And Today is.....

I can't seem to get the days right this week. I'm off by one day. I thought it was Thursday all day long. That's a real problem because it' only Wednesday.  Normally, I'm quite content with each day.

At school, I'm loving having to spend big $$ ordering new books for our new school media center. It's one of my favorite things to do.I am excited about the weekend. I am trying to get things done so that I can pack the weekend with "quilty" things.  

Even though I shouldn't, I will probably try to visit  some of my favorite  quilt shops after work on Thursday and Friday. Thursday begins the annual  Atlanta Shop Hop. I haven't been to Sweet Home Quilt Shoppe in months. Melisa, the shop owner, buys THE best fabric. I can't remember the last time I was at Intown Quilts. It would be a treat to visit both of these shops. I do want to make an all neutral quilt for my SIL for Christmas. I'd like to  begin collecting fabric for her quilt (LOL)

Friday, at school we are celebrating Read Across America or Dr. Seuss's birthday. Everyone is  wearing their pj's to school. We are having guest readers, green egg and ham, and lots of special activities. Several good friends are coming to my school to read to our kids. It will be wonderful having them in our Media Center.

 I just can hardly wait for Saturday. I am taking a crumb piecing class with Bonnie Hunter . Bonnie's website and blog have been one of my favorites for years. I never imagined actually having the opportunity to take a class with her. I have lots of crumbs and scraps. This will be a great chance to learn to use them in quilts. Some very special quilting friends are taking the class, too. It's going to be a fun day.

Saturday and  Sunday, Judy from the blog Patchwork Quilts is hosting a Quilathon. Marion, my husband, is traveling this weekend. I'm hoping to sew on Sunday with the rest of the internet group from Judy's site. With all these exciting things going on, it's no wonder I'm a day ahead of myself.

(Thanks, Gretchen for the fabulous IT directions on how to do links in Blogger! It might have been a better idea not to give me instructions :)  

Finally...

It's a cold, rainy Tuesday evening here in Atlanta.Yesterday, it was like an early Spring day. Today, winter has returned to tell us who is the Boss. We had an early dinner of meatballs and spaghetti. Michael, our teeenage son, cooked dinner for the family tonight. Yes! All afternoon, I've been thinking it would be a perfect day to crawl back in bed, pull up the quilts and just read, read, read. I was about to head upstairs when I realized it wasn't even dark outside. So, I put in a little computer time and now it's dark :)  It's time for flannel p.j.'s,  a  puppy to warm my feet and my current book. I have finally begun reading The Kite Runner. Everyone I know has read it. They keep saying, "It's really good." I've checked it out of the library, only to have to return it without even beginning the book. I've paid several overdue fines for a book I haven't read. I finally broke down and purchased a copy. What a good story!!! It is really good. It is not the story that I thought it would be. It's about people - characters - not just a war story. I think I might finish it tonight that's if I don't fall asleep before I reach the end.

Weekly Report

3 tops finished!!! That's a record week for me. I brought Peace in the Valley to the quilt shop (have to support my local shop if I'm not buying fabric :)  to be machine quilted.

 I added the borders to the Floragraphix quilt. I'll probably call it Dragonfly. I had to order a backing for the Dragonfly quilt. I didn't have anything in my stash that complemented the front. I think that was one of the things holding me back from finishing it.

 I finally added the last border to the Guild Mystery quilt from two years ago. I just love this quilt. An empty rubber container! Yes!  That makes my day. I also pieced the back for this one. I had to purchase  binding fabric for this one. Seems I forgot to add that in when I purchased fabric for this top.

Purchases this year:

Fat Quarter for Christmas Toile border

4 yards for Peace in the Valley Backing

4 yards for Dragonfly backing

1 yard brown stip for Mystery Quilt binding

Used:

4 yards Peace backing

6 yards Mystery quilt backing

This afternoon was my monthly sewing at the LQS. I'm took a project that I started last year. I had everything packed in a ziplock bag. Just a few of the strips were sewn together. It's called Cross Paths. I used  Sunshine by April Cornell for this project. It's a cheery quilt. I sewed the strips together. It's all ready for the next stage.

What a fun week! I'm hoping to get some sewing done this week, but have a busy work week and several meetings after school.

Happy Quilting!

And Another One Bites The Dust...

