Quilt, Read, Eat, Sleep.... What Else Is There? discussion

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm really, really, really tired of rain. We've had about 2 days of spring in the NE corner of Wyoming. Our area is considered high desert. Right now I think it should be considered high rain forest! I now know for sure that I could never live in the Pacific NW; I'd be suicidal before the end of the rainy season!

As for sewing, I haven't done much. I started working on a quilt for our bed, but I didn't like the colors I chose and I was ignoring it more than I was working on it. I sent all the fabric and a copy of the pattern to school with Glenn (my DH) to give to a former colleague. It's either give these things to her or throw then away. Arretta about had a heart attack when I told her I'd thrown some things away. They just bring negative energy into my space and I don't like that.

I did make one block for the paper-pieced quilt I've been working on for well over a year. I get bored easily with paper-piecing, so I have to space them out. I must have really been bored with this piece, though, because it took me a month to make a block that can be made in about 30 minutes! LOL!

Finally, a couple of days ago, I started cutting pieces for a wall hanging quilt I bought It's called "Aria". Here's a link to a picture of the pattern: Aria

While I haven't been quilting, I have been reading. I think I've read 35+ books since the beginning of the year. That's a lot of me; it's also crazy! LOL!

So, what have the rest of you been up to? Maybe we can stay connected better with a more general topic. Please do not feel you need to post daily or weekly or at all if you don't want. I think, though, to build a sens of community, this may help. :-)

Aria is lovely, Judy. Can't wait to see it finished.

Hint, hint - right, Cathy! ROFLOL! I am as far as tracing the shapes onto the fusible! :-)

Aria is pretty!

It's been raining a lot here in the Denver-metro area, too. I don't like it much. The weather has really interferred with soccer practices and other outdoor activities.....and it depresses me. My daughters's teams will be participating in a tournament next weekend.

As far as quilting goes, I need to work on a binding for a quilt. I quilted it at home and so it was one more exercise in trying to learn to be proficient at free-motion. I've got a Twilight-themed quilt that I making a pattern for to share. I'm in the middle of a small quilt for my youngest. I'm going to start Shakespeare in the Park.

I've also been reading as much as I can. I'm up to L in the Sue Grafton books. My husband bought me a Kindle for Mother's Day, but I've not bought a lot of books. I've been using my library so it's hard to justify purchases unless I already have a book in a series and then I would probably buy the hardback instead of the Kindle version anyway.

Good morning! Aria is lovely. Mount Redoubt patterns always make me pause and go "ahhhhhh".

I am finishing today my Connecting Threads June block called No Place Like Home. I seem to be pulled to small wall, calendar type quilts that I can change each month. They are doable in a day and always make me feel good when they are completed.

My to-do drawers are over flowing with inspiration and fun. I am seriously considering leaving the quilt shop after 3-1/2 years and just focusing on home and my projects. How can it be such a huge decision when it's a part time job?

We're off tomorrow for a four day car trip around Montana, mostly the northern part. I cannot wait to stop by Quilting in the Country. I've heard about it for years. During the time in the car I want to talk with my husband about my thoughts of leaving the shop. I look forward to the decision being made and my focus and enthusiasm steering in one direction or the other.

I just finished The Bride's House by Sandra Dallas. I like everything she writes and this one was very good. It is light historical fiction and features three women, all related, that live in The Bride's House. I've just started The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen. I adore everything she has written. Her stories sparkle and always add a touch of whimsy and magic. The author is dealing with breast cancer and I hope the style of her writing helps her in dealings with this current turn of life events for her.

The iron is all steamed up and ready to go....happy Sunday to all! It is windy, sun shiny and chilly today...doesn't this seem to be the trend for all of us? We did have sunshine and warmth last Friday!!!

Juliann wrote: "We have had 5 days without rain in the Seattle area - very good for the spirit!"

This has been the worst Winter and Spring. Thank goodness for reading and sewing. I am in Snohomish County!

I love my Kindle! After 3 years, I'm at the point where I'd rather read on the Kindle than the physical book! There are tons of free books for the Kindle, too, Shannon, and not just public domain ones.

I've read all of the Grafton books so far. That's one series I will be unhappy to see end.

Kathryn, will you be anywhere close to Bigfork? I've purchased some kits and things from Bigfork Bay Cotton Co and am "friends" with the manager on FB. I've also purchased some things from the quilt store is Whitefish. I think that store is called Back Country General Store.

