Winter Blues. Notes from the road.

Hey there! How are you doing?

Are you warm, cold.... so sick of winter you want to scream, wrap yourself in a quilt and hibernate? I am in Atlanta right now, sitting on my hotel room bed. Tomorrow is a new exciting day of work.

I am feeling pretty dang good right now. I just got back from Florida. I have a tan/sunburn, I slept about 10 hours every night in Florida. We also had an ice storm in North Carolina this morning.

Lest you hate me, I will tell you I left for my first of three work trips starting today and I will likely be home for no more than two nights in a row for the next month. Those trips are not vacations and they typically involve driving long distances, eating gross fast food, and time away from my sewing machine (and husband and cat)...

No sense in worrying about things you can't change!

I am feeling a titch overwhelmed with sewing projects, so I thought I would write out a list. It is aspirational, somewhat deadlined, some sort of pie in the sky projects. In no particular order.

1.) Finish the binding on my cousin's quilt. This was a group project with some of my Aunts and cousins, and it is going to another cousin. My job was quilting and binding. Now I need to finish it, I have had this way too long! This needs to get done, like next week.

2.) Finish secret bag project. This super tote is all cut out and ready to piece, which is good because it needs to be gifted next weekend. It should wrap up quickly though.

3.) Handmade Birthday Club March Gifts. I have two to make for this month. No biggie, these will be fun and quick finishes.

4.) Quilt Boy Quilt. This is a charity quilt for my dear friend Val. The top is all pieced and pressed. It just needs to be quilted and bound. It will be super fast once I get it basted. I need to get it done because there is an orphan out there who will be stoked to receive this!

5.) Derek Quilt. The dearest husband in the whole wide world is getting his very own quilt as soon as I can get time to piece it. It is all cut and waiting. I am pretty excited about this (Derek's quilt is actually to the left, ignore the cranes and text).

6.) Parent's Anniversary Quilt. Parent's wedding anniversary is in June. I want to make them a queen sized bed quilt. They have been warned it will be late.

7.) Hop Skip Jump BOM. I am two blocks behind on this BOM, but that is no biggie. This will take but a tiny bit of time to catch up on.

8.) Club Medallion. I am a million borders behind (slight exaggeration). Working on this would be a dream.

9.) Sparkly love Tangelo. I so want to work on this. Realistically, this is not a priority, but because I want to I will move it up on my list.

10.) Backbone quilt. I want to make one, so I suspect I will.

That is super long. I think I will stop there, although I can already think of things to add. I will be focusing on the first couple of items this weekend and then begin to tackle the rest. I think I will be traveling with my machine a bit this spring, which is a prime piecing opportunity. It is also possible that I will travel with a cutting mat and get some piecing set up.

I love you all! Thanks for being there. Thanks for being awesome.

Cat Ladies Unite.

Hey friends!

I have some fun facts to share today.

1. I went to my besties cabin this weekend. We share everything, she even gave me her strep throat. I did get a ton done. I will talk about my project here soon.

2. I am in Charleston right now. Archaeology waits for no person or virus.

3. Antibiotics are my friend.

4. I have a finished quilt I have not photographed yet. Now I will have to wash it again, because the kitten loves it.

5. Speaking of cats, I have finished my cat lady quilt (first discussed here). End of list.

The cat quilt is the first quilt I quilted on my new Juki 2010q and I decided to go big and matchstick quilt this business. It was a dream on the Juki (I named her Juju).

The fabrics were pulled from my stash and this awesome bundle from Sew Lux (curated by me!!!).

Max approves of this quilt. There is something really awesome about cat on cats.

He also loves feathers. We don't even buy cat toys, just bags of feathers from the craft aisle. Not as awesome as birds would be, but a good second (this cat has never met a bird, but he has hopes). 

Quilt Stats:
Name: Cat Lady
Size: 57"x 57"
Pattern: From my head, inspired by Aneela Hoey and Elizabeth Hartman
Fabric: Many things, bundle from Sew Lux, some pearl bracelets, Mama Said Sew, and some Japanese cat prints (surely I forgot something).
Quilting: Matchstick lines with Aurifil thread
Finished: January 2014

PS - Meow love.

Hello from Savannah.

Hi friends.

I am in Savannah. I do not have internet.

I am watching a show called "The United States of Bacon." I can't eat bacon. I am allergic. I love bacon.

I had to go to someone else's apartment to write you this little note.

Mostly, I am just writing this email to you to say hi.

Hi.

I have a tutorial to share. Unfortunately, I agreed to write a book review for an archaeology journal, now I have to read the book. That means, time I can't sew or write tutorials.

Do not worry, I brought my sewing machine to Savannah. I am sewing. A tiny bit.  I made an adorable little lap top case. Mostly, I am sewing secret things for my secret sister partner these [secret] projects make me so happy. I will show them to you after my partner sees them.

I promise to be back soon. I will finish the tutorial. I will take photos.

In this post I give you bee blocks I have finished and sent away.

Meanwhile, I will be out working in a garbage filled roadside. I mention this least you think my job is glamourous. This is why I am allergic to bacon. Le sigh.

This is a teaser for the tutorial I am going to share. Rainbows!

Life is Full of Twists and Turns [WIP]

I like these little Wednesday posts. It gives me a chance to assess where I am in my projects and my bees.

This week, I am on the road for work in northeastern North Carolina. It is hard to be away from my sewing machine when I travel for work. I am sad I do not have much to show you all. Sometimes, when I am gone for longer trips, I bring my sewing stuff. This trip is only 5 days. Sigh...

I also really have to work in the evenings. Double sigh...

I get to work here though. Worth it?

I am doing some hotel room hand stitching to get my Stars Align quilt binding done. Pictures will be here next week, I promise. If you follow me on instagram you have already been photo bombed with pictures of this quilt (follow me at stitchingandbacon). It is awesome cuddle under this little quilt in my hotel room.

Mostly, I have been grappling with some non-sewing news.

This blog is called Stitching and Bacon. I chose this name because I feel that bacon is a metaphor for treating yourself. Also, I like bacon. My husband and I cure our own bacon. I live in North Carolina, this is a pork state!

A week ago from Thursday, I found out I was allergic to bacon. Well, not just bacon. Technically, I am allergic to all mammalian protein. If you want to get really technical, I am allergic to a sugar found on the protein. This is a rare (not rare enough!) tick born allergy most commonly seen in the American south. I will not bore you with the details, but basically reactions to mammal meat range from indigestion to anaphylaxis. I barely notice anything, but my doctor is worried that if I get a tick bite again it could quickly get much worse. I am an archaeologist and ticks are everywhere.

This sounds like a made up allergy. It is not (see here and here for some stuff describing this allergy), I wish it were. No more bacon. At least until my next appointment.

I know. This is not that big of a deal in the scheme of things.

I did not think I ate that much meat until I could not have any...

In Pilates class on Sunday, I was telling my instructor about this freakish allergy and she said, "people still eat red meat?" with an honest question in her voice. Well, not me. Not anymore.

Now back to watching hotel room television.