Gehring Road

another finish

Pictures should not have been taken yesterday, it was dark as anything and oh, so rainy... but I wanted to show you this lovely finished quilt! I'm on a bit of a roll and loving it. I'm finding that if I work on finishing while also allowing myself time to work on projects I'm still in the honeymoon phase with (hello, geese!) I don't lose interest and enjoy the finishing so much more. That being said, I've yet to quilt this guy! Speaking of guys, when talking to Rob about some projects and finishing he said, "How many quilts do you need?" I laughed and laughed. I said, "Have you seen all that fabric?!?" Oh, poor man... Anyway, it's Thursday, and another top is finished, I'm thrilled and it's a great feeling. Happy Thursday! 

pinteresting

 DIY Framed Handkerchiefs from House & Home 

I've been pinning lately... lots of pinning. From really yummy (looking) recipes to this sassy lady, I'm finding much to get inspired by on Pinterest. Here's what I'm loving this week...

1. Nature Inspired Paper Transferware from BH&G

2. Amazing headboard from Brooklyn to West

3. Jane Eyre Tote from Modcloth

4. Norman Reedus Photo from Tumblr 

5. Circle Disk Letter Initial Ring from Paulabdesign Etsy Shop

Just a few loves this week. In other news, I'm completely, hopelessly, and profoundly in love with passion fruit macarons from a bakery around the corner from school. Dangerously around the corner. If you're nearby, you must go. And by convincing you I'm thinking, I too must go. See how that works? I lack all will power. I hope you are off to a lovely start to this week. Happy Tuesday everyone! 

scenes from a weekend...

 (that is Kylie sleeping!)

Our weekend didn't go quite as planned. Friday night was spent with a great friend enjoying some tastey eats and many laughs. It was downhill from there in a big way! A touch of sickness for all of us (including the dog at two hour intervals on Sunday morning, ack!) and it was a lounging on the couch kind of weekend after all was said and done. We ventured out for some macarons (passion fruit was calling me) into the snow/rain mix that seemed to linger. Oh yes, it was lounging weather for sure. Sewing just didn't happen. Breaking in the new quilt did. Luckily, it escaped Kylie's path of destruction, poor sick girl. She's quite well today, as are we, and back to work today! Happy Monday everyone... 

stashing, planning, backing and hoarding

I have my eyes set on another finished quilt top this weekend, we shall see. I took advantage of Fabricworm's amazing sale to do some stashing, get some backing and possibly continue hoarding, ahem. Those Chicopee prints are getting more and more difficult to find. I have plans to finish this quilt and one of the brighter prints will be binding.

That Field Study FQ bundle only has 30 of the 36 prints, but again, this line is getting difficult to find so I scooped it up. Eventually, I'd love to finally start on a feather quilt, made with Anna Maria's free pattern. Eventually.

The seagulls/whales are destined for some sweet projects for some very small ones. There's a bit of a baby boom happening at work and I know a few projects I'd like to make with those for some wee babes. 

That Lizzy House print towards the back (the green and white print for those of us who don't obsessively hoard Lizzy House fabric) is one of my favorite prints ever. I'd like to use it as a backing for whatever comes out of that stack and that color pallette that I can't stop thinking about. I'm still really undecided about the look of that quilt. I do have time to sort that out though. When not finishing my Chicopee Quilt, I'll be working on some flying geese this weekend. 

on the couch

I really should title this post "the one where I try to photograph the (finished!) quilt without getting the dog in the shot". I try, and I fail. She loves this quilt... as do we. I love how warm it is and the pop of color (finally) on the couch is just really lovely. This quilt is a long, long time in the making, years really. I need to bottle this feeling and remember I love finished quilts! On to the next one! Happy Wednesday (that feels like a Monday, sigh)! 

good morning!

 

A girl and her sweater... that little movement under her sweater is a whole lot of tail wagging. She really loves the morning. Her little growls are her way of showing her love...(we think!) If she was feeling something else there would be teeth (we know!). Ah, life with a Jack Russell Terrier! Anyway, from us to you, a very good morning. Happy Tuesday everyone.  

today, I am...

Today, I am... 

* Making binding for the quilt... I love the brightness of this print!

* Looking forward to watching last night's The Walking Dead, and hoping Daryl comes back! 

