Snow Day on Monday!

Today the winds are picking up to blow around the foot or so of snow we received yesterday... enough for one session of snow blowing last night and one right now by my school teacher husband. Our son is enjoying an unscheduled sleep in day. He has had a cold for about 10 days and was treated for a nasty ear infection on Saturday so hopefully a lazy day will speed along his recovery. Here is our snow coated fire pit.

Can you believe mid-February is almost here?  I'm looking at my goals for the month and shaking my head already! I've got bits & pieces of all of these projects scattered about my quilt room... no wonder I'm feeling out of focus. I think it's time to buckle down and get the big ones done today and tomorrow so I can get them off to my LAQ. With that in mind I'm going to put away everything but my Four Patch & Friends (goal #2) and my Shabby Strings (goal #4).

I blogged about Four Patch & Friends yesterday so let's talk about Shabby Strings. Several years ago 2 quilters from the HGTV Quilting Forum and I did a swap when we discovered our shared love of shabby chic fabrics (namely Robyn Pandolph). We agreed to cut into our pretties and exchange 7.5" unfinished string blocks. I have 72 of these beauties stacked up here in sets of 4. Some in the bottom row are partially sewn together, I have no idea why I left it like this!

After playing around with layouts yesterday I decided that another row of blocks would make a better sized cuddle quilt and wondered if I had enough shabby strings to make 8 more.

I dug out my photo box (does that not shout pretty fabrics inside!) which is stuffed to the top. Um... yes. Tucker was quick to arrive because this box has not been opened for at least 3 years. After a thorough check he agrees that 8 more blocks will not be a problem. Then I had to set aside the camera because he was determined to sit on the box! I wonder if he thinks he is still kitten sized? Kind of like how I am startled by my 51 year old self in the mirror occasionally...

He stalked off in a huff and later I found him here. The comfort of slightly warm clothes fresh from the dryer! Does his look not say "Bug Off" or maybe worse?

Here are a few of the blocks laid out. String blocks + my favorite shabby fabrics = HAPPINESS!

So, two quilts to get to flimsy stage and everything else is going out of sight until these are done. My design wall reflects my scattered mind today!

I had to put up some pink & purple Crossroads blocks on Friday night to see how multiple colors look - LOVE it and can't wait to see what color we'll be making in March! A few Four Patch & Friends blocks are lingering along with my patchwork for my Threadbias QAL Reverse Applique Pillow and one lonely block of Quiltville's Bricks and Stepping Stones pattern.

I did an HGTV forum swap for bright bricks and B&W prints for the 4 patches last month. I've decided it's too busy and will be using a black solid and a white solid instead after seeing one like that on the forum. Good thing I only did one!

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday@Patchwork Times.