.  

Side view -- face portrait -- top side.

 Then I noticed that my favorite native coneflower is opening!!

I call it sweet coneflower and I love the unique petals plus the fact that it doesn't reseed all over the neighborhood (which many of my native flowers do).

Next thing you know, I'm wandering around the garden to pick a bouquet and see what else is going on -- the morning glory or moonflower vines (it will be a surprise) seem to be plotting a take over.  As it is midsummer, I've been spending an hour every morning weeding and tidying up a section of the garden -- this enthusiastic duo will need to be corralled tomorrow morning.

Inspiration and a "to-do" list for the morning!

(The rain is arriving!!)

And of course, I'm stitching.

I started this scrappy quilt -- been cutting pieces for it all winter and spring.

Easy to piece and I figured out a pressing strategy that assures me matching seams will always be opposing.

And I started another quilt -- Marge Sampson-George's Christabella

She designed it as an English paper piecing project but I'm machine piecing it -- lots of auditioning is needed since I've gone rogue on the fabric palette so it's slow going right now.

I'm started with two clumps of new fabrics I acquired this year and am blending in some older stuff.

Today, I put the binding on this scrappy bargello just back from quilting.  The top might be 7 years old?!?  Julie at Pink Doxies showed off an adorable digitized pantograph she used on a hexie quilt she pieced using my Set-In Piecing Simplified technique recently -- it has bees and flowers and is soooo cute!  This top popped into my head as soon as I saw the quilting design so I turned it over to her to quilt for me!  I'm so pleased with the way it turned out.  She was even able to scale the design down a bit for a better fit for the size of the squares.

Love me a finish!!

I also started hand quilting my Halo quilt top -- inspired by an Aussie quilter's stitching shared on Instagram with all the particulars of how she is doing it!

"Big Stitch" using size 8 perle cotton -- 3 different colors since I didn't have enough of one for the entire quilt or was it that I couldn't make up my mind which color???

My grandson's quilt is layered and I have pulled possible threads -- maybe tomorrow I'll start?

So don't just wait -- turn on the kettle, pull out a UFO that needs some stitching, clean out the fridge, bring in a bouquet -- move into life as it is right now.  

In the process, inspiration will come -- little or big and it will help pass the time.

Things will get done, I'll start to feel perkier, old projects will get finished and new ideas will capture my attention.

I'll be as focused as my granddaughter watching me prep her first ice cream cone of homemade raspberry ice cream!!  Pretty stinkin' cute, huh?!?

I found these mini cones while searching for chocolate syrup!!  

Perfect!

(Let me hold it myself!!)

  This week I discovered the Farm Link Project - it started with a couple college students and has now grown into groups all over the USA linking farmers with surplus to food banks.

Check out what they've accomplished in just six short months -- impressive!!

I read yesterday that "food insecurity" is becoming a huge problem in this country -- maybe we can all pitch in and help?

Mary