Atlanta Shop Hop

Well it's Atlanta Shop Hop weekend and for the first time since I started quilting, I am not going to a bunch of the shops. Too many UFOs, too much stuff in my sewing space, and gas is getting way too expensive. I will go to Melisa's (Sweet Home Quilt Co.) on Saturday though and probably stop by Intown Quilters on my way home from Starbucks on Sunday. Karin is feeling the same way.

My goal is to finish the borders on my Morris Garden quilt and get the back pieced so I can get it off to the long-arm quilter. Also, I need to hand stitch the binding on a quilt, which I'll probably do watching movies this weekend. So if all goes as planned (which it rarely does...) I'll have a couple of new photos by the end of the weekend.

PS #1: Can someone return spring to Atlanta since it was in the 20s! the past couple of mornings AND there were snow flurries this past Tuesday morning.

PS#2: Where exactly did February go?

Spring..for a day at least

Well it is Spring in Atlanta, at least for today. My flowers are blooming, which means it will probably freeze again. Since we are in the midst of a terrible drought here in the South, I have adopted the Darwin theory of gardening--if it survives, it survives. So far I haven't lost any plants, they are just hanging on. Here are my hellebores (also called Lenten rose). Such a beautiful purple color.

The first camellia. Daffodils, which are very short this year but blooming like crazy.

Here's my flowering quince--the sun was too bright for a good photo but it has lovely coral blooms (it also has the most vicious thorns ever--learned the hard way).

A finished quilt

Finally a completely finished quilt! This one is for me; love the colors!!!

(the lumps under the quilts are three cats snoozing)

here's a close up

I added leftover blocks to the back.

The pattern is by my friend, mentor, and all around fabulous person Pat Wys of Silver Thimble Quilt Co. The pattern is called "Strawberry Pie".

Now, I'm going to fix some dinner, curl up under my finished quilt, and watch the Oscars.

Greta Garbo in Snowshoes

The idea I can't get out of my head this week is to go away for a few days by myself. I thought of this Tuesday night when I was taking out the recycling and ended up staring at the nearly full moon in the middle of my driveway on an unusually clear night for Atlanta. I just want to be somewhere quiet and peaceful like the mountains--not southern mountains but real mountains- in the west. I would love to see the moon reflecting on snow on a crisp, cold, dark night. Somewhere where is it so quiet you can hear the snow falling.

I want to stay at a great lodge with a fireplace in my room and someone bringing me food I don't have to cook and pot after pot of coffee I don't have to brew. I would sit in the peace and quiet and watch the fire and not think about anything.

All day long at the office, the phones are ringing, people talking, computers and florescent lights humming, copy machines, and all the noise of downtown with the sirens, cars, people. At Starbucks, it's constant noise--music, people, espresso machines, blenders, timers, the drive thru headset, the cars, and more people. The whole living in the city thing is wearing me down.

The really odd thing about this is I can't figure out why I want to be somewhere cold. I don't really like the cold. I don't even have a hat let alone a winter coat and boots. I wouldn't begin to know where to go--Colorado Springs? Telluride? Jackson Hole? Lake Tahoe? Aspen? Not to ski but maybe snowshoeing? It's like hiking but in snow right?

I am around people all day and all night and sometimes, every once in awhile, like Greta Garbo, I just want to be alone. Since snowshoeing in Colorado is probably out of the question, maybe I'll take a cue from Gomez and just find a really big box

Finally a diagnosis for Morticia

Morticia is going to be fine. I can't tell you how relieved I am that she has a treatable bacterial infection that should clear up with her 30 days of super salmon-flavored antibiotic. One less worry in my life.

Area 51

Roswell! Roswell! (any X-Files fans out there will know this is a quote from a really great episode...) Everyone is talking about UFOs...my friend Becky is finishing up UFOs, so is my friend Karin, and Debbie is AWOL she so busy sewing, so is Pat Sloan, and today I was listening to Annie Smith's podcast and she was talking about finishing up UFOs too. Now I'm stressed...I want to finish up UFOs!!!!!! But I am working too much these next couple of weeks (sigh). I need a patron! I need a sponsor! So I can stay home and quilt all day to get some of these UFOs done.

In all it's shame and no glory whatsoever, here is my stack of UFOs on note cards (these are works in progress and quilts I have fabric for) and an example of how I keep track of projects. Of course, there is no scale (haha) so really *truly* there's only 10 cards in that stack...

This stack is the tops that are done and need quilting (only 5 here I am sure....)

Not to mention I thought of two really fabulous ideas for quilts while I was stuck in traffic. Stop the madness!! Well I probably won't get anything done tonight because I am curl-up-and-cry-tired.

It's all about the coffee

Well no sewing for me this past weekend and it's looking pretty grim for the next couple of weeks. 5 shifts at Starbucks this week and 6 (!) the next. Well it's a good thing I get free drinks because it's going to be extra shots of espresso time for me.

I did finish a good book on Saturday "People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks. She is a great writer and I've read her other books "March" and "Year of Wonders". Check them out if you need suggestions for your book club.

More coffee talk: we are nearing the end of our supply of my absolute FAVORITE Starbucks coffee (limited edition for the past couple of years). And I am stocking up.

Morticia update: she is still sick/sneezing even with the salmon-flavored super-antibiotic. I am still waiting on blood test results.