November 8, 2009 - My first embroidery
I had to work all weekend, but I managed to steal moments here and there to work on my first embroidery project. You know, all of you who said I should try it, you were right! It is wonderful fun! Here's my first block, something I've seen lots of other people working on lately, a block from the Gail Pan Christmas Wish BOM. I will definitely be making more. I learned three stitches with varying degrees of success: backstitch, lazy daisy and french knot.
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November 8, 2009 - Favorite Fabric from Down Under
I know that Friday has come and gone, but I've been busy. Better late than never, right? Here's a fabric that Sam sent me - I can't remember the occasion. I've already used it in a couple of projects, so there isn't much left. But honestly, how often do you see fabric with koala bears on it? And I just noticed today that there are baby koalas nestled up in front of some of the big koalas. Thanks again, Sam!
I'm working all weekend, so I don't imagine much quilting is going to take place. However, I did start an embroidery project two days ago that I hope to be able to work on during lulls in my day. This is my first embroidery ever, and while I don't want to rush to judgement, I think I like it!
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November 3, 2009 - Ta-da!
I sewed and sewed and last night, at an hour when I should have been sleeping, I finished my Scrappy Star quilt top! Here it is on my bed - it isn't big enough for my queen bed, but it may find its way onto one of the kids' twin beds when it finally gets quilted.
While I was admiring the corners,  it brought to mind my Crossing Paths quilt
where I did something similar with the corners. 
And do you notice the border fabric? It is the same in both quilts! Who knew? It is a fabric that I had lots of but didn't really like, so I thought I would use it for a border - twice, I guess. I'm nothing if not consistent, apparently.
Those quilts looked so nice on my bed, I thought I'd pull out my other bed-sized tops to daydream about having a quilt on my own bed one day. Here's the one I started quilting 3 years ago, intended for my own bed. Lots of quilting still to go.
I think I am planning to one day gift this one to my father-in-law; the rich colors remind me of him, as he is quite the colorful character. 
And then there's my last finish, still a favorite. 
And who can forget the enormous 100" X 100" big block quilt - it is so big that you can't even really see the design on my queen bed.
Once I had all these quilt tops piled up on my bed, it took all my willpower not to snuggle down underneath the lot of them, but instead I put them away, determined to actually get them quilted someday.
But first, there is my New Year's Even challenge. I managed a few more blocks on my buzzsaw quilt
plus I received squishy mail from Cheryl with four more flannels to add to the mix. Thanks, Cheryl! They are already washed, and will become blocks very soon!
Well, it appears that I have lots of quilting to do, so I suppose I should get to it!
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October 30, 2009 - Favorite Fabric Friday X 2
I missed last Friday somehow. In fact, this whole last week seems like a whirlwind - where does the time go? So, I figure I get to post TWO favorite fabrics today. Both were a bit hard to photograph because of course it is nighttime when I get around to doing this and it seems that none of the lights in my house are very bright. However, if I use the flash on my camera, the fabrics look washed out. Oh well, use your imagination.
This first fabric has been used in nearly all of my scrap quilts in the past two years or so. I LOVE orange, and the hint of green along with these orange blooms on a soft black background really appeal to me. Plus, Halloween is tomorrow, so black and orange just seems like a good choice (although this fabric does not really put me in mind of Halloween).
Fabric # 2 is one I've never used. I picked it up recently in a fat quarter or fat eighth bin somewhere, and I love the soft colors. It will end up in some scrappy creation soon enough.
Fun times tonight after work. My 4 year old is spending the night at his best buddy's house, and my 7 year old has his best friend spending the night here. We carved pumpkins (tiny ones, because they were the only ones left, but the kids didn't seem to mind) 
and made pumpkin pie (no, not from scratch - I don't have that kind of energy). Yum! Happy Halloween, everyone!
