The week ends on a high

I travelled to Jacksonville Florida last Monday, My flight was at 7am from Newburgh airport so  early start. My flight went via Atlanta and it was strange to see the snow on the ground there. The weather in Jacksonville was a lot warmer but overcast and drizzly.

I was working there till Friday and I had taken some triangles to stitch together by hand, I managed to get quite a few of them done. Got home by about 9 Friday night the temperature had already dropped to 12degrees and that was without the wind chill. Saturday morning we drove over to White Barn Sheep and Wool http://www.whitebarnsheepandwool.com/ , They have asked for people to knit squares to make a blanket for a local man who was in a very serious car accident here is the first one.

We also called in at Quilters Attic so that I could collect my kit for next week. I am doing the Patriots in Petticoats BOM and have now got the fabric and instructions for the first 2 blocks. I will be going to Quilters next Saturday morning to assemble them as the teacher will be talking to us about the history relating to each block. They are all named after a famous American female hero.

Sunday morning I completed the wonky house block for my quilting B It was really difficult as I am not used to freeform. Can’t say i am thrilled with the result but I hope it is suitable for the person who wants them.

Lunchtime I made some dark chocolate chili truffle cookies – Yum ! they are very rich, but even so I will be lucky if there are any left by the time I get back from Florida next week.

I was then able to focus on my January UFO – I spent the rest of the day sewing and was finally able to finish my blocks for the blue and white quilt. All I have left to do now is assemble, quilt and bind.

So lets talk about my stash update

Week 4 stash report
1 yards used year to Date:
0 yards added this Week:
Added Year to Date: 20
Net Used for 2011: 19 yards

Stash week 3

Here is week 3 stash report
0 yards used year to Date:
0 yards added this Week:
Added Year to Date: 20
Net Used for 2011: 0 yards

Its been an interesting week

We decided to go skiing at Hunter Mountain on Tuesday, its only just over the hour from where we live and they have half price ski days for locals. We were on the slopes by 10.15 and we were greeted with good snow conditions, no lines at the lifts and reasonable weather. What more could we ask for. We skied through to about 2.30 and then drove home to make sure the dogs got fed on time.

The forecast was predicting another snowfall on Tuesday night and we were greeted the next morning with about 8 inches more snow. There was very little wind so we did not have the same drifting that we got last time. We don't like to let the dogs out in it too much as the golden doodle is a complete magnet for the snow and if forms ice balls all over her. But we decided to let them have good run around and as you can see they had a fantastic time. The birds were very grateful that we restocked the bird feeder. So much so that they had emptied it by the end of the day!

I was busy working Thursday and Friday, getting ready for my trip to Jacksonville next week. Its going to be strange travelling to work again. Just hope the airlines all run to schedule as I have a pretty tight connection in Atlanta.

Saturday I went to my very first quilt guild meeting. Thanks to the the ladies of the Wiltwyck quilt guild in Kingston NY for making me welcome. They had 67 people attend, they seem a very active group. I was thrilled to find out that one of the blogs I follow, Bonnie Hunter at http://quiltville.blogspot.com/ is coming to teach there in April, so I signed up for the classes straight away.

I spent Sunday morning finishing my November block for the quilting B I belong to. Yes I know, very late but I will catch up with the others next weekend. I also completely cleaned my sewing room so at least I can move around in there again.

I am off to the movies later today to see the Kings Speech with our friends Gil and Sara. Movie was good and so was the food at the Gilded Otter. Just need to pack now

The weekend finished well

After the snow on Friday, I had a sewing class Saturday afternoon at the Quilters Attic in Pine Bush http://quiltersattic.com/ .

It was a UFO classs so I took in my Charlston quilt from the cotton theory book. Anita helped me work out where I was (not very far) so that I will be able to complete it when Judy pulls the right number out of the UFO challenge. I useda different machine while I was there and realised just how much I love my Pfaff CV. I have just got used to all the automatic features it has to offer, in particular the way the foot raises and lowers :-)

I spent all day Sunday working on my number 6 UFO - Progress to date is in the top picture only one more round of blocks to go. Sunday night I got to sleep under one of my quilts for the very first time. It was my Hunter Star.

