To Do Tuesday #136

It has been two weeks since I shared with you. Last week got away from me. First I didn’t have anything to share because my machine ended up in the shop for a week. Since I was not sewing, I kind of just got out of my groove. I even have a second machine to sew with. I just didn’t.

Started backing the quilting/crafting stuff today. I spent some time this weekend, pulling together all the pieces and parts for several of the English Paper Piecing projects that were kept in two of my four rooms (dining room & Harry Potter closet). Neither of the these two rooms were single use rooms, so there was other things with sewing stuff. LOL!

My cutting room is next and it will be crazy to organize. This is the room with the most active projects. I set aside a couple projects today, because I know I am missing things for them. So much to do before the move!

I plan on linking up with Carol over at Quilt Schmilt. Last time I posted she didn’t have the new link up so it never happened. If you get a chance, check out Carol’s website and go to the linkup to see other quilters and what they are up to. Of course we would love for you to join us, but if nothing else, its a nice place to go to see some great projects.

What Got Done in the Last Two Weeks

While I did get my sewing machine back the night before my Zoom Quilt day, the machine wasn’t fixed and I have to either call or take it back or both. So mostly what I have worked on since my last post is organizing and packing my sewing studio. But I did also do:

• Cut all the blocks for Month 5 of the BOM Dragonfruit
• Sewed all four Plum & Strawberry Parfait blocks as well as two Avocado blocks (cover photo) from Month 5 on Quilt Zoom Day.
• I pulled together all the fabric, paper pieces, templates, book, and finished blocks for Ruby’s Garden EPP project. Then I cut two blocks and glue basted one of those blocks.
• I did this same process for the Farmers Wife 1920 EPP project. I cut blocks 49 & 50. Afterwards, I glue basted all of Blk 49.
• Before I did all that, I was able to finish Block 48:Homeward Bound of Farmers Wife 1920 EPP
• After finishing the FW block, I decided to get started ont he next Queen of Diamonds block 3-2. I had forgot it was a small edge block so I ended up finishing it as well.
• Packed up all my English Paper Piecing projects

In this time of chaos, I am feeling pretty accomplished. 🤣

What I Hope to Finish in the Next Week

With my house purchase going through, I met with the movers yesterday and set a tenative move date of April 10th. Today I am thinking, I may be a wee bit optomistic and might need to push that a few days so the new sewing studio flooring can get purchased and installed. 😝

With the move looming over my head now, as mentioned earlier, I am in the process of packing the house. We hit the sewing studio this week. I think I will be spending more time organizing my sewing supplies, patterns, and fabrics then actually working on projects. But I do have a few things that I would like to wrap up before packing them away:

• Finish 2024 AG Venit Sunprint FPP quilt top
• Finish sewing 2024 Dragonfruit Month 5
• Sew the last tree for the car/tree block for Bring Home the Tree
• Finish cutting the car for the car/tree block and consider assembling the block. If not, secure and bag all the pieces and parts
• Assemble Scrappiness is Happiness quilt top
• Assemble 2024 SJ Temperature Cottage quilt top
• Assemble 2024 SJ Temperature cottage legend block
• Either finish or pack the Sweet Childhood Memories quilt project this week.
• Make a box just for current active WIPs so I can hit the ground running in Vancouver
• Feel free to work on any of my EPP projects if I have time otherwise gather them into one project bag for after sewing room is packed.
• Continue gathering and packing WIPs

Whew! This will keep me busy don’t you think?

Afterthoughts

The chaos that currently exists in the United States is affecting us on a daily basis now. Our neighbors in Canada are even affected as well as around the world. Trump’s current attitude that he is not answerable to anyone is very alarming is truly a constitutional crisis. He has overstepped his office. The executive branch is to enforce the laws that legislative branch passes and the judicial branch deems constitutional. Last time I checked it did not include him having legislative and judicial authority.

I have been a die hard Republican for many years. While I agree we need to make changes in our country, this wholesale takeover by billionaires in our country is beyond scary and alarming. The last President (Johnson) pulled the same kinds of stunts that Trump is currently doing. It put this country’s economy in a top spin that took years to recover from. The President of the United States is this era’s Hitler. This blog is not a political platform and I have been refraining for months not saying much directly, but at this point, I feel it is necessary to express my concerns and to ask Americans to pull your head out of your ass.

The Trump/Musk administration has taken over social media and use it to ridicule anyone who speaks out against them and promote their propaganda. They tell you lies but just pay attention to what you can see and touch every day. Our purchasing power is decreasing, unemployment is increasing, interest rates are rising, social unrest is on the rise, medical research is ceasing, farmers will no longer be getting subsidy, climate changes are increasing, unsafe to travel in or out of the US, and those of you on social security – it may decrease or be cut soon.

The Administration is also using artifical intelligence (software programs to think for us) to purge from the internet anything with certain words in them regardless of how they are used. This is part of the propoganda campaign to control what we see. AI is also being used (and not effectively) to “save” American taxpayers billions of dollars which has turned out time and again to be false. This same AI is who has been picking the federal employees who will be fired by using the keywords I mentioned above to review the emails federal employees are required to send every week of what they accomplished for the week. Did you really think it was a human reading that? Nope. Just a computer who doesn’t understand context or anything else. Rumors have it that they believe AI can replace human beings. So far, those AI horror films seem to be coming to life.

Then there is the Voter Registration law currently before Congress that has women in an uproar for good reason. To be transparent, per my research, this was proposed in Fall of 2024. It just was not making any headway until now. Take a look at Congress.Gov if you want to see the laws your congress people are passing. The new budget conditional resolution just passed on March 14th included giving Trump and Musk more power as well as cutting Social Security.

Meanwhile, the NEW AMERICA is all about plundering ours and our neighbors for natural resources to fill the billionaires pocketbook who are being appointed to key positions in the US government. Is it not a conflict of interest to have a Logging Businessman as the head of the US Forestry? This is just one example. Checkout who the new head of National Parks is or Wildlife? Every single one of them so far have a conflict of interest – public versus their business. Wake up before it’s too late.

I have no plans to post any other political views on this blog nor will I respond positive or negative to any political comments made on this blog. Just this once, I needed to speak out.

From now on, I will stick to our normal schedule creative endeavors and try to keep this a positive upbeat blog and safe space.

I wish you a happy week. May you create lots of beautiful quilts!

Peggy Stockwell in San Jose, California