I Love My Lists...

The Explorer quilt is finished. I'm so glad that I love being in the studio. I was there all day yesterday as I machine quilted and then added the binding to The Explorer. By dinnertime, I had finished hand sewing the binding to the back and could enjoy yet another completed gift.

Today, I'll add the labels to Dolphin Island and The Explorer, wrap them up and prepare them for shipping. I hope the little boys I'm mailing them to will love and enjoy them for a long time.
I'll also create the program for the Orchestra's holiday concert next weekend, mail out our Christmas cards, and then wrap a few more gifts that will also be shipped to their recipients.

I want to review my list and see what's still left to do before I can rest this season. I know I'm doing really well for time, so I'm not concerned. My lists are lifesavers. Not only do they remind me of things I need to do - they're also a record of what I accomplish. I love my lists!

Prayers today for my friend, Jan of Bessie Mary blog. She's traveling to Minnesota's Mayo Clinic for eye surgery tomorrow. She'll be on my mind as she goes through her procedure, and in the days ahead as she heals. Perhaps you'd like to visit her blog and leave your healing wishes for her. I know she'd appreciate hearing from you.

The Explorer...

I finished the second pair of Grammies Jammies and decided to start this gift before making the third pair (for our grandson). I'm making another quilt for a young man. This one is using some of the same fabric as the Dolphin Island quilt, but I'm using another main color for it.

Dolphin Island was primarily blues with the chart fabric. I'm using that fabric again, but using greens for accent colors. I've also introduced the nautical-themed weather vane fabric into this quilt, too. I'm calling it "The Explorer" quilt. I've chosen my favorite windmill pattern.

The fabric was chosen and cut, triangles assembled into squares, and I squared them up (all done yesterday). Today, I'll join the squares into the main windmill pattern, and then I'll add the borders. Each square measures 9" and the blocks that create the windmills will measure 16". It's going to come together quickly, so I should be quilting the "sandwich" together tomorrow.

I'll make that third set of jammies over the weekend, too. I'm telling you, the elves are having a grand time!

Elves In The Studio...

The Dolphin Island quilt is completely finished. It's ready to ship when it comes time to package up and send our Christmas gifts off to their destinations. I've set my projects completion date for December 13th. That will leave plenty of time for all of our gifts to arrive on time to the special people on our list.

"X" marks the spot!

Yesterday, I started (and nearly finished) my next project. These are the fabrics I chose...one chenille cutter bedspread, and cotton soft, yellow floral cotton fabric.

I'd like to assure you that the "cutter" bedspreads came to me with tears or damage. I just can't bring myself to ruin a perfectly good item, so I'm going to be selling three of my vintage chenille bedspreads next week. I'll tell you more about that in a future post.
This is a detail of my current project. It was actually all assembled by 5 pm. You can see pins in the areas where I'll need to topstitch. I "fussy cut" the motifs, so they would be placed where I wanted them on the bodice front and back of this garment.
Once I topstitch the facing edges, I'll sew the sleeve lining to the sleeves, sew on my covered buttons, and then finish by hemming the bottom. I'll finish this one today.
Apparently, all the hustle and bustle of elves in the studio was a little too much for a corgi to bear. My supervisor decided to go on break. Hmmm. Sleeping on the job. No bonus kibbles tonight! (Just kidding. How can I deny this face?)

Let The Celebrating Begin...

Just look at all these beautiful faces! These are my pals at Books a Million. (Krisann was absent, and sorry for cutting you off the image, Linda!) When I arrived last night (Dolphin Island quilt in hand), they had a card and box of chocolates waiting for me.

Let the Birthday celebration
officially begin!!!

My friend, Ellen, also gifted me with her well-used, hand crafted collection of doilies and dresser scarves. She made each one of them, and they'll be treasured by me for a long, long time. Sorry I can't say the same for the chocolates!

Thank you, girls, for my gifts and your sweet card. You really surprised me! They thought they were pretty clever, remembering that I like to stretch out my partying for at least a week each year! ((My pal, Tammy, reads my blog, so she was actually the ring leader!) You're just the best, Tammy!

I finished binding Dolphin Island last night, so I can move another project from the To Do List to the Completed List. My chenille project is next. I'll share photos tomorrow.

Dogs And Dolphins...

Sunday was a beautiful, 80º+ day in south Florida, so my sewing was interspersed with breaks to play outside with the dogs. Handsome was doing a little yard maintenance, and we were happy to visit with him and say "hello" from time to time.

I did finish the quilt top and back for Dolphin Island and shut everything down in the studio by 5 pm. Not a full day of labor, but it was Sunday, after all.
I fussy cut four of the compass motifs from the same fabric used in the center, and I placed them at each corner of the finished top. I'll be doing the quilt top/batting/backing assembly today. I'll do my own machine quilting for this one.

Handsome came into the studio as I was hanging up the assembled back for the quilt and asked if I'd like to go for a sunset ride on the Harleys. Of course! We decided to ride over to Englewood Beach on Manasota Key and have burgers at one of the local restaurants. (Remember, Englewood Beach is where my mum and Burt were married.)

As we traveled over the bridge to Manasota Key, I looked across the right side of the bay and guess what I saw? If you said dolphins, you'd be right! Two dolphins hunting for dinner just before sunset. The water sparkled and in an instant, I saw their dorsal fins roll out of the water and then disappear. I'm sure that if we'd pulled over, we would have seen them again. I had no camera, no picture phone...only a mental image. The memory of it made me smile, and it was so appropriate considering that I've been thinking about them a lot over the past couple of days.

We sat down to eat just as the sun was setting, and later rode home together - our appetites sated and my heart grateful for a perfect day.

Dolphin Island Quilt...

In the mid-1960's I saw the movie "Island of Blue Dolphins". I was ten years old then, and the movie became one of my favorites. I've always remembered the movie, and later read the book (click here if you'd like to read the Wikipedia information). I'd dream of being self-sufficient and living off the land. Even being a kid, I was sure I could do it.

All these years later (we won't mention just how many), I still have a deep love for the intelligent and beautiful dolphins. If I see them while we're out on our boat, I always ask Handsome if we can linger for a better look - and one of the things on my Bucket List is to some day swim with the wild dolphins. (I've even asked our friend, Manny, if he would take me to swim with them some time!) I also now know that I can be self-sufficient and live off the land should the need arise.

This year, I decided to make a dolphin quilt for a special young man in our life as a Christmas gift. In spite of the inspiration, I would not wish to completely plagiarize the title of the book and movie, so I'm calling this quilt "Dolphin Island".
The waters surrounding this island are teeming with schools of fish and families of friendly dolphins. Once our young man sets foot on the island, he's sure to search for the buried pirate's treasure. I can tell you now that when the quilt top is finished, there will be a special marker on the island to mark the location of the treasure. I'm quite sure it's going to have the little black dotted lines to help our young adventurer find the booty! I think that we'll play it safe, though, and leave the pirates for another day.

I'm over half finished on the quilt top and plan to finish it today. If things progress without a snag, I'll even do the machine quilting today, too.

I hope your Sunday is also filled with blue skies and happy pursuits.