A Fun Week!

Last week we were on vacation - a staycation.  Those are the most fun!  I had several things I wanted to do, and accomplished some of them, although the weather could have been better.  I don't think spring is ever going to get here this year.

One of my fun plans was to take a Working with Wool class at Primitive Gatherings in Menasha.  I live really close, and just never seem to get around to that.  When I walked into the class, I was so surprised to see my friend Jodi!  So Wednesday was a fun day sewing with Jodi and her friend Maggie, as well as about 20 other quilters.  The class was great - even though I've worked with wool a lot, I learned several ways to make it better.  We started a wool penny mat, and mine is still in about the same status as when I left the class.

If you ever have a chance to take a class with Lisa Bongean, do it - you will be very happy with what you learn. The centers of my pennies look a lot better now, and I learned how to join them together.

Because of the nasty weather, I was able to spend a lot of time in my sewing room, so I wasn't really too sad about not being outside!  One of my goals was to get this monster put together:

This is Words to Live By, last summer's Block of the Week from Primitive Gatherings.  My goal was to get the blocks trimmed and set together.  I debated a long time about whether I wanted to make all the half-square triangles for the outside borders, but I had the finishing kit, so decided to make it as it was designed.  There are 672 half-square triangles, if you're counting!  I used the Star Singles paper, which I like a lot.  This quilt is huge, so I had trouble getting it all into a picture. 

Anyway, it's all put together and ready to go into the to-be-quilted someday stack, along with its many friends. I didn't put the words on it - I tried writing them on a scrap and they looked terrible, so I think mine will be named Too Many Triangles or something.

Another goal was to finish a second Boxy Stars for donation.  This quilt was already pieced, so I just had to finish it.

I've been trying to teach myself some new free-motion motifs to use on my Juki, so this quilt got flowers, leaves and swirls.  Deciding what to quilt is the hardest part for me.

It turned out pretty well, so I think it will be a Hands2Help donation quilt.  I really like making this Boxy Stars pattern, and may make another one or two.  You can find the free pattern on Bonnie Hunter's website Quiltville.com.

My other finish was Chessies' Needlebook, a cross-stitch pattern I've had done for a long time.  I learned how to do the finishing last summer, but just hadn't gotten around to doing it.

You can see that I did the cross-stitch part two years ago!  The inside has wool for pins and needles.

I'm happy to have this done so that I can use it.  I put some of my Grandma's old buttons on the back and inside. 

So, vacation is over...I didn't get everything I wanted done!  It was fun while it lasted.

My UFO for the Country Threads challenge is a star cross-stitch that I need to make into a pillow, so I should be back with a finish before the end of the month.