Friday, August 31, 2018

Paperwork and Patchwork on Thursday

Last night/this morning, I couldn't fall asleep until after 5:30 a.m.!  I was thinking that if I was still up at 6:00 a.m., I will just get up and do something!  That apparently did the trick, because I fell asleep shortly after that!  LOL!  I woke up just before 11:00 a.m. 

I texted with daughter for a bit, watched some news, replied to blog comments, etc., and had a cup of coffee.  Then, I put away the load of laundry from yesterday and did another load - the kitchen rug and the towels I use as bathmats, etc.  The reason why I use old towels for bathmats is because they are easier to launder than the regular bathmats.   Also, when I put one down in the family room or living room, Dancer uses it nap on!

I also did more patchwork piecing, in the afternoon.  This is a picture from the initial step, when I sewed several pieces of scrap fabric to a longer strip (the green gingham) and cut them apart:

Blocks after the 1st step
This is a picture of the block shown on the top left, in the above picture (green gingham and solid grey strip) after several other strips of fabric had been sewn on (the gingham and grey piece is in the center of the block):

Building up the block
 
The finished block, trimmed to size (and turned around in the picture):

Finished block
Many quilters buy their quilting fabric for the purpose.  The upside to that is one gets to choose some beautiful new fabric, some of which is color coordinated, or belonging to a collection, etc.  One of the down sides is such fabric can be expensive.  I use scraps leftover from various other sewing projects for the most part, buying fabric only as needed for sashings, backings, and borders.  As a result, almost all my quilts are scrap quilts, quite frugal, and many of my quilts are unintentional memory quilts, as well.  For example, the strip of blue floral fabric on right hand of the block, above, is leftover from a dress my mother sewed for herself.  The rectangle of fabric with the white background and tiny pink and yellow flowers to the left of the blue floral fabric is leftover from a dress my mother made for me.  The bit of lilac fabric is leftover from a nightdress I made for myself.  The triangle of green sprigged fabric is leftover from a nightdress my mother sewed for herself.  The strip of yellow is leftover from the baby quilt I made for my cousin's grandson.  And so on and so forth!  This is what one doesn't get when the fabric is bought newly, for the purpose of making a quilt! 

Another finished block
More leftovers and memories: the pink gingham was from a dress my mother made for me; the light green with the white and lilac design, next to the pink gingham, was from a dress she made for herself.  The brown/green/white patterned fabric above the pink gingham was from another dress Mother made for me, as are the two strips of blue and white fabric on either side of the block.  All the dresses were sewn back in the 1980s!  That's how old some of my scraps are! 

I have now made 20 of these blocks.  I will need at least 35 blocks, if I set them in rows of 7 by 5 across, and use my old blanket (twin/full size) as the batting.  Or, I could set them on point and that would require 32  full blocks and some triangular half-blocks to fill in the edges.  I haven't decided on anything, yet.  For now, I am just piecing along, just enjoying the process and the memories so many of these pieces of old fabric bring me! 

Finally, in the evening, after I had procrastinated as long as I dared to, I sat down to finish up my paperwork to file for retirement!  I need to file them 30-60 days prior to the retirement effective date!  I have now changed that effective date twice!  First, it was going to be 7/20; then, I changed it to 9/30 and, today, I changed it again to 10/15!  That will be the final date!  My plan is to go in to the office tomorrow, fill out my time sheets for this pay period, make photocopies of the retirement papers, and go into the retirement office to hand them in!  I will ask if it would be possible for a retirement counselor to look over the papers while I am there, to make sure everything is complete or I can fill out new or additional forms while I am there.  If not, I will simply hand them in and ask if I can get an appointment to meet with a counselor, next week, to go over the papers or ask that someone contacts me by phone, if necessary.  I just want to give them the papers in good time (they'll have 45 days to process them, when I hand them in, tomorrow). 

In the evening, friend R called me and, later, I exchanged emails with a friend and video chatted with daughter.

Today, I am grateful for:
- The memories associated with the scraps of fabric
- Sewing machines
- An afternoon spent sewing and relaxing (sounds better than procrastinating, doesn't it?)
- Chatting with my daughter
- Phone calls and emails from friends


Thursday's To Do List:
- Call and make the doctor's appointment (still procrastinating on that!)
- Paperwork - DONE
- Vacuum
- Put away laundry - DONE
- Do another load! - DONE

Friday's To Do List:
- Go to the office
- Fill out time sheets
- Make photocopies
- Hand in retirement papers
- Make the doctor's appointment!
- Vacuum
- Attend meditation session in the evening
- Do dishes
- Clean the litter box

How was your Thursday?  Do you find yourself procrastinating when you know you have to do something like paperwork?  What are some of the ways you procrastinate? 

12 comments:

  1. Poor you (your sleep patterns!). Your quilting looks beautiful. I can't remember if I commented on the last post, but your earthquake preparedness has very good ideas....good for any disaster too. Andrea

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    1. Thank you, Andrea. My sleep patterns are all over the place, but I refuse to take any medications for it, so, I'll just continue to moan and groan about it! :D Yes, always good to be prepared with a few emergency supplies and extra food and water.

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  2. Well now, here is an experience I can relate to. No, not quilting; but procrastination. These can be some of my most productive days. I will get so busy with chores to keep me from having to do the ONE thing I am avoiding. It isn't that we are lazy and don't want to do it, because most of the time we are expending much more effort and motivation to do the things that keep us from acting on the priority item. I don't always understand the reason behind it: I just know that I need to "work myself up" to the point where I am ready, or until I reach a deadline. Then it is like jumping into the deep end of the pool. It does take a little bit of courage and resolve.

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    1. Ah, Susan, you do understand! I have been known to wash walls and clean the kitchen cabinets rather than do the paperwork or whatever I am procrastinating doing! The house sparkles when I procrastinate! I don't understand it, myself. Putting off the inevitable only adds to the stress, I tell myself, and then, I find something else to do!

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  3. Such wonderful memories will be in your quilt!
    Diana

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  4. I love the way you make quilts.
    When I do patchwork I also use scraps. Sometimes I buy leftover fabric pieces for pennies at the thrift store.

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    1. Thank you, Nil. That's an excellent idea to look in thrift stores for fabric! I had to stop buying fabric! I usually wait until the fabric store has its after Thanksgiving or after Christmas "door buster" sales, when things are 75% off; last time I bought so much that I promised myself that I won't buy anything new till I sewed down the stash!

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  5. Your quilt blocks look lovely. It's especially nice that the pieces have such memories to go with them. Hope you get the retirement thing worked out!

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    1. Thank you, Sharon. Yes, I was able to hand in the retirement paperwork - only to be told that there will be more paperwork to come! Yikes!

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  6. I like to see the work you are doing on your quilt! I have a lot of affection for scrap blocks as they are the kinds of quilts most people had on their beds when I was growing up. I can attest that fabric and other supplies for quilting can be quite expensive, although I do find value in what I do more than what I spend anyway. :) I'm eager to see what your finished quilt looks like -- I think it will be very colorful and fun!

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    1. Thanks, Laura. I sewed 35 blocks (they are large blocks). I think I have enough for the quilt top - I will spread them on the bed, tomorrow, and take a picture. I need to see what I have in the stash for the sashing. I need something that will be a good unifying color!

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