I've missed peoples' posts, too. As for quilting, I'm waiting for a friend to check her stash for turquoise fabric so I can finish piecing the one I posted. Tomorrow I'm dropping off the one I quilting for my friend and picking up another to quilt. I think we are going to mail the quilts to Africa, because we don't know when Moussa will be able to come to the US. However, the post offices are closed there right now due to terrorists and covid-19. We are due for some hot weather this week, so maybe I'll stay inside and sandwich a quilt.

My daughter in Indianapolis may have to go back to work in the schools as they are scheduled to open end of July. I don't know how they are going to do it when our cases in Indiana are going up. She has cardiomyopathy, so it is very dangerous for her to catch the virus. She doesn't know if she will be allowed to continue to work from home. I'll make more masks for her tomorrow in case she does have to return to work.

I've been very busy in my garden. I'm almost caught up from not having gardened at all last year. I've started moving plants around and am ready to order mulch. Once that is down, the weeding will be much less.

Once the mulch is down, I plan on getting out to see the public gardens in the area and finding more fun things to do that are safe. I wish i could could to the beach, but the Illinois people are here in droves since Chicago is keeping their beaches closed. I can't walk a couple of miles to get to the beach, and they are so crowded, I wouldn't want to be there.

Even if we don't leave the house much, I so enjoy our screened porch. DH feeds the birds and we have such a nice selection and they sing all the time. That and looking out at my garden makes me a very happy camper.

Hope everyone is staying well.

I have missed "seeing" everyone, also! I have been staining our fence and have one side to finish. It has been so hot - over 90 for the last 12 days, that it makes it hard to be out and work too long. It also seems like we have had doctor appointments or tests scheduled most mornings, then it's too hot to work in the afternoon! Tomorrow morning should be cooler, so I hope I can get most of it finished. Yard work has also taken so much time because I didn't do much last year! I asked a neighbor's son who lost his job to take out a couple huge bushes for me and it has been too hot for him to dig the roots out. They are chopped down, but not out! We don't have air conditioning in our house, so it has been pretty unpleasant. Home repairs have also kept us busy.

I have been sewing masks with #MasksNow and over 600 so far. Quilting has taken a back seat and I am not happy about that! Tonight, I did finally sit down and piece a small baby quilt top. I need to dig through my stash and see if I have something I can use for the back. I think I will try facing it and see how that goes. I have one other quilt that is sandwiched that I need to get busy with!

We are watching our granddaughter a couple days this week, so we are looking forward to that! We went camping over the weekend and it was SO good to get out of town and up in the mountains! Our daughter-in-law teaches high school and our school district still hasn't figured out if they will open or teach virtually. Our granddaughter is supposed to go to a preschool that is in one of the public schools, so if they don't open, I don't know if we will be watching her while Katie teaches. So many things are up in the air! Tobey is planning a bike ride trip across Missouri on the Katy Trail in September and I would drive the RV again. We will see if we are able to take that trip.

I hope everyone is able to stay safe!

Sue

Yes, you all have been missed, glad Lois is checking in on us.

You would think with all this ‘Free’ time I have that I would have been very productive in the quilt dept. Not so, like Sue, it was masks, masks, masks. Certainly didn’t reach her level, I stopped at 450. 200 went to a local nursing home. Then I started putting them out at the road for folks to take ( free) and every weekend a new batch would go out and get taken. And all are gone. Trying to decide if I should do more.

I am waiting for the LQS to call. I needed a bit more fabric for DGD’s wedding quilt. It is on order.

Our son arranged for someone to do our shopping at the start of this lockdown, but I have been venturing out myself in the last few weeks. I figure if I am masked and go early morning, it should be ok. And it has.

veggie garden got weeded yesterday, front bed on Sunday. Back beds are in the queue. Have to wait for cooler days.

our AC died last week, in the midst of a real heatwave so I spent a lot of time in the basement cleaning up the mess from mask making. Sorted lots of bits into string bins and strip bins. Now to use them up.

I would love to see your hosta beds, Lois. I have a few but just your regular, average varieties. And we have a lot of shade in our yard, so they are a good choice.