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October 16, 2009 - Fabric Fabric Friday - Flannel
Two years ago, I was gifted two very large tubs of flannel from a friend in our quilt guild. Much of the flannel is juvenile. I had never used flannel before, but I've slowly been chipping away at it. I've completed one quilt (I finished binding it just today, actually), am in the process of hand quilting one quilt, and completed piecing 3 other tops, all in flannel. I haven't even made a dent in the gifted material. Currently, I am working on a scrappy flannel buzz saw quilt top that I plan to have finished by New Years. While shop hopping around West Virginia last week, I picked up three more flannel scraps for this quilt. One, I absolutely love:
It is actually a deeper red that it appears in this photo. Here it is already incorporated into blocks for the buzzsaw quilt (a photo of my progress so far is in my last entry):
I hope to work a bit more on this quilt this weekend. I already have pieces cut and ready to go through the machine. Hopefully I'll have more to share by weekend's end. Happy sewing!
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October 12, 2009 - Rollercoaster
The last few days have been a wild ride. I am emotionally and physically exhausted. I arrived home Friday night, and set to work making dinner for the family and making Rice Krispie Treats for the Cub Scout Pack meeting on Saturday. Luckily, I had a little helper.
Then, I gave a presentation at work Saturday morning that went horribly. There were some malcontents in the audience that made the experience very uncomfortable. People have been very supportive, and have been approaching me to tell me that I handled myself well, but ugh! I just wanted to go home and climb in the bed for the rest of the day. Of course, that was not to be. First, I had to make an appearance at the Homecoming football game. Then the kids and I left that for the Cub Scout Pack Meeting, which was a fun, but exhausting 3 hours. For my station, I brought along a student that I recruited from Costa Rica a few years ago, and we taught them some things about Costa Rica and some useful phrases in Spanish so we could earn our Culture belt loop. After that, we went home and the kids let me take a quick nap before we went out to the Homecoming Dance. My kids love to dance! How is it that they don't need sleep, though?
My plan on Sunday was to just sew, which I did a bit but not nearly as much as I had hoped. I worked on my scrappy flannel buzzsaw quilt a bit. 
My leader and ender project for that session was my Scrappy Star quilt, so I also got one more of those blocks done.
Today was also supposed to be a busy day - a day full of interviews at work, followed by karate and a cub scout den meeting. Just as I was about to start my first interview, my friend and co-den leader who is also the mother to my oldest son's best friend called to tell me that her oldest daughter had just passed away. She was 18 and severely disabled, but this was unexpected and I am still in shock. I feel so helpless and sad for my friend, and for Jason's little friend who just lost his big sister. I don't know what to do - I want to be there for her, but I also want to give her space if she needs it. I have no frame of reference. I've lost a parent and friends, but I can't even conceive of losing my child. I have been emotional all day, but I made it through the workday, and then went to karate to yell and kick and punch out my anger and frustration with impunity. The kids and I went to the cub scout meeting just in case someone didn't get my email letting them know what happened, and I'm glad I did, because someone showed up. Then, I came home and cuddled with my kids and thanked God for every day I have with them. At bedtime, I didn't draw the line at two stories like I usually do. The third book they pulled out tonight is one that makes me feel weepy on a good day, and I couldn't make it through the book without crying tonight - Love You Forever, by Robert Munsch.
It is a beautiful story about a mother's love for her son, and the song she sings to him about how he will always be her baby no matter how big he grows. At the end, the tables are turned as the grown man is now rocking his dying mother and singing to her about how she will always be his Mommy. Being a mother has been the most profound and rewarding experience in my life, and the thought of losing one of my children terrifies me. I know my friend isn't reading this, but if she were, I would want her to know that I love her, and I'm here for her, and I am so, so sorry.
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October 2, 2009 - Favorite Fabric Friday - Dragonflies
OK, I am in the airport in Quito preparing for my long voyage home, and I just realized that it is FRIDAY and I haven't posted my favorite fabric! Horrors! I had a photo of this fabric saved online. I love butterflies and dragonflies and I tend to collect lots of fabric with them, although I find it difficult to use them. Here is one that I finally cut up for a Charm Square Exchange in my guild.
