I made this to-do list last week in an effort to focus. My list, annotated as necessary, follows:
1. Add last two borders to Finding Neverland quilt. Seam backing. 🚫2. Quilt the blue/green quilt. ✅
After vacillating between custom and edge-to-edge for months, I just couldn't work up any amount of enthusiasm for custom quilting this quilt. I didn't want to invest the time in something I don't totally love. I have determined that asymmetrical quilts are not my favorite. My son likes this quilt and said he would take it. I guess that was a nice surprise. No one usually wants my quilts. I looked back to an old post from 2019 about this quilt and read that I hadn't picked binding yet. My son said it needed blue binding. We tried several blue fabrics from my fabric bins. We finally found the correct one. The quilt pattern is Pink Grapefruit by Coleen Merte.
4. Fix the elastic in the gingham skirt. 🚫
This is like the easiest task ever. Why have I let it sit this long? I think it's because I don't know exactly what size to make it. I've lost nine pounds since making it. I need to lose another 10 - 15. It's easy enough to adjust again in the future if needed.
5.Resume work on the sloper. 🚫
The class is done, but I have a ways to go to get my sloper to a point where it can work for me. Options include cutting out and trying different things or paying for private consultation at the local Bernina store (the owner used to also offer alterations before pivoting to quilting). I want to know the why, so I think I'm going to have to make a bunch of prototypes rather than being told how to fix this one without learning the rationale behind it.
6. Work on the postcard from big guild. 🚫
Last week's big guild program was presented by Maria, a member of the guild. She makes loads of beautiful fabric postcards. She presented each of us with a kit that included instructions, background fabric, pre-sewn "writing" side, Heat n Bond Lite, Timtex, a small ring for hanging the postcard, and a non-machinable stamp. Tables were set up with lots of fabric scraps, templates, treats, and so on.
I know what I'd like to create for mine, but I wasn't in the mood to be creative while at guild. I had spent the day talking down my daughter, I was stressed about my house, my friend shared some sad health news when I got to guild, and my son managed to lock himself out of the house and didn't tell me for half an hour, and I just wasn't feeling up to it. It was a really nice, well thought out program. I'm hoping to find some time to play with this kit soon.
7. Make housewarming gift for friend. ✅
I drafted a cardinal FPP block in EQ8. At first I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't "section". I'd left out a line. Fixed that, printed the foundation, got to stitching. Well, crap. Get out the seam ripper. 
Tried a few different things, ended up with this border. Managed to turn backing fabric sideways. Finished in time to bring it when I visited her new place the next morning.
8. Cut Meadow Mist mystery quilt. 🚫
No cutting yet, but I did wash the fabrics that were still on bolts.
9. Figure out the Beach Bumz class quilt. 🚫
10. Continue (start) working on behind-the-scenes tasks for business. 🚫
It's never-ending. Most of the time I just go with the "it's functioning well enough" mindset. There are definitely some things that need to be updated and I need to do more (any) marketing for my fabric shop. The technology side takes a long time and most of the time I'm more focused on the actual quilting and binding.
Switching gears, Friday night I attended my small guild. One of our members, Nancy, passed away a few months ago. She left a very large quilting stash, loads of scrapbooking things, oodles of Longaberger baskets, and a large teapot & cup collection. Her family gave one of the other guild members her quilting stash and she brought things to share with us. I was late into the rooms and most of the things had already been claimed. I brought home four Sew Sampler boxes. Nancy had purchased the finishing kit for the Bonnie & Camille one and I will make that one in her honor. I'm also planning to make the Rise & Shine project at some point, but will need additional fabric. I also brought home a partial bolt of fabric. At least one of the ladies had a full grocery cart of things she claimed. 😳
Do I need more fabric in my life? Probably not. I think I've reached the "STABLE" level. Do you know this acronym? STash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy? Yeah. I really do need to make more of an effort to move things out of my home that we are done with. I don't want to leave my kids an overwhelming collection of "stuff." I think about this every time someone passes now.
Moving along, here are the quilts I've worked on over the past week. I quilted Teah's sister's quilt with Branching. 
I fully bound both this one and the one from last week.
I quilted Ann's quilt with Shooting Star. I also added the binding to the front of all three of her quilts (not pictured).
I quilted my quilt with Mandelbrot.
I quilted Jeri's quilt with Marmalade. I will fully bind this.
I quilted another of Jeri's with Sea of Stars. Again, full binding will happen.
Out in the garden, we harvested the green beans. We might get a handful more. This is the smallest green bean yield I've ever had even though I planted more than usual. My plants never got any height and keep dying off overnight.
I was excited to find lots of baby watermelons. Who knows if they'll make it to maturity, but considering the plants barely grew until now, I find it exciting. There are three zucchini growing and several cucumbers. We found two sizable pumpkins growing. I have a few bell peppers growing, which is a first for me. The tomato plants look awful. I'm not sure if it's due to the aphids or the soapy water I spritzed them with. Worse case, I can pick all the tomatoes and ripen them on the window sill.
My son started school last week and the day started with drama as he was unhappy with his schedule. He wasn't alone; many of the kids had really messed up schedules. Budget cuts, both at the federal and state level, have made things difficult. He was lucky that his issues were resolved by the end of the first day. He has been driving to and from school. The bus no longer drives down our road, so I guess driving is good. He can get an additional half hour of sleep and get home half an hour sooner. The trade offs are that we had to put new tires on the car and need to pay for gas now. Plus he has to brave the school parking lot. Monday he texted me a picture. 
He said he had opted not to let the white car behind him go in front of him because he just wanted to get home and it felt like one more car in front of him would be too much. Then the black car pulled out of their parking space directly into the side of the white car. 😳
Over the weekend we watched The Full Monty (the movie from 1997) on Hulu. He enjoyed it, but commented that movies from the 1990s are weird. One thing that really stood out to me was how they kept calling one of the characters fat. Yes, he had a belly, but no, I don't think he was fat. 1980s diet culture still going strong in the late 90s.
One last, totally random, thing. My husband loves Menards. We've been going there a lot as he needs things to fix the house. I found this miniature five gallon bucket near the paint department and had to have it. Actually this is my second one as my daughter stole the first one I bought. I'm going to throw my empty magnetic L bobbins in here until I have enough to send back for recycling.
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