Catching up

February. Guess I haven't kept up with blogging lately. It isn't because I don't want to. I just run out of time or steam or both. It has been a cold, snowy, dreary first month of 2011. Allen and I and the Oz have been working long hours. Oz loves the cold because it gives him a good excuse to snuggle on someone's lap or hang out on the couch.

The bright spots would be a trip to Mobile last weekend with Shannon  to see Meghan, Justin, and the boys, getting the bathroom finished, and spending lots of time quilting. I've finished a couple of good sized lap quilts. One is out of Kaffe fabrics, and it was machine quilted in straight diagonal lines.

Another finished project tested my free-motion skills - I am way better than I was but not proficient by far.I did finish it finally last week. Right now, I see every little thing I wish were different, but I also see some things I really am happy with. I like the color wash, and there are some spots where the quilting is just what I wanted.

One really fun project I've started is a Civil War Block of the Week from Barbara Brackman. She posts a mini history lesson and a quilt block each week. I will end up with fifty-two different blocks. I have five finished, and the instructions for the sixth week are printed and waiting with the fabrics I've picked. This is Week One - North Star.



Week two - Seven Sisters. This one took three tries because of the tiny star points. I finally ended up machine appliqueing it.



Week Three - Catch Me if You Can



Week 4- Texas Tears



Week Five - Kansas Troubles

I am having fun pulling reproduction fabrics from my stash and putting these together. Each one has been a different challenge. There is even a Flickr group going where people can post their pictures and monitor their progress through the year. Just fun!

I'm also about finished with a quilt-along blog quilt. Pictures later in a few days. Next quilting project will be the baby quilt for Georgia Mae which I think will be under way this week.

This is long enough for a Sunday evening. I am still stuffed from the stuffed mushrooms I fixed for dinner. Italian sausage stuffed portobello mushrooms.  Tasty, very rich.

I promise, bathroom pictures next. We are really happy with the work our remodeling folks did from Stanford Remodeling. We will surely have them do our next project (after the foundation fixing - ugh!).