Half Way Through the Weekend....Nooooooo!!!!!

Just got home from dinner, and two stops for desserts--Yogi Castle (yogurt) for me, Coldstone (ice cream) for him. While I'd love a cup of coffee, it's almost 10:30, so I think I should just bag it and curl up under the sheets with a book and get an early start tomorrow to make the best of the last day of the weekend.

Almost done with the Beach House quilt. It's recipient is in Park City skiing, so I hope to have it packed up and winging it's way to the Beach House Monday.

Today was retail therapy day. I headed up to Frederick this morning to use my Needles and Pins gift certificate, which was a lovely present from my daughter's boyfriend. Since I don't have a lot of backing fabric, I packed up three stacks of fabric projects with me for the hunt.

The first thing I found was this lovely Alex Anderson fabric that was perfect for the French fabric I bought in Houston this fall.

French looking, oui?

Here it is pictured with the quilt top fabrics:

C'est magnifique!

Next up, I carried all my indigos with me. I wasn't feeling it, but while my fabric was being cut, I looked at the Alex Anderson line one more time, put away the Nigerian and Asian indigos and focused on only the South African ones (shweshwe). And I think I found a good backing:

Not so sure about white, but the pointilism matches a few of the indigo prints, so I think it's going to work out just fine.

Lastly, I had carted along the Gees Bend quilt kit the hubs picked out for me for Christmas. I wanted to be fun and modern...not paying attention to the history of the pattern, but rather the color and the stark abstract, linear pattern. Always a fan of all things dotty, I picked this:

Lastly, after just about 2 hours of fabric agonizing and thread selecting, I meandered over to the batiks and decided that I really need something to use for the Diamonds challenge piece, so why not step even further out of my comfort zone and go a little crazy:

Crazy like a fox...a RED fox. Note the diamond batik on the left.

That's a lot of fabric....just about 18 yards total. I had my 'make my own sale' coupon they give you annually....good for 40% off all fabric cuts 1 yard or more, so it was a definite bargain bonanza.

Now I've got no excuses, and I've got quite a few projects that I'm totally locked and loaded for. And tomorrow is going to be a lazy, rainy Sunday...perfect for sewing. Hopefully tomorrow night I'll be posting a photo of the finished Beach House, and I'll be able to list it on my OPAM finished list.

BTW, this will be the 14th quilt I've finished. Not too shabby.

Is It Over Yet?

Yes, I think it is.

Just finished cleaning up after my brunch for 18 (well, 17 really, as one was just a baby and didn't eat anything). That was the last entertainment commitment for 2009. Hoo-RAH!

Christmas dinner for 18 was lovely. The hubs handled 99% of the cooking for that one And thank God for that. I fried the shrimp and cleaned up. (Mostly after 3 a.m., after which I had to sit down and work out the logistics for the next soiree).

It's been a whirlwind 3 days. Off tomorrow and then back to work Tuesday (telecommute). I should be able to work in some quilting. I need to get the SIL's quilt on the pinning table and quilted. The goal is to have it in the mail early next week.

And yes, I did finish Anna's knitting tote (surely you didn't lose faith now, did you?)

 5 different fabrics, 9 outside pockets, most of them pleated. A bit of a challenge, but I pulled it off.

Oh, and it's darn big.

In case you're wondering how I fared for Christmas, I got a Piece O' Cake applique quilt kit and a Gees' Bend quilt kit from the hubs. As well as some books and an Elly Sinkiewicz DVD. (also jewelry, slippers, makeup, Cap'n Jack Sparrow toy and a new badly-needed watch--he's much too good to me)

My daughter gave me Cheryl Ann's design wall--that was pretty funny, her and I attempting to set that up in the family room Christammas morning. 6'x6' is a lot larger in real life than it is in your head. My daughter's boyfriend gave me a way-too-generous gift certificate to Needles and Pins in Frederick, so I've got a lot of damage to do there, which I think I may embark on tomorrow. I'm thinking of outfitting myself with everything needed to pull off a Dear Jane....heck with these Thangles BOMs....let's take on a project with some serious substance!

Well, I'm headed up to pin the SIL's quilt. The hubs bought me one of those little awl-like safety pin closing/opening tools. This should prove to be amusing (and elicit much cursing). I've not exactly won any prizes for my stellar coordination skills....