Hopefully, my next entry will be from my own house after some post-travel therapeutic quilting!
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September 30, 2009 - Greeting from an Andean Cowgirl!
I'm not sure I've kept you all aware of my comings and goings, but right now I am on a recruiting trip in Latin America. I spent three days in San Jose, Costa Rica, and now I am in Quito, Ecuador. I had a free day here in Quito, so I planned a little adventure for myself - a trail ride around the crater of Pululahua volcano, apparently the only volcanic crater in the world that is inhabited. It is a vast fertile plain, inhabited by about 45 families, one of them my wonderful guide, Astrid Mueller. Here she is brandishing her machete, which she used to clear some of our paths.
Here I am on my mount, Morgana. See my hurt foot, still in a brace and silly open shoe since my foot doesn't fit in my other shoes yet?
It was beautiful, and a bit surreal. I mean, this is an "active" volcano that erupts every 4000 years or so. It is due to erupt again in about 500 years. But every so often, there are mild eruptions. One such eruption 70 years ago wiped out 3 farms. I can't see myself setting up house there. In fact, I'm surprised I went in there. We came in over the crater walls, and I forgot to take a photo, it was so breathtaking. We were above the clouds, and then drove 15 km down the side of the crater to the crater floor to reach the ranch. Once we saddled up, the 4 hour ride included riding through some farms and through some ancient pre-Incan footpaths, and I swear my horse was part mountain goat. There are some places we went that I wouldn't want to go on my own two feet. And it was so exhilarating to gallop around out there. I was the only client, so everything was at my pace. It has been 10 years since I have been on a horse, and even then it was just a sedate trail ride outside Las Vegas. It has been 20 years or more since I've ridden like this. AWESOME!
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September 25, 2009 - Favorite Fabric Friday - Paisley!
Since I am on the road, I couldn't choose fabric from my stash, but I had a great time looking at fabrics online last night from my hotel room. I chose to look at paisleys because I LOVE paisley, although I have rarely found a use for it except in my scrap quilts. I guess it would be a nice border fabric. Anyway, I found myself being drawn to brown paisleys last night. Brown is one of those colors that I have just recently come to appreciate. Match it with pink and I am in sensory heaven!
Thanks for starting this, Auntie Em!
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September 24, 2009 - The last two months
I've been sewing, and I've been blogging, but all my good intentions for maintaining two blogs have fallen flat. I miss the intimate group here where I felt like I knew everyone who posted personally. Blogland sure is huge outside of MQB - it gets overwhelming sometimes.
Anyway, I think many of you follow my other blog, but for those who don't, here's what I've been working on.
I finished piecing my Pick and Choose top and named it The Kitchen Sink because it is in there along with a scrap of just about every fabric I have ever owned. I love the scrappiness - there is so much to look at.
I started a new scrap quilt - fun, fun, fun!
I've been working on deconstructing and reconstructing my Great Great Grandmother's quilt.
I've been hand quilting a flannel juvenile quilt.
And, of course, I've been working. Today is day one of a 10-day trip for work. Another birthday on the road. I was dreading it, but now that I'm on the road, I am determined to have a good time. For tonight, a quiet evening in the hotel catching up on blogs and "window shopping" fabric online for Auntie Em's "Favorite Fabric Friday." I'm hoping that participating on this will encourage me to post over on this blog at least once a week. We'll see.
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July 23, 2009 - Catching up
I have been blogging, but it is proving harder than I thought to maintain two blogs. I promise to try to do better. However, I'm not going to try to re-create some of my other postings here, so I hope you will visit my other blog http://vesuviusmama.blogspot.com/ to get up to speed. Some highlights -
1. Jason won 2nd place in the quilt show at the county fair with his first quilt (youth division). He's proud, I'm proud, we're all proud!
