Getting Back in Form

When you come back from vacation do you jump back into your regular routine or do you ease back into it gradually?

I am a gradual person myself:

ü        First, I have to get the seven loads of laundry done (we weren’t gone all that long!).

ü        And I have to pet the dog who is ecstatic that her entire dog-pack has returned home (she considers herself a doggie/person). 

ü        While that’s being done,  I have to go through all of the mail and newspapers (yes, I do save the comics pages in order so I don’t lose out on the funny story lines).

ü        And pet the dog a few times and tell her she’s still the best and prettiest dog on the planet.

ü        Then I have to make a grocery list so I can buy healthy foods and repent of my wicked ways when we were on vacation (well, the food was great!).

ü        And, of course, I have to pet the dog some more who is hovering to make sure we don’t sneak out the back door of the bathroom (our bathroom doesn’t have a back door).

And finally, I have to get back up into my sewing room.  I have a few deadlines, so I made this sample block for a block swap at Mailblocks that is due in mid-May – hope to whip those out this week – they’re going to Canada and I like to allow extra time.  This pattern is from the Quilter’s Cache.

If you go to this site often, I would encourage you to support Marcia Hohn with a small donation as I consider this an invaluable source for block designs.  I usually make 12 ½ inch blocks and I almost passed out when I went to square-up this sample block.  It was so small!

Then I remembered that it is designed to be a 10 ½ inch block and it’s just perfect.  Sometimes we just have to be re-trained when we come back from vacation – LOL.  This is one finished layout idea:

And I have this month’s Quilts of Valor group meeting this Friday, so I’m finishing up some more triangles for the pinwheel blocks.

And I checked out this month’s BOM at the Craftsy site.  The featured technique is English paper-piecing hexagons.  Yikes!  Gonna put that on hold until this weekend, but then I’m going to make some cardstock templates and tackle it.  I’m starting with cardstock and not investing in templates ‘cause I don’t know if I’ll keep up with the handwork – not my strong suit.  We’ll see what develops.  Maybe I'll invest in the AccuQuilt Hexagon Template if I like them:

http://www.accuquilt.com/go-hexagon-2-3-5.html

We did have a fantastic time on vacation.  I haven’t been north in the Spring in years and was delighted to see the dogwoods peeking out everywhere and the many flowering fruit trees.  The weather was wonderful – pleasant during the day when we played golf and cool and crisp in the mornings and evenings when we sat on the balconies.  Can’t complain about the weather here at home though – it’s still nice and not overly hot, so there’s no excuse to not start back on that walking plan!  Maybe tomorrow – like I said, I’m a gradual person …

Here’s some vacation shots:

Dogwoods at a Welcome Center

Pink and White Dogwoods

Dogwood Closeup

Beautiful Purple/Blue Blooms - Chaste Tree Maybe?

Don't know what this was!

Fog on the Mountain our last day

Azaleas

Cherry Blossoms

Altogether, I could say a good time was had by all (and I include the dog in that – she does love her dog-sitter).  And as an aside, my husband wants you all to know that he had at least one birdie on all three golf courses … and that’s special!

A Little of This and That

I think one of the absolute BEST things about living in the good ol’ USA is the Public Library.  I and my family have always been big patrons of libraries.  We haul out books by the dozens, treat them with respect, then go back and exchange them for more.

I recently went to a nearby library that has a Master Gardener volunteering to come in for a few hours once a week.  I was able to ask about the orchid that I posted about here.  It is continuing to thrive and is now getting a new leaf in addition to the flower stalk that is growing.  I wanted to ask whether it needed to be repotted and when would be a good time if it did.  All of my questions were answered by a knowledgeable person and for free …  What a deal~!!

And the library that I can walk up to just got in this new quilt book:

I have been trying to get out of the box without much success.  Maybe these designs (with explicit instructions) will help – ok, that’s counterintuitive but it’s a start!  Maybe I can see a Funky Chicken in my future …

I’ve just been dabbling in the sewing room this past week.  I finished quilting the Tam’s Patch quilt that I made with leftover novelty fabrics.  This was the one that I had so much trouble with the thread breaking and I had to rip out a few rows of quilting.  I would really have loved it with the variegated thread, but I guess *done* is better than perfectly undone.  This one will go to Wrap-a-Smile.

And I am joining in a block swap with Mailblocks that has us making 3 sizes of blocks (our choices for the designs) and I have been experimenting to make sure my choices work up properly.  These are the 12 and 6 inch blocks.

Two 12" Fair and Square Blocks

Cathy's Campfire - 6"

Fair and Square is from Quilt.com at this site:

 http://www.quilt.com/BlockOfTheMonth/1997/FairAndSquare.html

And Cathy’s Campfire is from Marcia Hohn’s Quilter’s Cache at this site:

http://www.quilterscache.com/C/CathysCampfireBlock.html

Now I need to get serious about finishing my orange and green cats quilt.

Quilting Done & Design Wall

I have a new project that I've started laying out on the *design floor* ... these H-blocks came from a block swap way back in July 2009.  Since they were very easy to make, and the swap specified pastels and white-on-white that I had a bunch of, I made a bunch to swap.  I then ended up with enough blocks to make two children's quilts - and it's about time that I got around to making them.  It will be fun to make a more *girly*  quilt since I've made so many *boy* quilts recently.  I will try to be creative with the borders, but I make no promises (sometimes I poop out and just go with what's easiest)!

Some of the swap blocks

I also finished quilting and binding #2 of the fraternal triplets that I showed in this post (one of those has already gone out in the mail).  This one will become #1 of my goal of 11 in 11 for Wrap Them in Love.  It was also on my list as #6 for Judy Laquidera's 2011 UFO Challenge, so I've completed one UFO for that!

Finished quilt with back showing

Detail of meandering quilting and backing