Trying to Keep Up!

I love Block-of-the-month quilts....sometimes we do them in my quilt guild and sometimes I do one created by one of my blogging friends.  This year I'm working on two, both from bloggers I admire.  I'm a little behind on both.  That's not unusual for me but traveling this spring really threw me off.  I've finished the March block from Promises and Borders by Jenny of Elefantz:

We're headed off to the mission where we volunteer in the summer so I have April and May traced off and in a bag with all the floss and other stuff needed so I can complete those while I'm there.  I'm taking some background too so when June and July come out I'll be ready to trace them as well.  I love this quilt and I so want to keep up!

The other BOM I'm working on, Hannah and Harrington by Michelle at Tales From The Raspberry Rabbits, has turned out not only to be adorable, but also tons of fun to stitch.  I've just finished March and April:

None of the colors are showing up correctly on blogger, even though they look okay on my computer, but you get the idea.  :)

I'm going to prepare May today and have it ready to go but I'll probably get a bit behind on this one because I don't want to take my wool with me to the mission.  Since we go for two months the car is pretty packed when we leave here and I don't think that tubby of wool added to my sewing machine, quilt projects, embroidery projects, sewing notions, etc. would make my husband smile.  :)  That's okay - this one is so much fun to do I can hardly wait until the new patterns come out so I'll catch up on it when I get  home.

Don't they look great all together?

Some of you will remember last summer when I decided I wanted to make My Whimsical Garden - many of you sent me bright colored scraps to use in it.  Pam at Passionate Purple Quilter decided to stitch along with me on it.  I'm not sure how far she has gotten because she hasn't posted about it in a while, but I finished block # 6 today!

I just noticed that this picture, taken with my IPad, is MUCH better than the ones taken with my camera.  I wonder if this means it's time for a new camera?  Hmmmmm.

I've had a busy stitching weekend...what did you do?

Memorial Day

Carrie at A Passion for Applique posted a beautiful prayer for Memorial Day.  I hope she will forgive me for copying but it is too beautiful not to share:

Dear Heavenly Father,
As we remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy every day, we think of how they have followed in the footsteps of your son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Please hold our servicemen and women in your strong arms. Cover them with your sheltering grace and your presence as they stand in the gap for our protection.
We also remember the families of our troops. We ask for your unique blessings to fill their homes, and we pray your peace, provision, and strength will fill their lives.
May the members of our armed forces be supplied with courage to face each day and may they trust in the Lord's mighty power to accomplish each task. Let our military brothers and sisters feel our love and support.
In the name of Jesus. Amen. (prayer by Mary Fairchild)

A Dilemma

I love embroidery.  Love it.  I have lots of embroidery thread.  I have DMC and Cosmo Floss, Finca Perle Cotton balls, Valdani wool balls, and some large decorative threads.  Here's the dilemma:  how in the world to organize it all.  And how to carry it with you when you travel.



                     



Do you have a favorite method?  A favorite carrier?  I'm going to be away from home for a couple of months and I want to take it all with me.  Am I dreaming? (Images found on Google Images)

Jet Lag

If you haven't heard from me I have a really good excuse...my husband and I took a wonderful trip to see some of the places the Apostle Paul taught and preached.  We began our journey in Rome where Paul ended his journey.  This was my first time in Italy and it was easy to see how quickly you fall in love with it.

Don't we look like typical tourists?  The weather was nearly perfect everywhere, even here at The Coliseum, but we had sunny days so hats were a necessity.  Even with my big hat I got a bit of a tan I guess since that's the first thing my neighbor said to me yesterday.

We left Rome on a ship (Celebrity Silhouette) and cruised the rest of the 2 1/2 weeks we were away, stopping in Catania, Athens, Mykanos, Malta, Rhodes, Ephesus, Crete, and ended up in Venice.  The ship was very nice but I confess I'm not much for dressing up; to prove that I can though, here's a picture of dinner one night.

That may be the shortest I've ever had my hair!  I did it on purpose so I wouldn't have to do much to it on the trip and I think I've fallen in love with the ease of it.

Coming home we had a very early flight and had to get up at 3:15 a.m.  Awful!  We traveled for 25 hours I think, arriving home Friday night about 9:30 and my sleep pattern is completely messed up.  I'm hoping tonight I'll get back to normal.  Know any cures for that?

Like most quilters I saw quilt patterns everywhere I went.  :)  I saw beautiful tile floors and mosaics and tapestries and wanted to make a quilt of every one.  I kept mumbling under my breath...square in a square, hourglass, mariner's compass, ...  

It's good to be home and to see my lilies waving in welcome.

It will be good to get back into my normal routine too.  I didn't take any stitching with me and my sewing room is calling my name!  We volunteer for two months in the summer at a Methodist mission in south Louisiana and will be leaving in two weeks for our post there, but I get to take my sewing machine with me so it will be almost like home.  I even plan to attend a guild meeting or two there so I'm looking forward to that.

I've missed my blog friends.  I'll be checking in with all of you as soon as I can - the laundry pile is almost gone and as soon as I buy groceries my world will be back in order!

L Is For...

Continuing on with my personality inventory:

I'm struggling with this one.  Not because I can't think of anything but because there are two parts of my personality I can't ignore.  I'm logical, and I'm a listener.

Things have to make sense to me.  I was a math teacher because math makes sense.  There are rules and if you follow the rules you get where you're going.  I want things to be in order, desks in a row and not in circles, cans lined up on the shelves.  Get the picture?

I was also a counselor because I'm a listener.  People tell me things.  Things I don't always want to know.  For instance, one time in the drug store a man stopped me and asked where the Depends were. Then he explained why he needed them.  And because I'm kind (see a previous post), I listen.  :)

I mean, really, how many people would that happen to?  :)

A Baby Quilt UFO

Last summer when I was working at the mission in south Louisiana I found this cute flannel baby panel on sale.  All I had to do was sandwich it and quilt it and I love the way it turned out.  I used flannel for the back and the binding too and I must say, when flannel is against flannel, that fabric doesn't move!  In fact, not matter what I did it was hard to quilt because the fabric seemed to "grab" my sewing table.  I even sprayed my table with silicone spray a couple of times and still it drug.  I don't have a baby in mind for this one but I'm sure one will turn up - there are always babies happening somewhere in the family!

This is my fifth UFO completed this year - I'm pretty excited!