Today’s the first day of my four day "staycation!" Dick (my husband) is taking a group of our co-workers to Cincinnati, Ohio, to be in our booth at the Original Creative Festival at the Sharonville Convention Center. (We’ll also have a booth at the Shipshewana Quilt Festival the same time.) We have great people helping in those booths, so if you’re going to either show, be sure to stop by and see them!

Meanwhile, since we have just one car (most of the time Dick and I are going to the same place, since we work and live together, so we don’t really need a second car) I’m home here with the cats, the computer, and the sewing and quilting machines! Much as I love Dick and sharing our lives over the last 41 years, I’ve looked forward to eating when and what I please, doing what I want when I want to do it! My drawback is that our 19 year old Beethoven is on Dick’s lap most of the time he’s home, so Tovey will be wanting me to just sit back quietly and provide a lap, and that’s not something I do very often.

Here’s our bay window view of the bird feeder. Although birds visit, I’ve kind of decided this is really our squirrel feeder! The other day I discovered where the seed went so fast! The cats enjoy this view, too. They used to scare the squirrels, but the squirrels now realize there’s a window between them, so they just stare them down now.

One night I was able to get a photo of the night crew! There were actually three of these little bandits. I grew up with a critter-crazy father and we had everything from raccoons, skunks, alligators, opossums, foxes, and chameleons, to dogs and birds. My second grade class came to our house for a field trip! We never had cats and I wondered how people could live with all the fur… until we had one kind of imposed on us (to help our son) and Dick and I fell completely for his feline charm, and that was the beginning. Now our house is as much the cats’ as ours.

Anyway, I have several projects here to choose from. I finished quilting our "Peace" wallhanging (44448 ) in time to go with the gals to the quilt show, so my Handi Quilter frame is waiting for my Autumn Trails (53058). I’m working on the side panels, so that’s one thing to work on.

I also want to start the fabric from the Design Magic line for my next Margo handbag. (59135) I’ve chosen the Fractured X stencil, 59315 and of course there will be purple in it somewhere. Paintstiks need 4 days to dry, so I’ll only get the stenciling done while Dick’s gone.
I have my fabric chosen for my Triple Expresso. I’m doing Shake Rattle and Roll 59284, with purple, green, and a cream with purple and green dots. I think I want to do a class with this pattern in the fall.

I’ve been waiting for Star Crossed Love to come in since we saw it at Quilt Market last fall and it’s finally here. It uses the wonderful hand dyed fabric from Starr, like what I’m using with my Autumn Trails. Star Crossed Love uses the Hunter’s Star tool that I’ve already used with two other projects. This quilt will be so much fun to quilt!

All the sizes of the Leaves Galore Templates are in now, so I could work with them too. (59787) I’m going to do a variation on Melissa’s Quilt.

It is s’arting to look like this 4 day staycation needs to be a 4 month staycation!! I’d better end this now and get going!