Pirate Retreat!

I got so much done this weekend!  Lauri, Linda, Sharon, Jean and Debbie (a new member of our crew) got together and worked on projects from Saturday about noon through Monday.  I was really glad that I was still feeling well on the weekend--last Monday, I went to dinner with Godith at a restaurant that has a name that sounds like a fruit and an insect (not "Orange Ants", but you get the hint).  We didn't know it, but it had just re-opened after having been sanitized from a norovirus outbreak.  There was no sign on the door warning guests, in case they hadn't read the paper or were just passing through town.  The next day, Godith wrote me a note asking, "How are you doing?" and explained the details that she read in the paper.  Apparently, the next day, they closed again, indefinitely.  I just looked up the incubation period, which is 12-48 hours, so it appears I cleared the danger period.  Whew!

Linda & Sharon (with Miss O) arrived shortly after noon, just after Lauri (and Mr. L).  The kids ran upstairs and started playing happily.  Jean arrived a few minutes later in her full dance regalia after performances with two dance companies!

I set to work on my UFO list.  I made a lot of progress on several quilts.
First I added bindings on two quilts that were nearly finished.  Emma's Japanese one-block wonder was on the top of that list because she had been harassing me recently about taking so long on getting it done.  I couldn't find a green that matched, so I selected a yellow that matched the fabrics in the quilt.  I hope I can wrestle it away from her for the quilt show in April.

Next was the purple pinwheels quilt that I made from swapped fabrics from the guild and a variety of purples from my stash.  I didn't have any more purple, so I chose a piece of orange...and I ended up being about 2 feet short in the binding.  I had to find another fabric that was pretty close...it wasn't as bright, but it blends in pretty good.  No one will notice.  And if they do, they're looking too close!  This one will also be in the quilt show, then afterwards, it may have to find itself a new home. :)

Finished assembly of the blocks and borders added to the Civil War quilt.  This one is a twin size--about 80" x 106".

Blocks were sewn together and borders added to the pineapple quilt.  I love the look of this one, and I had wanted to make this quilt for a long time, but I really started to hate doing it after a while.  I had originally planned to make 25 blocks, but after 16 enormous blocks, I threw the rest of the photocopies of the patterns away.  With the borders, it's a good lap size, and is a bright, cheerful quilt that I will probably use in the living room for TV time.

I added a simple border to the Children's Hospital quilt.  Again, this is not a donation to the hospital, but for the parents to sleep under while staying with a child at Children's...for me & Kelly, specifically.

I made a bunch of Half Square Triangles for the border of the Jewel Box quilt.  This was still in progress when the Pirates left on Monday.  The 5" squares were pre-cut, saving me a lot of time.  The border will be white all around, but finish the diamonds around the edge.  I think I may have to scrounge up more white on white fabrics...not sure what I'm going to do for that, if I have some hidden in my sewing room or if I'll have to buy a couple yards.


That's 6 out of 12 quilts with progress to them!  Most of the rest of the unfinished projects just need quilting and binding.  Now if only I can make sure that my longarm keeps working.  The stitch regulator is still not working up to par.  I'll have to find out what to do about that.

I was hoping that I could get all of the UFOs done by October...but I may get more than 12 done by then.  The rules of the UFO challenge say that you can keep adding UFOs to the list, but they must have been started prior to January.  I can't start one now and add it to the list.

Still working on the Olympic knitting, but I spent the entire weekend doing the quilting thing, so I'm a few days behind.  I love watching the sports, but I'm really frustrated with the coverage of the Olympic games this year.  They have 4 minutes of coverage, then 3 minutes of commercials.  They really only cover the US athletes and don't show any of the medal ceremonies.  They have a Facebook page that is posting the results of some of the competitions before the West coast feed even starts.  It's really frustrating and disappointing.  I keep thinking that NBC really should buy up several channels and air almost constant coverage of the various sites--one channel for skiing, both hills and flat surfaces; one for slope style & snowboarding; one channel for ice skating; one for speed skating; one for hockey; and one for curling and other odd sports like curling.

But that would involve me becoming CEO of NBC...and that probably won't happen.