Snow in October ???

The good news is I am feeling much better after spending the better part of last weekend either in bed or on the couch. The bad news is that I did not get too much of anything accomplished last weekend sewing related or otherwise which really stinks as it was a rainy weekend and perfect weather for sewing and/or cleaning.

On Tuesday we had a bit of a surprise here in the Northeast -- our first snowstorm of the season! I think somebody forgot to tell Mother Nature it was October. I remember having snow on Thanksgiving which is rare -- but before Halloween is just plain crazy. We had about 5 inches before it turned back to rain/sleet. However in areas not that far from me there were reports of 11 inches. Needless to say, there were fallen trees, closed roads and loss of power for many residents. We lost our power for more than 24 hours. There are still people in our town without power -- they even setup a shelter at the local high school. If this is any indication of the winter ahead, I am packing my bags and moving south until Spring returns.

I won't be blogging for the next few days as the Posse is going on a sewing retreat for the weekend. We are meeting for breakfast tomorrow morning, then it is off to do a bit of shopping before checking into the resort for the weekend. I am looking forward to spending the weekend with my quilting buddies -- just sewing, chatting, sharing a bottle of wine or two. No one asking what we are having for dinner, when dinner will be ready and whether or not there will be dessert. Yup, I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend with friends. And Mother Nature is forecast to be back in her Autumn mode -- sunny, crisp fall days with temps in the 50's & 60's.

Musings and a New Book

Okay so it wasn't the beginning of the month for the past week and a half -- so much for my theory that I would blog more often during mid-month. This week should have been a quiet week at work -- however, my boss, who is not based in the same office (or country for that matter) as me, was in for a few days. Suffice it to say it was a rather intense week and I am now paying for it as I left work early today as I am not feeling well. What is even more disappointing is that even after taking some medicine and sleeping for the better part of the afternoon, I am still not feeling well. Not to mention that there is absolutely nothing on daytime television worth watching!

Fortunately for me the postman brought a package today so at least I have a new book to browse. Upon first review it looks like a good reference book to have if you are interested in creating photo quilts or anything that incorporates fabrics and photos.

I have made two photo quilts --- both of which were wedding gifts and incorporated various photos from the happy couples' lives both before and after they met. Unfortunately with the crash of my hard drive earlier this year I lost the photos of the second quilt so I cannot post any of them. However I will have to dig through my photo CDs and find the pictures from the first quilt. On my never-ending list of projects is a photo quilt incorporating the lighthouse photos I have taken during my travels.

I did manage to remember that Oprah was on this afternoon. Her guests today included Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder. They were promoting the new Kindle which is an electronic book created by Jeff Bezos. I am jealous as they gave one to everyone in the studio audience. It is not cheap but it does look like a very cool gadget. Techie gadgets are my other downfall besides quilting. In fact, my oldest DS has the same tendencies with techie toys and we decided long ago that it is VERY dangerous for the two of us to be in a store like Best Buy or Circuit City together. Inevitably we are walking out with something that we can't possibly live without and usually don't need. I don't dare mention this new gadget to him since Borders and Barnes & Noble are other stores that we spend lots of time and lots of $$$ in when we are together. Can you imagine the trouble we would get into with an electronic book device???? If it wasn't so expensive and if DH and I had already decided we were not spending lots of money for Christmas this year, I would add it to my Christmas list. I am sure, as with every new technological gadget, the price will come down and the product will improve. I think I can live without the Kindle for now.

Happy Stitchin!

A Few Pleasant Surprises and A Bit of Housekeeping

My oldest DS and his friends went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art today and I got a souvenir -- the 2009 Calendar of American Quilts.



A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had taken a class by Megan. Here is my finished tote bag. It is a great size to carry a book or handwork.


A co-worker of mine also took the class. Yesterday she showed me one of the latest versions -- the combination of fabrics she chose were fantastic. The world has another obsessed quilter -- she has made at least 6 of the Chloe bags I taught in August and she has made at least 4 or 5 of Megan's tote. It gives me a great feeling to know that I have helped a friend improve her skills and develop a passion about quilting.

As promised in my last post, here is a photo of the tote bag book I picked up in Pennsylvania last week. It is written by an Australian author which I did not realize at the time I purchased it. I was too busy oodling over the great tote bags and purses. There are several I would love to try in the very near future.


And just for fun a picture of my kitty, Malibu Blue . . .


As I write this post I realize that my last post was a milestone -- my 50th post. When I started my blog earlier this year, I had no idea where it would take me or the friends it would bring me. It has been a great journey so far and I hope the next 50 posts are just as wonderful.

My Crazy Life

As a teenager I had a steady babysitting job during the week after school. I watched two preschoolers during the afternoon for the two hours between the time their mother had to leave for work and their father came home from work. I remember thinking that Patti had such a busy, exciting life always running from here to there compared to my mother who was a stay-at-home mom and rarely went anywhere outside of the weekly food shopping. Hmm what I would not give for some of that quiet, boring life that my mother seemed to lead. I keep trying to figure out how to get some control and sanity back into my life particularly during the first 10 days of the month when I am at my absolute busiest at work. My latest thinking is I just need to accept that fact that work will over take my life for the 3 or 4 business days of the month and there is not much I can do about it since there are deadlines and deliverables that are not going to change just because I want some work/life balance. The next 6 or 7 days are full of deliverables as well but the deadlines are a bit longer so there is a little bit of breathing space. So, you are wondering, what does this have to do with quilting, blogging, etc.? Not much except that I probably won't post during those first 7 to 10 days of each month. Not because I don't want to -- believe me there a posts swirling inside my head that just can't get out. There just isn't enough time in the day to post or even think about writing a post during those first few days. So if I disappear for a few days or more and it is the beginning of a new month, you will know why.

In addition to the month-end craziness, I will be traveling for work during the next few months. This morning I am in Pennsylvania on business. Fortunately I was able to drive out yesterday afternoon so there is no flying in and out within 24 hours AND I have enough gas to make it back to NJ before needing to fill the tank! Another plus to this trip is there are two quilt shops within a short distance of my location. One of them I went to yesterday afternoon. The other one I am hoping to visit on my way home this afternoon. Although I don't have pictures to share with you of my purchases, I can tell you there was a purse/tote bag book calling to me. Obviously I couldn't leave it at the shop, it had to come home with me. I promise to share more in my next post.

TGIF!