Day Off

What do you do when you have a day off work? Right now until the New Year I am off every Wednesday, and this is pretty much how I try to spend my day. Catching up on my reading...

Look at those sandles and socks...no wonder Tony calls me his sexy quilter!!! Of course I also had on my black fleece jacket that is covered in threads...

Thinking about making another wreath. Thinking was the operative word with this today.

 Started cutting out a new project.

Pressing some strips for a WIP- my scrap project, Whirligig.

And working on about 3 other projects on the go, including a queen size quilt for my son, and putting the flimsy together on Stella Blue.

All in all a good day- not a lot done, but at the same time I feel like I accomplished a lot. And I even made dinner...

Struggles

Ever since I moved my sewing room I have been struggling with sewing time...the new area is in our basement in an alcove near the TV area. This is a good thing when I am home alone as I can see the TV from the sewing table. But in the evenings when Tony is home there is usually sports on- hockey, baseball, golf, football, MMA, you name it. Not what I would normally watch. Not only that but I can't listen to music or a book because it is too close the the TV area...so yes, I am selfishly struggling... So, I've had a stern "talk to self" and am learning to live with it. I am using my iPod for music and books. I use my laptop to catch up on some TV shows, turned down low, or if I'm not moving about too much with a head set. It won't be this situation forever as the plan is when Dana leaves, I move into her bedroom. Not sure when this will happen but that is the plan.

I have finished this flimsy for a baby girl called Sarah Maureen. I wanted to see if she was a boy or a girl first, so have finished this in record time. The plan this weekend is to get it pinned and quilting at least started.

The picture doesn't do the colours justice but is lovely and soft for a baby girl. The back will be pieced from an assortment of scraps form the scrap cupboard.

I'm also still working on Whirligig as a leader and ender project. I am making good progress and am loving the scrappy look as I am not obsessive about not placing like fabrics together. This will be quilt for us in the TV room as the ones we use now are looking pretty ratty.

Today I am going to be home alone all day (my day off this week) so the plan is to figure out what to do next. I imagine keep on keeping on with Whirligig, piece another flimsy, and start a new project. Yahoo!!

I'm In Love

I bought the newest edition of Quilt Sampler, and have fallen on love with this quilt.

It is so my style and it just so appeals to me. It must have 3,000 pieces, but I have to make it!

I am going to substitute the orange with red, and make it from my stash. I have lots of reds, browns, and blue/greens that I want to use.

What I am working on is this.

This is Dana's pink and black quilt with some progress made....I have a black containment border to put on first, and then a wider pink border to add after. I think I may have just enough fabric to made a pretty pillow or two as well.

I am also working on Whirligig, another Miss Rosie/Carrie Nelson pattern. I have made this from Thimbleberries scraps, and can't wait to see how it turns out.

For now I have just squared up 180 hourglass blocks to become a part of a larger block. Boy, my wrists and back find it harder and harder to tolerate long hours of cutting and trimming.

Really today should be spent reading documents, but I am finding creative ways to avoid that...I am president of our condo association (136 villa style condos) and we are rewriting the by-laws. I have the first draft from the lawyer to read...as well as a new insurance policy, and a contract renewal for our property management company. We have a board meeting on Thursday so I need to be able to talk about all this "stuff" by then. Wish me luck!!

Tomorrow afternoon is going to be my designated quilting time...

Have a wonderful weekend.

Weekend Plans

Last night when I went to bed I thought I might be getting a cold, but today I am sure...I am drinking tea, and hot water with echinacea, and hoping I can fend this darn thing off. Tony is away for work in northern B.C., and hoping to golf today and tomorrow. This is longest we have been apart, and I'm not liking it. The bright side is that we have a vacation to look forward to. Dana will be home from her vacation, and ready to look after the house, and we can head out.

So today:

• walk Chloe-check
• have breakfast, coffee, read the paper-check
• sweep, dust, vacuum-check
• water my plant pots, and my neighbours, too-check
• read email, facebook and  google reader-check
• fix quilt top that had the block turned the wrong way-check

• have lunch on the deck in the sun-check
• finish Aviary blocks for baby quilt-tcheck

• get on the treadmill-check
• work on blocks for Whirligig-to be done
• sit on the deck in late afternoon with a glass of wine and my book-to be done
• sit and watch recorded shows after dinner and hand sew bindings-to be done

As you can see Chloe has her day well planned, too:

• sleep/repeat-check

All in all, a good day. Hope yours is as well.

What's New?

Summer is winding down, and even though I haven't had little kids going back to school for years, it is still the same feeling. I see all the back to school sales, and the parents out shopping with their elementary school age kids, and I feel nostalgic. Go figure...Dana does head back to 4th year nursing in a few weeks, but she doesn't need me for any help in preparing for that!

Our summer was very busy socially and I had very little time to sew or make cards. Now, I can feel that I have more time, and am excited. So, this is what I am up to:

THIS  is the easy peasy quilt I have been working on as one of my leaser/ ender finishes. Unfortunately I had two side borders on before I realized on block was turned the wrong way.

Now it is sitting on my footstool waiting for me to watch TV and unstitch. ARRGGHH!!! The frustrating part is that I checked it before I started with the borders, and of course it is not a block on the bottom row, oh no! So this lovely will be shown on a better day.

I have started a scrap quilt  to use a lot of my old Thimbleberries fabric. I am making another Miss Rosie quilt called Whirligig.

As with all Carrie Nelson's quilts there are many pieces, and many flying geese. I have all my geese made and will start squaring them up today.

As a leader/ender project I am making this pattern called Split Decision with Aviary by 3 Sisters. I have had the pattern and fabric for quite awhile, and decided it would make a beautiful baby girl quilt.

I have several baby quilts to make, so this one should be done in lots of time.

This weekend I am going to put Dana's pink and black quilt top  together, and also my previous Miss Rosie finish, Stella Blue. Both will go to the quilter as my back cannot handle quilting anything much larger than a twin size quilt. Saving my pennies for that!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

P. S.   Blogger is not letting me post this...says I can't use "&" in my labels. Do you see any & in my labels?? OK, I've taken the labels out and will try again.