Marching along

 Another month has flown by.  I am getting so far behind in my posts.... When I returned from my trip to Arizona in February, we were very busy at work, preparing for St. Patrick's Day events, and no sooner are we finished setting them up and then taking them down, and BAM! Get ready for Easter events! I didn't have much time at all for sewing. I also have been trying to reorganize my sewing / cat / computer room.  I bought a new cabinet to put Bruce's overabundance of clothes into, but I have to wait for two of the shelves to be completed. I can't wait to get that out of the way. And get all my laundry baskets back!

For now, I am linking up to the NewFO Party for March. Hosted by Barbara at Cat Patches.

 The only thing I got started in March was finding and buying some of the fabric for projects I want to do. I did get to sew the beginning pieces together for the Hello Moon Quilt Along.  

I am looking forward to participating in this fun project. It will be my first Quilt Along.

I had planned on getting so much done last weekend. I started out on Friday night by getting our new cabinet assembled and then discovered it was short 2 shelves, which I am hoping will be here by Tuesday. Then I was all set to get my errands run and go to JoAnn's and maybe even a quilt shop to get some of the materials I wanted for projects I want to start. I got as far as depositing my paycheck into the ATM when I received a call from Bruce. He had gone to the storage yard and picked up the boat and towed it over to a friend's workshop to install some new electronics in it. When he unlocked the cabin, he discovered 5 furry surprises. 

I spent most of the weekend caring for the little loves. They were approximately 3-4 weeks old and needed to be fed about every 4 hours. I had to prepare formula and feed them and clean them. It took about an hour and a half each time, since there were 5 of them. Funny how Bruce found them, but I did all the work! Monday morning I finally found a rescue who had a nursing mom cat.  She took them in and they are doing great. It was very hard to let them go, after getting quite attached to them, with all the feeding and care.  I would have loved to keep one, but Bruce said "NO".  Insert big lip pout here.....  I know that I don't need another cat, with the six I already have (plus the two dogs), but when has need ever had anything to do with me getting another furry family member?  In the end I did what was best for the kittens and am keeping in communication with the rescue about possibly trapping the biological Momma cat (and any other strays in the vicinity of the storage lot) to get her spayed and released. 

So, in my defense, I was a little too busy to get any of my projects worked on.  Yesterday was all about getting my Jeep's issues straightened out. Today we slept in, and then after a lovely little boat ride and boat wash, I was finally able to work in my craft room for a while. I am hoping that this week, after work will be a little more productive and fun. I am currently hand sewing the binding on my Arizona souvenir quilt. How nice it will be to have something to post in the 2013 Finishes! 

Thanks for stopping in! ~Amy

February NEWFO

Wow, February is over! I know it was a short month, but it seems like it was shorter than short!

 I had a fun trip to Arizona. It was fantastic to see my longtime, good friend and see new things. I have started a post about my trip, but things have been quite busy around here since I got home. We spent the last 3 days battling fleas. Ugh. Dreadful little nuisances. So, I am trying to get this post done in time to participate in the February NewFO by Barbara at Cat Patches. 

While in Phoenix, Stella and I took a quilting class at a wonderful shop called etc. They are a quilting and scrap-booking store. Stella told me my head would probably explode when I went in and she was almost right! I am sad that I didn't take any pictures while we were there, but I was too busy having fun in the class and then shopping afterward! I am trying to learn to enjoy things I am doing and seeing, instead of just taking a zillion pictures.

It was a nice group of ladies and I think all seven of us completed our quilt tops in class. I've never gotten so much done in one class! We even learned a new trick for basting! Our instructor has an aversion to pinning her quilts together for quilting and introduced us to using the spray adhesive method. I have to say, that I am impressed with it. Since we didn't have quite enough time to do our quilting in class, I rolled and folded up my "sandwich" and put it in my suitcase. Three days later, when I got home and unpacked, it was still "basted" together and looked great! I started to quilt it the other day, but other things needed to be taken care of and I didn't get it finished yet. Here is my fun and useful Arizona vacation souvenir. 

As always, Riley and Oliver (that's his back half on the left), are always ready to inspect and help hold down my projects.

The lighting isn't the best, and the only place I had to take the pictures was on my bed. I will take better pictures when I finish it up this weekend. 

 My other little NewFO is a cute, little cross-stitch kit I picked up at one of the shops we visited in Arizona. I've been working on it a little as I watched TV the past few nights. Normally, I would have had it completed in one night, but with doing all the laundry and re-assembling rooms, and of course, cat wrangling after work, I've been pretty tired by the time I got to sit and sew. 

So that's all for my NewFOs this month! I'm hoping to get a couple of things finished this weekend and then I can start my March NewFOs!

 

Thanks for stopping in! ~Amy