Did you miss me?

Yeah, it's been a while. There hasn't been a lot going on, really.

I think I forgot to post an injury update. I'm out of the boot now. My foot is still swollen and the only shoes that really fit are my tennis shoes. My big toe doesn't bend much, but that should improve in time. It's getting better. John got the cast off his hand and he's slowly getting more range of motion out of it, too.

I crafty news, I'm in the home stretch on my plain sock:



And I made another batch of grocery bags for my mom to pass out at her card party.



That pretty much covers it. Told you there wasn't much going on.

And in the cat picture arena, a couple of weeks ago, Emma was bad (not uncommon), so she got a time-out. Blue sat outside the door waiting for her. I'm sure he was standing guard or offering moral support, not taunting her.


"I don't know why she hates me."

Bonnie Hunter!

Bonnie Hunter was the speaker at my guild meeting on Tuesday. She was fantastic! She's such a nice person and a really excellent speaker. I was busy during the meeting folding (touching!) all the quilts in her trunk show (and I forgot my camera) so I didn't get any pictures at the meeting.

I have a few from the workshop, though. Here are (L-R) me, Bonnie and my best buddy Beth with the Sister's choice quilt we were making in the workshop:



Here are a couple of pictures of Bonnie's gorgeous Dear Jane at Sea quilt.




Close-up of H-6 Pie Sale, with storm at sea sashing

I just love this quilt. I love the pinks and chocolate indigoes she used. And the sashing really appeals to me. Of course I don't want to think about how many more pieces that added to the total. I'm guessing about 4000: 19 pieces (2 sashings + cornerstone) * 169 blocks = 3211, then you have to add the sashings and cornerstones around two outside edges and the points in the next border. She said she did the sashings and cornerstones as she went along. If I decide to do this, I have some catching up to do. Not to mention I have no idea what I'd do with the triangles I've already done. Maybe I'll save this setting for the "next" Dear Jane. Yeah, right.....

On to the workshop. I started with my backgrounds and points pre-cut and a box of 2.5" strips:



I added a couple more strips on the "non-dark" side of the box after this picture was taken. I pulled the top strips from the piles and made a few 9-patch blocks out of them, like so:



I tried (and failed already, but not in that block) to make sure I didn't have the same background pieces twice in one block. I still haven't decided if I'm going to fix that one. It wouldn't bother me so much if they weren't right next to each other . I'm not sure I love the individual blocks, but I think they look better when you put a bunch of them together:


Can you find the block with the duplicate backgrounds?

I have a long way to go to finish the other 65 blocks. I'm not sure when I'll get to it. I have some other projects I need to work on. Not the least of which is my Dear Jane, if I'm ever going to acheive my goal of having it half done at the end of the year. I'll have to average 1.2 units (block, triangle or corner) a week through the end of the year to get there. I'm having some doubts about that, now. Some of the other goals are just Not Gonna Happen.

Have you ever seen such a cutie-patootie 17-year-old?


"Ahhhh, Papa's lap...."

Catching up again

Okay, I know it's been a while since my last post. I haven't been overly productive since I got back from Orlando. But I have some stuff to share anyway.

I forgot to post this picture from my trip.



That's Buckeye the concrete sheep outside the Sip & Knit yarn shop in Maitland. The owner is from Ohio, thus the name. She has a very impressive collection of sheep inside the shop, too. Worth a visit if you're in the area.

Last Friday at work I got an token of the company's appreciation for a project I worked on.



It's a pretty crystal award, but to be honest, I didn't do *that* much work on the project. It was a big team and everyone got one. A nice gesture, anyway.

Another work-related item. I work in an old office building. Actually, it's three buildings that are interconnected on some floors but not others. I swear it was designed by M.C. Escher. There are people who've worked there for 30 years who haven't figured it out, so I don't feel bad when I get lost. Especially since they keep changing it. Evidence of that seen here:


There *used* to be a door here

I had to work from home on Saturday, and during some of the down time, I cut fabric for the Sister's Choice workshop with Bonnie Hunter on Wednesday, but I'll save that for another post.

On Sunday I baked Bonnie's Banana Bread to take to class.



I had enough thawed frozen bananas to make 3 loaves, so I did. If you make 1.5 times the recipe in your 4.5 qt KitchenAid mixer, be prepared for it to be very full! After I mixed the batter, I divided it up to make 3 different flavors. The one on the left has pecans. the one on the right is plain and the round one in the middle has blueberries in it. The loaf-shaped ones are in the fridge waiting for class. I ran out of loaf pans, which is why the one in the middle is round. Apologies to my classmates, but that one isn't going to class with me. I'm pretty sure it will be gone by Wednesday. YUM!!!


Guess what?? I finished my striped, two at a time socks!





That's the basic sock pattern from Knitting Circles Around Socks, by Antje Gillingham in Adriafil Knitcol yarn, color 044. I'm happy with them. John pointed out that they don't match, but I don't care. I'm okay with fraternal twin socks. I like having both socks finished at the same time. Her second book has instructions for doing them toe-up, which I might have to try.

I was on call for work last week. The one night I actually had to get up in the middle of the night to check a server, I found this scene downstairs.


"Aren't we cute??"