A Work in Progress

Maybe I've left this display up in my entry way a little too long this year because we've just had our fourth (or is it fifth) snow storm of the year. Plus flurries yesterday and again this morning. It got us an early dismissal from school on Thursday (totally not necessary in my opinion since the stuff wasn't even sticking on the road. Oh, well, I had time to finish up a few reports, go get my nails done and still arrive home by 3:30.) and a snow day on Friday. I spent part of Friday afternoon in my sewing area working on a block from Sylvia's Bridal Quilt. My quilt guild is doing four blocks a month from this book and I joined in to increase my skills. Using templates is a new experience for me and not always successful on the first try. I don't really plan to keep up with four blocks a month, but eventually I'll make enough for a quilt. The rest of Friday afternoon was spent playing with these blocks and others like them. They're for a quilt called ...

Can't believe it's been almost three weeks since my last post! We've been through two major snowstorms in southeast PA since that time and I ended up having a whole week off--one sick day to get into the doctor before the storm in case the cough and tightness in my chest and back wasn't just a bad cold (apparently not since she prescribed an antibiotic), three snow days in a row, and President's Day. I read two books (cannot remember the last time I read a book in one day outside of being on an airplane), pieced and backed a coverlet that my LQS will send to Haiti, worked on the Thangles Buck-A-Block from 2009 (in the picture) and began piecing the blocks for the 2010 Thimbleberries Block of the Month. So, all in all, a very restful time during which I barely got out of my pajamas each day. The nicest part was that for each snow day, we got the call that school was cancelled the night before, so I didn't even have to set the alarm. My other big project during...

Quilting 201 is the class I've been taking at my LQS every Tuesday night since the beginning of January. We've been making a different block each week and I have learned soooo much! The instructor photocopied both the front and back of the blocks so we could see how to press the seams. I can now accurately sew and cut half-square and quarter-square triangles. I can do flying geese with precision and I'm much more confident on foundation piecing. My goal was to take my quilting skills to the next level and I've certainly gotten a start on this from taking the class. And don't you love these fabrics? The "Love" print is from a line last year called "Love is in the Air." The dark pink is from a new line called Whimsicals (I think). These aren't my usual colors at all but these are going to look great for the table runner I'll make out of the class blocks.

Twenty-four years ago last night, my husband and I spent our last evening as just a couple. We cooked a favorite dinner, Szechuan chicken, and watched the news showing the Challenger disaster over and over again. Our first baby was 19 days overdue and I was scheduled to have labor induced the next morning. We got up early the morning of the 29th, paused to take a picture of a very pregnant me in front of the fireplace, said goodbye to the dog and headed to the hospital on some snowy roads. The doctor assured me I would have the baby by dinnertime. Well, our son arrived not-so-fashionably late around 10:30 that night after a long, difficult labor and delivery. I didn't get to hold him for the first 45 minutes since I wasn't in such great shape. He was born on a Wednesday night and I couldn't get out of bed until Friday afternoon. The woman in the bed next to me had had her third C-section and was far more mobile than I. When I went for a Lamaze refresher course near...

Way back in August, I wrote this post about my 25-project challenge. The deal was not to buy any more charts until I had finished 25 projects from my stash. Well, I made it to ten projects before I caved and bought the charts you see in the picture. But it was all for a good cause--I acquired these for a total of only $6 at the "yard sale" my sampler guild held during its January meeting. A portion of the sales went back to the guild for programs and donations. I know, I know, there are are some of you thinking "Why did she go to the yard sale if she was serious about that challenge?" Well, I hadn't been to a meeting since October. Couldn't go in November since someone was silly enough to invite DH and me to a wedding on that day. Also couldn't go to the December meeting,and thus missed the smalls exchange and the holiday luncheon, because my daughter was auditioning for district band that day. (She made it in and I had a good time explorin...

Here's the first of three quilts I made for my children for Christmas this year. The pattern is Check It Out from Pressed for Time Quiltworks. Super easy and made with fun fabrics from the Polar Brigade line by Moda. This one is for my older son who loves penguins. He loved the quilt and now it's on its way to Los Angeles to be put to good use. For the first two weeks of 2010, it has certainly felt like those of us in SE Pennsylvania were actually in Antartica. Despite a depressing rain yesterday, it was warmer and today is in the 40s. Feels like spring!! This is a three-day weekend for me and I've been enjoying the extra time. The Christmas decorations had all been gathered in the basement last weekend and I finally got them all boxed up and stored away again this weekend. I went out to the quilt store to pick up my Thimbleberries Block of the Month and while I was there, let myself be talked into the Thangles Buck-a-Block for this year (wasn't too hard a ...

Here's a picture of my slightly wrinkled Panel 4 of Petit Sampling Etui. This was the 2009 SAL for my sampler guild. It's been the Project from H*ll for me and nearly made me give up stitching. I had to frog a lot of over one stitching on the first two panels and when they were done, I took a short break. The stitching on the third and fourth panels went better, but took a lot of time. I took a long break to piece some quilts and do some smaller projects and finished up the fourth panel over my Christmas break. Once I got back in the groove, I realized how much I had missed stitching so that has spurred me on to complete this project.