Cozy reading

Has a murder mystery villain ever murdered using an icicle?  There are several hanging from the sunroom roof that certainly look capable of being weapons.  At least the sun was out & warm enough that they were dripping -- not really melting, but at least a slow steady drip, drip, drip.  And the street is now showing black pavement, so I guess we can call it a small step toward spring. 

Meantime, I'll stay curled up with my Kindle.  Currently reading Murder by Yew -- a very enjoyable cozy, with a Cape Cod setting and a mature heroine who is also a gardener. 

(illustration from Amazon.com)

Think Warm



Cruise 2010 - Line Dancing



OK, so in July the Cats and I will be dreaming about snow.  But right now I could line dance if it were a tad warmer.  It's has certainly been two-cat-nights, plus winter quilt.

Oh well, nothing like another new project to chase away the Winter Whites -- a friend introduced me to Mug Rugs.  A fickr search will bring up lots of examples.

Small, quick project, easily turned and finished during basketball time-outs.

Or maybe an all White Mug Rug as a "reminder" of the Blizzard of 2011?





White, White and More White

Have you ever made a white quilt?  The entire yard looks as though Mother Nature has tossed down a white quilt.  I think she used a very high loft batting, don't you?

That's snow accumated on the railing of my kitchen steps.  Just managed to open the door enough to take this photo. 

This is one reason why we quilters (at least in the snow belt) have stashes.  Especially those blender shades.

Also Selected

A favorite block  -- the Sawtooth Star.  



Planning ahead

It's still a Winter Wonderland outside and, although I'm dug out, we're not venturing out.  It's just too snug and cozy inside.  Have a second block chosen for the purple sampler.  It's the Bear Paw, or that's what I call it as it has a variety of names, like many classic patchwork blocks.  Here's a link to one:
http://www.quilterscache.com/B/BearTracksBlock.html

Just a few more pages to finish on the scrapbook project and I'll be sewing again.

Not much progress yet

One more day to this hectic / crazy week and hopefully the new one will be both calmer and more productive. 
My blephartis (eye infection) returned & yesterday was consumed with a trip to my eye doc. so he could check it out.  Lots & lots of warm compresses = very little time to focus on quilting and even less energy to pull out my purples.    

However, I know (as of now, reserve right to change mind) this will be the center block.  But thinking of doing it with 4 hearts: Mom, Dad, Granddaughter & Grammy. 

  

TARGET GOAL FOR 2011

Rather than making New Year's Resolutions, I like to look back at the ending year and take stock of what I did accomplish and what was left "pending".  There always seems to be one or two of those pending items that really don't need doing or whose need has expired.  Then I like to select a few Focus items for the New Year.  2010's Quilting Focus was overwhelmed by the Elks Auction Table Runner. 

A dear Granddaughter's favorite color is purple.  So the very FIRST, the VIP quilt item for my 2011 Focus is a purple lap quilt for her.  It will be a sampler quilt so I can use many shades of purple, lots of purple FQs and the variety of block patterns avoids having to make the same block over and over, which I find quite boring.
And doing a variety also means some blocks can be very simple / easy and some can be more complex.