Bright Strata quilted, Two Step loaded

Michael was up and out early Saturday morning (6/30) for golf and as I signed onto AOL to start through my emails, another depressing headline greeted me:

“Canada announces billions in retaliatory tariffs, says it will not back down”  The report continued on to say “The announcement by Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland marks a new low in ties between the neighbors and trading partners which have become increasingly strained since U.S. President Donald Trump took power in January 2017.”  I wonder if Michael and I have a chance to get “END THE ORANGE MENACE” buttons made before our trip to Canada this summer?  As if the warehouses filled with children ripped from their parents aren’t bad enough…the current occupant of the White House has no idea how to make and keep allies (or really any desire to do so considering the revolving door that exists as his staff exits the White House in droves), or how to work with people to find solutions, but only how to insult people and make fun of them…how sad.  It’s increasingly harder and harder to maintain a positive attitude when you are constantly embarrassed by the person who is supposed to be leading your country.  My brain cannot get over the pervasive feeling of ‘what will this bully do next and who will he insult next’ hanging over my head.  Forget any news media spin….just read the tweets…the actual tweets…his actual words and you’ll see what I mean.  Does he really sound like an inspiring leader?  Or a crude, foul-mouthed boor?  You’ll understand the phrase ‘For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned’.

OK – back to our regularly scheduled programming, hard though that is as I continue to wonder what will happen next.  I headed back to Miss Scarlett to continue quilting on my Bright Strata, while also sewing more HST’s together for my Hunter’s Star quilt.  By early afternoon the Bright Strata quilt was done: 

and I started to load and baste my now corrected Two Step quilt.  Remember how I said I didn't really remember making the Bright Strata top?  Well, I know I cut a bunch of strips for the Two Step quilt, because I wasn't sure exactly how many it would take to get it done.  When I finished it, I know I had leftover strips and I think I just added to them to create Bright Strata.  Here's the Two Step (from Missouri Star Quilt Company):  

Sometimes it is hard to load up a quilt because I have ‘help’:  

look closely at that dark part at the bottom

I finished up a stack of HST’s 

and got my quilt basted before dinner….my honey made peirgi’s…..yum!!!  

About a month or 2 ago I ran out of things to watch on TV and started taping MONKs….remember him?  Anyway, I was fortunate enough to get the last 2 MONK’s of the last season…where he once again goes back to try to figure out who killed his wife.  Michael saw that I had them, and wanted to see them as well, so we settled in to watch those while I got the rest of my mistakes from last Thursday’s Scrap Happy time ripped out  :~).

Stash Report = Although I am totally pleased with my dedication this month to finishing off leftover projects…that doesn’t really do a lot for my stash busting  :~(.  I also would have used up more fabric as backings, but I got an influx of customer quilts, and those almost always take precedence over my own quilting.  Having said all of that, I did use up 7 yards on cutting for the new ‘colorwash quilt’ and on backing for 2 Clinton quilts, while not buying anything new.  So for the month of June I’m looking good, but year to date I am still in the RED by 7-1/2 yards (I’ve used 112-1/2 yards so far this year and bought 120 yards).  July has GOT to be the month I’m back in the black once again…just in time for the next FOUST sale in August  :~).