the swing of things

It's hard to believe how much time I've not had to sew since coming back from my trip. I wanted to spend time with my family, of course, so the notion of sewing didn't really hit me until days later.  By then, I was chomping at the bit...nearly three weeks total without a stitch!

But, first things, first.  While I was away, I received a wonderful package from Jessica over at The Laizy Daisy.  We were in a mug rug swap together, and I was thrilled when I opened the box!

As you can see, all kinds of goodies...chocolates, coffee, tea, a sweet note, some jelly roll strips and a beautiful mug rug all sitting there waiting for my return.

...and waiting...

...and waiting....

...and waiting...

You see, I didn't discover the package until a full week after I got home. Turns out, hubby was expecting me to jump right back into sewing after such a long break.  So, he set the box on my sewing table instead of by the mail plate where we usually put things.  In his defense, though, I fully expected to be sewing within a day or so, too, but life worked out differently. The evenings after my return looked like this:

• Monday: recovering from a night of stomach issues (thank goodness they didn't hit on the 8-hour flight from Frankfurt!),
• Tuesday: Night with my family, just enjoying each others company
• Wednesday: cookout for my dad's birthday and treating the boys to (free) box seats at the local minor league baseball game,
• Thursday: last regular baseball game for my youngest,
• Friday: last regular baseball game for my oldest,
• Saturday: flight to Atlanta for an afternoon meeting (and, sadly, no Braves game),
• Sunday: back home in time for lunch with friends.

Yeah...any wonder why I didn't sew?

Fortunately, this past week was a little different and I did get a small bit of time at my sewing table.  It looked like this when I started...

...but, if you'll notice, the photo is much brighter.  I finally have LIGHT!!  Hubby took the chance to install more lighting with help from our electrician friend Steve (thanks, Steve!!).  Oh it's so nice to have light down there now and not have to constantly reposition portable lamps.  BTW - see the package on the left..yeah, that's the one the mug rug was in.  I was photographing it without even knowing it!

So, after a quick cleanup, I finally got to work and finished a Project Linus block I am doing for Jan over at Daisy Janie fabrics.  She sent out charm squares to several quilters and will be making a quilt out of all the blocks.  Too fun!  I took lots of pictures and hope to have a short tutorial for you in the next day or so.

I also had a little time to quilt Sunday night and last night, which is good because I needed something brainless (meaning, no math involved!) and I need to get some of these WIPs out of my hair.  I worked for a couple of hours each night on Matt's coffee quilt, which has been basted for about two months now.

I have two tops finished, one basted, and three other tops started. Can you tell that quilting isn't my favorite part??  I'm a piecer, for sure . . . which do you like best??