2. I finished the Crumb Cake Quilt Stand and now it just needs a label and it is off to my sister for good.
3. I finally put a hanging sleeve on last year's Challenge Quilt. It isn't on the wall yet, but that will happen soon.
4. I have finished disassembling my great-great-grandmother's quilt, and am plugging away at putting it back together again.
5. I have begun this year's challenge quilt at my quilt guild. It is a round robin that we do ourselves. The first month, we were given 4 blocks to choose from - we made one. The next month, we were given instructions for the first "round" - it had to include at least one triangle. Each month we will receive instructions for the next "round", and we should be done with the top in October. Here's the center and round 1:
Yet another weekend is approaching when I won't get to sew - I'm off to a wedding. One day, I'll have all the time in the world to sew to my heart's content, right? One day...
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June 24, 2009 - I came to my senses!
Yup, I was definitely biting off more than I can chew when I started dreaming about making a lampshade BEFORE I head out on vacation tomorrow. You know all those details that need to be dealt with before a vacation? They were really stressing me out last night. I was snapping at the kids (poor things!), going about my household and motherly duties as if I held a grudge. Finally, my husband, who deserves to be named a saint, told the kids I needed some alone time and took them into another room until bedtime, at which point he put them to bed. Meanwhile, I read. I mean, I have 3 million things to do, and what do I do, but sit there with a book. Are you ever so overwhelmed with a to-do list that you can't even get started? That was me last night.
Finally, I said to myself, at least get ONE thing done. The sleeves for my niece's and nephew's quilts should be quick and easy, right?
As usually happens when I begin to sew, I found my groove. From there, I created a sleeve for my Guild challenge quilt from last year.
I sewed on the last binding edge for the quilt I am finishing up for a generous woman that I met in Atlanta this April. She had a quilt that needed just a bit more hand quilting and then binding, and for that she sent me all of her quilting notions, books and fabric since she wasn't going to quilt anymore (WHAT!?!) and wanted to free up space in her house.
I whipped up a scrappy blue binding for my sister's Crumb Cake Stand quilt and sewed it on, so all I have left to do on that quilt is finish the hand quilting and sew the other side of the binding down, all of which can be done by hand. I went to bed feeling pretty good about myself, although I am bleary eyed this morning because I was up until 1:30 AM! Tonight, I just need to was one more load of laundry (I got one done last night), pack for me and the kids, and get Jason's quilt done with him. Then, I can go on vacation with a lighthearted, self-satisfied step!
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June 24, 2009 - I feel like I've been cheating on you!
You know, I'm trying to maintain two blogs - this one, and My Patchwork Life on blogger. The plan was to just duplicate everything (just in case) which was working fine except then I FORGOT to put my last two entries on here. I'm so sorry! Let me quickly get you back up to speed. Here's yesterday's entry:
I leave for a week's vacation this Thursday after work. I'll be traveling first to Yale to attend a program for work, and then on to Amherst, Massachusetts to stay with my twin sister and her family. With all the preparation that goes into taking a trip, that means not much sewing is going to be happening in the next few days. Before I leave, though, I need to make sleeves for my niece's and nephew's baby quilts - my sister wants to hang them on their walls now that they are older. I also need to finish hand quilting her quilt and at least attach the binding and sleeve so I can finish it while I am up there visiting her. I also need to help Jason finish his quilt so that he can enter it in the County Fair. I had hoped to have several finishes done to enter in the fair myself, but I may just have to put my sister's quilt in. I sure am good at starting things - it is the finishes I struggle with.
But perhaps I can tackle just a little project before I go. The kids destroyed a lamp shade in their room. I'm not mad, it is just an opportunity for me to try something I've been wanting to try - making a fabric lamp shade! How about something like this?
