Quilting Bee

This week has zoomed by and I find it hard to believe that it took me so long to post about my adventures last weekend!

view of Lake Michigan from work room!

Last weekend was the 2nd Quilting at the Beach retreat that my mom has planned.  About 25 quilters from around the area get together at a resort on the shore of Lake Michigan and we quilt all weekend long, stopping only to eat & sleep!  I'd spent the week or two prior, planning what fabric and patterns I would need for the projects I was going to work on there.  I'm limited to what fits inside my carry-on suitcase [keeping in mind that I did need to bring basic things like clothes!] and I managed to pack it all in with a little wiggle room for the way home. I'm super lucky that mom has an extra machine and would have extra tools for me to borrow for the weekend - rulers, cutters, mats, pins, threads, etc. (thx mom!) 

With such a small airport [ 1 gate] getting there early means sitting around until they open up security 40min. before the flight departs.  As per usual with taking the afternoon flight, I picked up lunch at Panera en route to the airport and was super glad I did since they don't serve snacks on the plane.  The plane was delayed out of Chicago due to a crew member getting sick so we waited for the plane to show up, and then waited on the runway for clearance to depart.  In the end, we were about an hour later than scheduled so it wasn't too  bad.  Everything went smoothly though getting in to Chicago and it's always nice to be home with M&D.

Friday mom & I headed out for a 3 days of non-stop quilting; setting our stuff up & greeting friends as they arrived.  This year was fun because I knew people from last year, everyone wanted to hear about my new job and my aunt [who got me & mom hooked on quilting] came too! Hooray!  The food was wonderful again and after the first night it seems all we do is eat & quilt.  (Although that is pretty accurate for the weekend).

I picked up some great ideas from Cheryl to use at work with the kids and I love to see what other people are working on and what fabrics they chose.  Last year we played a game where everyone brought 2 1/2" strips of batik fabric.  I ended up winning most of the strips and convinced mom to give me the strips she had won ;)  had enough to make a jelly roll of fabric!  This year I turned them into blocks and brought the blocks to put together into a top.  Now I can put it together, quilt it and hang it up in my apartment!  This year's game involved 10" squares of batiks, but I didn't win this time around.

start of the sunflowers(there are 3 in the design)

I also got my Sunflower applique started and have been working on that in the evenings this week.  It's really starting to look like the picture and I can't wait to see it all finished!  It's from the Pacific Rim company and they have a lot of great applique patterns that I will probably try after finishing this first one.  I got another quilt top finished & worked on some paper piecing for a set of blocks that I've been slowly working on over the last several years.  Even took a break from sewing to get a back massage which was fantastic! 

Then it was home again on Sunday with a few hours to see dad and watch the last half of the All-Star hockey game (awesome!) and have another home cooked meal.  Dad even sent me home with some of his homemade deep dish pizza....yummm. This was then brought to work for lunch during the week and is the type of thing that makes co-workers jealous - several commented that I always brought such good lunches in! So thx for the pizza dad. :)

Then it was back to work on Monday and a busy week preparing for workshops, hands-on, Girl Scout programs and Board meetings.  Busy, busy, busy.  Of course, after having a weekend of quilting now all I want to do when I get home from work is to keep sewing; especially now that I have some new quilt tops ready to be finished.  However, these will be added to the end of the list so I can finish up some overdue projects.

Sunday Snapshot

Paducah is located at the convergence of the Ohio & Tennessee Rivers.  Some days, standing along the water, you can see the difference between the two - the Ohio is usually muddier & is closer to IL than the Tennessee.  

the Tennessee is in the foreground while the muddy bit by those IL trees is the Ohio

Paducah itself was founded by William Clark, Of Lewis & Clark, back in 1827 which is why we have statues of L&C, dog Seaman and Native Americans on the grounds of the museum.  The statues are a visual link to the history of the city and the region.  Here you can see said statues during the snowy day last week!

Gold Star for Me!

Temperatures have crept back up into the 40s and the sun was out yesterday, making for a nice afternoon.  I grabbed my gloves, hat and keys and set out for a walk around the neighborhood loop.  The fresh air was wonderful and it wasn't too windy.  It was really quiet as well - I only passed 1 runner and there aren't many dogs to disturb the stillness. I figured everyone was either out shopping, or taking their car through the car wash down the street.  No, seriously, there was a loong line for both bays every time I passed the place; to & from church, the store, walking.  Apparently it was 'Wash Your Car' Day here and I missed that memo.  I didn't feel like waiting in line and was glad I didn't this morning when I work up to the rain.  Good ol' Mother Nature comes through again.

Anyways, that's not the point of this story!  As I was walking around the loop (thoroughly enjoying myself), a van slowed and the couple inside asked me for directions to the Civic Center.  Apparently, their GPS led them into my neighborhood claiming they had arrived at their destination. Ha. I not only knew where they were heading, but gave them excellent directions to actually get there.

As I was congratulating myself on having a good grasp on the local landmarks & roads, a second car also stopped me and told me the same story!  I don't know what brand of GPS these cars had but it needs some serious updating.

