Second WISP Complete

This head cold finally released me enough to sit up and enjoy some sewing. Had to finish this WISP before tomorrow!

I backed it with cotton flannel, no batting, machine tacked at the intersections. Warmth without weight. I'd say it's the most elegant car blanket I own.

Room With a View

Many locals like to wear cotton and flip flops all year round. I think this week they may be at a loss. This was the view from my living room window yesterday.

Meetings at work that'd been planned and scheduled for weeks suddenly went begging for attendees and employees couldn't get 'down from the grade' due to road closures. We're only talking 4-6 inches, but when motorists don't know how to drive in it, it makes for nastiness on the road.

This is our lone redwood in the front yard. I thought it looked especially dressy that morning. :D

What's That Up Ahead?

Last time I drove east to attend the monthly quilt guild meeting I have to admit I was a tad *rushed*. I was barrelling along the country highway that winds through the Lake County hills, it was raining a bit, the roads were wet... and here comes some animal crossing into my lane from the left.

The distance was short. Do I brake and risk fishtailing? Do I hit the animal?! *shudder* In that nano second of indecision I saw it was a River Otter. What?!

I veered right as he looked up, paused and bumbled along back the way he came. *whew*

I've never seen a river otter on the roads. Opposums I don't care about, but killing one of those little guys? Perish the thought!

First Finish of 2008

Once I focused on this little baby quilt it only took me three short evenings of machine quilting and an evening to bind.

I realized it fell off the radar because I was stuck on a design decision, what to put in the lattice. Once that was decided... easy peasy!

This is for my nephew's son Calvin, born August 2007, so he's only four months old, not 11 like I thought. WooHoo! It feels so good to finish.

2007 Tally

During the year I put all my quilt related receipts in one place. Then I total them in January to see how much my quilt habit is costing me. It's also something of a reflection for me. The year I worked at a fabric store you'd think the total would've been sky high when in fact it was half what the year before had been. I guess having the whole quilt department to touch and admire kept me from having to own it.

This is not my stash

Total for 2006: $236.50. I think most of that was fabric for Big Blue.
2007: $147.18. I mostly bought thread, rotary blades, and fabrics to finish WIPs

Yesterday I made my first purchase of 2008, and with the 40% off one item coupon I got out of there for $23.54.
I have tubs and tubs of fabric, been collecting quilting cotton for 22 years. I don't need much and I figure - You can't take a U-Haul to heaven. :D

Aloha 2008

Pictures from the NYE party Frank and I attended. The weather was 28 outside but we all pretended we were island side. I'm second from the right in this picture.

Aren't theme parties great?!

We were home and in bed by 11 pm, but it was fun to get out for a bit. Then the neighbors woke us up with Roman candles, fireworks and firecrackers. That was only slightly better than the chainsaws and shotguns of last year! At first I woke up thinking - what in the world?! Then I remembered, rolled over and went back to sleep.

Here's to a safe and sane new year!

Accepting the Challenge

May Britt has proposed a WISP (work in slow progress) challenge for January and I'm gonna pony-up. Let's see if I can stay focused and finish these two Flimseys by January 31st.

This wool bricks car quilt was started September '05. I blogged about it in March '07 and *still* didn't work on it last year.

And this little kid quilt became a flimsey in March. I started machine quilting it for a grand-nephew last fall until it fell of the radar. Better get it finished before his first birthday, huh?

Finishing these two UFO's would be a *great* start to 2008!