Smooth Sailing finish; Country Spirit begins

I was NOT up bright-n-early by any means this AM, however, I was still the only one awake for about 45 minutes from 7:00 to about 7:45. So, I made use of my quiet time by creating a label for Luke's Smooth Sailing and get it sewn on. My mom is more than pleased with the results, and was VERY surprised when I handed over the pillow yesterday afternoon. She amazed at a few things.......1) I quilt; 2) I FINISH projects; 3) the projects are good quality; 4) I finish projects FAST (and even FASTER when there is a good purpose).

I saw these little "circle-hangers" on a quilt once and thought they were so much easier than putting a sleeve on the back and then finding/buying a dowel to hang it. So, for the past year, whenever I am making a quilt for hanging, I sew these on. They are found in the crafting section; I THINK they have a purpose for knitting?? I really don't know, because other than sewing/quilting and cross-stitching, I don't have any other "crafting" talents (at least none that really mean much anymore).

So.....number two for 2009 is done. Smooth Sailing


Once my parents left at 10:30, I decided to head downstairs to see what fabrics I could find for the Country Spirit pattern I found at McCall's Quilting.com. I pulled all of my blues and reds from my 2" draw, plus cut up just a few more strips from other scraps I still have laying around. I found this perfect "light-star" fabric hiding on my bottom drawer. I am shy about 1/4 yard from what the pattern requests, but I already know I'll be adapting the design a bit from the actual. I've had this red paisley sitting on my shelf for a year, so in it goes as well.
DH and Caitlyn went fishing for the afternoon; Cassie went sledding with a friend, so it was just Candace and me. We threw KungFu Panda into the DVD player, and I went cutting and sewing away while she rested. At first, I had complete intentions of strip-piecing and then sub-cutting into the 6.5" sections. BUT, my strip were at such odd and non-consistent lengths, so I decided to cut all of them prior to sewing. 96 lights and 48 reds/blues each were cut; 2"x6.5". The sewing was mindless; and I can't really even remember where my mind all wandered today. I thought ahead to the week and how I would use the days since we lost Thursday and Friday. The end of the semester is coming this Friday, so I'll just have to throw out the lessons planned from those days; spend one more day tomorrow with a "wrap-up" lesson in each class, have a TeamTest on Tuesday, do a final review on Wednesday, and then give the finals on Thursday. Friday will be used for any makeups.

Anyway, by 4:00, the 12 rail-fence blocks were made. They are very scrappy and nothing is really "holding" them together right now. However, once I cut into the light-star and red-paisley yardage for the sashing, I think it'll come together nicely.

Taking a short break---DH arrived home a bit ago and it "cleaning up" supper. Caitlyn is beat and is resting on the couch with a Barbie movie. Cassie JUST got home from her friend's; they made cupcakes and spent much of the afternoon being pulled around on a sled with a snowmobile.

I might be heading back downstairs after the girls get to bed. Tonight is BATH NIGHT! Tomorrow, life gets back to a normal schedule again.......
This has been a wonderful 4-day unplanned weekend!
Happy Sunday