Ahhh Sunshine and Warmth....

Nope I am not on vacation but darn close! I am in Atlanta GA on a business trip-I know-coming from Central PA by way of Upstate NY, this is a mini-vacation! I always make sure that I rent my own car and bring Judith (Garmin Nuvi) because you never know when the meetings will not run as long as expected and you can find yourself Quilt Shop Hopping! I have a list ready and Judith programed just in case. Although if the weather at home doesn't improve I am staying here! It is 56 degrees and overcast in downtown Atlanta! A far cry from ice, snow, ice and no school! Poor Zach-school at least distracts him so that he is not focused on that fact that I am not there. Scott might have to step up and hand over the remote control and allow it to be on a kid friendly channel (CNN Junkie!!) otherwise he will have a sad boy on his hands. Apparently the dog is having a rough time. She keeps looking at the doors and listening for the garage door-the morning report said that she barked at anything yesterday. Poor baby-nope I have not left her in the year we have had her. If I did leave her she was boarded at her favorite Puppy Hotel so she didn't miss us.

My goals for quilt shop excursions are:

• Henry Glass Buggy Barn Cafe Mocha-I want to see the colors before purchasing
• Left Overs of the Moda Christmas line with the Ball Ornaments-I will know it when I see it.
• I want a deep red with an ivory print on it that does not have people or farm animals plus a tone on tone red to match
• Fabric for a quilt for my nephew (Hi Seth!) no idea what theme another thing that I will know when I see it.

No other goals just to wander and look-oh yeah I WANT the French Roses pattern by Heather French or the Quilt Pink book that it was featured in.

For Mom

Mom-this is the Green color in the snowflake table runner:
Not sure the picture does it justice-sorry.

Quilty Shopping Day!

Saturday in Central PA saw nice, warmer, blue sky weather-finally above the teens-although I guess Friday was too but with the Migraine I never noticed being passed out from pain. So I had to meet a friend in Mifflinburg (11AM) to pick up my Pampered Chef order (love the stuff-can't believe there is anything I don't have) and for anyone who knows the area you can't go to Mifflinburg and not swing over to see Verna! The bad part is 1/2 was to Verna's I remembered I had no checkbook nor cash-so a right I took thinking I could take another right and end up back on main street....you would have thought. 20 minutes later I find an ATM and start again.

Verna's was PACKED!! Holy Cow-I have never not been able to park in her parking lot-we parked on the street I was crazy. Poor Zachary set foot inside saw all the ladies and decided that he would wait in the car. My mission at Verna's was to pick up a backing for a quilt I need to do-I had heard that she sold backings cut in one piece-no seams! Now they are either white, cream or black so if you want a fancy fabric it is not for you but if you just want a utilitarian back this will work. Of course that was not all I bought-I got the chalk pounce, a refill and the neatest purple flowered fabric. I am NOT a fan of purple but I thought this would look striking with white-just the 2 colors.

I do have share that Zach did come back in to see how much longer I was going to be and to tell me that he had to Potty-Verna heard him and directed him to the "outhouse" - yup you heard it an OUTHOUSE! Zach asked what that was an I explained it was like the "blue potties" so off he went....when I go to the car he informed me that was the smelliest outhouse ever and next time he would hold it! I was contemplating using it but decided not to....

After Verna's we headed to Muncy to a Ben Franklin's. I had no idea this store existed! Friday night after clawing my way out of the migraine pain, and because I had slept 5 hours during the day and couldn't sleep, I was go online and looked for the wooden "plate" that fits on Grace and you use with the stylus. I found the "Popcorn" one I wanted and noticed it was being shipped from Muncy PA-ah why pay $20 shipping when I can drive up there. So that is how I found the Ben Franklin in Muncy-well Clarkstown actually. They had the plate in stock -hurray! I ALSO found the paper doll fabric and learned that in March they will have the completer pieces! I have been scouring the Internet for a place to buy these fabrics and just didn't want to pay 3 different places shipping. I am now the owner of 1.5 yds of the dolls and anxiously awaiting March to purchase the rest-PLUS if you bought more than a yard it was 25% off!!

From there we found a bathroom and some snacks (1:30) and headed to Our Gathering Place in Montoursville. Zach informed me last week the following: "Mom I need a quilt that fits" "What do you mean a quilt that fits" "LOOK!!" He pulls his bugging quilt up to his shoulders and points out that his toes stick out "I can't lay flat and be covered-STOP laughing at ME!" "Sorry Zach, I am not laughing at you, I am laughing at your toes sticking out" "UGH-never mind!!" I had set aside a pattern in a magazine that I thought would be easy to do for my nephew Seth who would like a quilt. I pulled it out and new that OGP had some cool dinosaurs fabric that he would like-yup he did. I also found a black fabric with a cream design on it-I want to do a dramatic black and cream with twisting ribbons.

I finally stopped and fed Zach-hit WalMart for groceries, by passed the craft department at Zach's instruction because I had looked at that ALL DAY! and home we headed. All in all a good day-cool to spend it with my kid.

Oh yeah I got Todd and Summer's 5 yr old wedding gift loaded on Grace....it is a start!

