Long Weekend

Sadly it's time to get back to work this morning after an extended holiday weekend at the lake.  I wish I could say that I feel completely refreshed and ready to hit the computer this morning, but after three days at the lake with a neurotic dog that is scared to death of fireworks (which, by the way, can be heard going off about 20 hours a day down there), I feel like a need a really good night's sleep.

I was able to get quite a bit accomplished while keeping the dog company.  Most is not picture-worthy - I caught up on all the prep work for my summer BOW and summer freebie and managed to get most of the stitching finished on block one. I still have a little way to go before it is finished. I have to say that I absolutely loathe the new Steam-A-Seam 2 Lite that I purchased when it came back on the market briefly last year. I hate how badly it gums up my needles. Lisa Bongean said that steaming it more would help so I tried steaming for a second time with loads of steam but it doesn't seem to make any difference.  I find that I have to keep alcohol wipes handy and clean my needle frequently. Very frustrating.

I finished the next block for our guild BOM. The taupes do not look great in pictures, but I am really loving how they look.  I didn't do a wool version this month - I have enough wool applique in the queue with my BOW! 

I worked on one of my hand-pieced LeMoyne Star blocks on the drive and managed to finish another couple of diamond wedges. It was fun to work on it again - I'm inspired to get back to that one in hopes of finishing it for our quilt show next year.  I think I am down to only a couple more 12" blocks and then seven or eight 6" stars. I need to unearth that one from one of the UFO piles and start working on it again.

Speaking of digging out old projects, I was inspired to get back to my last Dear Jane over the past week or so due to a lot of new activity in one of the online groups I am in.  I managed to finish two more blocks.

I keep thinking that I want to start over (again) but then I go back and look at what I have completed so far and actually like them - all done in Kaffe Fasset fabrics.  It's mainly the background that I don't like - white on white. I started this one a couple of years ago in hopes of finding a theme that I liked well enough to stick with it. My previous two attempts never made it beyond 40 blocks or so.

I'm looking forward to another quilt retreat this weekend.  I am hoping that I can finish my Celtic Solstice at this one...which means I will have to make a final decision the setting very soon. So much pressure!