Stitching? What Stitching?

Not one stitch has been crossed since my last post. Who's life am I living at the moment? Certainly not mine. I'm not even sure why I haven't picked up a needle. Yes, things are a bit hectic, but nothing to keep me from sitting down and stitching for a while.

I've more or less been in planning mode lately. Since I'm such a lamb I'm obsessing over the Dear Jane quilts people are making. To top it off I'm such a dork that I want to do two Dear Jane quilts simultaneously. One in hip, funky, modern fabrics(not sure how much of the fabric will show in 4.5inch blocks but that's not really the point) and then do one in Civil War repro fabrics. I figure the one in the modern fabrics will be my practice blocks and the Civil War repro will be the real blocks, two quilts, same style, different colors. I know that this will be a very slow process but I'm one of those geeks that actually prefers to handpiece. To prepare myself for the handpiecing ahead I'm going to start practice piecing some 12 inch blocks with some calico I have here from the 1980s. Oh yeah, I save fabric even if it's dated, and probably not even considered pretty any more. I have several blocks already pieced in these prints from my quilting class back in 1987. I think I've got enough material for three or four more blocks. I haven't really looked to see how much I have, I just ran across the fabric in the garage, and started thinking maybe I should put together that sampler quilt from so long ago. My color choices are hideous but that's the story of my life. I'm hoping to get a lapquilt out of what I have here, maybe perk up the blues and reddish burgundy, something like that, with some new fabric touches here and there.

My current cross stitch obsession is tracking down patterns for samplers with my last name or my maiden name on them. So far I've found four, two of each. Can you say DORK?

Reading

Yesterday I finished Book of Fate by Brian Meltzer. Not what I expected, plenty of twists and turns that I should have seen but ended up surprising me.

I also recently finished Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking. I enjoyed this more than the latest Anita Blake books by Laurell Hamilton.

Also started reading I Like You by Amy Sedaris. I picked it up at the library and think I'll end up buying it.

Project Runway

I can't believe Jeffrey won! I know that his collection was the most daring but I felt Uli's was the most wearable. I hate that Micheal kind of fell apart under the pressure. I'm wondering if he designed what he thought they wanted to see, instead of being true to himself? I think a weekend in the Hamptons collection would of worked for him and even an average person such as myself could have related to the ensembles. Laura's stuff, while pretty, there's just no need for that in my life. I guess maybe the occaisional Christmas party but seriously. I'm ready for Season Four. A lot of people have expressed disappointment with this season, just too nasty, too scandalous, I liked it! I think Alison was kicked off too soon and Vincent should have been kicked off much earlier--the recycling challenge. I don't think his insanity was good enough tv to keep him around. Maybe that's why I'm not a tv producer.

Thanks for the birthday wishes and comments are always appreciated!