A Brunch and More

The 5 Frankfort girls met yesterday for brunch at a local restaurant. It'd been ages since I'd seen these ladies, and it just felt so good to spend a leisurely morning with them. We had so much catching up to do! We planned out our get-togethers through June, and set up some extra sewing days for later this month, plus we had a gift exchange! Yes, still Christmas-ing!! We finished off 2 pots of coffee plus our meals, so we really did enjoy the time together.

 

JoAnn had a block to show us. She'd found all the fabrics on the discount table and was pleased with how well her basket block turned out. She intends to make a total of 5, and the quilt will be for her bedroom. 

 

 

One order of business we had to conduct was getting started on our UFO Challenge. Yes, back in November, we decided we needed the extra encouragement our group would offer to get a few UFOs off the shelves, so we each came with a list of 12 UFOs - one for each month. We drew a number out of a bag (1-12). Number 1 was drawn, so all of us now must finish that item on our lists.

 My item #1: I made the doll quilt known as Pink Lemonade two years ago in the quilt-along that Lori at Humble Quilts sponsored. I enjoy her first-of-the-new-year doll quilt-alongs; they contain lots of little pieces, but it's only a doll quilt, so the tedium never sets in like it would on a larger quilt. You can click here to see the finished top.

Now, according to the rules we set for ourselves, all of us will work this month on the #1 item on our lists with the plan of having them finished by our first get-together in February, at which time we will share our finishes. Sounds like lots of fun to me, and all the items on my list are doable in a 1-month time span.

After leaving the girls, I headed over to Old Town Fabric Shop for some beginning-of-the-year retail therapy. Yes, I did. I bought more Morris Apprentice fabric. If you recall, right before my surgery I was working on Tapestry, and the blocks were finished and laid out on the guest bed. Well, I was dissatisfied with the color distribution. I saw too much gold-brown, and I wanted to see more of the darker, richer colors. I bought a half yard of the 5 fabrics above, and I will replace some of the gold-browns. Click here to see the blocks as they are so far.

Half-yard cuts?? Oh, well, I won't mind having the extra to play with! Pillows to match? Various 9-patches that I love to hand-piece? Who knows?? A quilter willingly adds to her stash, right? *grin*

The other items that found their way into my shopping bag are some So Fine thread - I was running low! And then I saw the Grant Park pre-cuts by Minnick and Simpson! Whoa! If you scroll back up there to my UFO list, you will see "Use Panel-Flag Day Farm" - well, it's a Minnick and Simpson from a gazillion years ago which I loved when I bought, but haven't had a clue as to using it! I think these pre-cuts will be my inspiration for doing a quilt in the 'add-a-row' fashion.

Weather Alert!!! All the news and weather folks seem to be able to talk about is the frigid weather coming our way in the next couple of days. I plan to spend the days working on Tapestry, with the hope of getting the top sewn together, and perhaps, even getting the borders on. It's definitely do-able, but I know how I can waste time, so I'll let you know how I manage at getting this accomplished!

Happy Quilting, Friends!