 (photo from Moda Bake Shop)
It seems quick and easy, especially since I already have so many strips cut. Plus, I could use those tiny bias tapes for the top and bottom edges, right? Hmmm... If I can make the time before Thursday (notice I said make, not FIND), I just may have to give this a try.
While on vacation, my goal is to finish taking apart my grandmother's quilt. I'll bring along a rotary cutter, 6" ruler and my mini foldaway Omnigrid to see if I can get everything ready for sewing it back together when I return.
(do you have one of these? If so, don't you love it!?!)
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June 21, 2009 - I miss you, Dad!
I got off work at 1 PM, and rushed home to change clothes and drive over the mountain to have a joint Father's Day celebration and 4th birthday party for my youngest son at my mom's house. I hadn't seen my kids since Thursday, so I was pretty anxious to see them. As I was getting dressed, I pulled out one of my father's old t-shirts to wear. My father died in a car accident on May 28, 2005, three weeks before my youngest son was born. I wasn't ready for him to go - he was only 63 years old, and we were in the midst of reconnecting and getting to know one another again after some challenging years when my parents divorced. At least I had the foresight, through my grief, to ask for his clothing. There wasn't much, but I was able to find two t-shirts, one long sleeved and one short sleeved, that weren't too terribly big on me and that were in decent shape that I kept to wear on days like today. The rest of the t-shirts, I cut apart to make a memory quilt for me and my family.  I completed it a year and a half ago, and presented it to my mother for Christmas - even though they had divorced and both remarried, they remained best of friends. The plan was to allow the quilt to rotate among members of the family - we are so widespread - so that we all have a chance to use it and honor him. It hasn't made it back to me yet, but my turn will come soon. For today, I was happy just to wear his shirt. I couldn't help but laugh when I arrived at my mother's and realized she was unwittingly wearing a pair of his old athletic shorts. His spirit is with us still today, I believe.
Once at my mother's, we had a great time with tacos and cake and ice cream  and presents  and badminton. 
Seeing my brother on Father's Day, though, is a surreal experience for me. He doesn't really look like my father,  but his mannerisms, his walk, his gestures, his laugh, they are identical. It is like seeing a 30 year old version of my father, and I spent a lot of time today choking back tears. I miss you, Dad. Happy Father's Day!
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June 20, 2009 - Stealing time to stitch
Today was the second 13-hour work day in a row for me (yes, it is SATURDAY, and yes, I have to work again TOMORROW!). It hasn't been as bad as I had anticipated. The kids are having a ball spending the weekend at my mom's ("They haven't even asked about you," my mom says. Thanks. I didn't need to know that!), and I have met some really fascinating people. But fascinating people aside, time at work means time that I am not quilting. Luckily, I have found little windows of time today to get some stitching done. First, I had the foresight to bring my hand quilting with me to work. In between sessions, I found a quiet corner to put a few stitches in. Then, after the session I led in the early afternoon but before the reception and dinner, I raced home to check on my dog, put in two loads of laundry, sweep the floors (I had no idea a short haired dog - lab - could shed SO MUCH!), and sew. I got two more Pick and Choose blocks done - I'm up to 20 of the 25 done.
 One of these blocks I think is beautiful, the other, hideous. I'm sure you can tell which is which. No matter, once it is set into the quilt, it will work.
With Father's Day and Donald's 4th birthday tomorrow, plus work in the morning, I am sure I won't have a chance to sew tomorrow. Why aren't there more hours in the day?
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June 19, 2009 - WIPs and UFOs
To me, there is a difference between Works in Progress (WIPs) and Unfinished Objects (UFOs). For WIPs, I have a plan. They aren't done because I got distracted with the next "must-do!" project, and when I return to them, I know exactly how and where to start up again. For example, I know where I am going with this Bonnie Hunter pattern, Virginia Bound.  I just needed more neutral scraps to continue. Of course, while waiting to get the scraps, I got sidetracked by some other projects, but I WILL go back to this one. Or my Grandmother's Flower Garden.
