Pieceful Weekend...

I've had a very quiet weekend. I did the obligatory house cleaning yesterday morning, only as much as necessary, then made a cup of tea and headed to the sewing room. I finished one Lucky Stars quilt top...

Then I got the second one together....
After watching "Enchanted" with my daughter, I put together B-2...


And finished off with B-12. This was the first time I'd done applique with the freezer paper on top and I'm not sure if I like it. I felt that I couldn't see well enough as I was needleturning the fabric under. I'm also not happy with my stitches on this block...I didn't have a fine thread in red to match the fabric, so went with a regular sewing thread. It was far too heavy, usually I use either silk thread or something like Bottom Line to applique. But, finished is better than perfect, so this block will stay as it is!

I'm now caught up with the Dear Jane blocks and can't wait to see what awaits this week.

It's been an incredibly gorgeous weekend here...yesterday the thermometer hit 87. I took one of the dogs for a long walk and it was just beautiful. Wish I'd brought the camera!

Thanks for all of your emails about reaching my goal, unfortunately I couldn't respond to everyone because there were some "no-reply" posts. But I do appreciate your support!

Quiltathon

On Friday night, my beautiful daughter attended the Junior Dinner Dance with a friend. Isn't she lovely?

She was a bit more refined once we arrived at his house for pictures!

Then we took daughter number two out for some shopping and dinner at Panera...


It was a beautiful weekend here in South Jersey. Saturday was 70 degrees, although overcast, and Sunday was cooler, but sunnier. We ran some errands on Saturday morning, including a trip to the little yarn store in town, which is having a retirement/going out of business sale. I came out empty handed...most of what was left was specialty yarns, which I don't really need. Once home I was able to spend a good bit of the afternoon in my sewing room. I made my next Dear Jane block, C-3.

Then spent some time working on my Lucky Stars quilts. On Sunday we spent a few hours working in the yard, then I sewed for awhile longer.
It was a quiet weekend, but very productive. The boss is off to Anchorage this week and Seattle next week, so it will just be the girls and I at home. If I don't get lazy, I should get a lot done!

Dear Jane blocks

I've spent some time catching up on my Dear Jane blocks today. Here is A-6...



And A-7...


And B-3...


It was a dismal day here, perfect for hiding in the sewing room. Yesterday I got out and did some yard work, my flower beds are raked and ready for some planting. I'm not sure what or if I'll be planting much, the deer eat everything I plant. Any suggestions for some deer safe plants or shrubs? Something with large thorns, perhaps? I do plan to move my English roses out front, it's sunny and the deer leave them alone. Beyond that, I'm thinking I'll have some lovely beds that are just mulched, with nothing in them!

I'm still here

but haven't found time to write. What have I been doing? Well there's this...

These are Just Ribbing socks from Apple Laine, made in Schaeffer Heather, Gertrude Ederle colorway from Simply Socks Yarn Company. I wish the photos did the colors justice, they are just so rich and gorgeous. These have already been through the wash (yes, I put them in the washer and dryer!) and are just so soft, I almost wish winter wasn't almost over, they're so warm! I've also started a pair of toe up socks using the new SSYC club yarn that arrived last week. These are very springy and fun to knit! Pictures later...

I've also intended to make some Dear Jane blocks, but so far, all the blocks that Anina has chosen, I've already done. So, yeah, I did all the easy ones first, I admit it. Here is C-9...




This one is D - 3... And B-13, which isn't nearly as out of square as the picture would indicate!

My Pfaff is at the spa for a tune up and defuzzing, so I've had time to work on some applique. More on that when the block is finished...it's close!

Also found out today that my son may be moving back home for awhile, after living at college for the past 3 years. THAT will be interesting! His dog moved in with us today and will probably be here until Andrew has graduated and is on his own. I'm considering giving up my large sewing room (which used to be his room) so the boy has room for all his accumulated college stuff...have to think on that one a bit. And of course, it will all need to be done by next week. Guess I should go get some work done!

Dear Jane

I've started working on my Dear Jane quilt once again. I've started several times, finished a round robin sampler with my guild a number of years ago and when inspired by Anina of Twiddletails, to join her Baby Jane group, signed right up. You can find more information on the blog she started here.

The first block we're doing is B-13, Four Corner Press. Since I had already completed this block, I chose B-4, Chris's Soccer Field to do. I paper pieced it from a pattern I had printed from the Dear Jane software. The software makes it so easy! Here are both blocks...

See the little dots? They're the secret to my sanity with this quilt. When I finish a block, I take one of the little dots and write the number of the block on it. Since I keep them stacked in a plastic tote, it's easy to keep track of what number block it is. In addition, when I finish a block, I write it in a journal that I keep just for this quilt. I have 15 blocks completed so far and you can see their pictures here.

I'm so glad I've started up with this again, I love the fabrics I'm using (mostly Robyn Pandolph Folk Art Christmas, with some 3 Sisters for Moda thrown in). I'm using a variety of background fabrics, that way if I run out of one I can always add a different one and it won't matter. I also haven't paid much attention to color, but I'm planning to add photos of the pictures to my software so I can determine if I like the layout. I may need to move some of the blocks around.

Thanks for starting this, Anina!