Distractedly Productive

Good day to you, my dear friends.  How the heck are you?  My second week of lay off came and went like a flash.  Seriously, when will I get the chance to be bored?

Any who.  I've tried to stay productive but I'm just really distracted.  I do better with deadlines.  We had our guild meeting so, I knew I had to get some stuff done by Tuesday and that helped me focus.

The guild block of the month is almost over.  This was from November.  I was a little nervous to do a dark flower because there is no dark, or purple for that matter, in my companion fabrics for this project.  I think it's pretty.  It's bright enough that it doesn't look completely out of place.

Then we had this cute holly plant for December.  I'm loving my little fussy cut berries.  Even though, I'll admit I was confused that we'd do a winter bloom with so many spring flowers.  This is how my brain works.  It also explains why I'm not a designer.  Making the berries pink helps me deal with it.

So, now that there are only 2 more blocks left, I've been thinking about the end game.  Out comes the Circle of Nine book.  What's funny, is that I didn't want this book until my friend Sue H. bought it.  Then, I was like, you're right, this is cool.  So far I've used about 3 times.  That's a lot for me.

The fairy blocks are where the applique blocks go.  The squares in squares will be light green and a floral.  The brown blocks are going to be a clam shell print and the outer border will be the floral again.  Trust me, it's going to be great.

We bought some "new" furniture this week.  We trash furniture so often that we never actually buy new.  Rich's co-worker was re-decorating so we bought his old stuff.  We got a dining room table, this bench, 4 dining chairs, a love seat and a recliner for $300.  I also like to collect furniture for my kids.  Not that I want them to move out, I just want them to be ready to go.  Know what I mean?  I have now been informed that someone actually has to move out before I'm allowed to collect any more stuff for them...

My bench was covered in solid black.  It just wasn't working.  Luckily, Jackmans's had their sale and I was able to re-upholster it for $15.  I'm considering pillows but they never get any respect at our house.  They end up on the ground and covered in dog hair.

 I should have mentioned this one first.  This fabric was my first choice for the bench.  The taupe background was really disappointing with the black bench.  So, I went back for the other.

I couldn't let this go to waste because it's also beautiful.  Turns out that it's the perfect compliment to my grandmother's peony painting.  So, I was right.  I was just in the wrong room.  BTW, this is the dining room.

The first thing I did this week was quilt this very old quilt.  It's been in my pile for 2 years.  I just recently bought the book for it, even though I've already made the quilt.  What can I say?  I wanted to support an artist.  I used the walking foot and did a wiggle between the rows.

Then, I managed to work on Roberta Anne With An "E".  Her May block is adorable!  What I love about this one is that I actually had this hat as a Halloween costume when the kids were little!  Dana D. is a saint for letting me use her wool stash!

So, our guild is doing a UFO challenge that could potentially involve me winning money.  I know, pretty exciting.  So, there's another motive for me to get my act together and finish my many projects!

I'll keep you posted!