Today, I plan to shorten slacks that I bought a while ago. And put off and put off. I must Bite the bullet and do it.

I hope everyone is staying safe, from heat, the Bug, and whatever else is happening in your area.

Theresa

Hello, all! I've been missing everyone here, too.

I'm (fortunately!) still working full time. I spend my weekends on sewing projects. Right now I have binding to finish on a table runner and I've basted my Civil War Anniversary top for hand quilting. I've also been working on a huge cross stitch that has been in progress for years.

DH's oldest sister passed away a few weeks ago and the interment service was this morning. The church said maximum of 20 people in their courtyard area. I asked him to PLEASE not hug everyone (which he will, multiple times) and to PLEASE wear his mask, which he may or may not do. I think I'll urge him to have a virus test soon, just to make sure. He probably won't do it, but I can try.

Donna

I only check in a couple times a week so haven't really noticed but I figure it's summer and people are busy. I certainly am. My partner has cancer so I drive him to all his appointments even though I can't go in with him. I try to make him a couple of meals a week but he eats very little, mostly bone broth and vegetables. Since I haven't been able to go out to pay bridge I have spent a lot of time in my sewing room. I actually finished all my ufo's. There were only four and I'm shipping two tops off to the long armer today. I have about 8 crib or lap size quilts ready for Project Linus or whatever charity I can find who wants them. there's another six or eight quilts that are just hanging around gathering dust so I decided I'm going to start giving them away. Al's sisters are coming to visit this weekend so I will start with them. Let them shuffle through and pick out their favorite to take home. I really couldn't get into the masks. I made about ten of the and gave up, In any case, I can start a brand new quilt and not feel guilty about it.

Forgot this one.

Beautiful hosta! I love how you have some of them arranged...the littleier ones under the larger. What's not to love about hosta, other than the deer love mine.

I have one called White Feather. It is at least three years old and just never gets any bigger than about five inches across and not tall at all. Kind of disappointing.

But I do have one whose botanical name I don’t remember that I call Elephant. It is a light limey colour and has huge leaves. I will have to take a couple of pictures.

Yours are gorgeous! Jealousy here!

i just googled white feather and lo and behold, it doesn’t get very big. I may move it to another spot just to see if it gets even a tiny bit larger.

Theresa

I haven't accomplished much since DH died in April. I haven't sewed a stitch. I'm still wearing paper masks. I cut out some squares for HSTs from his shirts, but sat back down. I have a quilt top on the wall for a picnic quilt, but haven't made the backing for it. It just hangs there.

I've cleaned out a bunch of stuff, though. DH (and apparently me, too) wasn't one to throw anything out, so every closet was full.

Lois, your hosta are beautiful. That Radiant Edger is especially pretty,

I've had hosta problems, as Lois mentioned, so I've spent time on the yard. It has come to my attention that growing hosta in Texas might not be a great idea. But the yard is better than last year.

Theresa, you must be pretty good, as that White Feather is still alive. It's notorious for being hard to grow. That big yellow one might well be Sum and Substance.

I've checked on the forum every day, but I don't have anything much to say. I'm just being a slug right now.

bkay

Gorgeous hosta. I have a number of them, but mine are not nearly as lush as Lois's.

No deer here, but more than made up for by voracious slugs. Bought a big bag of slug bait, which turned out to be rat candy. We have spent over a month and a lot of money trying to gets the latter controlled and kept out of our house.

My clematis are doing well and blooming nicely. I also have dozens of lilies which the neighbors appreciate. Even had an NBA player stop by to admire my hibiscus!

Bkay, maybe as you continue to go through those closets your heart may heal a little bit more. I hope you get back in your sewing room when you are ready . The forum will be here waiting to see what you create.

I've been doing alot of yardwork lately and very little in my sewing room, making about 125 masks, but I have quilted very little. I have about 20 different varieties of hosta in the beds around my house. Unfortunately the deer think they are their salad and usually by mid July I am left with stubs. I've tried cayenne pepper, soap, blood meal, mothballs....they are not deterred. I love living in the woods, but I wish the deer would dine somewhere else!

Your hosta are lovely, Lois.

