…the day after the long weekend before…

Two long weekends in a row and the crafty hangover is in full force. It’s been a 10 day long craftapalooza, and real life had hit with a rather spectacular thud. Not helping the situation is a sleepless night thanks to an unwell (but not plague unwell) child. Somehow I’ve gotten to the Wednesday of the third short week in a row, the third week of our current school session, and we are only just settling in to doing some actual school work.

Easter was a flurry of church and family time and creativity for the Easter Bingo we were running on our podcast instagram. Backing it up with another long weekend, I had big plans to really get hooked in and a lot of stuff done. I even managed to score a night without the kids. First order of business? A LIST.

I love a good list, even for the fun stuff. Sometimes, especially for the fun stuff. The children haven’t been for a sleepover since before Christmas, so I was determined to make the most of the time. On my list – finishing the quilting of my crosses quilt, get my cardigan knitted down to the start of the waist shaping, a new book, finish a short story and sew up some shorts.

It was a rather optimistic list in the best of circumstances, and then at lunch time Saturday, everything got pushed aside for two little bundles of cuteness in the form of kittens we found dumped on the side of our road. We are fostering them for a bit (and despite my children’s exhortations to the contrary, they are NOT staying), so my afternoon got pushed aside in favour of cuddles and shopping for food and bowls and blankets.

I still managed to get a bit done, though. In the week between Easter and the Anzac Day long weekend, my latest toy arrived – a quilting table for my sewing machine! I’ve only wanted one since I got my machine for Christmas 2015, but haven’t really prioritised it until now. After I got my machine, I, ironically, didn’t make that many quilts, so it didn’t feel all that important. Having spent the weekend quilting with the extension table, though, I have no idea why I waited so long to get one. Holy moly but it made it so much easier – my shoulders and arms didn’t hurt nearly as much. I managed to get the last of the quilting on my crosses quilt finished, and I’m so thrilled with the result. I also spent my child free time, in between cuddling the kittens, powering through my knitting, and got the yoke split for the sleeves, and worked the body down to the start of the waist shaping.

The book got started, at least. The writing and the shorts didn’t get touched though. After the productivity of the Easter weekend though, I can’t be too hard on myself for not getting enough done. It’s all about leaning into the ebbs and flows. The flow, this week, I’m hoping will take me in the direction of a finish. I’m off to the fabric shop when I’m in town this afternoon to choose binding for my quilt. I’m going to dig out some elastic and dye to match my shorts waistband to my fabric. It’s raining so now we are done with school for the day I’m thinking I might settle in with an audio book and see if I can get the decrease half of the waist of my cardigan knitted. That’s the theory. The reality might be a coffee & my book while the kids pull out every tube of paint we own in pursuit of “ink making”.