Happy Valentine's Day!!

I have been so-o busy this winter. I have been quilting my little head off!  It's been G*R*E*A*T!!  So far, in January we had a workshop with Melinda Bula - what a gal!!  So organized, so interesting and funny too!  We thoroughly enjoyed her workshop - making her Sunflower.  Way out of my box - I made a folk-art-y one, determined to work out of my stash.  All in all, a fun day.

This last weekend we had a 'in-town' retreat.  18 of us gathered at the conference center and plugged in our machines and sewed like the wind!!  We were gathered to work on a new technique for "Jack's Chain" and the majority did so.  But there were a few 'renegades', moi, for one!!

But I really couldn't force myself to start a new project with my sewing space in shambles with all this other stuff I HAD already started!  So, I did my own thing!  [I hear that snickering!!!]  Yes, its not that unusual for me to do my own thing.

So I took a few projects along:  I blanket-stitched my Quiltmania BOM houses.  There is A LOT of stitching on those cute little things.  Well worth the trouble, but ... more time needed than planned for.

Stashbusters is having a applique block a month challenge. My thought was to use the Houses for my assigned block to finish.  I missed the January deadline BUT I have January and February done now!!  [insert happy dance]  And they are wonderous!!

Block 1 had 2 houses on it and a dog and a bird in the tree.  I fringed the 'grass' so it looks like it's ready to be mowed!

Then we skipped to Block 3 - also 2-ish houses.  It IS the fun part of doing a BOM late - you can take the blocks out of order!  I wanted to break up the 2 complicated blocks. Block 3 has a dog, a cat on the roof and a bird headed for the fruit tree.  Details on the cat are yet to be hand-embroidered.  Fun, fun, fun!

Well, today P and I got together for the 2nd work session for Block 5 - SEVEN houses, and they are kind-of in stacks!!  We were shocked, shocked I tell you, when our first session 11am -3pm was over and we didn't even have all the pieces cut out!  I'm happy [and tired] to say, Block 5 is fused together.  10am - 3pm again, but at least they're fused and no longer in little bitty pieces. AND it's darn cute!  You'll have to wait to see that one.

This weekend I also worked on the Flowers in Vase BOM for Newport.  N was so organized when we set this BOM up, that we got all 20 blocks, in a notebook to boot!  I decided I can make my own rules [!] and since everything I have seems to get taken out for any project [what? you don't work like that???]  so-o I'm going to do 2 month's worth applique BOM this month and 2 months worth of paperless-paper-piecing Mariner's Compass next month.  The flowers are designed in tone-on-tone fabrics and the compass is batiks.  I can get in a groove and only get out one mess each month.  So far so good.

I also packed up flannel to make 4 baby recieving blankies.  Now, mind you, I thought I'd do all of that Saturday. LOL!  I did finish the houses and the flowers and ONE flannel blankie by Sunday afternoon; I'll just have to work on the blankies every week.

I'm off to Newport this week for the guild meeting - which happens to be on Thursday EVENING!  My DH is having a ball telling everyone that quilters prefer being with each other rather than their Valentines!  It is kind-of weird.  But I did remind him that he was going to be at the bowling alley Thursday night!  But he's there every Thursday.

We compromised with lunch out on Wednesday to celebrate.  Hope the weather holds.  We ate lunch out on the deck today.

Hope everyone has a lovey-dovey Valentine's Day.