Monday, November 25, 2013

Quick Catch Up

It seems time has gotten away from me for the umpteenth time.  I don't know why I don't keep up with my blog.  Well, I do, but I won't mention it. 

I have been busy in the last 10 months.  Wow, that's a long time.  First of all, I put a Dear Jane quilt in the frame, one of my student's, on January 1st and I finished it on Halloween.  Of course in that time I attended 3 retreats, visited my Mom for 6 weeks or so while she had hip replacement surgery.  I also made it to the AQS show in Des Moines, Iowa the first week of October.  I also lost one of my childhood friends to cancer.  We walked to school everyday.  I still think about her so often.  Her memorial service is this Wednesday.  I miss you Susan.  You were loved by so many!  I also got a new dog...uh, I mean puppy.  Bo consumes waaay too much of my time.

In ten days time, our Twisted Sister retreat group will have their annual Christmas gathering.  We don't do the traditional gift exchange.  We have for the last 3 years conducted a Treasure Hunt or scavenger hunt.  We exchange the treasures that were on the list as one gift and the majority of us find it really fun.  This year's list has been really fun as it got my creative juices flowing. I have come up with ideas for other gifts.  After Christmas, I will post the list and a picture of some of my items and also a picture of what I receive.  Most of us collect the items on the list and we go all out packaging/wrapping each one individually.  It is as much fun to watch the receiver discover everything as it is to collect it for a person.  We also don't know going in who will be receiving the Treasure Gifts.

Last week I created a new blog-why I don't know.  It is called A Traditional Quilter's Corner and I hope to focus on recreating yesterday's quilt with today's methods and tools.  I am going to start off with the techniques I used creating my Dear Jane (c).  Hope to get my first how-to on prepared applique posted by the end of the week.

I have also recently started on a challenge project.  (I always seem to write about starting things, but never finishing them.)  Four of us are going to sew along with the AQSG 2014 quilt study.  Even though we are not members, I thought it sounded like a fun thing to try on our own since we all like Civil War era textiles and reproduction fabrics.  Mine, I hope, will be using a new method to construct an old pattern.  (If it works, you may see it on my new blog eventually.)  If I find it impossible to complete in 10 months, it will be back to the drawing board for me.  But I am really charged by it.  I think I can do it.

Weather here has been cold and wet, but no winter weather to speak of-just rain despite a winter storm watch for 2-3 days.  But temps in the low to mid 30's.  Supposed to get sunshine tomorrow.  But the wood stove sure has been nice this week.  We still have lots of wood to burn from the tornado 2 1/2 years ago.  I dream for a white Christmas always, but rarely do we have one here in Texas.  I will continue to dream.

Sew Having Fun,
Sarah