April 2010 Accomplishments

I feel like this was a very productive month. There probably won't be a lot of items on my list of accomplishments, but what I did get done were big items. My only goals for the month were to finish the 2 secret quilts. For the most part, they are done. I just need to hand stitch the binding and label the second one. Regina's is already in use!

1. Received my fabric for the Sister Initiation Swap with Regina and Lazy Sister Sue. I even have my selection of fabrics to add for the color!
2. Got 2 software sets for EQ6. They are both very cool! And I can't wait to see what Barb does with her new software!
3. Went shopping with Barb and Lucy and killed my stash report!
4. Learned that the IQF is going to be in Cincinnati next year and have already started planning the weekend with the gals who will be crashing at my pad! :)
5. Picked up some seriously on sale yarn for a couple of sweaters. I can't wait to start a sweater!
6. Finished my 3rd knitted baby cap of the year. And found a rad new ironing board!! For anyone wondering, it is fantastic!!
7. Laid out, assembled, quilted and attached the binding to Regina's secret quilt and then mailed it out! I mailed it on a Saturday and told her that since it was a big box that it would take 6-10 days to get to her. They told me it would be 3 days. What a big surprise to both of us when she got it on MONDAY! There must be an express service between Fairfield and Churchville, NY!!!
8. Laid out, assembled, quilted and attached the binding to the second secret quilt. I haven't posted a picture of this one. It's smaller than Regina's and has borders. Once the binding and label are finished, I will post a picture.
9. Assembled all the fabric for the top and binding for my Judy Martin Log Cabin quilt!
10. Listed a bunch of my stamping items on Craigslist to sell. The basement is starting to look a little better!
11. Made good progress on my afghan.
12. Finished cutting the 5,237 pieces for the Judy Martin Quilt!

Wow! That was a big month! I also got a lot of books read, too!

1. A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve - back when I was in a book club, we read a lot of the books by this author and I really enjoyed them. They are great book club books. This was good, too!
2. A Thread of Truth by Marie Bostwick - This was a good story and a nice continuation from her first Cobbled Court Quilt book, but the editing was awful!! I think on one page, I found 3 or 4 errors. It's very distracting to me to read typos and grammatical errors. This was the first book that I almost stopped reading due to the editing. It's a good thing that the story was so good!
3. Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult - I really enjoy Jodi's books, but I have to space them out so that I don't read 2 or 3 sad books in a row. This one was very interesting!
4. The Aloha Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini - Although I wish that these stories would go in order instead of jumping around in time, this was the first book in a few in this series that I didn't feel like I was being bashed over the head with whatever main point the author was trying to get across. I loved the new location and I think that she opened a few doors with how she ended the story. Very good!!
5. Fire Along the Sky by Sara Donati - This is the 5th book in the Wilderness Series and it has been a while since I read the first 3. It took me a few chapters to remember who everyone was and how they were connected, but since it was a several gap in the story since the last book, it was pretty easy to catch on. This series is fantastic! I couldn't stop listening to the book and got it finished pretty quickly in spite of the 19 disc length.
6. Queen of Swords by Sara Donati - As soon as I finished Fire Along the Sky, I started right in with this book. It was a real page turner... or another one that I couldn't bring myself to put on pause since I listened to the audio version. These books felt very authentic to me for being set in early 1800's. The descriptions of the settings were great!
7. Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke - The only thing that I can say about this one is that sometimes it is nice to have a light read every once in a while.

Crocheting hours - 10; Knitting hours - 11.75; Quilting hours - 53.75

I haven't really decided on any goals for May, but I do want to get my stash report back in the black, I have less than 10 yards to go and I have plans to spend the weekend cutting up some fabric! I do want to finish my current pair of socks so that I can try the two at a time on circular needles. :)

The pups say...

"We can't take credit for any of these..."