Another top is finished!!! Yes, I've been inspired by friends Gretchen, Karin, Debbie, Judy and Pat to complete some of my beloved UFO's. Today, I measured, cut and sewed the last borders on the mystery quilt from the Quilter's Institches Guild from two years ago. The quilt top is done in Wuthering Heights fabric from Moda. I just love that fabric line. This is the third (yes, third quilt that I used fabric from that line) I originally thought this quilt would be for one of the many males in my family (Dad, husband, brothers or sons), but I think I just might keep it for me. This quilt speaks to me. I was a bit concerned that I didn't have enough fabric for the backing. I used some of it for one of the borders. Looks like I will have enough backing fabric, but I completely forgot about fabric for binding. I've looked online and don't really find any of the fabric that I would like to use. I only need 3/4 yard. I may post on Missingfabrics.com.  I was successful on that site when looking for the Moda Christmas Toile fabric. It feels fabulous to finish some of these quilt tops. That's three this week!  Yahoo!!!

Ok. Time to go upstairs and sew the backing together. I'll try to take a photo tomorrow in daylight.

Finally A Finish

It has been months since I've finished a quilt top. Today I finished two tops!!!!  Peace in the Valley designed by Pat Wys of Silver Thimble Club is ready to be quilted. I put the backing fabric together too.  Floragraphix is also finished, but I need to purchase backing fabric. I don't have anything in my stash that coordinates with the top. I took a picture of the completed Peace in the Valley. I'll have to take one of Floragraphix tomorrow. I also worked on some of the blocks of  Christmas Toile. I have two other quilt tops that just need borders. I'm not crazy about doing borders, but I'd love to have these two tops finished. FIU or Finish It Up! 

Bernie Goes To School

Bernie, my mechanic Bernina 810, went to school with me today. I actually sewed at school! It was so much fun! In our news show studio, the County had provided enormous backdrops for our new show. They were way too long. I took one home to hem. It was like a huge parachute in my sewing room. It still was too long and I had another one to shorten. It just made more sense to bring my machine to school and work there. It felt so good to do some machine sewing. With this cold/virus/crud still lingering, I come home from work without energy to do anything. The backdrops involved lots of straight sewing - pedal to the medal sewing. What a fun afternoon!

The backdrops look much better. We were having problems with the students stepping on it. We actually had one come down during the morning show. Luckily, the camera was on the other backdrop. We quickly made some adjustments to finish the morning show.

F.I.U. - Finish It Up

Several challenges have been issued. Pat Sloan on her Pat Sloan's Corner blog calls it FIU or Finish It Up. Judy L. of Patchwork  Times blog challenges her followers to Use the Stash. In all honesty, I don't have a big stash. I do have a couple of shelves with fabric and lots of Fat Quarters. I'm not as innocent as this sounds. I buy kits. Lots of kits!!!! I buy for a project and put it all in a plastic container or large ziplock bag. So my goal this year is not to buy fabric to begin new projects. My goal is to continue working on all those projects that I do so love. I seem to have an aversion to borders. There are several tops just begging to have borders added. Because my friend Karin of Life in the Slow Lane blog had the courage to put out photos of her UFO's, I took my digital camera into my sewing room. Oh gosh.....

This past week I did resist the temptation to visit one of my favorite shops. Sweet Home  was having a sale on Fat Quarters. I just couldn't visit. While at my LQS, I used a Christmas gift certificate from my hubbie to purchase some scissors for rag quilts and a pattern for fabric I purchased at Quilt Market. I need fabric for binding for Peace in the Valley, but decided to dig in my plastic containers to see if I have something that will work.

This week, I really want to attempt spending time each day in my sewing room. Nancy Z. in her Sewing with Nancy books used to recommend 15 minutes a day. I'll try that to see if I make some progress this week. 

Achoo!

What a week! Correction. What a two weeks it's been at our house! I don't ever remember all four of us being sick at the same time or one after the other. I do remember years ago, Michael having a touch of a virus and Marion and I getting after him. We were sick for a day. Michael was sick last week. Jason came down with it on Thursday. Marion had symptoms on Sunday. By Wednesday, I waved the white flag. We all had different versions, but everyone had upper respiratory virus/cold/bug/flu/crude. I am so thankful for a job with wonderful sick-leave benefits. Thankful for a team at work that takes care of my responsibilities. Thankful for a friend who steps in to substitute in my place. Thankful for a boss wants us to stay home and heal! Also, thankful that we took turns being down. My boys and hubbie were fabulous nurses. The best nurse was my faithful companion, my dachshund Rusty.