OneMoreQuilt

We have some out-of-town guests this weekend and I'm in my glory.  I love when the house is full of friends, family and laughter.

My grandson had a birthday and we celebrated with dinner, some gifts and, of course, a cake.

Our weather is supposed to be very cold tonight and when it came time for bed and settling in I offered extra covers to our guests.  It did my heart good to hear my guests asking for my quilts instead of blankets.  I always prefer quilts to blankets and it's nice to know others do too!!!  Quilts not only provide warmth but also a special kind of comfort.

Double Nine PatchI have always admired simple, traditional quilt blocks.  The four patch and nine patch blocks are two of the simplest and most traditional quilt blocks that I can think of.

This beautiful little Double Nine Patch quilt top was found in the middle of some of the fabric in a tube that I got from the storage unit purchase I made.

Quilt MathI found this new book today!  This book is published by Scholastic and written by Cindi Mitchell.  It is a color by number of sorts as you color according to the answers of the math problems in the spaces of the quilt blocks.  It contains 100 reproducible activities that motivate kids to practice multi-digit addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, fractions, decimals, prime numbers, place value, symmetry and more.

Some of the pages will be too difficult for second graders as written but I really like this book and can use the pages with second grade appropriate problems.  And you never know.....I've taught other grades before and may teach other grades again.

FrogsI always try to see the good in people.  My mother taught me this.  She was the kindest, sweetest person and she truly believed that everyone had good in them.

Today, I am having trouble with this theory.

I was channel surfing and saw a glimpse of a new sewing machine on HSN (Home Shopping Network).  They sold out before I realized the whole story and could order one.  I will get one of these machines before the end of the year!!!!!

Singer came up with a 160 Year Anniversary Edition Sewing Machine.  It is very pretty.  It is a black, retro-looking machine with a bunch of feet.  They also designed an Anniversary Tote to protect the machine.  The tote is embroidered with their 160 Year Anniversary Logo.

I'm sorry you haven't heard from me for almost a week.  I certainly did not intend be away for that long.  This week was hectic as we ended our second quarter/first semester of the school year.  Of course that means administering tests, writing reports and preparing report cards.  As if that wasn't enough, my doctor ordered some of those tests that are recommended for people over fifty.

Yesterday I came directly home from school as the snow was falling fast and thick.  Although I drive a Jeep with four-wheel drive, some drivers act crazy on bad roads and I didn't want any part of it.  The roads were snow-covered and slippery.  The snow was falling at a rate of one inch per hour so the snowplows were unable to keep up.

This was our first blizzard of the year and I was very excited.  Not excited for the snow so much as having a good excuse to grab a hot cup of coffee and hide away in my studio!!!  I made great progress on the signature quilt I am working on.  I worked for awhile on the rug I'm making on my weaving loom and I found a bag of scraps I had stowed away so I started pressing and sorting them.

I am not usually a napper.  I am usually a night person.  I don't know what's gotten into me this week but I think I need a nap!!!  I hope I'm not fighting a cold or something.......maybe it's just the really cold weather we're having right now but as soon as I sit down, I could fall asleep!!!

Despite my sleepiness, I have been quite productive this week.  I did all of the usual school and household things, cut pieces for a couple more quilts, looked through books and magazines for planning (like I need more projects on my list), taught a mini-class on making a T-Shirt quilt, worked on a quilt-in-progress, read a book, spent some time fabric/pattern shopping, and last night went to a schoolboard meeting (which lasted a crazy long time).

The PiecesAfter spending the past few days grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning and enjoying having friends over last night, I spent most of the day today working in my studio.  Boy did that feel good!  With the house clean and the refrigerator full of leftovers, there was nothing stopping me  After grabbing a fresh cup of coffee,  I straightened up my Accuquilt cutting area, cut the pieces for the Take 5 quilts that my sister and I will be piecing,  worked on adding frames to the squares of a signature quilt I'm making, cut, joined and pressed sashing strips fo

I'm going to try something a little different.......Long Distance Quilting!  My sister and her husband moved a few hundred miles away and I really miss getting together with my sister for quilting days.  Hopefully during the spring and summer we will be able to get together for a week or long weekend of quilting but the winter weather is unreliable for travel.