Time Keeps on Slipping, Slipping into the Future.

The title of my post is from a favorite Steve Miller band song.

I guess I am dating myself!

My granddaughters turned 5 and 9 in February.

Where did the time go? 

My daughter had a small family only party for them.

These are my grands +1 cousin.

I got my first vaccine shot without an issue 

and to celebrate I put pandemic purple highlights in my hair.

It was a fun experiment and is fading fast.

It will be a one and done though...

too long in the salon chair and too expensive.

Just going to have to let those grays shine through!

My back and neck issues are resolving slowly, so not much sewing going on.

This is Carrot Sticks by the Pattern Basket.

It will be for my DIL's seasonal quilt wall.

Quilted one block of my Year of Stars quilt by Natalia Bonner today.

Learning lots from her free Youtube videos and her Patreon page.

I have been able to do a little hand stitching on my Making Waves by Ariane Zurcher.

This is my favorite corner of the project.

I went rogue on these 2 shapes.

I wanted them to look like the shore of the ocean after a wave.

The cream shapes in the blue look so much like seafoam;

however, I see the ocean in almost everything.

And I am so excited about the future...

a trip to Sanibel Island with my daughter for Mother's Day and to see my sister.

Then off to Santa Fe for a week seminar with Sue Spargo.

It will feel so good to live a somewhat normal life for a change!

Slow and Steady Wins the Race!

 Remember that wedding quilt I added to my priority WIP list?  

It is a flimsy and will be one of the first quilts I quilt on my new longarm once I gain some confidence. I pieced the majority of the hexie blocks the year my daughter was married (just to refresh your memories and mine, that was 9 years ago.) My DIL isn't planning on getting her wedding quilt anytime soon...it is still in the box. 

I still do a ton of embroidery. I finished my Rock Gardens pouch, a variation on a Japanese Rice Sack, designed by Ariane Zurcher. 

Then I did a challenge project I am calling Lichen. Ariane Zurcher presented a few of her followers a picture of lichen on a tree branch and challenged us to interpret it in any way we desired. I am so representational; therefore it, hopefully, looks like a tree branch covered in lichen. Then I delved into the world of drawstring bucket bag making. Just warning you...bags of all sorts seem to now be on my radar.

Including this tote made from one square from the Aussie Stitch Along on Facebook.

Next up on my list of projects is to work on both of my lifetime projects...Yoko Saito's Vases of Flowers wall quilt and Edyta Sitar's Sunrise Scraps...one hand appliqued and one machine pieced.

Bag Lady

Well, actually a pouch lady.

These little charmers are about 8" x 8" finished.

My first River Rocks Pouch,

designed by Ariane Zurcher,

It stores all the special tools I use for these embellishing stitches.

My daughters pouch.

She wanted an octopus and a jellyfish on hers.

Rock Garden by Ariane Zurcher, 

modified into a pouch for my sister.

I am currently stitching 4 panels of rock garden scenes

 that will eventually be assembled into a Japanese Rice Sack,

the original pattern designed by Ariane.

I have been obsessed with these projects!

Not much else to do now that we are stuck indoors in AZ.

During our last few days at the cabin, my son and his children came to visit.

The cousins loved being together!

Just to have other children to play with was such a simple joy.

And who can resist a puppy in a flower bed!

Aspen is an Australian Labradoodle, which translates into designer mutt.

They have 6 different breeds in them, including Cocker Spaniel, 

which makes them calmer.

Sweetest, softest little creatures!!

Guess what I am getting?

A longarm quilting machine.

No job anymore at the quilt shop and I cannot stitch 24/7,

so I am going to try something new.

Oh, and a new grandchild! 

Our grandson will make his appearance the first weeks of October.