Funeral's Stink!

The only aunt I had on my mom's side passed away. All of yesterday was spent in Hamburg, MI attending the family viewing, funeral, luncheon, etc. I hadn't seen some of my cousins in over 40 years. Some had changed, and some not at all. Funny isn't it?

It's like my quilting and abilities thereof. Some things change, like the way I bind my quilts now. And some things don't, like the way I still hate attaching labels (even though I know I should be attaching them on each and every quilt). 

My abilities have changed too. I've become more daring in the level of quilt I will tackle whether through making a top or what I'll long arm in the quilt. A few of my abilities haven't changed at all. I still get one corner on every quilt that I struggle with in squaring up correctly, no matter different techniques I pursue or research I do to try and fix it. Perhaps that's just my quilting signature?

Whether we want to face it or not, change is inevitable. Deal. As my Aunt Nancy would have said, "Don't sweat the small stuff and just move on." So I do.

Here's what happened on Monday. I finished the Sugar Block BOM 2013.

Sugar Block BOM 2013

Not my usual colors, but nice nonetheless.

DW was reloaded with the latest string quilt and I'm just running a meander throughout the top and borders with a few loops in the thin border.

DW's latest clothing

This quilt doesn't look like much until you can see the whole thing, but it's a great way to use up all of those strings; the braided border helped in that respect!

I should probably dig into my row-by-row tote to see what's going on in there. We exchanged last Thursday and I haven't even opened it up with my Chicago trip and the funeral activities. I'll work on the string quilt some more today and pull the papers off of the third block pieces in the Arcadia Avenue project. 

I think my UFO shelves are becoming overwhelming. I need to think about this a bit more and start tackling some of those. I received my Garden pattern back from Carol and feel like I have enough batiks around to start working on the last Judy Niemeyer pattern I picked up. I also drafted a pattern from Keepsake Quilting I saw that would be darling to do with all the homespuns I've been collecting so lots to do. Happy dance!