Have you had your daily dose of PQP today???

I just want to thank everyone for their wonderful comments about my recent revelation. It seems that lots of us are having difficulty squeezing "PQP" (pure quilting pleasure) into our busy days. Just based on the short time that I have been rising early to get my daily dose of PQP, I can tell you that my days feel better. As Finn so accurately put it, those 60 minutes of PQP give me "something to lean on" during the difficult parts of the day.

Ladies, I can't say enough about how important it is for all of us to get our daily recommended dose of PQP . I know that we are all trying to take better care of our bodies with exercise and diet but remember PQP is medicine for the creative part of a quilter's soul.

This morning, I was able to get a dozen pillowcase parts cut for our community service project which my guild is doing on Monday night. We are assembling pillowcases out of novelty and kiddie fabric for " The Hole in the Wall Gang " summer camp which is located here in Connecticut. This camp was started by Paul Newman and is for kids 7-15 who have cancer. Each camper gets a pillowcase, which I think is used as a duffel bag of sorts to collect their gear. At any rate, at the end of their camping session, each child gets to take the pillowcase home as a momento of their stay.

It sure was great to start my day not only doing something I love but being able to help others and BUST THAT STASH at the same time. A quilting WIN-WIN-WIN!!

I've had a revelation!!!

First, I want to post a picture of my January journal quilt which I am calling "Left Behind". I think it goes along well with Project Spectrum's colors of the month with a splash of red. It is only 8 1/2 by 11 inches. This picture doesn't really show the sparkly sky which was added with star sequins and beads. I found it really challenging to get my point across in such a small space. Some details that I wanted to put in were eliminated because they made the overall quilt look cluttered. I am really enjoying this class.


Now, for what I think is a revelation, at least for me. I find winter a tough season to get through. Thanks goodness for quilting and women's college basketball! I have had a difficult time getting out of bed in the morning. I usually tried to start my day with a walk on the treadmill but lately I have been just burrowing into the covers until the last possible moment. I am not enamored with my day job lately and this is adding to the burrowing. So, this weekend, after I found that I had no trouble getting up super early to go to a quilt class, I decided that I would set my alarm an hour early and I would get up to QUILT. I would start my day doing something I love instead of thinking about it all day and getting to it at the end of the day if there was time available.

Sewww, this morning at 5:00 a.m., I got up, fed the two little meowers, grabbed a cup of coffee and headed off to my studio. I set a timer because I know that once I enter that room I lose all sense of time and place! I am pleased to say I got a back pieced and did some glitter work on a couple of blocks for a quilt I have been working on and when the timer went off, I set myself up for tomorrow morning. And, the day started on the right foot. I felt good because I got to do something that makes me feel good. If more time comes my way for quilting at the end of the day, then great but if not at least I had 60 minutes of pure pleasure.

Project Spectrum and kitties

The two- PS and Kitties-have nothing to do with each other!! But I know that Kitties are always a draw for you quilters!! LOL!!

I have been traveling around Blogland and came across a reference to "Project Spectrum" and decided to give it a look. This is right up my alley because it is loosely based and very inspiring not to mention that I LOVE the colors for February and March,. Even though I HATE winter, I love the colors of winter. (Does that make any sense??!??!) This is one of the postcards I did for the Heart2Heart project. I made the snowflakes out of Angelina fibers. See, winter colors!




I have three WIPS that will meet the criteria of blue, white and gray and I know I can get at least two of them finished. One is actually the first quilt I ever started-yep, it's still kicking around. I love the idea of working with a color theme!

The more I travel from blog to blog (yes, I am a blog hopper) , the more inspired I am by how many women are out there expressing themselves in so many different ways-not only in quilting, but knitting, photography, mixed media, paper, etc. - and the best part is they are willing to share it with all of us!! Sewww, thanks to Lolly I have signed up for PS and invite all of you to take a look at her cool idea!

And, now for the kitties..... (these guys have doubled their weight since joining our family in December!) That's Bailey on the left and Holly on the right.

Emerged from my hole and saw my shadow!!

Yikes! I feel like Punxsutawney Phil! I know it has been a couple of weeks since I've posted but I have been busy and yes, if I have anything to say about it, there will be 6 more weeks of winter because it is perfect weather for quilting.

Last you heard from me, I was on my way to our quilting retreat in Rhode Island and another birthday. The retreat was fabulous and very productive for me. I finished two lap sized tops (minus borders) , which are pictured here, started and finished a little knitted hand bag, and put some red, pink and white strings together to cut hearts for my Valentine's wall hanging.

I remembered to bring the TAKE YOUR CAMERA yellow post-it , but, of course, forgot the camera, so I have no pics. But a good time was had by all!


I also completed the center for the Round Robin I am doing with three gals from my guild. I didn't give this angel any face or hair as one of the rounds involves embellishment and I thought I would keep her "anonymous" and see what kind of "personality" she acquires while she is out of my reach.

I do have some pics of the valentine postcards I had been working on! Some are from a Moda panel which I jazzed up with art glitter and the others are from my experiments with Angelina fibers. I am sending some of these to the Heart-2-Heart project which I found on someone's blog (can't remember who!).
I'll share my Valentine Wall hanging which I hope to finish in the next few days and my valentines tomorrow.

But wanted to let my blog gals know that I am alive and quilting!