 I mainly work on this during the summers when I am on vacation since it travels well, and I hate to be too far away from a quilting project. Before I continue with this flannel buzz saw quilt, I am waiting for more flannel scraps that someone in the guild has promised me.
 So again, there is a plan.
UFOs are different. Since I make most of my quilts from ideas in my head instead of patterns on a page, I often get stuck. I don't necessarily have an idea for the whole quilt before I begin, so I often reach a point where I can't figure out what to do next. Take this UFO for example. Originally, this was to be for my mother.
 I wanted to do a medallion on point, then make it square, which I did. Then, I thought it would be fun to put it on point again. OK, but now, I don't know what to do to make it square again. This UFO is about 4 1/2 years in the making. I have since made my mother another quilt, a Delectable Mountains which both she and I love. But what to do with this forgotten stepchild of a quilt?
About 4 years ago, I made this quilt for a friend (she is in the AKA sorority, and their colors are pink and green).
 I had some scraps left over, so I started piecing this together.  Yet again, I got to a place where I wasn't sure what to do next. In fact, I had added a white border with 3-dimensional prarie points on each side, but it was just too busy, so I took them off again. Hmmm, what next?
My first completed quilt was a baby quilt for my nephew. I had a couple of these fussy cut bathing ducks left over, so I made them the centers for these log cabin blocks.
 But now what? This has been languishing for quite some time in the UFO pile, too.
There are others, but you get the idea. Does anyone else experience this? Just getting stuck? Of course, one way to avoid this would be to make all my quilts from a pattern, but that just isn't how I operate. Even the quilts I make from patterns are mine in some way, usually with different borders, perhaps with an altered placement. I guess I do this to myself, but it is so frustrating to me to leave something unfinished with no plan to finish it.
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June 18, 2009 - Reconstruction begins
Since I have to work ALL weekend (ugh!), and my hubby will be out of town recruiting, I'm taking my kids to my mom's house for the weekend. While there, I want her to see and know that I've been working on her mom's/grandmom's quilt. However, I didn't want her to freak out when she saw all the bits and pieces of quilt that remain as I rip seams, so I starting sewing some of the trimmed down pieces back together last night. I find it really hard to work with fabrics with so little contrast. I keep telling myself that 70 or so years ago when this quilt was constructed, it DID have contrast. It was pretty obvious from the wear (holes!) and the much darker fabrics in the seam allowances that this quilt had been put to hard and frequent use. Luckily, the quilt was scrappy to begin with, so I don't need to be particular about how I put it back together. You'll notice that I am putting like-fabric triangles together to make diamonds in each block, though.
The finished square size is 1.5", so each of these blocks is 6" finished (6.5" as you see them). One thing I noticed is that the fabrics are VERY stretchy and hard to work with. I don't know if she cut things on the bias or if older fabrics tend to not hold their shape well, but I am already preparing myself for a quilt that is not quite square. (Who am I kidding, none of my quilts are quite square! At least I have an excuse this time.)
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June 17, 2009 - Ready, set, cut!
I stayed up WAAAY too late last night cutting fabric. I couldn't resist seeing what was in the scrap bag I was given yesterday, and I found quite a few scraps big enough to cut additional pieces for my Pick and Choose quilt. While cutting those out, I also did some "scrap management" cutting. You can see here the scraps I cut for my project in the back, and my scrap management piles in the front, with sizes ranging from 1.5" to 5" squares. I have tins of all different sizes that I collect to keep my scraps in. Then when I need some, they are already pre-cut. Of course, that only works because most of what I make is so scrappy.  In the photo, it doesn't look like much, but believe me, that is hours of ironing and cutting you see before you. Well, hours interrupted by kids and husband and pets and calls of nature, but you get the picture.
Another thing I found in the scrap bag was bias tape. What is this for? Anyone? Do I keep it or pass it along? I don't know how it is used.
