The Great Escape

We've escaped from the snow.  Two very long days on the road.  A little of this:

A lot of this:

And finally this:

Stay tuned for more adventures!

Sunny in sunny Florida

Snow Days

The snow mountains have begun to recede.  We got out of the house today for something other than shoveling!  While we didn't have the required wind speeds for our snowstorm over the weekend to qualify as a blizzard, we had 'blizzard-like' conditions and nearly 30 inches of snow.  That's about 75cm to the rest of the world.  That's a lot of snow for us.  And a lot of shoveling.  Fortunately I had some help or I'd still be out there trying to free our cars from the drifts.

Of course, Snow Days = Sew Days!  And cleaning days.  I've spent a LOT of time lately trying to make my sewing/crafting room a more pleasant place to work.  And that means getting rid of a ton of stuff.  I've taken stuff to the Salvation Army, Parent-Child Center, Hospice, my sewing groups, friends, family, and some to the trash.  I've spent days shredding old records and statements.  Why did I still have some of this stuff?!?

Retreat is in a couple of weeks, and I've also been kitting, cutting, and prepping projects for that.  I'm going to plan on working on several smaller projects this time, so I can cross off more from my very long list.  I always take too many projects, but want to have something extra to work on in case I get bored. or forgot some crucial item.

RSC16 is off to a good start, and Blue is the color for January.  I'm going to attempt three different projects this year, as I barely made a dent in my scraps last year.

Not sure what this is called, but it's 16" and will be sashed with another white strip when the quilt is assembled.

I hope to do at least 4 string blocks each month.  I started with paper foundation, but found that muslin worked much better for me.  

And these will eventually be small spool blocks.  I need to get some brown fabric to complete them.  

I don't precut my scraps like many quilters do, so this took awhile, but I got in the groove and cut all the sizes at the same time, and then assembling them went rather quickly.  

I joined Gifted Gorgeousness (GG) again this year, but I didn't get anything stitched for January.  My project is Snow Days, designed by Kaaren Johnston of The Painted Quilt.  I won the pattern AND the fabric to make it in a drawing on Kaaren's blog a couple of years ago.  I should be able to get started on the stitching in a few days.

Knowing that Snow Days was on my to-do list, and knowing that it contained several embroidery blocks, I treated myself to a new light pad last year.  I'm not a fan of tracing while standing at a window, and my old light box was a joke.  Anyway, the new light pad is very thin and seems to be somewhat fragile, so I thought it needed a padded case.

 I showed these red hexies in progress several months ago, and was stumped on how to assemble this.  It's a simple envelope style, and it's finished, and I totally lost interest in it so the construction isn't the greatest.  But did I say "it's finished"?  And I used up some red scraps!

I've been doing a lot of cross stitching since I finished Santa's Village.  This pattern was purchased a few years ago, and finally made it out of the basket.  There is a plan for how it will be finished, so you'll be seeing it again soon.  yeah, how many times have I said that??

On a final note, I purchased some socks today.  They are in an envelope and heading to the Post Office tomorrow for a very special destination.  I didn't think to take a picture of them, but please check out this link for a Very Special Project.  You'll want to buy a pair of socks, too!

(Picture borrowed from Confessions of a Fabric Addict)

Stay tuned for my next post.  It might just involve palm trees, sand, and waves!       Sunny

Still Stitching Away

I'm writing this in Blogger, and I'm not sure if I remember how!  I keep thinking that maybe I should just stop blogging since I've become so lax about it, but I just can't quite seem to pull the plug.  Although I'm now retired and have all the time in the world, it seems that I have less time than ever before.  I belong to two Guilds, two small sewing groups, and I sew at a friend's house on Mondays. Three other sewing dates are set up for this month also.  Life is GOOD!

RSC15 has come to a close, and I decided (with the help of many sewing buddies) that I needed another bright color for my final Dresden.  

I had to raid the scrap stash of two friends to make this, because as much as I like pink, my scraps tends to be lighter.  Thanks girls!  I've finished all my centers, and will start assembling the quilt very soon.  Then it's on to RSC16.  If you haven't played along before, Angela announces a new color each month, and we get creative with our scraps of that color.  She'll even provide inspiration for your blocks, or you can choose your own projects.  Each Saturday she had a linky so you can get even more inspiration seeing what others are doing.  Anyone can play along!

Christmas gifts have been sent and received.  Di was quite clever when she designed her gifts this year.  I can hang the little "P", or make it into a pin cushion, or use it as a needle book.  She also sent a lovely stitched Christmas ornament.  And Maria sent the cutest bunting!  I forgot to take a photo while it was hanging, so use your imagination.  Now I'll always have a little Aussie flair to my holidays.  

And...I received my first ever hand knitted socks!  It's finally turned cold here, so I just may be wearing them tomorrow.  

Other December projects included two identical wall hangings, a cross stitched pillow, and three small quilts from the To-be-quilted pile.

The snowman doesn't show up very well, but he's melting in the Florida sunshine!  

Two of the three small quilts were made from scraps, in an effort to reduce the stash!  They will be donated for our Guild's service project.

The third small is one that I made with a small fat quarter bundle that had been collecting dust.  It's meant to be a table topper, and have a button sewed on each prairie point.  I might use it for a baby gift, though, so haven't added the buttons.

We made a quick trip to the shore for a couple of days before Christmas when the weather was unseasonably warm and just too perfect to ignore.  

We spent Christmas with family, and I got to finally meet my new great niece. She's a cutie!  We had a pretty laid back couple of days, but good times with family that we don't see often enough.  There was plenty of food, and all our stockings were filled by Santa.  My loot included thread, rotary blades, and a JoAnn's coupon.  Santa knows me well.  

January got off to a good start, with my first finish completed on January first. The fabric was a gift for Christmas 2010, the top was pieced at least 2-3 years ago, and now it's all put together.  As I was pinning it in preparation for quilting, it occurred to me that it was my last gift from my father, and I'll treasure it forever.

No New Year's resolutions for me this year.  Instead, I'm going to try some weekly goals.  I've made a list of possibilities, and I'm happy to say that Week One was a success, as will Week Two be.  One of the goals is to blog every day for the week.  Think I'll be successful at that one?  LOL!

Happy Stitching!             Sunny