* Fielding work emails on vacation, I know, I know.

* Enjoying a little lip gloss, even while just finishing a quilt... maybe because I'm finishing a quilt! 

* Avoiding two baskets of laundry that desperately need folding. 

* Watching my sweet girl find the sun and sleep soundly. 

* Thinking that this favorite fabric should have been something I stockpiled, I'm down to my last few bits. 

* Loving that my guy is just down the hall when I need a hug or smile. 

* Wishing that I had scooped up one of these bundles while they were available. 

* Dreaming of opening a little store... but happily watching this one turn two and this one for inspiration.

* Contemplating putting the loft back in order... it looks like thread exploded everywhere up there... 

* Preferring to fold said laundry to cleaning the loft! 

* Vacationing... oh, yes! 

Happy Monday everyone, I hope it finds you enjoying whatever this day brings your way! 

still quilting, still planning

 Image from Pinterest 

(this is of course, not a quilt finished by me but one I am obsessing over, of course) 

After a two day work week, I have today off for the start of an abbreviated February vacation (it was three days even before the snow). Lest you be jealous, like someone in our house whose name rhymes with "sob", we will now be making up days until the end of June as a result of this last snow storm and Hurricane Sandy. Sigh. I am extremely protective of my summer vacation days and "snow days" make me weepy. I'd much rather have sunny days off than snowy ones. My students disagree, until June comes!

Anyway, today I contemplated finishing the quilting on my Strips and Bricks quilt, but got caught up in Where'd You Go Bernadette (so, so good if you're looking for an interesting read). The straight line quilting (lots of it) can be a little boring, but I'm finding tackling it in small doses is best. In the meantime, I'm dreaming of that beauty of a quilt above. I'm quite sure I swore off half square triangles rather recently, but I've successfully blocked out the horror. I have a few other projects that need tending to before I can start on that once, which is probably a good thing considering I own very, very little black fabric. How is that possible I have so much fabric and so little black? Hmm... must be rectified in time, I imagine.

I had a hair appointment and went very blonde (all the better to mask some let's call them white hairs which have begun make their presence known ahem). I also picked up some macarons from this little shop, if you're in CT as a belated Valentine's Day gift for my guy. They are delicious, and know because I sampled a raspberry one right after he opened them. That's love. Happy weekend everyone, I hope you are looking forward to many sweet things in the days to come! 

snow days

(Ignore those threads in that shot, I love to take care of those at the end!) I spent the day quilting, it was quite nice actually. This quilt is one of the biggest I've made yet and I'm taking this a little at a time. Episodes of Pride and Prejudice are keeping me company but also marking the hours (yes, hours) it is taking to quilt this baby. My internal clock says I just started quilting but my Pride and Prejudice clock says, Mrs. Bennet's "Oh, Mister Collins!" cry is a good two hours into the film... oy. It's then that I take a break. 

I just started Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette, after finishing Gone Girl in record time. Gone Girl was so great, I mean, so, so good. Total blindside that book, just couldn't put it down. And, I'm already loving Where'd You Go... Amazing what one can accomplish when work is not in the picture! And not a single paper has been graded during this "break". I'm quite sure I'll regret that when we finally do go back to school (rumor has it Wednesday). Until then, I'm enjoying these few moments, relishing the time that is my own and feeling good about what has been accomplished. Happy Monday everyone! 

look away if you don't like snow

So we had some snow... I'm not sure if you heard or not (wink, wink!)... thirty inches give or take. At one point during the evening, it was snowing so hard that it looked like rain. A downpour of snow if you will. We had some thundersnow and the wind luckily didn't take out our power. It continued to snow into the afternoon yesterday. We've been out clearing our driveway, the mailbox and everything hurts. I swam through snow this afternoon trying to get in front of the snow blower. So. much. snow. Sore has a new meaning around these parts, Rob has done something to his back which makes us a bit nervous. Trying to stave off cabin fever, I prepared bobbins for quilting this morning. Looks like I'll have some time to quilt some Strips and Bricks tomorrow. Oh my, people have been so wonderful and sweet about that near finish. Such good motivation to finish it. I'm thinking I'll make some binding tonight. Decisions, decisions. I hope you are warm and well cared for wherever you are! Happy weekend to you!