March was unproductive

OK - I knew March would speed by with very little sewing accomplished, but I still set some UNREALISTIC goals didn't I?  And I never would have guessed that I would have spent quite so much time being sick in March as I did (stomach flu and then some respiratory crud). I lost 2 whole weeks being sick.  

• 2 blocks for March Saturday Sampler - DONE

• 2 blocks for RSC14 in teal or a Caribbean blue-green (maybe 3) - 3 DONE

• bind and mail the Boxed Squares quilt (a UFO finish) - DONE but not mailed

• 2 aqua owl pillowcases (UFO finish) - NO

• set together the Loralei golfer blocks into a flimsy (UFO) - NOT TOUCHED

• work on hand quilting tropical wedding quilt (UFO) - NOT TOUCHED

I did make a couple of pillowcases for the twin grandkids' birthdays and I got a couple of Traveling Stars put together. But overall the month was not very productive. 

Another spring Traveling Star block

Daffodils make me feel like spring is right around the corner.  And we had a 65 degree sunny day today . . . and a winter storm/blizzard watch for the next couple of days.  We are all sick of winter!

Jonah's pillowcase

I managed to spend a little time this morning in my sewing room and I got Jonah's pillowcase made for his birthday.  Olivia's is pink and girly - Jonah's has cars and stripes.  I do love using this "tube" method for pillowcases because it's really fast, there are no exposed seams or handwork.

Handmade

Handmade gifts are hard to beat. My cousin Julie is a very talented knitter and she sent this beautiful shawl for my birthday. Isn't it pretty? And the colors are really ME!  An awesome gift for my big 60th birthday.  And it will keep me warm tomorrow on a cold snowy/rainy end of winter day.

 

Strip sets

I got my 4 strip sets made for an upcoming class at our April guild meeting.  Mary F. will be teaching the class and gave us all the homework assignment of getting our strip sets made before coming so we are ready to cut and sew.

These colors look a bit faded out, but they are really a soft grey background with navy in the top set. And the bottom set has a lime green, a grey/navy/lime batik, and the same light grey background.

I needed a fresh color palette and this one made me think of spring rain. Maybe I'm being optimistic about the spring theme.

What do you do with practice blocks?

I had forgotten all about this practice block that I had made, until seeing a similar block done with strings at a quilting friend's house recently.  Maybe I could pick 3 more bright background colors, make a set of 4 and use it for a pillow top or a table topper or wall hanging.  HMMMM . . . it has some possibilities.

What else can be done with practice blocks? I have several different sizes of them laying in my sewing room.  

Finally - some sewing!

I ventured back into my messy - and neglected - sewing room this afternoon for a little fun.  A quick project was a pillowcase for granddaughter Olivia.  I had instructions to make it pink and girly. I think this one fits that description.  Maybe tomorrow I'll get brother Jonah's pillowcase made too.

Where did my week go?

Nothing productive has happened here in almost 2 weeks.  Most of the past week just slipped by while I slept or coughed or slept. . .

Last weekend was spent with DD#2 and her family visiting and we celebrated Sophia's 2nd birthday. We also attended the State B girls basketball tournament to watch the Sanborn Central/Woonsocket Blackhawks become state runners-up. Wonderful job girls!!  Sanborn Central is the district my husband and girls graduated from and I taught in for 18 years. My heart is still in that school district.

By Sunday night I figured I had a cold coming on - no big deal. Worked on Monday, felt fine. Worked on Tuesday, felt fine - until I was driving home in a snow storm at the end of the day. My throat was scratchy and I felt kind of warm.  I took my Nyquil and went to bed early. For the next 3 days I've run a temp, coughed until my ribs hurt, blown my nose until it's raw, and slept, slept, slept.  I know - WAY too much information!

And today I'm finally feeling like I'm returning to the land of the living. But now my husband has it.  Not been a fun March so far: stomach flu the first week and now this.  Hope spring arrives soon!

I just know that I'm anxious to spend some "healing" time in my sewing room today!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Sophia!

Granddaughter Sophia turns 2 today!

She celebrated earlier in the week by going to a college basketball game with grandpa and mommy. A future SDSU Jackrabbit - we hope.  Her favorite thing was dancing whenever the bands played.

Sharing fabrics

Another blogger generously offered to share her coffee-themed fabric scraps with me after she finished her coffee-themed quilt.  I already had a few collected to use in a table topper or wall hanging but hadn't decided on a design. Now I have these gorgeous additions to mix in with the others.  I definitely have enough now to make a wall hanging for my kitchen.

Saturday Sampler

Blocks 3 and 4 for Saturday Sampler are done. I really like the design of this one. It's always interesting when you do 2 blocks with the same fabrics reversed.  And this colorway has the fabrics are a fabulous mix of modern batiks and civil war type fabrics. I would not have imagined these would blend so beautifully, and I'm glad I chose this colorway.

Tropical Traveling Star

Regular readers know our guild have a tradition of sharing 6" squares of fabric purchased on trips. Well one of members just returned from a cruise and she brought us tropical fish.  And my stash had the perfect pinkish-purple that matched the coral reef in the print. I just love this Traveling Star.

RSC14 - March

The color for March RSC14 is teal or aqua - pretty much anything in between blue and green. Well, my stash is full of true blue and true green, but I really had to dig for these in-between colors.

I had 2 of the 3 Pigtail blocks made on Saturday before I got sick. So I finished the last one after work Thursday, along with the extra pink one and extra blue one.  I've decided to make 3 of each color instead of 2 so that I end up with a full sized quilt when I'm done.  Can't wait to add even more colors to the mix in the coming months. They look a little "washed out" in the early evening light here.

Machine quilting makes a quilt come alive

I picked up my Wishin' For Spring quilt at The Pin Cushion on Wednesday after work, where Marsha worked some magic on it.  Just a little glimpse for now.  Don't you love the way a beautiful thread looks? This one is a deeply colored variegated blue/red/purple and it looks lovely on these batiks and really pops on the black.  And the quilting design has a botanical feel that blends perfectly with the theme of the quilt. The binding is all made and ready go.

Getting back to normal

Today I finally feel like I might be getting back to normal after a really nasty bug hit me on Saturday night. My husband's theory is food poisoning and I threw away the suspicious items just in case. But it certainly could have been the stomach flu. Probably doesn't matter which - I just know it has been a miserable couple of days. Sunday was spent sleeping when I wasn't otherwise engaged. Monday - I don't think I even put my glasses on all day.

But it's a NEW DAY and I decided to go back to work this morning. Nearly normal is good.

March goals

March is going to pass with lightening speed so I'm going to keep my goals pretty small since I know I'm not likely to have a lot of time in my sewing room. Unless we get a March blizzard. No, don't wish for that . . . well maybe just a little one.

• 2 blocks for March Saturday Sampler
• 2 blocks for RSC14 in teal or a Caribbean blue-green (maybe 3)
• bind and mail the Boxed Squares quilt (a UFO finish)
• 2 aqua owl pillowcases (UFO finish)
• set together the Loralei golfer blocks into a flimsy (UFO)
• work on hand quilting tropical wedding quilt (UFO)

I think that is more than enough for March. My usual weekend sewing may take a hit because it's basketball tournament time and we love both high school and college basketball.  And we have a granddaughter celebrating her 2nd birthday. My 60th birthday (GULP!!) and our 37th wedding anniversary are also this month.  So my priorities will be a bit different this month.  Unless a little blizzard keeps me home . . .