Passing the Time

What did you do all winter while you were in Florida, you might ask?  Well, this was our third winter in the same town and we have seen most all the sights there, although we are always surprised when something new pops up.  There are loads of parks and we have hiked the trails of all of them.  This year we were next to the ocean so we spent a lot of time walking the beach, watching the waves, picking up shells.  The usual stuff.

We spent a lot of nights playing trivia in a couple of different restaurants or bars.  Every time we or our friends had company we tried to work in a game of trivia.  We must have been getting pretty good at it as we won gift cards to the restaurant where we were playing, which meant another return visit the next week to play again.  Twice we took first prize.

The highlight of my trip was taking a class from Bonnie Hunter through the local guild.  I was so excited to be able to join them and work on the Talkin' Turkey block.  Bonnie is such a friendly and fun person.  I didn't know any of the other people, but met a few and they were very welcoming.  After the workshop, Bonnie did a trunk show which was fun too.

The first time we pulled into the garage of the house we rented this year, I immediately spied a plastic table folded up and stored against the garage wall.  I knew right away this was the table I could use to set up my sewing machine in the house.  There was a 3rd bedroom that was used as an office and a wall under a window with just the right space for the table and all my stuff.  I sewed nearly everyday we were there, sometimes for just a few minutes and other days for several hours.  Here are some of the things I was working on.

 I made this quilt top for my great niece who has a birthday coming up in May.  She will be 11.

 The pink fabric in the center of the square is elephants being carried by hot air balloons.  So funny.

 What grabbed me was this adorable fabric of girls carrying pink parasols while riding unicycles.  My little niece performs in a unicycle/ gymnastics group called Young Ambassadors.  They are ambassadors for physical fitness and perform at the half time of basketball games or at special assemblies at all the elementary and high schools and even college games in their town.  How perfect!!

 I  made these two little doll quilts for the granddaughters of my friend in Florida.  Her granddaughters live in Ecuador.  She had quilts made for them and I made these to go with them.

 I have been making a bunch of these for a Goose Chase quilt.  I made quite a few in Florida and just keep going.

 They are pretty small.

 I made this fancy carrying case to put my Talkin' Turkey blocks in to bring them home.  I didn't want them to get all wrinkly after I spent time ironing and squaring them.

I also made a bunch of these stars for a quilt designed by Humble Quilts.