So much to do and so little time to Stitch

Had a great weekend, went with my sister down to San Diego to the Teddy Bear and Doll show.  This was our first time to this show, but we've been to shows in Chicago, Louisville, Clarion (IA), as well as classes at these venues.  It was sad to see that the show wasn't as big as other's we've been too but did see lots of very nice teddy bears, not much into dolls, so those were easy to resists.  I was soooo very good and opted not to purchase any bears.  There were several that I liked and if I was still in my house in KY, I would have added at least one if not 2 or 3 new bears.  But we have such limited space and I can't see buying things and putting them in closets, so will be happy with what I have, and maybe bring a few home from KY from my trip home this summer.  I have 3 large bears that would look good on the guest bed when it's not in use.  I also did get some material for a special bear I have in mind - but it will be a 2014 project.

We hit a couple of quilt shops before heading home.  I was so excited to find Dr. Susses material in flannel.  My niece is having a baby this summer and I think these flannels will make a really great rag quilt, can't wait to get started!!  Will do the blue material at the bottom, the stripes and red and black circles on one side and the yellow materials and black circles on the other side.

I also found some material to do some pillow cases for my oldest sister's birthday in June - they had Nancy Drew material!!  My sister was a huge Nancy Drew reader growing up, so I'm sure she will love them.   Will post pictures before I ship them off.

I also found more Day of the Dead material, and got more of it, not sure what I'll do with it, but I'm sure I'll think of something.  I have a quilt pattern called Take Five - it makes a twin size quilt top, which sews up quickly.  So might about using that pattern.

Sorry that the band sampler is sideways.  I had rotated it in my photo program, but for some reason when I imported it here, it came in side ways.  Years ago our stitching group in Ft. Smith did a band sampler where you have your friends each do a band of their choice.  My friend Liz said she wasn't able to find her, so she decided to do it again.  While she doesn't have the top or sides done, she has given it out to several people to stitching on.  The last band is the one I did - they are Rhodes hearts with a glass bead at the bottom.  I alternated green and blue beads, the picture doesn't pick it up well.  I love the row above mine - it was so neat tried to one-up her, but she is a very accomplished stitcher, so decided to stick with a stitch I could do well.  Would love to call this a finish, but since it was only one band on a round robin sorta thing, decided it really didn't count.

As the year starts, there have been so many people who are already posting finishes, so I dug through my UFO's and found a project that is close to being done :)  I will put it back on stretcher bars and finish it up over the next week or so.  I think this project has been a UFO for about 18 years.  Not my oldest UFO, but is among the oldest.  I like the colors and not sure why I never finished it, most likely because I moved to another city and dropped out of the group.

 While searching for something quick to finish up I came across a round robin of my own that I've yet to finish.  All the squares have been stitched, but the poem that I picked to put it in has not been finished yet.  I have a picture of the poem below called "Good Intentions" hopefully you can see it, but in essences its about a woman who leaves in her wake a bunch of unfinished projects.  Could there be a better poem, especially for someone who has signed up with 2 groups for finishing UFO??  When I first read the poem I thought it was about leaving the world half done, never really finishing anything in life.  But after I'd read it a few times the meaning changed for me.  It was less about what we didn't complete in life and more about how we change as we grow older.  What was all consuming and important somehow just doesn't seem that important when we get older.  The poem is from a book of poems from older women, it's called something like Daisies, don't remember for sure, but it was the follow-up to Warnings (When I'm an Old Lady I Shall Wear Purple), which will be another story for another post.  For now, it's been pulled out of the bin and put in the rotation pile on the guest bed, maybe I'll get a few more lines of the poem done before it's banished once again.

Will be posting progress soon :)  I have worked on SpiritDancer, Thine is the Treat & Treat and started M's Designs Halloween Tree.  I put SpiritWalker on the q-snaps and gridded out a small section so I could started at the top of the head instead of in the middle.   I think I'll pull out the Wizard to work on this year and of course the Dragon remains on the floor stand begging to be worked on, but terrible neglected.

Hope you are all making progress on your projects

Sandy