Sunday, April 1, 2012

Time's A Flying!

Where does the time go?  Every time I blink, another week has passed!!  My mother always told me that the older you are, the faster time passes and, boy, do I believe here now!!! 


So, what's been going on around here?  Shortly after the Arcadia Mill foray, I hosted a String Piecing Workshop here at my house.  The teacher didn't have room at her house, so I volunteered. 
This is the pattern we were working on, using whatever kind of fabrics we wanted.  We could make the "star" all in one fabric or we could mix them us as was done here.   This class was inspired by the following quilt which is just gorgeous.
Sorry I can't show you all of it, but its huge and was made by various members of the instructor's family for a young lady who is about to marry into the family.  Now, isn't that sweet?


Then, of course, there was the Pensacola Quilt Show.  It is always a good show and I enjoyed it immensely.  The talent and creativity exhibited there (or at most any quilt show) simply astounds me.


Over the past number of months, I've been slowly, very slowly, working on a charity quilt from donated fabrics.  Discovered that I didn't like the fabrics and it was hard for me to work on.  Not that I didn't like some of the fabrics individually, but collectively they were a bit much. I finally got it finished and was surprised to find that its not half bad!   


Then, there was the Jelly Roll Race at the Guild quilt bee.  What a blast.  I was the timekeeper since I had done this before and none of the participants had.    I think most of them agreed that it was a great way to quickly get a quilt top done.  But I also think once and done is the attitude of a couple!!!   There's a bit more stress during the race than if working on it at home, so maybe they'll give it another chance.   Here's my quilt top from an earlier race. 
So many of the ladies were skeptics at the beginning of the day that anything attractive would result from just sewing stuff together.  But, at the end of the day, there were lots of believers.  The strips can be sewn together diagonally as above, or simply straight sewn.  They look great either way. 


And there were a couple of birding trips thrown in the mix.  I actually start having withdrawal symptoms if I don't get my bird fix ever so often!  I do have lovely birds in my back yard, but its not the same as getting out into the woods or to the shore and seeing what is traveling around. 


Last week, I went with Birdlady to Ft. Pickens for her "birthday" bird walk.  We didn't see her coveted hooded warbler, but we did get to see a pair of prothonontary warblers like this. 
So, it was a successful day for me!


That very same day, DH and I treated Birdlady to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and a couple of her other friends came along also.  Was a lovely evening all around. 


Okay, so what else?   Oh, the never-ending yard work!!   Spring is not an easy time when you have lots of live oaks in the yard.  We've been raking leaves for weeks and will still be at it for several weeks to come.  


I hope all of you are enjoying this lovely spring. 


Y'all take care. 











8 comments:

  1. Beautiful quilts! I know what you mean about springtime yard work. It can really take over your life!

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  2. I also used to get told "time goes faster as you get older" and I'd think "d'uh, stupid grown-ups, what do they know".

    Hmmm, they obviously knew more than I, at 5 years old, realised! How did we get to be a quarter of the way through the year?

    Know what you mean about not enjoying a project when you don't love the fabrics. I've done that a couple of times and sworn never to do it again. I don't have enough time to sew as it is, so if I am going to make quilts they'll be with fabric I really like (although having been following the recent K. Spain/C&T copyright kerfuffle who knows what we ought to be doing with our stashes :} )

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  3. Whoa! I'm exhausted already! Those quilts are beautiful. And I know what you mean ... life is zipping along way too fast. So much living to cram in as we move towards the end.

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  4. Beautiful! I love the idea of string quilts. Log cabin has always been a favorite, but look at the possibilities!

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  5. I am soo glad spring it back although it is much much more work yes!

    And i really liked the stripped quilt. My mother in law is coming in a couple of weeks and i allready told her about your gift and it is hanging in the bedroom where they sleep, so i can't wait what she is going to say!

    Big hugs
    Leontien

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  6. Love the star quilt! It's gorgeous. You make the most beautiful quilts.

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  7. I always like seeing what you're up to. I think the birding could be a lot of fun, and one of these days I just might go for a nature walk to see if I can recognize any birds along the way. You haven't been on in awhile, hope all is okay.

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  8. That jelly roll quilt at the Quilt Guild was inspiring. I just might have to do one. You did a great job keeping everyone on task.

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