A Sick/Sew Day

It looks as though I may have some time to sew tomorrow. I will not be going to work tomorrow. As I was leaving work today, I got a call from Timothy's school telling me that he had just thrown up. So far, he has thrown up 6 times in under 6 hours. Needless to say, he will not be going to school tomorrow.

After he fell asleep this evening, I worked on my hand-made quilted Valentine cards. I need to finish them tomorrow so I can get them in the mail. They are so much fun to make.

I am hoping that I get to enjoy my time off tomorrow and sew/quilt. I am a little nervous that I may end up with this stomach bug. I am praying that I don't get it.

I haven't decided what we are doing this weekend. I am sure Hannah and I will visit another quilt fabric shop, but I haven't decided which one or where. It's only Wednesday, so I still have a couple days to figure it out.

Today felt like spring. It was 60 degrees a lunch time. Kurt and I met for lunch and had a picnic at the park that I have taken many of the snow pictures on my blog. We fed the ducks and geese and went for a walk. It was wonderful to be outside without a coat. I am enjoying this brief intermission from winter, but not ready for winter to be over. I want a few more snows before this winter is over.

Quilted Greeting Cards

This evening, I decided to practice making quilted greeting cards. I found a pattern online at http://craftapple.wordpress.com/2006/08/23/quilted-cards-tutorial/ My goals is to make my own Valentines, but I thought I should practice first. I used some jelly roll scraps to make my 2.5" squares.

This was really a lot of fun. Tomorrow, I am going to go to JoAnns on my lunch break to pick up a few pieces of valentine print fabric to make my own Valentines.

I went to AC Moore on my lunch break today and bought a package of blank cards. I got a package of 50 cards and envelopes for $5.50. They were $10.99, but I had a 50% off coupon.

This is a great way for a quick quilting fix, and it's a neat card to give someone. Each one will be an absolute original -- which is pretty neat!

Quilters TV

I discovered a really fun website that I wanted to pass along. Since I am new to both quilting and blogging, I am sure many of you already know about this site, but I thought I would share it anyway.

It's "Quilter's TV" -- http://www.quilterstv.com/ There are some great "how to" episodes for many different quilting techniques/problems.

Since I work full time during the day, I am not able to take advantage of all the great quilting shows on t.v., so I am excited to find quilting shows online that I can watch in the evenings and on weekends.

I'm not sure if I will get much sewing in today. We have church this morning, and we'll go grocery shopping on the way home. Late this afternoon, Kurt and his kids are going to join us for a "Make Your Own Pizza & Game" night. I've already pulled out twister. This is going to be fun!!

In Stitches - Wolmesdorf, PA

This morning, Hannah and I visited the "In Stitches" quilt shop in Wolmesdorf, PA (approximately 15 miles west of Reading).

It is a great little quilting store -- lots and lots of fat quarters for $1.99 each, a very nice selection of fabric and notions - and 17 different quilting magazines. She also had a very nice selection of quilting patterns. It was great.

She had some beautiful quilts hanging up around the shop, and I fell in love with one of them. I asked the shop owner about it, and she said that it is a class that she teaches. It was an "Attic Window" quilt. The possibilities are endless with this type of quilt. She offers many classes, and when I expressed an interest in this one, she said she would go ahead and schedule a class for it. Hannah offered to babysit for the day (it's a whole Saturday) as my birthday gift so I could go. It is going to be on March 28th.

As I talked with the shop owner, she was very sweet and thanked us for coming. She said she'd love for us to come back and said how she likes to get to know her customers.

After she had done and said all of this, THEN I told her that I was visiting as many quilt shops as I could around the area and writing a review in my blog. I'm glad I didn't tell her that right way, because it makes it even sweeter that she scheduled a class just because I was interested in learning that quilt, and she said how she likes to get to know her customers.

So... "In Stitches" is definitely a great little quilt shop -- one I am sure I will frequent often (as it is only about 8 miles away.)

If you'd like to find out more about "In Stitches" you can visit her website at : http://www.institchesfabrics.com/

Hawk Mountain and Tour-Guide Jonathan

Today we took a family hiking trip to Hawk Mountain. It was absolutely breath-taking. I've never been hiking on a mountain before. It was snow-covered and beautiful!!!

Jonathan wanted to be our guide, so I gave him the map and let him lead. Unknown to us, he took us on one of the most difficult trails. We climbed rocks, hung on for dear life, and fell down more times than I can count. Thankfully there was plenty of snow to cushion our falls. There were several look-out points along the way, and the view was totally breath-taking. I've never experienced anything like it before. Here are a few more pictures from our day....

The Quilter's Workbook!!

Today, I received a very special blessing from my very sweet friend, AverettLadyNana (http://averettladynana.blogspot.com/). She sent me "The Quilter's Workbook" as a birthday gift. It's so awesome!! It's packed with some great information/ instructions for quilting, and it includes a way to organize quilting projects. I love it!!

This morning, Hannah and I picked up my embroidery machine and then visited "In Stitches". We had a great visit, and I will blog about it this afternoon, but for now we're off to Hawk Mountain for the afternoon!!

Thank you so much AverettLadyNana!!!

TGIF!

TGIF!! It's Friday night, which is probably my favorite time of the whole week! We've had a very quiet and relaxing evening.

First thing tomorrow morning, Hannah and I will go pick up my embroidery machine. On our way back, we are going to "In Stitches" quilt shop in Wolmesdorf. I will write about that tomorrow.

Then, we're all going hiking on Hawk Mountain. It's about 45 minutes north of Reading. It's supposed to be beautiful. I can't wait. I am so excited about the pictures I will take. It's going to be sunny and a high around 45* tomorrow. We're going to hike the easiest trail tomorrow, but we will be going back to tackle some of the more difficult trails later in the spring and summer.