Here is week 2 stash report

0 yards used year to Date:

0 yards added this Week:

Added Year to Date: 20

Net Used for 2011: 0 yards

How to shrink your stash !

Yesterday was a snow day here so even though I work from home I thought I would take advantage and catch up on some sewing related things. Here is the view from my desk, The birds were lining up for a turn at the feeder all day but I thought the combination of the red cardinal against the greys and white of the day was really lovely.

I started the day with a nice cappuccino and got my mind in the right place by drawing patterns on the top

I did some sewing on my number 6 UFO project but I still have some distance to go on that yet. While reading the blogs, I read a guest blogger on stash manicure whose home blog is http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/ Karen was talking about organising your sewing room better and I thought I would kill two birds with one stone. I asked DH to scan all my stash fabric (yes I am lucky he never complains about the quantity) so now I have all the scans in a folder ready to use in EQ7, then I downloaded an app for my IPad called Fabric Stash XL brought the pictures into it then measured and folded each piece - I guess that's three birds !!

So here is the added advantage of folding your fabric as Karen suggests and fulfilling the title of this blog without actually using any fabric, when you fold it all this way -it looks so much less, woo hoo now I can go and buy more with a clear conscience.Obviously this does not include all the fabric I have in drawers or the fleece and flannel or my fat quarters, layer cakes and jelly rolls but.......

Just another Tuesday

Spent time in my home office working and set up my embroidery machine (Pfaff CV) to stitch out the book cover for Caitlin's birthday.

I then completed it on the serger (Babylock Evolution), My DH created a birthday card for her, using images of her over the years. We will pack it in with a few bought gifts but I hope she likes the ones we took time to personalize for her.

Late afternoon I went to have my nails done, I normally have gel ( hangover from needing nails in good shape when working) but I was persuaded to try Shellac. It is like a reinforced nail polish. I will let you know how it lasts as this should get me closer to natural nails again.

Rounded off the evening with a run with my good friend Gil and his four dogs, I ran just over 4.25 miles and given the temperature was below freezing, I was quite pleased with my efforts.

Don't knock it till you try it

Monday, I spent most of the day at my PC working on a new training course for work. Lunchtime I was able to a little on my 5D software, I designed a book cover for my niece. Hopefully I will get to stitch it out tomorrow.

I was invited to go try line dancing at the local Vets hall and I thought why not, its something new. So at 6.30 I arrived and joined a group of some dozen other beginners and followed the teaching from Bernadette. I have to say it was a lot of fun. A little exercise for the body but a lot of exercise for the brain trying to remember all of the steps. The music was varied, some country but also some soul, all in all I really enjoyed myself. Who would have guessed? http://notjustcountrylinedancing.com/

I will definitely try it again and next time I will wear better shoes, who knows maybe I will get myself some cowboy boots.

Stash List

For those of you non quilters, we have some technical terms for our guilty secrets. When we are out buying fabric for no specific reason we say it is for our stash. Whilst no quilter likes to admit just how much they have in their hoard. I thought I would join the folks over in Patchwork times and declare my weekly purchesses

So here goes

Week 1

0 yardsUsed year to Date: ( As I cut the blue and white last year I dont think I can count it )
20 yardsAdded this Week: (there were sales !)
Added Year to Date: 20
Net Used for 2011: 0 yards

Week 2
0 yards used year to date
0 yards added this week
Added year to date 20
Net used for 2011 0 yards

A new year filled with good intentions

Thanks to the UFO challenge from Patchwork times, they drew the lucky number 6 yesterday which means that I got down to trying to finish the sixth item on my list which is my blue and white quilt. The pattern was inspired by Karen Montgomery's quilt in the August addition of American Patchwork & Quilting.





After 2 days this is how far I have progressed with the assembly -- I cut all the blocks last September in order to try out my Accuquilt Go cutter. It is about 12 yards of fabric. Saturday night I stitched some more on my Raggedy quilt.

I have also been running, 4.4 miles on the treadmill on Saturday and 2.2 miles out in the snow today.

Lets hope I can keep up with all this progress.