I whipped up one of Blair's rice pillows last night.  She wasn't kidding when she said it could be done in little time.  Mine was in the microwave about 15 minutes after I had started it.  It is the perfect thing for my sore back/shoulder.

I used scraps from some pillowcases I made a few weeks ago.  The eyelet ruffle was already on the sheeting.  Here is another time I am so happy to have a serger.  I just turned it on and with a few seams I was in business.  Like Molly, I made a case that can come off and be washed.  Good thing, too.  It's going to have to be washed to get all the cat hair off.  Miss Scout likes it just as much as I do.

Oh, and the x's....6 down, 3 to go.  The ones above aren't sewn together.  I am waiting until I have them all finished to see obsess over how it's all going to come together.  So far, just looking at them all together is making me a happy girl.

So the weekend was great.  Juno was fantabulous.  Really.  Fatty and I went to our favorite Mexican joint then to the bookstore before the movie.  This is our standard date night and it has been a long time since we had one.  So good.  I like date night.  It just makes me happy.

During the day, I had my class on the Bernina Stitch Regulator (BSR).  Yes, I have a Bernina.  I know, I know...you all thought I had a Babylock.  Well, I do.  And as much as I love that machine, it has spent too much time in the shop within the past year.  I think that is because I use it for utilitarian, everyday sewing so much more than I use it for embroidery.  Anyhow, I have been on the look out for a back-up machine for awhile.  What I ended up with is now my primary machine, with the Ellageo taking back up status.  I got a great deal on the Bernina Aurora 430 back in November.  I didn't open the box until January.  I know that is plain crazy, but I just didn't have time for a learning curve with all the holiday gifts hanging over my head.

So I started the new year with a new machine.  And I love it.  I have been using it for my x quilt (5 x's down, 4 to go, in case you were wondering) and did my first batch of applique t-shirts on it without too many problems.  Good, right?  Well, after my BSR class, it is even better.  It is great.  I can now free motion quilt (which never worked so well on the Babylock).  Look and see:

It's not the best, but look!  I stitched a house with a tree free hand and then wrote with thread.  So cool!

I also drew a bicycle for fatty.  If you look closely, you can see my name upside down, stitched with a double needle.  Fun stuff, I tell you.

And here is some bobbin work - the fancy, glittery thread goes in the bobbin and you use regular thread up top.  So cool!  Glitter and loops, for you, Daria.

It is safe to say that I am addicted to the free motion thing now.  I need to practice a TON more, but then, watch out!  The project ideas are swimming in my head.  Of course, I am going to play it safe and use the walking foot for the string x quilt - I think it begs for straight lines.  Then it's pillows and potholders with free motion.  I can't wait!

It's a Friday in February...ho hum.  Just think in two more weeks it'll be March.   That gives me hope.

Not much happening over here.  I've been making x's like crazy.  Well, not too crazy - I have three done.  They each take me a little more than an hour - an hour and a half if I obsess about the random factor.  So really, they take an hour and a half each.  Who am I kidding?  I hope to finish the entire quilt top by next weekend.  If I make an x a day that is entirely do-able.  If I stop obsessing about pattern and color, it will be a piece of cake.  Wish me luck.

Jennifer has received my quilt square.  I love it and she likes it so all is well.  Pop on over to the virtual quilting bee group on Flickr.  I love how it is coming together!

Tomorrow looks promising - I have a sewing class to learn how to use my Bernina Stitch Regulator (woo hoo!) and a date with my man  (yippee!).   Hope your weekend holds just as much promise.  Enjoy!

This heart was the first thing Fatty ever gave to me.  He debated back and forth about whether or not to give it to me because it is made of stone.  I don't care.  I love it.  And I love him.

Hope you get to spend today with your valentine.  Mine just got home.

Historically, winter is the hardest time of year for me.  I find that gray skies and not much sun don't treat me very well.  So when Sarah announced her gocco swap's theme as mid-winter, I grumbled.  Out loud.  I really wanted to do the swap, but mid-winter?  Ugh.

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to print.  Fatty came up with all kinds of good ideas, but either they were entirely impractical (I cannot draw a groundhog, for instance) or they weren't very "me" (whatever that is).  I was looking back at some photos on Flickr and this one caught my attention.  It was snowy and gray and the sun was trying to peek through.  That gave me an idea.

I took a plain white doily and placed it on a black background and scanned it.  I then inverted the black and white, cropped it some and made my master.  I mixed a bit of brown ink into the yellow to get a match to the curry colored envelopes from the Paper Source.  I printed it on gray folded notes (also from Paper Source) and voila - my version of mid-winter.

Funnily enough, after I mailed them on Monday, it started snowing.  Yesterday was snowy and gray.  Today is snowy again, but the sun has come out a few times, too.  Tomorrow's forecast is for sunny skies.  Mid-winter indeed.

Thanks for hosting a great swap, Sarah.  I promise not to grumble if you do it again.

No school for the girls today.  We got about three inches of snow with freezing rain on top of that.  It doesn't take much to make them close the schools here.  The bummer of the whole deal is that the snow isn't even good enough to play in.  I guess we just have to admire it from inside.

We live in an old neighborhood with lots of mature trees.  It really is beautiful to see them all covered with white.  It won't last long, though.  It has already begun to melt some.

When I took these photos, it reminded me of my newest piece of art.

This is "I like the trees outside my window" by Jennifer Judd-McGee.  This is the original.  Yes, lucky lucky me.  When I saw it on flickr, I had to have it.  We live in a yellow house and have the crazy Japanese maple right outside.  So it was perfect for me.  The drawing is so beautiful, much more so in real life than in photos if that is at all possible.  Right now it is sitting on a chest of drawers in the kitchen and I get to look at it many times each day.  I love it, Jen.  Thanks for helping me get in touch with those fine ladies at Edith and Edna so I could call it my own.

OK - back to making snacks for the girls and more x's.  Ta ta for now.

I finished my first X for my quilt.

It was so much fun to make!  Each of the four squares that make one x is 12" - I am figuring I need 9 x's (or 36 individual squares) to make a queen sized quilt.  I like the randomness of it - and it is random.  I tried very hard not to over think it.  I must put some more dark greens in the next one or that one strip is going to stand out.  I am hoping to knock out a couple more x's this week.  I hurt my wrist so I am taking a little knitting vacation.  That just leaves more time to sew!

I also finished my square for the Virtual Quilting Bee, but that one is under wraps until it gets to its destination.  Well, one person had a sneak peek.  But that's it.  I'm not sharing any more.  You can see the fabrics that made it in the final square here.  Once I got sewing, it came together pretty well.  I sent it off today so watch the mail, Jennifer.  I hope you like it.

I printed my goods for the gocco swap today.  It was trial and error to find the right mix of yellow and brown, but in the end, I think it turned out good.  I am a novice at this thing, for sure.  It makes me nervous to be sending my item out knowing it is a bit, er,  rough around the edges.  I'll be interested to see what people think.  Fingers crossed.

I am working on my first quilt square for the Bee.  Jennifer sent the print in the background and the yellow chenille for inspiration.  I just hope it goes together like I have it in my head.   And that it goes with the other 11 blocks, too.  And that she likes it.  Once again, nerves.

Up this weekend....finishing our handmade valentines for Sarah's swap, working on Miniswap and trying to get one very very very overdue package in the mail.  Thank goodness that recipient is patient and kind and sweet.  Oh, I just wrote thank goodness.  Coincidence?  I think not.

Happy Friday.