Fabric Therapy

I was so happy this morning.

 My day started with a call from my husband who is in Germany. I had lots of good things to tell him about the progress on the new house. Then I had a great class at Jazzercise. When I came home I decided to tackle the final stages of painting a bedroom and get it done. Despite my extensive stash of painting paraphernalia...I was missing the right roller and foam pad for trim. So I decided to hit the Home Depot and also try and deal with a lighting problem for the new house at the showroom near Home Depot. It was snowing as I headed out for my errands. I was behind a two-car accident. I don't think people were hurt but it delayed my trip. Then I didn't have any of the right stuff to resolve my lighting problem. At least I got exactly what I needed for the paint job. By the time I got home I was such a crab. I painted a little and then the sad faces of my dogs made me layer up and head out for the dog walk. Usually that snaps me out of the grumps...didn't work today...maybe because I knew as soon as the walk was over I would be snow blowing the driveway and shoveling the deck. Those chores done...it was time to check the mail. I had a package!

 (I ordered fabric in my pajamas earlier this week.) 

Here's my package opener, Tonka. I guess he thought I ordered something for him...or maybe he really does like batiks too! I was gone all day yesterday and he is keeping track of me today.

The three green pieces are to renew my stash...I love these...they are from a Hoffman line by McKenna Ryan...I should buy them by the bolt. I hadn't seen her dark pink piece  before so I had to get some of that. They all look great with the main fabric I'll be using as a border for the BOM sampler I'm supposed to finish in five days. 

I'm feeling much better...smiling. Fabric therapy works great...better than chocolate. I'm going to go paint now so I can get closer to quilting time!

Sew Much To Do

My quilting day turned into a quilting night since no one else was home last night.

I got several blocks done. The most time consuming part of this design is trimming the HSTs. The sewing is speedy. There are a total of 32 bear paw-like blocks.

More snow last night so I need to get the shovel out and get the day going.

Show And Tell...

It was Breakfast Club today! My camera had an attitude...it's been doing that lately so I think it is time to start looking for a new toy. It died early in the show and tell period but I did get photos of three quilts...all made by Jane from our group...she had just gotten the quilts back from her quilter.

This is a very quick pattern, "Side Lights." There is a mysterious orb in the photo...maybe I should call TAPS...the Ghosthunters on SciFi.

This quilt was stunning. The larger blocks were from a series at the quilt shop called Saturday Sampler. Jane mixed in lots of star blocks of her own for the final layout. All batiks...that's probably why it was my favorite.

This is a Kim Brackett design from  her book "Scrap-Basket Sensation," Island Chain. This was last month's project so it's not quilted yet. 

Today we started a Carrie Nelson design, Oso. She has a very nifty technique for making the blocks. I think it will be a fairly quick project. I finished two blocks in the class.

Shopping is always a part of the gathering. Our group leader works at the quilt shop one day a week putting together kits for the shop. I almost always pass them up but lately she has been kitting up the latest batiks and I found myself unable to resist this gem.

These colors will look spectacular in our new house.

Wildlife Sighting

Today on my ten-mile drive down Eagle River valley we saw one of these walk across the road.

Pretty amazing. My good friend, Cheri, was with me and she is an amateur photographer...but we didn't quite have this view of the Lynx. Those big paws just marched through the deep snow.  This is the first one I have seen in the 14 years I've lived in Eagle River...the snow is so very deep this year...a lot of animals have been moving into the populated areas to look for food.

It goes almost without saying that the moose are more abundant around town than ever this winter...so much so one was found in an Anchorage hospital.

Who would ever expect to make a sign like this?

It's a Big Wild Life.

I've Made a Decision

SweetPeas in the Meadow

Here's my final answer. Thanks to my blog reader, Cathy, for her suggestion to add four-patches to the border. I was all set to start cutting out the fabric for the setting blocks when I figured out I'm short on some of the fabrics. I love living in the internet age...I shopped in my pajamas and now I just have to patiently wait.

Design Wall Monday

I've been playing on EQ7 to work out a design for the blocks I made from Pieceful Kwilter's online 2011 BOM. Quick recap. I have these wonderful blocks.

Soooo...many steps later...

I'm getting much closer. I need to work on the border area.

Now...the next new project! It's already time for my monthly Breakfast Club meeting on Thursday. We are going to make Carrie Nelson's Oso from her book "Another Bite of Schnibbles." She's got a new technique in this pattern and I can't wait to try it. 

Our class leader, Marcia, put together a batik kit for this pattern using a lot of new batiks from McKenna Ryan's new line from Hoffman. They are gorgeous so I snatched one of those kits up at the store a couple of weeks ago (on the left). It calls for two background prints and I had the perfect ones in my stash...plus a few other batiks from my stash I plan to throw in the mix.

I'm sew excited to get started.

Sunday Recharge

I have been pretty quiet this week...house building and quilting aren't a good mix. It's going to be that way for a little while.

I'm at a point where I have to make decisions to work on existing projects and that seems to be the problem...making decisions.

Remember these wonderful blocks?

I've been trying to decide on how I want to set them...they are my February UFO. I played in EQ7 for several hours last night but still haven't figured it out.

This is the fabric that helped me select the colors for the blocks. I'd like to keep the "floral feeling" going.

Here's the blocks in the setting the BOM designer put together.

Not sure that carries the "floral feeling"...

So several versions later I decided to try a chain block.

Still muddling through it in my head...

The next project is the Scrappy Dresdan Plate. I need to figure out the center of my flowers. I have one appliqued with a yellow center. Very pretty but the background is going to be yellow so I'm thinking that might not be the best choice...maybe I should try the navy print.

When I don't have any capacity to make decisions...I turn to a stocking kit.

The Santa Nutcracker is finished...I'm starting a blue nutcracker.