What was I thinking?

When Andrew moved to Vermont, I realized it was time to make him a new quilt.  I looked through some magazines, found a block I liked, played with it in EQ for awhile and sent him the results.  Then I moved on to making the blocks.  This is the result...so far!

I didn't anticipate that it would take SO LONG to make each block!  The nine patch centers were a breeze, and it really isn't a difficult block.  But the trimming of the hourglass blocks for the star points...THAT is taking forever!  I'm almost finished the blocks with the blue star points, which you see here. There are 48 of those.  Then it will be on to making the 35 blocks where the nine patches willl be blue and the star points will be red.  They'll be alternated with the blue.  I had high hopes of having this done for Thanksgiving when we head up to visit him.  Now I'm just hoping that I'll have it finished when we go up for Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas, do you use Pandora to listen to music? I decided to set up a station with all my favorite Christmas music, so I asked it for Andy Williams Christmas songs.  I spent a few hours listening to some fabulous Christmas music...Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, The Ray Coniff singers, Josh Groban, Harry Connick, and Michael Buble to name a few.  Give it a try...you get 40 free hours of music a month!

Almost there...

I've got one more week left of Real Estate Licensing class and tonight is a big test.  Our final is on Monday, then if I pass that I can go on to take the state licensing exam.  I've been spending my time studying, taking practice tests and putting all of the vocabulary on index cards so I can study some more.  At least 20 vocabulary words per chapter and 22 chapters = A LOT of index cards!

On Monday, Grace received the H1N1 nasal vaccine at school and had an immediate reaction to it.  Dizziness, exhaustion, aching, a rash on her neck...the nurse called me pretty quickly to come pick her up!  So, did you know that since the nasal vaccine contains a small amount of weakened, live virus, you can get a mild case of H1N1 from it?  She's been home from school since.  I'm hoping she can go back tomorrow, the doctor says she can return once she's been 48 hours without a fever.  I guess a mild case is better than a regular case of swine flu!

Raindrops Keep Falling...

on my head...at least they were this morning. Problem was, I was sitting at the kitchen table! Not the best way to start the day. Hopefully, the problem is solved now that I've pulled out all of the bathtub caulk upstairs, cleaned, scrubbed, bleached and recaulked. We'll see if I have raindrops in my bowl of Total tomorrow morning! Fortunately, something just arrived to make me feel a whole lot better...fabric!

I placed an order yesterday at 1:40pm for these Jo Morton fabrics. I ordered online from Old Country Store Fabrics. I received an email back at 4:54pm, telling me my fabrics had been cut, packed and shipped. I just went to my mailbox and there they were, with a nice note thanking me for my order! I'd highly recommend shopping here...they have beautiful fabrics (I've been to their store many times, it's one of my favorites!) and their service is incredible.

We went to the Phillies World Series Game 4 on Sunday...it was so much fun, although it would have been better if they'd won! They did win last night...here's hoping they can win Games 6 and 7 in the Bronx and bring home the championship for a second year in a row...Go Phils!

More October Finishes...

The feathered tablerunner is bound...

The blue nine patch quilt is bound and ready to be sent off to charity...

My embroidered blocks are set...this one will go on the machine to be basted. I plan to hand quilt it for NEXT Christmas!

And the baby quilt is quilted and finished...right down to the striped binding! I love this quilt, it was based on Jo Morton's Cinnamon Stars quilt in her newest book, Vintage Journey.

Next on the list are the nine patches for the Charming Girls Half Pint Quilt Along and the quilt for Andrew. Those two will be my November goals!

Fall...

Fall has been beautiful here in my world...

I've spent it finishing up my Stitcher's Angel Projects...they are off in the mail to places far away!

I've finished up a few customer quilts...a beautiful floral...

And an adorable Halloween quilt!

And I've finished the top for a special little baby to be...she should be arriving soon! This one is next on the machine...

And to top it all off, Cliff Lee pitched an amazing 6-1 win against the Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series. Un.be.LEE.vable!!!

Vermont..

Grace had a half day this past Friday, so after school I picked her up and headed to Vermont to visit Andrew. I love having a reason to go to Vermont! On Saturday morning while the kids were sleeping, I went out and explored. I'd driven past a quilt shop on the way in and decided to head back there to see what it was like. Good choice...this store was amazing! Waterwheel House quilt shop is a beautiful shop...so full of wonderful projects and fabulous fabrics. And Gracie...the shop Golden Retriever, who is just a sweetheart.

This fall leaf quilt was hanging on display...see the little sign that says "Kit Available"? Not anymore, I bought the last one. :o) The sample was done with fusible applique, but I think I'll do needleturn. The fabrics in it were nothing like anything in my stash...lots of brights, Kaffe Fassetts...just a beautiful combination. I plan to prep blocks and work on it during my travels to Vermont and back...when the boss is driving, of course!

Shelley, the owner was very nice and the women in the shop were just having too much fun together...it seems like it would be a great place to hang out! If you find yourself in Londonderry, VT, be sure to stop by! You won't be disappointed.

The ladies did direct me to another shop, Country Treasures in Chester which carried Jo Morton fabrics. We stopped there in the afternoon and I have to admit...it had a ton of fabric and was very charming, but also very overwhelming. I found some Jo's that I wanted, but so many bolts of fabric were piled on top of the ones I wanted that I walked out with nothing...and decided that I'd order them online from Old Country Store Fabrics when I got home. This is a shop I've visited several times in Intercourse, PA and love. I didn't realize they'd started an online store!

I also stopped at the yarn shop, Six Loose Ladies in Proctorsville. Another fun place! One of the things I noticed in talking to the people I ran into...most of them were from New Jersey! When you're ready to slow down, the heat lovers from NJ all head to Florida and the cold lovers to Vermont. Guess which one I plan to go to? :o)

Making Progress...

I took the pictures of my October projects on Saturday morning and since then I've had 3 productive days in my sewing room. Several of the projects are much closer to being finished! The Poochie bag is done, the blue quilt and applique quilt block are both now quilted and I've made and sewn the binding onto those two quilts as well as the feathered table runner. I've also put together my embroidered Christmas quilt top and have prepared the backing. That should be the next one on the longarm, but will have to wait because my days off are over.

I've also joined in the Quilt Along at Charming Chatter. I thought the little nine patch quilt would be perfect for my Jo Morton fabrics, so will be using my little stash of them for this project. I plan to use the whites/tans on the top of the pile for the background fabrics and the rest for the nine patches and sawtooth border.

I plan to work on binding during Wednesday's Phillies game. It's an afternoon game, so I'm going to park myself in front of the television and stitch away. I can't do that during Thursday's game because I'll be AT the game...can't wait!