Snow Day = Sew Day

So we woke up to this on Monday (actually it was deeper....but you get the point!) So I called work and it was officially a "Code White"...which means that we who are considered "non-essential" can stay home and sew! WOOT. You bet I took advantage of it. I worked on my Big Leap...

I'm loving it! Stay tuned for the next step! Smooches - Laurie

? Lunch ?

In an effort to get organized a few years back I had read an article about storing your UFO's in pizza boxes. They were perfect! You could lay your blocks out flat and add the additional fabric in there as well! At the time, we ate A LOT of pizza, but I wanted clean boxes. My oldest to the rescue! For Christmas he gifted me with these...at an extreme cost to him personally (so he tells me). Apparently in order to obtain said boxes as cheaply as possible (he was a starving college student at the time) he states he had to FLIRT with the girl at the pizza place and PROMISE to take her out on a date. Poor thing. My heart weeps at the sacrifices he had to make on my quilty behalf! So what's in THIS particular box you might ask? Well, my sweet friend Doreen of Aunt Reen's Place is hosting a sew-along. You can find information and participate HERE! The yumminess that follows is what I'll be using -- ALL of it from my stash (except an additional yard of the newsprint)! Yeah!!!

And just in case you were wondering how the date went....

Smooches! Laurie

SVBQ Sew Along

During my trips up and down Rt. 81 this past Spring and early Summer for set up/visiting/take down of the Virginia Jane exhibit at the Virginia Quilt Museum -- I had a quilt in the exhibit! -- I fell in love with the Shenandoah Valley Botanical Quilt....you can read about it here.

How fortunate for me that two very talented friends have decided to create a "sew along" to raise funds and awareness for the museum?!  Of course I'm going to "play" along!  The first month is/was the pineapple block; there are three...I'm thinking of doing four...here are pictures of mine (so far) -- I'm happy :)

Personal note: I've decided to make my blocks 9" finished size, no need to enlarge the patterns.
AND I'm using a layer cake of shirtings for my backgrounds and a Vin du Jour collection by Moda for my applique's.

Community

It's been forever since I've written a blog post - I wonder do I still know how?!


I've been thinking a lot lately about "community" and what it means to me; what it means to be a part of one (or many); what it brings to my life and what I bring to it...


I feel blessed to be a part of several "communities" -- my family, my church, my country (especially at this time of year),  my work peers, the students I teach, the "quilty" friends I treasure...


I have one more group that has become a new community to me -- my yoga friends.  I've been taking a yoga class 3 nights a week since the beginning of this year and have met and made many new friends.  We are a wondrous group of (mostly) women!  We are all different shapes and sizes and colors and ages and in different stages of our lives.  I believe for the most part we only see each other in this yoga class or that yoga class...


...and yet there is a very strong bond of friendship, of truly caring about each other, that exists among us strangers -- what a joy it is to be a part of this.  Last night after class our instructor shared her favorite sangria recipe, some chips and a dip, and a big blanket we all sat around and shared an hour of our time with each other.  As I was driving home I thought to myself how happy I was to be a part of this group of women, how lucky I am to call them all "friend".


Who are your communities?  I hope you have several too!


smooches - laurie

Reaching for dreams

Exciting things coming down the pike for me...I've been working on a BIG personal change and the stars seem to be lining up in my favor.  I feel so blessed to have family and friends who support my dreams and seek to help me achieve my goals.  Stay tuned :)

Glowing Sunshine on a Winter Day

We got about 8 inches of heavy wet snow on 1/26...which led to a Code White (in essence - my snow day). Spent the morning painting the new sewing studio a wonderful, glowing sunshine yellow!

WOOOHOOOO I'm baaaack!

So I completely forgot my son had made me a blog -- now to figure out the minor details and get back at this - how fun! This is like Christmas!

This is from last year -- we haven't even begun to decorate for this year yet...another task to add to the "to do" list. This is going to be fun!