Catching Up!

I'm spending the weekend - half of it, anyway - at the lake.  I headed down here after Wool Club yesterday and will return home tomorrow afternoon.  I spent all of last night and most of today hooking and doing applique.  I finally finished Applique Affair block five (my April assignment):

My pictures aren't the best tonight - both were taken with the cell phone since I don't have my other computer to download from the camera.  And the fabric bled (again!) so I will have to soak it in Syntrapol when I get home, but I couldn't wait to get it posted.  It seems like it has taken forever to finish, even if it has only been a couple of weeks!

I also hooked my May flowers last night.  The new flowers are the red one (looks pink in this shot) on the upper right and the yellow one.  This month's theme was flowers and I was oh-so-tempted to start another project to explore the theme a bit, but I resisted.  I think it would be fun to make something with small proddy flowers with standing wool circles for centers.  A clay flower pot with a few flowers in it would be fun.  I should design something that would fit that frame I purchased from Anita White.  I also need to hook the pumpkin pattern that goes with that frame one of these days.

I received my first block of the month from Ewe-nique Creations on Friday.  I had completely forgotten that I signed up for that one!  It is really wonderful - wool applique on linen.  I was considering starting another project when I finished the next My Garden Album block, possibly Wildflowers or one of the other new patterns I picked up at Chicago or Paducah, but now I am anxious to start that one!  I hope I am able to spend a lot of time sewing while on vacation in June.  My "wanna do" list just keeps growing!

Progress Report & Planning for May

I'll start off with an excuse...I was gone half of April, and didn't accomplish much of anything during either of my week-long trips.  With that said, I did okay for the month, just not quite as okay as I had hoped.  I did manage to finish block 9 of My Garden Album.  For some reason I can't get the picture to post right-side-up, so I will have to take another.

I made a lot of progress on my Sue Spargo BOM block 1, but need to add the finishing touches before I can cross that one off the list.  I did finish my April flowers and made a decision on the background after an initial misfire.  Here's the first one I tried.  I love the splash of color, but the flowers really died in it:

So I ordered a vanilla- colored wool from Rebecca Erb and gave it a shot:

It's difficult to see it in the photo.  It's very light, and the flowers really "pop" on it.  I'm not sure it makes the best background, though, but I hooked enough of it that I really don't think I want to change at this point.  It will end up a little brighter than I originally plannned, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I did make a bit more progress on Bird Party, but didn't get started on the Runaway Mystery project until yesterday, so it can't be counted for April.  I also fell short on my Applique Affair project - block 5 is about half way finished, and the May block has already been assigned.

I didn't get much accomplished this weekend, either, despite having good intentions. I was busy Saturday helping my oldest daughter get ready for prom, and I spent Sunday watching my Cardinals play an outstanding game against the Reds.  Go Cards!!! 

So now for the May list:
1.  Finish Applique Affair Block 5
2.  My Garden Album Block 10
3.  More progress on Bird Party
4.  Hook May flowers
5.  Applique Affair Block 19
6.  Finish cutting and begin piecing Runaway Mystery
7. Finish Sue Spargo BOM block 1 (finally!)

I'm also aching to start a new project... I have been wanting to get back to my Dinah Jeffries patterns and I still haven't started the one from McCall's that I picked up fabric for earlier in the year.  I also acquired several beautiful patterns at Chicago and Paducah, and I received the fabric for the Blessings quilt.  And if that was not enough, the Primitive Gatherings BOW starts next month.  Aaarrrghhhh!!!

Last Night in Paducah

I've had a wonderful week at the AQS Show in Paducah!  I arrived Tuesday and have shopped until I nearly dropped every day.  As usual, I have acquired more projects than I could possibly complete before next year's show even if I was able to sew all day for the next 9 months.  What's really interesting is the diversity in my purchases.  My bags are full of reproduction fabrics and batiks...quite a strange assortment.

The new pavillion (fondly referred to as "the marshmallow" by Libby Lehman and the AQS folks) was a wonderful addition to the show.  It was a little warm by mid-day, but nothing like the pool area used to be.  It was well-lit and set up quite nicely - very impressive!

Amidon Quiltworks was here for the first time this year.  I've only seen them in Chicago in the past.  Another wonderful first-timer is Sew Unique Creations (Tara Darr).  She has such wonderful patterns!  I really enjoyed visiting her booth.  I picked up a couple of patterns and quite a bit of fabric there.  Other notable purchases include two complete queen-sized kits - one from Quilts by the Bay (the Judy Niemeyer wedding ring quilt) and another called "Dove in the Window" from Sew Batik).  I ended up with lots of odds and ends from other vendors including lots of patterns (mostly applique, of course).

I have one more class before I leave tomorrow - a color-planning class with Judy Niemeyer.  I have to keep my fingers crossed that I will win one of the patterns and planned quilts.  Afterwords I will meet up with friends for one last meal at Flamingo Row (the third time this week) and then head out of town.  It's always so sad to see the week come to an end!

