No Quilting Yet in 2017!

So, you ask, just what have I been doing?  I don't think you really want to know, but here's a bit of a run-down.  I won't list the normal, routine things, just some of the mishaps, and a very few successes.

January:
    7 - DISH TV service out; also old coffee pot finally died a natural death.
    8 - DISH Repairman here all Sunday afternoon.
    9 - DISH out again; different repairman here 3 hours. (Got 2 new, free receivers out of the deal!)
  10 - DISH remote from den receiver controlled receiver on bedroom receiver; programmed wrong by first repairman; DISH fixed by phone!
I dropped something on floor, bent over to pick it up, and hit my forehead on table; big knot popped up and turned blue; iced it down a couple of hours; 2 days later I finally got back to  normal. (?)
 11 - Picked up new glasses.  I CAN SEE AGAIN!
 12 - Went to Fort Worth with church quilters to get fabric for our next project.
 13 - Son and DIL brought me the finished quilt she had made for me for Christmas. (Pictures below.)
 14 - Christmas finally all packed up and put away (sort of).
 19 - My favorite old wind-up alarm clock gave up the ghost; got a new battery one; I love it!
 20 - Kitchen flourescent tubes (3 of 4) burned out!  Son replaced them; sure is bright now!
        Watched inauguration all day, and various protests and other problems ever since!
 31 - 80 degrees F here; pruned 12 rose bushes.

February -
   1 - Pruned the climbing rose on trellis.
   3 - Started cleaning quilting closet in sunroom.
   5 - Finished cleaning quilting closet.  (Pictures below)
   6 - (80 degrees again!)
   7 - Son trimmed 10 huge crepe myrtles; I stacked; he tied and dragged them to front for bulk trash    pickup week of 20th.   (We very neatly laid them out between the street and the walk.)
 10 - I hoed and dug grass and weeds from rose garden 4 hours.
 11 - I hoed and dug the rest of the grass and weeds from rose garden 9 hours!  (Remember, I didn't work in my yard at all last year, and my son doesn't like to do flower beds.)  Looks good now!  Will get mulch next week hopefully.
 13 - I dug 2 buckets of dandelions out of back yard!  They were in bloom!  Rain was coming that night.  I got 1.6" of badly needed rain.  It thundered a bit.  My daddy used to say if it thundered in February, it will frost in April.  We'll see.
 14 - Went to Golden Agers at church for Valentine party; had fun, but tired out after helping clean up  afterwards.

I still have not sewed a stitch at home, but I did make 88 little 3"  four-patches at church quilting last Thursday; I'll probably make that many more tomorrow again.

Then maybe, just maybe, I can get started on a project at home next week; don't know what yet.

Here's the table topper my DIL made for me for Christmas.  (I didn't make pictures until today!) It was her second project, and I think she did great, and mostly by herself totally.  Her first was the same design with one more row, for her mother for Christmas; those were the blocks she worked on at the retreat last fall.

Her label on the back says:  "A Quilter's Love"   To (me)  From (her)  You are my mentor of quilting. Who would have thought a love of quilting would grow the bond of love between us.  Thank you for being you.  I love you.  -- December 25, 2016 "

 Here's some pictures of my quilting closet:  Now I know these tubs all need to be straightened, but at least everything is in a tub or drawer somewhere!  Tubs are labeled so I know now what theme of fabric is in which tub, and not piled in the floor!  Those bolts are some I bought at the flea market.  The chest of drawers is full of fat quarters and yardage sorted by color.

 Not clean and straight by most standards, for sure, but it's so much better than it was before.

Here's a throw given to me for Christmas by my best quilting buddy, the one I call my "caretaker".  She and I are so much alike it's scary, even though she is 15 years younger than I am.  She takes me places with her, and checks on me every day.  She is one whiz of a quilter!  (I tell everyone I taught her everything she knows. *giggle*   I really did get her started in quilting, but she had been an excellent seamstress before.)   She made three toppers from this fabric, and when someone asked her what she was planning to do with them, I quickly said, "She's giving one of them to me!"  She just smiled, and sure enough, she brought this one to me for Christmas.  I just love it; it matches my bedroom and spread perfectly!

Okay, this is my first post since January 6, and it covers lots of ground!  I guess I better stop and go to bed.  Got a busy two days ahead!  Church quilting tomorrow, my birthday supper at Son and DIL's tomorrow night; Heart of Texas Shop Hop in Waco with DIL Friday; back in time for Firemen's Award Banquet Friday night.  I'm so glad those guys still invite me to all their events!  I miss working with them, but I surely do enjoy retirement and sleeping late!  (I plan to do just that Saturday morning!)

---"Love"