So after giving this car equally solid directions, I returned to my walk with an extra bounce in my step and a grin on my face.  I passed the 'can you tell me how to get ____' test with flying colors and have earned this gold star twice over.  :D

look - I did so well it even has my name on it ;)

In concert

The other weekend, N&L invited me to go with them to see The Band Perry since they had scored some free tickets.  Free tickets, Friday night out with friends?  That's a no brainer!  It was in the arts center at WKCTC which is a nice, cozy sized auditorium, (I'd been there to hear David Baldacci speak), and for a concert it was pretty awesome!  Open seating and we ended up only a few rows from the stage, so we could see the band clearly - not like when you sit in the upper deck at the 1st Mariner in B'more.

The opener was Joanna Smith - and she was good.  From somewhere down in GA so the accent was a bit hard to understand via microphone at times but I liked some of her upbeat quirky songs.  I ended up getting her single on iTunes because it made me laugh.  Take a listen - it's called "Gettin' Married!"  :oP

Anyways, the Band Perry was awesome - great stage presence, great show and great music.  I'd heard their recent hit "If I Die Young" on the radio once or twice and it's quite good.  I also like their music video for it because it references Anne of Green Gables - specifically the part where Anne is playing the Lady of Shallot and almost drowns.  Ha! Check it out here.  Seriously, it was a great show and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes their music.  At one point, they performed a medley of their favorite songs - rock 'n roll & country mixed.  While everyone knew the words to "American Pie", I had to wonder how many of the younger kids knew Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls." 

Thanks N for the awesome free tickets and a chance to have a rockin' girls night out!

2011 Jump Start

Happy New Year dear readers!

This was the first year in a while that I had to work a couple days between Christmas & New Years' instead of having days off, but it wasn't too bad.  It gave me a couple days to organize and work on some upcoming projects without being rushed or interrupted.  It also made having New Years' Eve day off and the 3-day weekend extra nice!  It was like a little mini-vacation before everything got crazy again at work.  

new year pancakes

With friends being out of town and trouble with my car I didn't go anywhere special to ring in 2011 - just stayed in and had a little celebration all for me. Talked with friends as they time traveled into 2011 an hour before I did and once it reached Central Time let loose some confetti poppers as is tradition.  I hope my neighbors weren't asleep because they were really loud and echo-y in the apartment!  :oD  

The rest of the weekend was nice to have time to read and catch up on organizing and de-cluttering some of the misc. piles of stuff that accumulate. Also, watched the Winter Classic hockey game with L&N - what a game!  Lots of good hockey and the Caps beat those pesky Penguins so it was pretty fantastic.

pretty flowers for 2011

This week has been go - go - go at work and home and in between so I'll give you the almost- short version.

Monday I took my car in because it's been having trouble shifting and discovered that Toyota had a voluntary recall for a faulty part in my car.  Good news is that I did the background researching with dad to figure it out and so Toyota gets to pick up the tab on that one.  Hooray! 

Tuesday found me prepping for Junior Quilt Club as we started a new project and gained a couple members.  It's the first meeting where I was officially in charge, as I'd been assisting with the club since I started.  We're making patchwork journal covers and they are all excited and enjoy the project so far.  It'll take a couple meetings which is good for me because it gives me some time to plan what will come next.

Wednesday we had a tour guide luncheon and meeting to start off training and info sessions we'd like to provide the guides.  Then I pinned 129 blocks onto the wall so that we could have our School Block Challenge judging.  Phew!  They took up 2 whole classrooms and part of a third when I was finished and looked superb.  I'm glad I didn't have to judge because we got really creative and awesome blocks from kids across the country.

Today, I had a little breathing room to start thinking (and panicking) about upcoming workshops, papers to process, people to contact, ribbons to order, data to gather, etc. etc. etc.  I was able to check one big thing off the list which is the activity I'm doing for 2nd Saturday this week.  I've planned to make snowman pins and had the pieces laid out on the worktable in my head but had not gotten a chance to physically make a sample until this afternoon.  At least it wasn't completely last minute!  I'm pleased that it worked out the way I wanted and so am now all set for Saturday.

Anyone else tired yet?  ;o) This has been a jam-packed week and I'm looking forward to having some down time this weekend to work on my things.  I'm a bit behind on phone calls and letters to people so maybe some of that can be worked in for the weekend.

Anyways, here's to a brand new year to fill with adventures!

Christmas Wishes

Wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas holiday with family & friends & lots of cheer!

It's so nice to be home for Christmas and have time to relax and spend with family for another year.  It's great to have the same traditions from year to year to look forward too as well.  This year, J&I got to help decorate the tree with all our ornaments which we haven't been home to do in a few years.  Some of you know that our ornaments are all tokens from trips & travels or accomplishments, places we've been and things we've done.  There's a memory for each one and a wide variety of items that have been converted into ornaments.  This year was especially fun as we had to search hard for some open branches to tie on the ornaments!  

Snow has been falling all day, the city chicken is cooking, lots of 'elf-ing' to do away from prying eyes and even a surprise visit from my Uncle!  

Merry Christmas!

Southern Snow

This morning I woke up, hit the snooze and decided to sleep longer and go to the 11am Mass instead of 9am.  Once I actually got out of bed, I peeked out the window and to my surprise found this.

It's hard to tell how long it actually snowed because it has been blustery outside all day.  Seems to be mostly a dusting and the roads were passable.  Anyways, a couple pictures for the 1st snow of the season as I stay warm inside working on Christmas cards and sewing.