Self Imposed Sewing Exile-Broken!

I couldn't do it-I could not sit here and study while my beloved machine, Gracie and hundreds (almost) of projects screamed my name-so I compromised. An hour of studying and a +80 on the practice test got me 30 minutes of studying. There are 6 modules so I could potentially earn 3 hours of sewing-well jeese I should have given myself that challenge since Thanksgiving when the studying started! I got my 3 hours!! No strings this time around-I could sew whatever I wanted-what to pick? I could have finished any number of items but instead I chose a new project from my local quilt shop: Our Gathering Place. It is a table runner of the prettiest ice green colors I have ever seen and oh so simple-4 columns and 12 rows of 3 1/2 squares with appliqued snowflakes. It will look nice in our neutral toned living room. As I was waiting for my iron to heat up (have I mentioned that I HATE this iron!) I traced my pattern pieces for my stained glass-esque piece that I have vowed to finish in 2009. I multi-tasked!

I am showing my Mom's Christmas gift in this post-she has requested Fall Theme wall hanging for her office. This is from the Quick Quilts magazine and all is from my stash except for the olive greens. The picture does not do it justice-I am quite impressed with how this turned out and love how it looks hanging from my banister-hmmmm I wonder if she will miss it-maybe she will forget I made it for her. ;)

I stippled this in the ivory parts by "floating" it on the backing and batting on Grace. HOW AWESOME! Shoot-I had it quilted in an evening-just back and forth-no twisting and maneuvering, stopping and starting. Grace earned her keep that night!

Ok-back to watching my recorded inauguration speech. I am proud of our country today-I hope this is the beginning of the end of an era and the end of a simple minded belief that one is greater than the other.

When did 2009 get here?

Seriously-when did 2008 end and how did I miss it? Oh yeah-I was out cold that night by 9:30! I must say I that I have barely checked emails in 3 weeks much less post a blog. I have made sure to keep track of my favorite bloggers: Cre8tive Quilter, Sister's Choice Quilts and Life is a Stitch - BlogHoster. There are plenty more I lurk on but these are the ones I am obsessed with reading. They are great quilters, wives, sisters, daughters, friends, bloggers, and some mothers whose wit and sense of humor makes it to the pages of their blog offering me an escape from the daily grind and my house full of testosterone!

So here we are in 2009 and I have grand plans for my WIP's and UFO's this year-the same as I did last year. I think all in all I did fairly well. Considering the ones I chose to finish were at least a decade old! I am committing to print my must do quilt projects for 2009-here we go:

• Quilt Todd and Summer's 6 year old Wedding Gift-after all it was the reason for buying Grace!
• Quilt my beloved Round Log Cabin-this to date is one of my favorites. I am not a fan of blue but I LOVE the movement and perceived circles.
• The Stain glass-esque wall hanging for my very bare, very white dining room wall.
• Quilt Mom's 9-patch wall hanging!
  

Ok so this is all I am committing too, there are about 1/2 dozen other things that should be here but I cannot commit because you know what will happen-the quilt shop will get some amazing kits in or a new line of fabric and bam I am off track. OMG! I just figured out I have QADD-Quilt Attention Deficit Disorder~Hmmm I wonder if Fabric Pills exist for therapy??

I have not allowed myself much time at the sewing machine lately-a self inflicted "NO SEW ZONE" is in place. My SPHR exam in on the 26th so I am forcing myself to study. I did however break the zone and forwarned the hubby that I was going to-he has been enlisted to help enforce the new policy. I HAD to de-stress and I have been dutifully studing daily. This brief reprieve had some rules-whatever I chose had to be something already started or if something new I had to be able to finish it-so as to not tease me into a longer furlough- and I only had the length of Mama Mia movie! I planned prior to starting the movie to be able to get the most out of the break.

I chose a Cup Cozy! My co-worker and I love our post lunch Lattes (decaf for me!) but our favorite spot is new age, organic-y, recycle....and does not offer a cardboard finger protector. SO unless we are wearing longer sleeves than necessary or gloves, we burn our fingers holding our beloved mid afternoon snacks. I saw a pattern/kit in the Connecting Threads catalog for $22-WHAT!! $22 bucks? Are you nuts? I don't mind spending money on fabric or patterns but PAHLEEZE let's make it reasonable. I scoured the treasure trove of free patterns on the Internet and discovered lots of versions and for a mere $8 bucks the pattern could be mine-nope not good enough-I want free! Kind of like Jill at Ramblings of a Fabric Obsessor with the Yo-Yo maker. I gave up on the free and set out searching the cars because I knew there had to be at least one of the Starbucky ones tucked in a side/seat pocket. Eureka!

I took apart the cardboard one and worked up a muslin prototype that is perfect, choose a great Kaffe print and VIOLA! Here is the result-Cool huh? All done within the allotted time! Now not only are our fingers cool but we are COOL with our Kaffe Cup Cozies! The Cherry Alley Cafe should be very proud as they will fit with their new age views in that they are reusable!

Uh oh-the hubby just asked how my studying was going....gotta close up and get the practice exam on my screen. See you later!