Pass the Vitamin C

With a title like this, I wish I were being clever and writing some kind of lively blog post about how the Christmas holiday is an energizing shot in the arm, a boost of brightness in an otherwise dark and dreary North American winter, blah, blah, blah. Instead I’m here to whine about a cold.

Seriously, I haven’t had a cold in about 10 years. Because at the first sign of a sniffle or a tickle of a sore throat, I start popping over-the-counter probiotics like they are peanuts at the ballpark. If you’ve been in my vicinity over these last 10 years, I have surely lectured you about my magical cure and I have tsked tsked anyone who did not listen and therefore developed a severe cold because of wanton disregard of my “medical” advice.

Well this time, no amount of probiotics or vitamin C or ginger tea or hot toddies or straight-up whisky shots — don’t judge, I was desperate- was going to slow this cold down.

While Cindy was safely in Ohio, outside of the cone of infection, I struggled through the festivities, high on fresh oranges and pineapple and Vic’s VapoRub.

How sick was I, you ask? So sick that I didn’t cut a single square of red fabric, nor did I sew a pair of red 1.5″ squares together — that is until this evening. After 5 days of sniffles and lethargy, interspersed with whining and a side of fever, I finally felt well enough to cut a few more squares and to begin the daunting task of sewing together 3.5K squares together for my postage stamp quilt.

There is so much red goodness to behold!

There’s only one magical cure of quilting fever: I must put my foot to the pedal, with no thought of germ infested airplanes or fellow gym members who don’t stay home when they are sick. I’m sewing away, but don’t worry, I’m saving my curative evening hot toddy for after I finish sewing for the night.

Let is Snow

This working from home thing is ah-mazing when the snow is pouring down and the roads are icy and the temperature is dropping.

Here’s the view from my NY back deck on Monday. La De Dah, I don’t care!

Snow doesn’t bother me at all, now that I work from home!

All this white has inspired me to sew in red. It’s a Christmas thing, it’s a valentine’s thing, it’s a fireplace thing — all rolled up into one cozy project. I’m alternately watching old Christmas movies, the Rockefeller Center tree lighting ceremony and Mrs. Maisel in the background while I cut up my little squares and patch them together. Here’s my progress so far.

This will be a queen size postage stamp quilt. I am accepting red scraps if you’d like to play along 🙂

Baby Frolic Quilt — free Pattern

The weather today is delightful and I found myself nearly levitating off the chair at my pays-the-bills job. I was also levitating because I had the chance to package up my jungle-heavy, monkeying around baby quilt to the grandmother of my friend’s new baby. I love to deliver unexpected surprises!

Before the hand-off, though, I took a few pictures.

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I found the monkey rattle a few months ago when I stopped in a shop that was going out of business (score!). It was perfect for my featured fabric and made it simple to package up my quilt for gifting.

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As I mentioned previously, Baby Frolic was developed because I had some fabric that I couldn’t bear to cut apart. I wanted to create a pattern that let the featured fabric shine. After I paired up the featured fabric with a complementary fabric and then an accent fabric, I was ready to start on patches. I filled in those blocks with fabrics from my stash.

I think this pattern would work with many fabrics, but I found the new Jungle Fever line from Rebecca Jones at Clothworks. I think Rebecca’s adorable elephants and sloths would make a delightful Baby Frolic quilt!

Baby Frolic Pattern.

We’ll also post this pattern to Favequilts!

Cindy and I want to share an evening view of the fox kits frolicking near their woodchuck hole den on the farm.

Speaking of frolicking, where’s your favorite frolic space?

Trying not to blink

Does anyone else have this creeping suspicion that if you blink it will be New Year’s Day? Now that Halloween has safely passed, the days and the nights and the weekends will be filled with cooking and decorating and partying and planning and of course, some sewing  (oh, and work — did I forget to mention pay-the-bills work???).  All this activity makes it seem like time is accelerated.  Factor in the end of  Daylight Savings Time this weekend, and the added hour of darkness that will befall us as result, and it’s all over but the champagne toast.

To combat this cheery thought, let’s talk about quilting.

I’ve finished the top of my Drops of Rainbow quilt. I bought a fun navy polka dot fabric today to create the backing. I want to bind it in blue, but haven’t found the right shade yet. I’m looking for a solid fabric to calm the eye.

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Early stages Drops of Rainbow

DIL asked for a gray and yellow quilt for her living room. I purchased some fabric while I was in Ohio this summer. When I pulled it out to begin cutting this week I realized that two of the fabric prints are too similar, so today I stopped at Carriage House Quilts in Naples NY and bought a replacement. (The polka dot fabric from Drops of Rainbow also came from Carriage House). I hope to begin cutting this weekend.

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Raw materials for Nathena’s quilt. 

I love baseball, but rarely make time any more to watch a game, but last night was an exception. How exciting to watch the Houston Astro’s win their very first World Series. I moved my machine into the kitchen so I could watch and listen while I worked on a fall colors bench pillow cover.

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Congrats to the Astros!

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A new bench pillow — yet another excuse to meander through my pre-cuts!

OK, y’all, keep those eyes wide open for the next 60 days!