Needles and Pens

I can't believe February is already here! Amazing how the weeks fly by when you give yourself loads of things "to-do!" Again, I almost finished everything on my list for the week . Almost. Plus a thing or two I hadn't planned on, so I guess that's fair. Straighten the basement, get the TV hooked up and get on the treadmill. (My excuse is that I'm waiting for my hubby to hook up the TV. Realistically, I could probably do it myself if I tried. Mostly, I just don't really want to get on the treadmill. LoL) Clean out the front hall closet. (What an amazing improvement. We can all hang our coats up now! Just wish I had taken a "before" picture... it was BAD.) Personalization on pink ragtime quilt. Make another pink ragtime quilt for shop. Shabby Chic Baby Pink Flannel Ragtime Quilt And this was not on my list, but since I was kind of on a roll with the flannel quilts, I also finished one that's a little more boyish. Shabby...

Ready for a break from the bathroom-fixing-up posts? Yeah, me too. So I took some time out today and finished my March "Floral Breeze" block-of-the-month to share for Sew & Tell Friday . It's called "Sweet Pea." A little closeup of the handwork: These are the three blocks finished so far. They're 12-1/2" x 18-1/2" each. Looking really pretty! Next project: A window valance for -- you guessed it -- the bathroom. Almost done in there, and that's a very good thing!

It was a busy day today, visiting out-of-town relatives, but I wanted to take a minute to share a photo of an appliqued quilt block that I finished yesterday: This is the first in a 2009 Block of the Month (BOM) series, Seasons of the Heart , designed by Sandi at A Legacy of Stitches . Sandi has created a block to represent each month of the year, designed for fusible applique. The edges are blanket-stitched by hand and the details are embroidered. I want my finished quilt to have a warm, country feeling, so I plan to use various homespuns for my block backgrounds. When I saw this cute little snowman, I just couldn't resist joining in. I'm really looking forward to more of her patterns. Thanks, Sandi!

Yeah, I'm excited. Spent today at my mom and dad's house, vacuuming and rearranging the living room furniture... and I came home with a new toy! After months -- maybe years -- of debating about it, my mom decided to give me her sewing machine and cabinet today. It was a tough decision, as she used to do a lot of sewing, but she hasn't done any for several years now. Since I sew pretty-much-constantly, it'll get a lot more use here. And she says if she needs to do some mending or whatever, she can always come and do it at my house. ;o) Mom bought the cabinet about 35 years ago, when we lived in New Hampshire. I was about seven or eight years old. It still looks brand new. Here it is closed: And opened with the machine up: She bought the machine about twenty years ago, Singer's top-of-the-line model at the time, and one of their first electronic machines. Even at 20+ years old, it has loads more bells and whistles than my newer machine. My favorite feature, a wind-...