Needles and Pens

I can't believe it's already May. Not that I'm complaining. I'm SO ready for summer. The good news is, I'm finally feeling better. I have a head cold that just won't quit (maybe if spring ever comes to Minnesota to stay, I can be done with that, too), but at least the pain in my shoulder and arm is nearly gone. I love my chiropractor! The bad news... there really isn't any bad news in the grand scheme of things. Life is good. My two daughters, grandson and I just returned from a long-awaited trip to Chicago, my two sons will celebrate birthdays this week, and a beautiful, warm spring has got to be just around the corner. However, I am behind. Remember the UFO and GED challenges from New Years?... Missed April entirely and now I have projects assigned for May. The Block-a-Palooza quilt I had hoped to finish for someone's birthday? Well, that'll be one belated birthday gift. And soon there'll be a need for one more baby quilt in the family. Gu...

This month's goal for the Patchwork Times UFO Challenge was one of the sewing projects I used to fill in for the (unbelieveable!) lack of unfinished quilts that I have left to work on. (It also provided a much-needed break after finishing my crazy-intense January project !) Lucky number 10 -- Tim's Fleece Vest -- last appeared here as a pattern, a zipper and a bunch of yellow fleece in a pile in my sewing room: All chosen by my 12-year-old son, who wanted fleece vests in his favorite color combo, yellow and black. I finished the black one right away, but then the holidays were upon us, and the yellow was put on the back burner while I focused on other projects. (Sewing clothing is not my favorite thing, so any excuse to procrastinate will do!) He seemed very happy with Vest #1. However, in the three months that followed, I never once saw him wear it. So I made a slight change in the plans and decided to go with a different pattern. This pattern is adult sized, ...

I have now officially visited all 114 links to the finished January UFOs in the Patchwork Times UFO Challenge (and with dial-up internet, that was a challenge in itself! lol) I don't know if I'll have the stamina to do so every month, but it was nice to at least once visit all of my co-challengees. What a lot of gorgeous quilts and projects, and seeing so many things being accomplished is incredibly inspiring! (If you happened to miss my own January finish, you can find it here .) Now it's on to February... and I'm having a bit of a slow start this month. Since finishing the baby quilt that I needed to do right off the bat, I've had a return of the insidious pinched nerve in my back that stopped me in my tracks a year and a half or so ago. I've gone to the chiropractor religiously since then, so I have no idea how I managed to aggravate it so badly, seemingly overnight. Could have something to do with the marathon stitching and quilting of January's UFO?...

So, once again, life has completely obliterated my attempts to blog. But, I'm back! For today, at least. LoL This is the first time I've even looked at a blog in over a month, and since it is Friday, I decided to go over to Amylouwho's place and see if she was still hosting Sew & Tell Fridays . Come to find that, just today, she posted the post-holiday "secret gift edition" of Sew & Tell. Apparently I'm not as far behind as I thought! Unless, of course, you take notice of my unseasonable Fall blog background... oh, well. I'll be caught up again, all in good time. December was even more hectic than usual this year, what with juggling a new "part-time" job (which became suspiciously "full-time" during the holidays) along with all the normal Christmas to-do's. Ironically, working at a fabric store really makes a person want to sew, while simultaneously sapping all extra time from their day. Still, I did manage to squeeze in a...