Needles and Pens

Have you heard about Moda Fabrics' Just One Star Challenge to piece, quilt and bind 100 Quilts of Valor quilts in 100 days? I had heard about the challenge before I got sick, and had started to work on a few blocks. The plan was to make "just one" for Moda, and a few more for my friend, Linda, who has made it her personal challenge to collect blocks and donate a completed quilt. Appropriately enough, my first foray back into the sewing room after being sick for a month, was to finish "just one star." If I could manage that much, I knew I was truly on my way back. Success! It felt so good to be sewing again, even if only for a few minutes at a time. The next day, I managed two more blocks, completing a set of four for Linda: Small steps... but things are definitely looking up! I even managed to cut out a dress for my daughter to wear for Easter, a project I had given up on for the most part. Now, I think I just might be able to get it done, little by litt...

Just when I felt like I was really getting things accomplished... life threw me a curve ball. I've been laid up for the past 3-4 weeks with a combination of back problems and never ending bronchitis/sinus/inner-ear crud. Suddenly I'm not only behind in all of my sewing projects, but completely bewildered by everything else that needs to be done in the coming weeks. In the midst of all my health problems, I decided to give up my job at the fabric store, which has relieved a lot of stress and may be the key to finally feeling a little better now. I'm not fully recovered yet. Still on antibiotics, still waiting for my ears to unplug, still visiting my chiropractor almost daily and hoping for a breakthrough that will relieve the shooting pain in my shoulder and arm. But there are signs of improvement. Here I am, sitting at the computer after all. There's a light at the end of the tunnel. One thing I have managed to get done this week was a trip to the post office. I...

I have so many different projects going at once right now, it's making my head spin, but I do seem to thrive on the stress of it. Having several days off work this week has given me the chance to tackle a lot of projects, both sewing and otherwise. Yesterday I got caught up once again on the Blogger's Block-a-Palooza Quilt Along . Here's Block 11, designed by the Fat Quarterly team at Fat Quarterly : Block 12, designed by Jennifer Davis of Sugar Stitches : And Block 13, designed by Tia Curtis of Camp Follower Bags & Quilts : Three quarters of the way there (plus one block), with only three more blocks to go. I'm looking forward to wrapping this one up!

Finished the John Deere panel quilt for my grandson last week... Cute, huh? And here's how the pieced back turned out... Looks good at a distance, but I made the mistake of making the back border the same size as the printed front "border," so the edge of the border quilting on the back is all over the place. (I don't think Aaron will mind.) I had a little chunk of the backing fabric left over, so yesterday I made a little pillow to match -- with red piping! All done! But something is still missing... I know what, it's this 'lil cutie. Miss you, Aaron! See you soon! XOXOXO

I have a darling little 2-year-old grandson who loves tractors, especially green tractors. In fact, to him the color green is synonymous with tractors, and if you ask him what color this is... ... he'll tell you, "tractor." (Don't worry, we're working on that. lol) So, even though I really didn't need another project to do, when I saw this adorable John Deere panel at work the other day, I had to buy it for Aaron. And when I saw the equally adorable coordinating print, of course I had to have that for the back. Unfortunately, such an impulse purchase often comes without much thought, and I failed to notice that the direction of the print required extra fabric to lay the right way on the quilt back. So today I was considering buying a larger piece, when my awesome mother-in-law took one look at it and suggested I just add a border to my backing. (Duh... why didn't I think of that??) After she left, I immediately went to my sewing room to look ...

Two more blocks finished for the Blogger's Block-a-Palooza . Block nine is the "Lemonade Stand" block, designed by Scott Hansen of Blue Nickel Studios ( Of course, my lemonade is the PINK variety ): And block ten, "Turned Geese," designed by Amy Ellis at Amy's Creative Side : Six more blocks to go. So far, so good. Just one question... is it spring yet?

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, ...