Pre-vacation busy-ness

There are just two days before we head out to Colorado with Chris to see Mom and Jenny.  Can't wait!  I am amassing things I don't want to forget on the guest bed and trying not to make a big mess in that room which doubles as my sewing room.  

I don't want to start any big projects, but I am always hankering to sew a little each day.  What to do?  Work on the guild block of the month.  This month's is called Dutch Treat and I used purples for my block which will go into a lottery at the June guild meeting.

I don't usually put my name into the lottery even though I make a block because I have plenty of UFOs to keep me busy.   But this time, I hope I win.   A bunch of these would be a perfect border around the Holland map quilt I'd like to make this summer.  Karen Abrahamovich has made patterns for all 50 states and is working on countries now.  I bought the pattern last year with an eye toward making the country in blue scraps.

I think this pattern will take some concentration, and I haven't decided what size to make yet.  So I decided to get out the foundation piecing papers for Double Date by Jen Kingwell.  I tried one 6" block and found it not too difficult, so I made a few more over the last couple of days.  I'm going to like working on this, using up some of my green scraps.  I have never made a whole paper pieced quilt, so I suspect I'll spread the work out most of the summer.

This afternoon, I'm going to settle in to watch "Quilting Arts" on PBS and do a little knitting on the shawl I started in January.  It has been waiting to be finished for a long time.  I'm anxious to start on a few hats for Bags of Love soon.