Farewell, Chicago!

I spent yesterday at the IQA Spring Festival in Chicago.  We made a marathon day of it, leaving here at 6 AM and returning around 11 PM.  It is a great show, particularly in the way of vendors.  Here's one of my absolute favorites - Primitive Gatherings.  I started the show and made my first purchase at their booth.

I was incredibly disappointed to hear that this was the last year for Chicago.  They are moving the show to Cincinnati.  It will be a week earlier next year, but it still doesn't really make sense to try to head all the way to Ohio right before the Paducah show. I also think that AQS is short-changing the Paducah show and that is has lost a bit of its former glory.  I think it's a shame that they are spreading themselves so thin and that they have had so much trouble at Paducah.  I hope we don't end up losing all of the really good shows in the midwest. 

I am heading to Paducah on Tuesday.  I did manage to get a little bit of sewing done last week and plan on doing at least a little more while in Paducah, but I think it's safe to say that I will be coming up short on accomplishments again this month.  To make matters worse, I picked up at least a half dozen new projects yesterday.  And one is another BOM.  Oh no!!!

Visiting La Jolla

I am spending the week in La Jolla (near San Diego) on business.  I flew in yesterday.  It took nearly the entire day to get here, but thanks to the time difference, I had time to do a little exploring once I arrived.  The flight out here was quite interesting, too.  I'm not sure if we were flying lower than I am used to or the sky was just really clear, but I could really see the mountains as we flew into Salt Lake City.  I've never been to SLC (or Utah, for that matter).  According to one of my co-workers, though, I still can't say that I have been there.  He says you have to leave the airport in order for it to count. 

I visited Rosie's Calico Cupboard yesterday.  What a wonderful shop!  They had an absolutely unbelievable amount of fabric.  There were walls of each color, and rooms of things like Civil War/Jo Morton.  Here's a pic of just one of the many fabric areas:

I did a little bit of applique on the flight out yesterday, and a little more last night.  I plan to do a bit more tonight.  I'm not making tons of progress, but every little bit counts!  I am working on My Garden Album block nine and Sue Spargo block one.  I find that the wool applique is a little more forgiving when dealing with turbulence. 

I did get my April flowers hooked before leaving home but didn't get a chance to take a picture.  I also thought I had the perfect background, but after hooking some of it in, I think it kills the flowers.  I am disappointed that it won't work (I bought a yard of it!) and also bummed that I don't have a solution yet.

I saw a pattern that I loved at Wool Club this weekend - Bea Brock's "Birds and Berries".  Nola also demonstrated a couple of techniques that gave me a fun idea for the May project - the theme is "flowers".  Jennifer stopped by to show us the tiles that she is making for the June project - the owl that I had been resisting very successfully...that is, resisting until I saw the tiles.  They are so cool!  I purchased the pattern and need to figure out what colors I want to use.  So sadly I am back to rapidly acquiring new projects, and I haven't even been to Chicago or Paducah yet!

I have so much to talk about - I didn't even mention the Ricky Tims' Homecoming Concert we attended last Friday.  It was very fun.  He is extremely talented and very entertaining. 

Well, it's after midnight at home, and probably time to get moving here in California if I plan to get any sewing done before bedtime.  I'll close with a couple of pictures I took after work this evening.

One Thing to Check Off My List!

I was one day late on this one - Block 9 came in the mail yesterday.  I'm just happy to have it finished!  I guess I really can't count Block 9 as a "bonus" this month now that I have it in hand.  Hopefully I can find some time to prep it while I'm working on Easter dinner tomorrow.

April Plans

I know better than to be too ambitious with my list this month.  I will be out of town for two full weeks and won't be able to get much done on any of my upcoming trips.  I am going into this month with a very positive attitude... I am absolutely positive that I will end the month significantly behind where I started!  I am headed to the IQA show in Chicago (Primitive Gatherings, here I come!) immediately followed by a week in Paducah.  What's really sad is that I have found a few other things to purchase online over the past few days so I  started my traditional month of crazy, impulsive shopping a bit early this year!

So, being realistic:

1.  Complete My Garden Album block 8 (I'm almost there - it was two weeks late getting to me!)
2.  Finish Sue Spargo BOM block 1
3.  Continue making progress on Bird Party
4.  Hook April flowers
5.  At least start cutting the Runaway Mystery Quilt

I won't commit to anything more.  If block 9 of My Garden Album arrives before the end of the month, I will try to get it started.  My Applique Affair assignment for this month is block 5, which I am pretty sure I already have completed, so I get a break there.  If block 20 arrives I may try to get it prepped so I can eventually play "catch up" for last month.  Any progress on these falls into the "bonus" category.

Time to get to work!