Needle and Thread

I didn't get to any quilty projects yet today but I did have breakfast with my quilty friend Panda, and then went back to her house and we chatted up a storm amidst times of both laughter and tears as she continues grieving over her husband who passed last October, and I over the loss of my Mom.  It was after 2:00 by the time I got home and then I had just enough time to grab a lunch bite before heading to the school to pick Nick up.

When I was away during that first week of February, I had taken my machine, the table and a couple of projects with me but none of it was ever set up and worked on.  It was obvious that I couldn't set up my quilting station in ICU, and I didn't have the mental energy when I'd get back to the house at night, so I had to find a different mechanism to keep myself occupied while at the hospital.  

The perfect project, so I thought, would be an embroidery project, but with limited time and funds, I didn't shop around and so spent a few free hours one Saturday to go with my aunt to one of my favorite quilt shops up there.  They didn't have any pre-kitted embroidery projects, but did have some quilt projects with the designs on them, so I chose one with flowers and butterflies. I had to pick up all the DMC threads, needles, hoop and a way to store them, ultimately spending a little more than I'd have liked. 

 Well, as you can see, I didn't make a lot of progress on my embroidery either. This is the extent of what I was able to get done.

But, I think I'll work on it while I'm watching The Voice this evening.  It's really a simple project as there are only two stitches involved, a satin stitch, and a back-stitch.  There are six blocks, all the same, and they measure 18" square, so should I ever, and hopefully I will, finish them, they will become a quilt.

During the week in between my northern trips, I found the embroidery project I'd have preferred to have had with me as I had everything I needed in one bag, and I've been working on it for a number of years.  I'll post about it at another time, but it seems I may have done so on my D.O.O.W. blog over a year ago.