Week 1 post Festival

Somehow, another week has sped past without me even reading my blogs much less writing any! I've been starting my day with quilt blogs for I-don't-know-how-many years, and I've been so caught up in activities that there's been no time.

This post will be very short on pics and I just want to give you an idea what this week's been like in my life.  I thought that once the Festival was over, my life would settle back into it's usual slow routine. Ha!  If only!  Last week was so busy, I can't even remember what I did 6 days ago, so I'll consult my trusty digital calendar to remind me.

Monday began with a trip to my dentist, about 1 hour's drive from here. I know I should find a dentist here in town, but I like the one I have so much, I doubt I'd find another half as good and half as nice. So I make the drive twice a year and I'll continue to do so until I can no longer drive, I think.  As usual, my teeth are holding up pretty well and I don't need any additional dental work other than the 6 month cleaning.  Whew!

After the dental appt, I headed down to Eau Claire to pick up a few things I needed from Joanne's, Target, and Office Max.  I live 25 miles from Eau Claire and when I go there, I try to get everything in one trip and not have to go back for a month or more.  On the way there, I called the neighborhood garage and was able to schedule an oil change later in the day, so that took up the afternoon.

As soon as dinner was over, I headed out to the monthly "Hand Stitching Group" sponsored by my guild. Some of the guild members were expressing concerns last year that the group was growing too large for us to get to know each other.  I thought if we offered an opportunity to come together in a small group setting, that would help. We met every month at my house last year, and the ones who said they wanted to socialize more never attended!  Go figure! Anyway, another person has offered to host this year and I'm so glad I attended.  Again it was a small group but we got to know each other a little bit better and also got some hand sewing done. I'm currently working on a blue-work embroidery piece designed by Bird Brain Designs,  shown here:

Tuesday evening, I fixed dinner for the Festival team and we had a wrap-up meeting. I was very stressed about this meeting since I had to tell them that, despite all the work that went into the project, that we made no money off it. The entire thing was to raise money for the domestic abuse program, and when I added and subtracted all the figures, I came out with about $20 in the hole.  So essentially, we broke even.  I was so relieved that not only were they not upset by this news, they immediately moved on to talking about plans to do it again in 2 years!  They have enough faith in this vision that they want to try again!  Needless to say, I feel very awed by their faith that we can turn this into a money making project despite how things went this year.  So, at that point, I felt much less stressed out and finally had a very restful night's sleep afterward.

Wednesday was a fun day for me, but again, on the go.  I'd made plans to visit with my friends in Duluth for the day, so I was up at before the crack of dawn and got there an hour earlier than I'd expected.  Well, I happened to know there was a quilt shop nearby so I spent a half hour or so there and found some really delightful Christmas fabrics. The ones below are from a line called "Silent Christmas" from a Danish company called Stof Fabric and I love the Scandinavian designs.

The fabric above is so nice as it is that I may simply use it as a panel for the center of a table runner or I may cut it into some design using the coordinating brown snowflake fabric shown below.  

The red-white-pale gray fabric I'll cut as borders for the center regardless if I piece the center or not. In fact, I bought enough fabric to make two or 3 table runners so I may try different things with each center.

Below are 2 more fabrics from Empress Mills called "When I Met Santa's Reindeer" that I just fell in love with.  I'll fussy cut the red fabric and use the gray snowflake fabric for star points or square in a square points. Again, for a table runner or two.  I love the little girls feeding the reindeer and wonder if they're the Sami people who live in the far north of Scandinavia.  At any rate, I've never seen these fabrics before, so they had to come home with me.

And just before I left the store, I spotted this neutral fabric depicting downhill skiers. Well, that had to come home too, to join the other novelty neutrals I collect. The skiers will feel right at home with the mermaids and lobsters that I got in Maine, and the Roy Rogers print that I got somewhere I don't remember now.  They're a happy bunch of neutrals and they always play well together in a scrappy quilt.

After my wonderful shopping trip, I had a great visit with my friends including a loooong lunch, and then made the 3 hour trip back home.  That evening I had to pack up the car with leftovers from the country store sale and have that ready for a trip to the place where I used to work, about 40 miles from here.  They were sponsoring an employee's craft fair on Thursday and I was invited.  I was able to sell quite a few things, adding up to about $250 more for the domestic abuse program and the guild

When I returned home, I unloaded the car and prepared for a meeting of a local social concerns group here in town. I want to be more active with this group and now that the Festival is finished I have the time.  It was a great meeting with very motivated people and I ended up on a committee!  (What am I thinking?????)  Anyway, the committee met yesterday afternoon at my house and we put together a pretty good outline of what we want to accomplish.  A good start.  The day--and week--ended by going out to dinner with Don to a new English themed restaurant in town and downing an Irish-brewed Guinness and some very tasty British food.  While we were dining, someone sat down at the piano near us and began playing.  It was a nice addition to the atmosphere. We'll definitely return to this restaurant, especially when they put out the full menu in a couple of weeks.

Today is a take-it-easy day.  A pot of chili for supper that I'm going to make up as soon as I'm done here. A little cleaning in preparation for a houseful of guests next weekend, and then probably a good movie on Netflix. I think I've earned it.