It just ocurred to me last night that I will see my twin sister in a mere week and a half, and the plan was to have my Crumb Cake Stand quilt finished for her.  I haven't quilted on it in quite some time. Gotta hop to it. I am stippling (by hand) the background in the center CakeStand block, and it is slow going.
 Oh well, I work better with looming deadlines anyway.
And once that is done, I need to start hand quilting something else. My kids, my mom, my younger sister, my niece and nephew, even some strangers who received my comfort quilts - they all get to sleep under a quilt. Me, I have an ancient comforter from a department store with the stitching coming out. It is time to put one on MY bed! I started quilting this one for my bed a couple years ago when I held an old fashioned quilting bee at my house - what fun!
 (Sorry, I guess I never took a picture of the whole quilt) But in the meantime, I've pieced others that I also wouldn't mind having on my bed, particularly this one
 I wouldn't mind this cozy flannel one on my bed, either, but I think my husband might protest.
 This one would be welcome on my bed, but it is SO LARGE it would take me forever to quilt it.
By the way, someone asked about the pattern for the Pick and Choose quilt that I am making. I got it from the June 2009 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. If you want a copy of the pattern, I'd be happy to photocopy it for you and pop it in the mail - send me an email with your mailing address. Here's what it is supposed to look like when finished (draped over an antique bench that you just happen to have in your home).
And finally, I apologize to those of you trying to view this with dial-up if all the pictures are slowing you down; I just love posts with lots to look at! Happy Wednesday!
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June 16, 2009 - Home away from home
I'm back!!! (maybe, if this darned post will post - this is my third try!)
After 3 years, I just can't stay away - I miss you guys! I will be trying to maintain two blogs, though, just in case. I'm trying to chronicle my quilting adventures. Here's today's post from my other blog, http://vesuviusmama.blogspot.com/.
I'm at work. It is raining (AGAIN!). I have to work all weekend. By all indications, I should be down in the dumps, but I'm not. First of all, I like my office. I've worked hard to make it my home away from home. There are quilts, plants and table lamps, and the big windows and fireplace don't hurt. Take a peek.
Here's the view when you walk in the door. I made scrappy pillow from a pattern I found in a magazine about 4 years ago. The quilt on the back of the chair was my grandmother's. She kept it on the rocking chair in her bedroom. It has a label that says "The Comfort Project from the Lighthouse Network." I imagine it was given to her when my aunt passed away, but I can't be sure. I tried googling it some time ago, but nothing came up. I use the quilt quite often because my building was built in the 1840s and it is pretty drafty - charming, but drafty. The painting over the fireplace is one that my younger sister did of herself - she is so talented. The hands in the frame on the mantel are the first project that my oldest son did in preschool. The little painting on the wall next to the window is one my mother brought me back from her trip on the Amazon a couple years ago, our (her kids) Christmas or birthday present to her one year.
Here's the view from my desk over to the other side of the room. I made this quilt out of leftover blocks from the Delectable Mountains quilt I made for my mother.
Here's the little quilt I won a ribbon with at the county fair last year (or the year before). It was just green, Honorable Mention, but a ribbon nonetheless. I hung it with a beaded necklace from WalMart. Here's a closer look...
It isn't home, but when I can't be at home, at least I am comfortable here.
Now, another reason I am not down today is that I received a bag full of scraps from my Guild, delivered to my office this morning. Woo hoo! I closed the door and dumped them out on the floor to take a look. Lots of different sized scraps,
plus some orphan blocks. I can't wait to start using this stuff in my current projects.
Speaking of current projects, I fired up the sewing machine last night and made a couple more blocks for my Pick and Choose quilt - I have 18 of the 25 blocks done at this point. Here they are on my design wall along with some of the sashing and pieced border - none of it is sewn together yet.
And here's a closer view - I am loving this quilt so far!
Feeling pretty good for a Tuesday!
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