I think it's hard for a lot of us to post anything because it's mostly the same ol' same ol' with this pandemic and we are sick of talking and thinking about it. I'm between quilt projects and it's been hard to make myself decide on the next one. But I'm also busy trying to fill a big order of masks for my DIL and Granddaughter for school although it's up in the air when and how that will start. I've also just finished a 3-week journey into the world of sourdough which culminated in a little mini-contest between just me and a friend. I won. But it was close. She was the one who begged and nagged and pushed me into doing it because she wanted to and wanted someone to do it with. So I finally caved. Let me tell you, if you are working don't even consider it. It's like taking care of a baby. So now I have these 2 different starters and now I'll have to keep coming up with ways to use it since I invested so much time and flour getting them going. The bread is drop-dead delicious though. If you like sourdough. Hopefully when I get these masks done I'll come up with another quilt project, I have to have something to take my mind off of the worldly goings-on. BTW I am so sorry for all the sadness and hardship going on with some of you and will say a little prayer. Oh and we have such a deer problem here there's no way we could grow hostas. We have 4 does who have dropped fawns on our property this summer. We were eating our Sunday breakfast last weekend and here comes one of the does right up to the lanai in the back where I have canna lillies and terrestrial orchids and it stood there right in front of us and had it's breakfast. One pot of the cannas is completely eaten down to a nub.

Nice to see folks chiming in and chatting. We have nothing special going on since the heat index is so high we pretty much stay inside and don't go anywhere unless it's for groceries or dr appt. Trying to stay healthy for our grandson's wedding in 2 1/2 weeks. Family from Indiana want to come down but with the virus and DD would have to stay home from work without pay for 2 weeks after getting back, it's debatable how many will be able to attend. It's ok.......It's understandable. I've been sewing a little bit every day, nothing exciting......a mindless sew-along that's over but I'm about halfway. lol I want to make some placemats for the bride using Sunflower fabric.....I've made a couple snack mats but think I'll go for placemats next. She has 3 teenagers and usually there are a ton of kids with them......it's a safe house and they love my grandson. :-)

My son is moving to Springfield, MO tomorrow with his girlfriend. He starts occupational therapy grad school next month. They are not engaged yet, but I fully expect that before too long. I'm happy for them, but at the same time I'm really sad about him leaving home for good this time. I guess time marches on whether we are ready or not.
I need to refocus my attention on work, quilting, house. It is difficult though.

We've been spending every other week at mom's helping on the farm. Tim and the grands have done a wonderful job learning to run the tractors. Been making lots of masks.

I am still working more than 40 hours per week. Being an IT manager, my job is never done. We worked to get office workers able to work from home, now we are working to get them back in the office at a social distance. I have mostly worked in the office the whole time. I have a quilt on the frame that I quilt a row on every now and then. I am just so tired when I get home from work that I am not getting much done sewing wise. I have supplied all of the people in my office building at work with at least 2 masks each. Some that go out into the plants, I have made sure they have enough to go a week before washing. I guess I have made around 400 by now. Our company supplied some masks with the company logo on them. They remind me of bra cups and no one really likes them. LOL

I am so looking forward to retreat in October. I never thought I would say it, but I miss social interaction with people. Grant it, with only some people but with people. LOL It is way too hot here right now for me to do much walking or hiking. Around 100 each day now. So I do my walking in the halls at work.

I am going to visit my grandson today. I decided that, yes, he could give me Covid, and yes I could die from it being a diabetic and all, but I am not going to spend the rest of my life not seeing him. So I have been going to see him every couple weeks as long as no one in their house is sick. I mean, how could I not go see this!

Awwww, what a cutie! I know so many grandparents that are missing their grandkids, but most are finding a way to see them, too.

We have two new great grands we haven’t met or held yet, but their parents are posting many, many pictures. Not quite the same though.

Theresa

My grandkids and their parents are coming over tomorrow for a boat ride and outdoor dinner. I haven't seen them since Christmas, and they live only 45 minutes away. We were out of town from Christmas until March 24, and then we've been pretty secluded until now. They're older, 19 and 17, but I still miss them.