One and a half more done-inching my way along

Today was busy with swim this morning and then grocery shopping/errands and a haircut/weave at 12.  I have baby fine thin hair and without a little damage from the bleach-would have no body at all. So, I didn't get home until 2:30.  I really didn't expect to get much done but I sat down and decided to just finish the half completed one I did yesterday.  But then I got a burst of energy and made one more.  17 done and 8 to go.

I thought there was something wrong with my camera-I had it on the wrong settings!  These are much better. I need to make 3 journal covers for thank-you gifts tomorrow so no quilting for a few days.

I Surprised Myself

I didn't think I would get any sewing done today but I finished 1 NYB and 1/2 of one.  YAY! 15 1/2 done and 9 1/2 to go plus borders. I think sewing onto the stabilizer is harder than sewing onto paper and the seams are not as crisp as they are on paper.  I won't do it again.  It also is harder to match points etc. and takes longer than paper piecing-but-I won't have to remove any paper

The New block is 2nd in and up from bottom left corner

this block will have another row of purple diamonds

Liked my week at school last week but am so looking forward to swimming with my friend, Jan who is leaving us for Lancaster.  We have been talking about moving for years and are still here.  Jan and Gary decide to move one day and are almost packed a week later. I am jealous!!!

Tomorrow maybe?

Saturday I was really planning to sew.  Whatever is going on with my neck and scull is hindering my progress.  I had a slew of errands to run in the morning and got most of them done.  I actually managed to get out of Joann's with just 2 things and both were bought with 40 percent off coupons-a 3/8th inch bias tape maker and some fine glass headed pins.  I spent a good amount of time going in and out of a row of thrift shops in Poway looking for tea cups and saucers-no luck.  I am in charge of a tea that we started 3 years ago to benefit the local pregnancy care clinic.  I was looking for the cups as gifts for our guest speaker and singers.  I have another idea that I'll post when done.  I am hoping we will break 100 for attendance but this year there seems to be a lot going on on that day.  Trusting Jesus to bring them in.  Anyway, by the time I got home I needed a nap.

Today Greg and I have the New Attenders lunch to do after church so won't get home until 3.  My neck is already hurting so I don't see any sewing getting done until tomorrow.  Note to self-DON'T EVER GO TO COSTCO ON THE WEEKEND AT LUNCH.  It was crazy busy and the sample stations were hindering traffic big time!

Home from the hospital!

Our girls are back from captivity! After a 9 day stay, Sloan and her momma are home in their own beds.  Thank-you for the prayers-they were so appreciated.

I have discovered that my neck will not work all day at a computer and then go home and bend over a machine.  Looking forward to getting a block done on Saturday!

The Sloan Ranger

Our little trouper is finally without the feeding and oxygen tubes.  Still in the hospital but doing much better.  I was hoping to work on New York Beauties after work all week but that isn't going to happen.  I have a dr.'s appointment next week for my neck.  I have done something to it that is better but still pretty painful by the end of the day. So, I am just going to have to take it easy for the week.

Her cheeks are chapped from the tape on the tubes but she is still a cute chubby cheeked baby.

Beauty and Check

I am subbing for a counselor all next week so I am not sure how much I will get done or post-so, I thought if I got the black pieces cut for the blocks, it would encourage me to fill them in.  I am pretty sure this beauty and check will have no checks but I see wonky flying geese on top and bottom so far.

Dear Jane, Kaffe Fassett and The Sloan Ranger

Yesterday we got the best news.  Our 3 month old granddaughter Sloan was moved from ICU to the regular floor.  She is getting better and they are gradually lowering her h20 levels.  She still has a feeding tube but they expect her to go home Tuesday so that should be removed soon.  Praise God for He is good.  The kids are exhausted but are hanging in there. Jason is going to have a dad and daughter day with Ava because he hasn't seen her much.  Thankfully, my DIL has 2 amazing sisters who are 2nd and 3rd moms to the kids and 2 wonderful nieces who are old enough to take care of her as well.  The nurses love our baby and have renamed Sloan and call her "The Sloan Ranger".  Thanks for the prayers-prayer changes things!

Yesterday was The Dear Jane Clinic and I got 4 blocks prepped and ready to applique down.

I have 17 more blocks printed and my goal will be to get those done by the next time we meet which will be in  May so I might get there.  They really take a long time.  While I was at The Crazy 9 Patch I bought 3 bolt ends at 20 percent off and 1 yard of a beautiful rusty quilting feathers fabric. 

I also got a small New York Beauty done which takes longer than a large block because it is in 4 pieces.

I took one block partially apart and redid it as I kept being bugged by the shade of the bright pink.

new block:

Before revision:

Then the fabric I ordered from fabric.com arrived in the mail-looks like a lot but they are mostly 1/2 yard pieces-Kaffe Fassett at 7.20 a yard.  I am building a stash for the Mary Lou Weidman class in July.

Lastly, I made a label at the embroidery class last Thursday-it isn't perfect but for a first-it will work for my Beauty and Check quilt.

That's it-got to get ready for church-have a blessed day!!!

Long Time No Post

It has taken me awhile to recover from 3 trips to Seattle in 3 months.  Also, My granddaughter was taken to ICU on Tuesday and that has been my focus this week. She is still there with RSV.  One lung is good and one isn't as of this morning-so she is gradually getting better.  I have Tea With Thee coming up on May 4th which is a tea for about 140 ladies that benefits the pregnancy center in Ramona.  The last 2 years we have raised about 5,000.00 for the center, hopefully we will come close this year. I have been focusing on getting my part done for that effort right now, then I can work on my part of the women's retreat that comes up on the 1st of June-then I am taking myself to Julian to rest, sew and write!

I spent the day at The Crazy 9 Patch helping the owner, Martha, choose fabrics for Enchanted Autumn by Verna Mosquera which is our opportunity quilt for 2014. We had fun-she is a crazy lady-the Patch is aptly named. The quilt is going to be beautiful. Verna sent a very nice note with permission to use the pattern for our club.

I volunteered to be the chair of the group that will make the quilt-what was I thinking:)

I have been working on the Beauty and Check quilt and am making progress.

 The Empty Square in the top left will be filled after all the other pieces are completed-it is a complete circle made with 4 identical quarters so I want to see what colors I need to unify the quilt.  It is 5x5 rows and instead of putting a black and white border, I am going to add flying geese to the top and bottom so that it is a rectangle instead of a square.

The background is a black star Laurel Burch fabric and I found a great cat fabric-also Laurel Burch-that has the bright colors of the New York Beauties. We'll see-New York Beauties, Flying Geese and Laurel Burch cats-what is the common denominator?  Can I make it work?  Stay tuned as there is definitely more to come on this subject!  Dear Jane Tomorrow-Yay! I love Jane Days!