This Was Unexpected

We have had a house full of kids (our own  three plus one of my daughter's housemates) since December 20.  We had a wonderful Christmas together with some very special memories.  I've also had a lot of meal preparation, washing dishes and laundry, and very little sewing time.  This morning, though, I had to take my daughter to an early appointment and when we got home, she fell asleep on the couch.  No one else was up, so I took a cup of coffee with me into the sewing room and spent some time straightening up and putting the threads from a finished project away while I listened to a podcast.  When I emerged, my husband and one of my sons were on their way out the door for some "guy" time (our other son went back to New York yesterday).  The girls were still asleep so I headed back down to the sewing room to start the block-of-the-month for my quilt guild. 

We're using Barbara Brackman's Civil War Sampler this year and I decided to make 8" blocks.  The leaders have chosen three blocks per month, one each for beginner, intermediate and advanced quilters.  I settled on  Ohio Star, an "intermediate" block from this month's choices and finished it before anyone was stirring.
 
These are the rest of the fabrics I'm pulling from for these blocks.  I found the print on the bottom on sale earlier this month and think it will be perfect for a border.
 



As an added bonus, the girls headed to the mall after a quick lunch and the guys were still gone, so I had some quiet time to stitch.  Totally unexpected, but a very pleasant way to spend my day!

Comments

  1. Jackie's StitchesDecember 30, 2013 at 2:26 PM

    I really like the border print! All of the fabrics are gorgeous!

    I need to take better advantage of those unexpected moments to do the things I love.

    Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  2. DianeDecember 30, 2013 at 3:14 PM

    Unexpected sewing time is a real gift! I love your fabrics for your sampler.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MargaretDecember 30, 2013 at 7:30 PM

    I love your fabrics and your first block! And the border fabric is so pretty! Hooray for unexpected sewing and alone time! Glad you and your family have been having a good holiday! Happy 2014!

    ReplyDelete
  4. RobinDecember 31, 2013 at 2:05 AM

    Love Civil War Fabrics and even better, just love when you can snag some unexpected stitching time.

    ReplyDelete
  5. woolwomanDecember 31, 2013 at 2:34 PM

    beautiful quilt block Susan - glad you had some "me" time - sounds like you needed it and made good use of it. Warm wishes and wooly thoughts to you and your family in the new year Hugs Mel

    ReplyDelete
  6. NicoleJanuary 2, 2014 at 8:21 AM

    Your fabric selection for the BOM is gorgeous. It sounds like you had a full house for the holidays, and getting some quiet sewing time is just the thing you needed!

    ReplyDelete
  7. KarolineJanuary 5, 2014 at 5:58 AM

    Lovely fabrics, the block is great. Your
    quiet stitching day sounds blissful

    ReplyDelete
  8. JeanneJanuary 6, 2014 at 6:40 AM

    I enjoyed catching up with your last few posts. Lovely Civil War block - I've been collecting Civil War prints for awhile but no quilt has been started yet unfortunately. I love your Scottish sampler finish - amazing! I love Atikinson Design patterns, I've made about 3 different types of bags and got a great new pattern for an organizer I'm dying to try. So many great projects to do and so little time darn it. Have a great 2014 ahead!

    ReplyDelete
  9. ChrisJanuary 30, 2014 at 11:58 PM

    Oh dear you haven't made a 2014 entry yet and your quilting is amazing...hope you absent because you're too busy sewing to blog, no matter I shall pop back next week to see if you are here!! LOL
    Chris

    ReplyDelete

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