The Quilt that Swallowed My Husband!

It is taking over the house! It is getting so big now, it is very hard to get a good shot of the whole thing, so here is one of the corners. I've started on the last border now, so am getting excited!

Going to get out the knitting for a bit before bed, though, as I have a knitting group to go to now! About 6 local moms meeting in each others houses each Thursday. Very cool, and very nice people!

Corners of My Home!

Look what I got in the mail! My friend Katy, friend from way back in college, and fellow Bob Dylan fan and quilter, sent me this! We are both from Maryland, and both living in Europe, she is in London with me here in Ireland. It is nice, we usually meet up once a year or so. This year she was over for a Dylan concert in the summer, lol! Check out her nice work here. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU KATY!!

Here are a few photos of the house as it is developing. We had the tilers remove the hideous carpet in the kitchen and lay our new floor today...it is still a bit of a mess so kitchen photos another day!

The living room is getting nice and homey, and the second sitting room we ripped out the fireplace, and set up a kids playroom... I love that big bookcase for storing the kids toys!

I have three borders of the DJ done now, but will post that later, when I get my quilt holder away from the telly! 

Making Progress...

This is the view from our local library! I take the girls there every other week or so now and love this view! I'm really enjoying the patchwork group, and bring my Dear Jane quilt there to work on while I chat about quilting! How cool to find other people in real life that like quilting and fabric as much as I do...

I've finished the 3rd border on the Dear Jane quilt and now have to attach it. After getting the last border on, I'll need to do another plain border that will eventually be the scalloped edge...90 inches of straight sewing plain muslin is not going to be very exciting, especially done 4 times! Oh well!

Everyone seems to be posting goals for the month, so I think I'll join in!

1. Finish Dear Jane top
2. Start Crazy Quilting practice and Joggles.com class!

Since the first goal is a doozy, I don't think I'll add much to this list. I think this year I am not going to do too many hand made presents... in November, I will try to finish a baby quilt for a friend I will see in December, and maybe something for my parents for their new house, a small quilt...everything else will be bought! 

Second Border On!

My DH is somewhere behind that quilt, LOL...it is harder and harder to photograph it now, as it is so big!

I have started on the next border and hope to plow ahead. I don't think I'll be getting out my sewing machine for new projects for a while, so I hope my blog doesn't become too boring, but with the move and a self-imposed deadline to finish my DJ top by the end of October, I will be focusing on hand work on the DJ and the crazy quilt round robin. I want to really make sure that the sewing room/office turns out great, so it will be the last room to be tackled as we mull over furniture and layout...

Thanks for the lovely comments about one of my two cutie pies. Hey Shelina, she wasn't cold, LOL, just a little windswept up there on the hilltop!! Weather is still quite nice here for the moment! 

Not a lot of quilting here, but getting a little done...

If you climb up the road we live on up from the town into the mountains you are rewarded with this view... Here is my cutie Aine (onya) modeling her mommymade scarf withour beautiful view of the Shannon and Lough Derg.

I have finished my second tri border for the Dear Jane but haven't gotten it out to photograph. I seem to be running everywhere these days!

I promise I will be getting more into a routine and back to quilting entries! 

It's a Long Long Way to Tipperary!

We're here, still waiting for new furniture to arrive, camping on our living room floor and still living out of boxes, but I've managed to do a bit of quilting progress...my second hand pieced border is ready to be sewn onto my Dear Jane!

I found the patchwork group here...it is small, but the ladies seemed nice. I think I overwhelmed them with my Dear Jane quilt when I brought it in...it gave me some "street cred" LOL as a quilter! I will have little Aisling babysat once a week so I can go to the class and will have to see about my life as a graphic design worker as well...that is not as regular as it is freelance so will have to see about workload before setting up anything permanent for that. I figure I have to treat myself a bit first, so between a gym membership and swimming and the patchwork, Weight Watchers, and plans for Irish set dancing on Wednesdays ( I met my husband doing traditional Irish dancing in DC) I will be spoiling myself rotten here!

My oldest Aine (onya) goes to a montessori that is in the same facility as the pool we just joined, and I can have Aisling there for the hour I want to swim most mornings. I used to swim a lot before the kids, it helped me to lose the weight the first time I did Weight Watchers, so I am happy to find a gym with a creche, esp. when the montessori is attached to the same building, ideal!! Aine will be in school till noon M-Thurs, and then every Friday they do a special day for 2 year olds to get them accustomed to the montessori environment, so Aisling will go there, and I will take Aine swimming for those two hours. Aine loves to swim, and Aisling, not so much, so it is a great way to get some time for us together. Aisling and I will have lots of time alone while her sister is in school.

Anyway I am finding my feet here and have met some nice people already! Another American girl called last week for a playdate for the kids...having never had kids in America, I've never been invited for a "playdate" LOL!

I am definitely not going to show photos of the house yet, as we are still in camping mode, but after we get our furniture hopefully tomorrow, things will start shaping up.

I will have to take photos of my walk to the gym...poor me... I have to walk out my door down a hill to the Shannon River, with a beautiful view from our Tipperary side of the river over the lovely County Clare hills and the beautiful town of Killaloe on the other side of the river. It is a hardship, but I think I might be able to get used to it!

No broadband yet, so I am still not surfing long (dialup is 5 euro cent a minute, about 8 cents US)...hope to have broadband this week or next week though... I am looking forward to catching up on everyone's blogs again soon! 

Started a scarf last night!

Back into knitting again. Once upon a time I did a few sweaters, including one with complicated cabling in the design of two intertwining trees! I thought I'd left it behind but I feel the pull again, so here is my start, a fuzzy scarf for Aine to match with a fuzzy pink coat I found at the local Oxfam charity shop! Aine likes pink. Would you ever have guessed, LOL? I will make a matching hat and then do a set for little Aisling. My next project will be to try some warm toasty socks I keep seeing around the blogosphere! Can't be too hard right??

A few people asked about what I was going to do with the crazy quilt to embellish it... I will be doing a round robin with it! Barbara has organized one with about 7 of us and we will each embellish one or two blocks for each member in the RR. I can't wait to see how it will come back to me next year!

We took a break from packing on Thursday when we realized that no one would be showing up Friday, so we have a few more boxes to pack and then just a basic tidy up to do tomorrow. Dave goes back to work Monday and will meet the movers Tuesday afternoon at the new house with me and the girls and the cat close behind (I hope, hope hope! there is still no guarantee that Tuesday will the day, please keep fingers still crossed??)

Anyway...I hope to sew my top border for my Dear Jane quilt tomorrow. I will try to post some progress, as Dave is taking the computer apart tomorrow night, oh the withdrawals are starting already!