April Finishes - Down to the wire

Is April really over? Where did it go? Once again, I made some significant progress, but I didn't complete my list. But there's always May!

I did complete my Half-Pint finally. I wasn't part of the quilt-along, but loved seeing everyone else's results, so now I have my own.



I also completed the March and April rows of Claudia's Quilte Shoppe BOM



And I'm excited to say that my Crazy quilt will be completed before I go to bed tonight, so I'm counting it as a finish. It's in the machine now, and the lighting in here is too bad to get a decent picture. I'll try to take it outside tomorrow so you can see it in all its glory!!!! This is the first quilt that I started, and I quickly learned that a crazy quilt is not a good starting point. So I took a couple of classes and made some simpler quilts while Crazy sat in the corner. It's not perfect, but it's my pride and joy! Can't wait to show you tomorrow.

edited at 12:15 am. quilting is finished, on to the binding!

edited at 1:05 am. Binding is on, pins are out, and everything is trimmed. Off to bed! I love deadlines............

A lesson on Pelicans

I love blogging and making international friends. On two of my recent posts, I included photos of pelicans. I live on the East Coast of America, and I've only ever seen Brown Pelicans.
It turns out that the Brown Pelican is the only pelican with any brown on it!

A fellow blogger inquired as to why there was so much brown on my pelicans, and of course the answer is because they're Brown Pelicans. She had never heard of them, and sent me a picture of Australian Pelicans. (Thanks Mary!) They're beautiful!
The Australian Pelican is the largest of all the pelicans.

It's interesting to me that the Internet has made our world so much smaller. Most of the blogs that I read are about quilting and include any other tidbits of our daily lives. We're scattered all over the world, yet we're brought together because we have we have this one thing in common. I enjoy my little trips around the world and getting to know you, and hope to meet some of you in person some day.

I'm sewing!

Just a quickie to let you know that I do sew from time to time. I forgot to put this quilt on my April Goals list. It's from a workshop that I attended the day before I left for Florida. I signed up for it at our Guild back in September, so it's technically not a 'new' project??

The Simple Woman's Daybook, April 19

Outside my window...It's cool again today, the trees have leafed out, and the Azaleas are starting to bloom.
I am thankful for...my hubby, the IT guy, who got my new laptop all set up and ready to go!
From the kitchen...Homemade chicken noodle soup was on the menu tonight.
I am wearing...shorts and a tee shirt, and I'm barefoot. the usual summer attire.
I am creating...I started a new pink afghan while on vacation.
I am going...to investigate the possibility of a new job in a new town!
I am reading...St. Augustine tour book
I am hoping...that I get a ton of work done tomorrow
I am hearing...the TV, and the dishwasher running.
Around the house...kitties are all around, they were lonely while we were on vacation.
One of my favorite things...my new laptop! It's so speedy compared to the old one.
A few plans for the rest of the week: a massage and two doctor's appointments. No plans for the weekend yet.
Here is picture for thought I am sharing... I love pelicans!

Home again. . . . .

We arrived back home today to temperatures in the 40's. Just yesterday I was walking on a beach in Florida and it was 82 degrees. Welcome back to reality. I attended a conference in Jacksonville on Thursday and Friday, and the hubby and I decided to make a week of it. We have friends on nearby Amelia Island, so we spent time with them, and also took a daytrip to St. Augustine. We had a nice relaxing week, ate lots of seafood, indulged in some retail therapy, did some sightseeing, and even managed a visit to the local quilt shop! I picked up a few 30's fat quarters to add to my collection.



While shopping in beautiful Historic Fernandina Beach, I found this lovely clasp bracelet that I just had to have. The clasps are interchangeable, so I can add others later.


I didn't take pictures of any of the food, but Amelia Island is the home of the first commercial shrimp boats, and I can attest that they bring in some mighty fine shrimp. I also sampled the Pineapple Casserole at one of the restaurants, and it was quite tasty! I'll be trying to recreate that recipe.

I was born and raised in South Dakota, and I just love being at the ocean, and I always have to take pictures of palm trees and seagulls, and I captured quite a few pelican shots this trip as well.





While in St. Augustine, we visited the lighthouse, ate more seafood, and shopped at old St. Augustine Village.




All in all, it was a great trip. It was even a good conference. Now it's time to start planning the next trip!

I missed out on the Friday Night Sew-in and the CG&CGQC Sewing party, so I'll be surfing the blogs in the next couple of days to see what everyone else got accomplished. I hope to be participating next month.

Stash Manicure!

I found another wonderful group of like-minded fabric addicts. Hop on over to Rae Ann's blog to see what it's all about, and join in on the fun! You realize that if we use up some of our stash, we'll be making room for more fabric. It doesn't get any better than that!!

The Simple Woman's Daybook, April 4

Outside my window...It was nearly 80 degrees today. The tulips and daffodils are blooming, and the shouts and laughter of the neighborhood children fill the air.
I am thankful for...my sister, who took the time to really listen to me today when I needed a shoulder to cry on.
From the kitchen...Mmmm....the Easter ham was cooked today instead of on Easter Sunday.
I am wearing...shorts and a tee shirt, and I'm barefoot. Summer has arrived!
I am creating...quilting my half-pint quilt, finally....
I am going...to continue researching new career paths
I am reading...Project Management
I am hoping...that I start feeling better very soon.
I am hearing...the TV, Castle is on!
Around the house...all is quiet, haven't even seen a cat for the last couple of hours.
One of my favorite things...I absolutely LOVE Spring! Have I mentioned that before?
A few plans for the rest of the week: Quilt Club, a hair appointment, and a quilt workshop on Saturday!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

We found these flowers out in the wild on Saturday. The leaves are similar to daffodil leaves.

Happy Easter!

What a beautiful Easter Sunday! None of our traditional Easter guests were able to join us this year, so we're having a lazy day. The hubby wants to go out to dinner instead of cooking, so I'll have plenty of time to sew today!

Yesterday we spent the day geocaching and traipsing around southern Maryland. We saw lighthouses:

Rare exotic birds:



The birthplace of Maryland:


And for dinner, I had the biggest shrimp I've ever seen!



It was a fun day of sightseeing, hiking, geocaching, and making new friends. I was too tired when I got home to do any sewing, but I crocheted in the car on the way, so I was even able to be somewhat productive!

April Goals

It's that time again! I was a little overly ambitious with my March Goals, so the list for April may look very familiar. I am proud to announce that although I didn't finish as many projects as I had hoped, I DID NOT start any new projects. The list for April includes:

1. the Half-pint. I think I decided last night how to quilt it.
2. 4 BOM blocks for Quilt Club
3. 2 BOM rows from Claudia's Quilt Shoppe BOM
4. the Crazy Quilt
5. a Turning Twenty (actually - Turning 12 in my case!)

IF I finish all of these, I get to start something new. I'm very thankful that I found the CG&GQC to keep me motivated. Without the end-of-month deadline, I wouldn't have finished what I did in March. From reading all the other blogs, I'm forming quite a long list of quilts that I NEED to make.

Have I mentioned how much I love Spring? I got in my car this morning to head for work, and when I looked up and saw this Daffodil, I had to jump out of the car and take some pictures. This is the first year we've had Daffodils and I just love them.

And I have to include this shot of one of our goofy cats. I've never seen a cat lay with their front legs like this. We call her Chicken Wings when she does it! This is not a flattering shot of her.