Time is slipping by!

Oh my gosh, it’s February 10 already, and I haven’t posted for quite some time.

We went to Seattle earlier this week to see my niece and her husband and their new baby boy. They named him Braden James. He is so cute, and I just forget how small the new babies are. My sister and her husband were there from Tucson, so we got to spend some time with them also. We stayed in a hotel in downtown Seattle and the weather was so nice, so we got out and walked and enjoyed the time so much.

My quilt presentation at the guild meeting went well. I took about eight quilts to show. The Winter Wonderland seemed to be most everyone’s favorite. I am a bit partial to it also, I guess. Spring isn’t here yet in Oregon, so it is still on display. I think when the first crocuses pop their pretty little heads out that I will then put it away, but until then it stays on the couch.

The guild meeting was a bit overwhelming. We have new leaders this year, and they have quite an agenda for us. The challenge they have put together is to think of new quilting-related things that we would like to try, and then to do something new to us each month and bring it to the guild meeting to show. It doesn’t have to be a completed project, but I’m not too keen on starting a bunch of stuff to make more UFOs. I have decided to alter the challenge a bit to fit what I want to do this year. My first challenge (not really a challenge, but something I have wanted to do) is to make a string quilt for Project Linus (more about this quilt top later). Another thing I am going to do is make a Mariner’s Compass quilt. I have been pulling fabrics together and will start that perhaps this weekend. That will be more of a challenge, but most of the things I am going to do will be more along the line of things I really want to do – not necessarily difficult things. One thing I want to do is use up some of my stash. I still seem to be bringing more in than I'm using, but I really do want to change that.

Now, about my string quilt. I had such a good time piecing it. I cut 6-1/2 inch pieces of paper and paper pieced the strings on them. I pulled fabric from my scrap tub and if it was the right size, I pressed it and cut it. I wanted to use mediums and darks, and then I saw some string placemats that had big dots appliquéd on them, and I thought what a great idea that would be, so as you can see, I did that also. This is a pic of the top. I am working on quilting it. I am not pleased with my quilting on this project, but it will have to do.

We had a skiff of snow today, and it snowed a bit for quite a bit of the day, but the temp was 35, so it didn't stick and just melted, which is just fine with me. We had more than enough in December.