We had sunshine for about 2 minutes this morning. Yea! Unfortunately, we're suppose to have more rain for until Thursday. At then end of last week we were under flash flood advisories; now we're under flooding advisories for the creeks and stream around here. Luckily, our house is not near a creek. Unluckily, our back yard shares a boundary with the park, and the park is a dry lake bed. One of our sump pumps is running about every 2 minutes or so. I think I'm really glad I had both replaced a couple of years ago!

My goal today is to get the rest of the flowers for Aria traced onto the fusible. We'll see if I get that far. :-)

Judy said: I love my Kindle! After 3 years, I'm at the point where I'd rather read on the Kindle than the physical book! There are tons of free books for the Kindle, too, Shannon, and not just public domain ones.

I've read all of the Grafton books so far. That's one series I will be unhappy to see end.

Thank you! I did some research last night.

My little Sarah-bear loves my Kindle, too. We purchased A Little Princess for her for $.99 last night and she read to me. I may never get it back!

Kids love Kindles or any e-reader for that matter. It fits in their seamless use of technology just dandy! You may have to get Sarah her own Kindle. I just read on one of the blogs (Kindle Nation Daily) that Amazon is selling refurbished Kindles for $89 through they "big deal" site, Woot. I don't think it's called big deal, but it's all I can think of. Anyway, Amazon is apparently getting ready to come out with a Kindle tablet and has lowered the prices of the refurbished readers.

I finished a quilt a couple of days ago!


Sarah claimed it before it was even finished.

Love the colors of that quilt! I can see why Sarah claimed for her own. :-)

I can report that I have all the pieces traced to the fusible. Maybe tomorrow I'll get them fused to the fabric! :-)

They worked on the deck today, so maybe we'll have a new deck about the same time the temp gets above 65. That would be nice. Until then, I spend a lot of time reading - which isn't all bad!

gorgeous! the little person too.

Stunning!!!!

Well my goodness, goodreads now gives us a Reader's Also Enjoyed on each book's page. I get sucked in, my TBR list grows and time flies away. I've got the same problem with Amazon...although I must say I've come across some great books I never would have known about otherwise.

Sunshine, clouds, rain, breezy, blue skies...that's my day here in Wenatchee today. I got three small wall quilts all ready for the quilter, the backing and batting are all the right size AND the bindings are all made. Tomorrow's focus is getting the binding on a queen size summer quilt. I am SO hopefuly we will have a summery summer and not a windy and cloudy one.

Tomorrow the forecast says 71 degrees. Hooray!

I spent the day at the soccer field with my daughters. My husband and sons are camping in Utah with my oldest's scout troup. Older daughter's team is in the running even with a loss. Younger daughter lost both of her games but still has to play one tomorrow. I thought I would get some reading done in between games, but I visited instead. (Kathryn, I'm reading Friendship Bread, too, but I don't know if I'm going to stick with it....)

Yea! We didn't have any rain, so far, today! Glenn got the yard mowed and his tomatoes planted, so he feels better. I did get all the pieces ironed on to the various fabrics. Only one piece was really iffy. That may mean I used the wrong fabric, but it will be OK. The fabrics aren't exactly like those in the picture, so it was a guess on my part to start with!

Kathryn, I didn't know about the "Reader's Also Enjoyed". Guess I'll go and look at it. I've been plugging away at my 9 pages TBR on the Kindle, but it's always 9 pages! I guess that means I'm downloading books as fast as I read them. LOL!

Now I'm going to watch "The King's Speech" and try to finish the sweater I've been working on for over a year. The written directions had some errors, or at least they aren't written clearly enough for an ordinary person to understand, and I've knit the sleeves 2.5 times and the front 2 times. I haven't checked the back, yet, but I may have to re-do it, too. Blaaaaahhhh!

Judy wrote: "Now I'm going to watch 'The King's Speech'..." Loved that movie! Probably my fave all year.

I spent a lot of time on GR today and ended up downloading three more books to my Kindle. I'm posting a couple of more reviews myself and then, frankly, I'm going to try to stay off GR a few days until I get at least one or two of these books read! I'm thrilled, though--no more judging books by their covers, so to speak. GR has been a huge-a-mongous help!

Gorgeous quilt, Shannon!