Time to garden

The snow has melted and the temps are very spring like.   Time to get started on the garden.  Had to wait until it was cleaned out though.  This is what it looked like a couple of weeks ago.

Sheesh... deer season doesn't even start again until November.   But the guys had to beat the rush I guess.
Deer blinds are now down at the deer lease and the garden can  be put in.  Yeay Spring!!!

Ice/Snow days

I live in north Texas just outside the Dallas area. 3 days of ice where the temps have not risen above freezing in order to thaw this stuff out.  This morning I woke up to 4-5 inches of snow.  Typically we don't see winters like this.  But this is day 4 of being iced/snowed in.  My commute to work is about 35 miles.  Needless to say I haven't been to work in a few days.  Thank goodness for personal days. 

On the good side though, it has allowed me to get some serious sewing time done.  I have finished my January block for my Thimbleberries club.



January 2011 Thimbleberries Club



I have also made good progress on my Patchworktimes  UFO challenge Watermelon Slice.  This was from Camp Thimbleberries in 2005.  I got these done:

which make up this

Still needs the borders and I have another small table topper to go with this, still in progress.  But at this rate I may have these finished long before February is over. 

The temps are supposed to rise above freezing tomorrow to a high of 45...  a regular heat wave.. and 52 on Sunday for the Superbowl.  I for one will be glad to see this snow/ice leave.

My day so far...

Someone brought some chocolate chip cookies to the office this morning.  Not wanting to be rude or unsociable I did a "drive by" and snagged two of them before returning to my office.  I decided they would be much better dunked in coffee.  So I took the lid off of my "no spill" coffee mug.  Turns out it only functions as a  "no spill" mug  when the lid is left ON.   Half a roll of paper towels later I have several coffee stained papers that are currently drying on my window sill.  Thank goodness it is hump day and not another Monday.

Finished!!

UFO challenge results:   1 down  11 to go.   Woo hoo!  I have finished my quilt top for this challenge. Not only does this feel good but it is motivating me to finish more that are not on the list.  

The top still needs to be quilted but for me the challenge was to get the tops finished. I have had some basic lessons and have quilted a couple of placemats (part of another UFO in this challenge) I just need some practice time.

This is a good feeling though and I am glad I signed up for the challenge.   This is what I wanted to get out of it.  Motivation to finish something.

2011 UFO Challenge

Progress was made at last!  Finally I got the sewing room cleaned out again so it didn't look like a junk room.  It was a cold and rainy/drizzly Sunday, so I popped my "Fiddler On The Roof" DVD into the player and spent the next 3 hours sewing (and singing along with the movie).

Anyway,  my UFO project for this month is almost complete. I have pinned the last two borders on and will sew them on tonight.   Yea for me!  This feels good.

2011 UFO Challenge List

Well so far this year is off to a slow start for me as far as quilting time goes.  But, hunting season is over and I am looking forward to staying home this week end, getting the sewing room organized (again) and start on my UFO project.

#6 for me is titled Summertime.  This is a quilt from Thimbleberries Club in 2002.   This is what the finished quilt top should look like

Next step is to start working on it.

2011 UFO Challenge List

Here is my 2011 UFO challenge quilt list.

1.   Harvest Sampler
2.   Lakeside
3.   House & Garden
4.   Hometown Christmas
5.   Seasons in a Row
6.   Summertime - DONE!
7.   Hot Flashes
8.   Parade Day  DONE!
9.   Garden Village
10. Watermelon Slice
11. Sangria Sunset
12. Lazy Crazy

These are my UFO goals for 2011.  For me it will be to get the tops completed and ready to quilt.  Then maybe next year I will work on getting them quilted.  I have done a little bit of machine quilting but I need more practice.  Maybe as I get these quilt tops done I will begin to try some more machine quilting.  The goal is to at least get the tops finished finished.   I am tired of staring at them in the closet begging to be finished.

Okay,  come on New Years Day.  Ready to start.  Good luck to all who are participating in this challenge.