be nice to me...

...I gave blood today!

This weekend was the annual Harvest Festival. They have an arts & craft show, antique car show, model train display, food court and my fav...historic zone. The historic area has reenactors from many wars along with settlers and almost everything in between. Besides yet another book on lighthouses that I had somehow missed, the only thing I couldn't walk away from was a wooden spoon from the historic zone. They are made by Wonky Wood Works and I picked one made of Birdseye Maple. The proprietor-ess told me I have great taste because they don't get Birdseye very often. I do have a small collection of wooden spoons made of all kinds of wood and designs. My mom has also given me some antique spoons used by right-handed people according to the wear on the bowl of the spoon. Oh yeah, and no thanks to the blood drive recruiter who was standing there barking "blood drive," I did donate a pint of blood.

Last weak was feast and I am hoping this week is famine. Last week I had someplace to be every night after work and this week I am on vacation. I have a quilt class tomorrow night and plans for Thanksgiving but otherwise I want to stay home and sew sew sew. I hope to work on Christmas projects and a few UFOs. I'll get you some pictures later this week, right now I want to get on with the sewing :)

Star Struck fabrics

Here are the fabrics that I intend to use for nephew #2 baby's quilt. The blue and 2 neutrals at the bottom of this picture will be the quarter square triangles for consistentcy. I'll to use the extras towards the my scrap system like Bonnie uses for her quilting. I have some vacation time in the next couple of weeks so I hope to get a good start on the Star Struck.

Mom - what do you think of the fabric?

Caro - we'll be at the M.O.M.

my week at a glance

Last Wednesday, my car overheated in the evening rush hour. I took my car to the dealer Thursday morning (yeah!! - it’s still under warranty) and walked to the Metrorail. I purposefully live within walking distance of the train and it’s been a lifesaver several times. It takes the same amount of time to drive the 6 miles to work as it does to walk to the train, go 4 stops and then take the free trolley the rest of the way to work. Kind of sad but it’s a nice break from stressful traffic and I get to catch up on some reading. If you click on the train photo you can see the traffic that runs parallel to the train...that's what I am usually stuck in twice a day, 5 days a week...

After finally getting my car back over the weekend, I did a little Christmas shopping for nephew #1 and stopped at The Quilt Scene to pick up a different red for the German Mystery quilt as well as more blues and neutrals I need to make Star Struck for nephew #2 who is due around Easter.

Later, my friend Angela called from Louisiana. She was back in the USA for her 20-year high school reunion and would have a 6-hour layover the next day in Miami before returning to Buenos Aires. On Sunday I swooped her up from the airport and we went to Miami Beach. She treated me to SushiSamba and then we laid on the beach for a while. We then walked the Lincoln Road pedestrian strip, she ran into some friends, we did a little shopping and I dropped her back at the airport an hour before she needed to board the plane. A whirlwind stopover but we did plan my trip to visit her next spring!! I brought my camera with me but of course I left it in the car, as soon as Ang sends me her pictures, I’ll post them.

Monday night was Bernina Club and we made cute mini quilts with machine-appliquéd trees. As soon as I get mine done I’ll post a picture. I also got another kit in brighter colors that will probably be a gift and I have plans to make a similar project with a snowman for my SIL for Christmas.

Anyone else annoyed with the time change? I feel like I have jet lag all day and the “kids” still want breakfast at the old 6am. At least the sunny mornings and cooler weather, thanks to 2 “cold” fronts, have inspired me to restart my morning walks but I do wish I could get myself back into sewing mode. I have paperwork I should be doing and instead I seem to be stalling on everything that needs to be done…

PS - Blogger doesn't know how to spell Bernina - who would have guessed?!