My Weekend Projects

This past weekend was a lazy one at my house. It was cold outside, so I spent a little time with my sewing machine once again. I pieced the backing for a quilt top I made several years ago. I really am trying to work on some of those UFOs I have in my sewing room! Now if I can just get the top, batting and backing layered. Since this quilt is a scrappy one, I'm planning to try my hand at machine quilting it on my regular sewing machine. I'll just be quilting in-the-ditch. Here's a pic of the top.

I also finished a pillow top that I had started for DD back in Nov. The pattern is called "Barrister's Block". I found the pattern on Marcia Hohn's Quilter's Cache. I really enjoyed making this block and just might try a scrappy quilt using this pattern....someday. I pulled the red, blue, and gray from my stash. Those are the colors from the college where she received her law degree. I thought the gray just made a nice background color.....and the dark charcoal borders just made the colors more vibrant. I had never tried using gray as a background color before, but I will do so again after the results of this project. I machine quilted this pillow top by stitching in the ditch.
On my to-do list for today is to clean up the mess I made in my sewing room over the weekend. I pulled several fabrics to find the one I used for the backing I pieced. I now have to put back everything I pulled

Does My Sewing Machine Work?

With the lack of posts about any stitching I have been doing lately...you would probably think my sewing machine no longer works. However today I sat down for a few minutes and sewed these pillowcases.
I bought this fabric when DD was in college to make a pillowcase for her and her roommate. They both liked coffee and they enjoyed getting the pillowcases. I've had the leftover fabric laying in a drawer for about 6 1/2 yrs. now and each time I would open the drawer....I would think that I really should make another pair of pillowcases with the leftover fabric. Today was the day.....I finally got it done.........and I found out that my sewing machine really does still work!

2009

Once again my nest is empty. I struggle as the kids leave and go their separate ways because I know it will be a long time before I see them again since one is in TX and the other in MD. I did get a little extra time with DD as we traveled to TX with her to visit DH's elderly parents who also live down there. FIL is 87 and not in real good health. While there we got to see a lot of family that we haven't seen in years. We all enjoyed the visit.

I was happy to come home though. After having lived away from the heat and humidity of south TX, I've become a softy. I hate that hot, sweaty feeling. Somehow, 80 degrees in Dec. no longer seems "Christmasy" to me. I've become accustom to having cold weather during the holidays....and I actually look forward to it each year. I'm one of those sick people who actually like snow and cold weather. Because I was gone, I'm so far behind. I still have outside decorations to take down....and decorations inside as well.

I've thought a little about what I want to accomplish in 2009. First of all, I want to work very hard on shedding a few pounds and doing the very best I can to lower those all important numbers associated with my diabetes. I am going to concentrate on completing some quilts that I have all the blocks complete, but not put together. They were BOM projects done through a local quilt shop. I will share pics as I work on those. I'm going to limit new projects that I start, but I will allow myself to start some new ones if I feel like it is something I really, really want to do. I want my sewing to be fun stuff! Since I am the "bookkeeper" in my family, I want to get my paper work in order and shred the unnecessary clutter that always accumulates. This spring there is also a little outside painting in my future. The porch rails need a new coat of paint. And then as spring comes on, I have plans for a small garden. I hope I can also do a little better at posting to my blog. Over these holidays, I put family first because they are important.

I'm hoping for a productive 2009!