Lancaster Quilt Retreat

What types of things do you need for a quilt weekend?!

A suitcase full of clothes?!  I think NOT!  How about a suitcase for all the fabric and projects that you need! See all of my fabric neatly folded and organized according to project! Oh, if only my house was that compact and organized!

You also need notions....

These are a few of the notions that I took along. Of course I forgot the most important thing for a quilt weekend.....my cutting board! Oh, well!  There were plenty to be shared and I survived!

What did I work on while I was there?

 

Emily's peace sign quilt from Lizzie BCre8tive!  It is almost finished, but I didn't take a picture yet.  I will post that later! These are the fabrics that are being used.....I purchased them back in November from Byrne's. They are beautiful batiks!

Hopefully, after this weekend I will have more photos of projects that I have been working on!

My to do list for February is......

1. Finish my son's Spiderman quilt

2. Finish my daughter's peace sign quilt

3. Make a mug rug for my quilt guild's exchange

4. Continue to work on my friend's baby quilt.  Her baby is a month old already!

Til next time, take time for you!

Colleen

Failedor Thwarted.... Resolutions...Already!

Well, it is February and I have no idea where January went!  The month flew by and I have no idea where it went! One of my New Year's Resolutions was to sew at least twice a week.  I have sewn only one weekend since the new year!

The aforementioned plan sounded great...and do-able.....until I found out that I have to start my dissertation now. I was planning on taking the semester off, sewing, relaxing and spending time with my family until September BUT.....I have to start the process now. I have to have the first 3 chapters completed by May 1st! May 1st!  Needless to say, very little sewing will be geetting done between now and then!

On the plus side......I spend Marting Luther King Jr. weekend on a quilt retreat in Lancaster with my mother-in-law. It was fabulous!  We had so much fun! Imagine being at a Bed and Breakfast behind an Amish farm in Lancaster county surrounded my quiet and snow and no cooking or cleaning-up...just 2 days of sewing! I made 2 quilt tops... a spideman one for my son and the beginning of one to use at our house. I promise to post photos as soon as I have time to download them from my camera! I also have almost an entire quilt top completeled for my daughter.

I have so many things that I have been looking forward to beginning and completing, however I fear they will have to wait for some free time after May 1st. On another positive note, I will be going quilt shopping with my mother-in-law this weekend and am looking forward to finding some fun and festive spring fabric to brighten everything up around here!

Til next time, take time for you!

Colleen

Christmas Countdown

Here I sit at work trying to NOT be the Grinch...

when all I can think about is getting ready for the holidays. We are doing the Christmas countdown in my classroom for my students to understand the concept of time and calendar...yesterday I realized that Christmas was next week!  NEXT week?!  How did that happen?!

I have had many good intentions to start getting ready for the holidays...

ingredients to make cookies are bought...

ingredients to make candy are bought...

ingredients to make Rice Krispy Treats are bought....

but not one things has been made!

Working full-time and a part-time job once a week really cuts into my fun time! I have not sewn anything or done anything remotely to get in the Christmas mood lately.

My son, Jack, turned 4 on Monday.  We had the big birthday party this weekend and that has monopolized everything lately. Who in their right mind has a baby that close to Christmas?!  Oh well, the best laid plans often go astray!

So, after I teach my final class tonight for the local college, I will be going home and completing my Christmas cards and start my plan for getting festive!

This is what I am going to start working on for my daughter for Christmas. I LOVE LizzieBCre8ive's stuff! I am making the Peace Sign rug in pink, purple and aquamarine. Won't she be excited?!  Hopefully I will at least get the top done!

Happy Holidays!

Oh, Cnristmas Tree! Oh, Christmas Tree!

This weekend we went to Linvilla Orchards to buy our Christmas tree.  It took us a few hours to find the right one. Some were too tall, some were to skinny.....

And yes, my husband brought the electric chainsaw with him to cut the tree down! Many people were very jealous of him eventhough they said he was "cheating"!

Finally, we found the right tree!!!!!

And my husband used the handy dandy electric shainsaw to cut it down!

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our house, but we are not there yet.  This wekend we have my son's 4th birthday party, so we are currently in party planning mode......hopefully I will get some sewing projects done this week. Hopefully!

Longwood Gardens

After years of going to Longwood Gardens for my son's birthday (mid-December), this year we decided to go the Monday after Thanksgiving......I highly recommend it.  We went with my daughter's Daisy Troop and there was no one there!  It was amazing!  You were actually able to move, see things, take your time and enjoy every aspect of Longwood......fabulous!  Below are some of the pictures that I took.

What a beautiful combination!  The entire conservatory was pointsettas, narcissus, hydrangea and cyclomen.  Gorgeous!

Beautiful white orchids in the Orchid room.

What stately Amarillus!



I found these berries very beautiful....they were among stunning red pointsettas and white narcissus.

Jack (far left), Emily and two of my other Daisy Girl Scouts!  They had so much fun!

Til next time, take time for you!

Colleen

Fall Fabric Frenzy

Well, I finally found out that I passed my Comprehensive Exam for my PhD!!!!!!  What a relief!  Now that I have the results, I feel like a major weight has been lifted off my shoulders!  In the past week since I found out, I have changed our computer room into my sewing room.  How beautiful is it to finally have a space of my own to create in?!

I have not posted in awhile, so I am going to back up a bit.......In the middle of November, my mother-in-law and I went quilt shopping with for the Fall Fabric Frenzy.....what a great time!  We made it to 6 shops in one day!  Next year our goal is to make it to all 10!


These are the fabrics that I will be using for the Philly Modern Quilt Guild's Challenge Solids.  Aren't they pretty?!  That is all I am going to share for now! All I have to say is...nothing smells as nice as chocolate and peppermint in the air!

My cousin will be getting married this summer and her colors are lime green, hot pink and leopard.  Yes, leopard!  These are the fabrics that I will be using in her quilt. 

Trying to figure out how to incorporate the leopard into it!

Til next time, take time for you!

Colleen

Almost Back

It has been 5 days since I took my comps and I have no motivation.  I feel like I have been studying for so long that it has sucked all of the life out of me.  I have been in bed asleep by 8:30 every night this week....it is so annoying!  I have so many things to do and that I want to do, but no motivation.  I am hoping that things get back to normal soon!

On the flip side, I am super excited about my weekend!  I will be doing the Fall Shop Hop this weekend in Delaware, Delaware County, Montgomery County and Bucks County with my mother-in-law.  I am hoping that this weekend will help me to get motivated to do some sewing.

Work and teaching at night have definately drained me and I am desperately awaiting Thanksgiving vacation!  Hopefully, I will have some photos for everyone soon!

Til next time, take time for you!
Colleen