November and December are a bad time for me at work (long work days and short rest nights at the post office), but that's behind me now and I can feel my sewing engine beginning to rev up... lol! Today I finished a 1-Day Mystery Quilt hosted by planetpatchwork.com, and I just finished going thru my stash and getting it a bit more organized. While doing so, I found that I've already got the fabrics needed for the first 3 blocks, so I can begin sewing tomorrow. Yep! I'm enjoying a 3-day weekend, spending a lot of time with my fabric and sewing machine! I like it that the first blocks aren't due until late February, what a relief after getting thru the holiday season, eh? Talk with you all later... Dan p.s. Here's a picture of the mystery quilt I worked on yesterday and today. It's unfinished because I want to add some more borders to make it a 90"x90" quilt.

Jeanne~ Isn't it funny (no, not really:( when we plan on getting something accomplished, like your UFOs, some other thing cries out for our attention! Then our plans take a 360 & ... well, you know the rest! I have been very hit & miss here lately. I'll be on 2 days in a row then off for a week. Life keeps getting in the way. My biggest problem these days is that I cannot quilt when I have little ones in my house. I could if they were mine! But when I have other people's children, I feel I need to give them all my attention. (Plus my sewing room is at the opposite end of the house from the family room) Depending on the day, I'll have anywhere from 1 child to 7. Unfortunately, the only 2 who are potty trained are in school part of the day! Seems like I change a lot of diapers or I'm taking someone to the potty! 2 of the boys are being potty trained & doig very well. But they are still at the stage where when they've gotta go, get out of the way! LOL Of course, by the time they've all left & dinner is over, I'm exhausted!! It's not at all unusual for me to fall asleep before finishing dessert! LOL 'Course then I feel obligated to stay up late to make up for the 30 min I lost! Right now I'm putting the binding on 2 graduation quilts & piecing (still) a 3rd. Also have a baby quilt & 'big brother' quilt to make as soon as the others are finished. I had hoped to get to a few UFOs by now but no way is that going to happen! How does that line go?? 'Please stop the music - I'm dancing as fast as I can!' ?? Make it 'quilting as fast as I can' & that's me! ;) And probably a few others this time of year too! How 'bout the rest of you?? What is everyone else doing?? *I hope we hear from Kay soon that all went well w/her surgery! ~Cindy BTW - I'm jealous re:your garden! With all this rain ours isn't even IN yet! ('course neither is anyone elses', but geez!)

Maybe we should form an unmonitored - no rules - "Birthday Club", where we sign-up initially - just to see who wants to participate & take a pledge to finish a quilt from the Birthday Block Exchange, from any or all years, and post a picture of it during the month of your birthday. All January Birthday Babies post their finished quilts from previous year's Birthday Blocks during the month of January, all in one thread so as not to dominate the forum. No pressure, you can drop out by not doing it, or you can join in because you finished your quilt. This would help to keep us involved, celebrate birthdays, and maybe get that quilt made without any obligation, added expense, or running to the post office.

Good idea about the separate heading. I think I will do that towards the end of August which will give us time to get feedback and decide what to do. The rest of July and most of August will be busy for me. Even if we do not have our usual full year of block exchanges, I would like to have a few activities next year for those who have been participating. I'll list the ideas I have when I do the posting with the special heading. If anyone else has ideas that would be based on signing up for a one-time event during that year - personally I would like to do several - let me know. I was thinking of one where you trade a FQ with someone, another where you do something like send 5 charms, etc. Just something with very little time and effort involved for those who like to get quilt related things in the mail now and then. The "very little time and effort" would allow us to focus on our sewing that needs to get done! We could also select a "Birthday Pal" and send a card and a quilt item to that person on her birthday month - small item like a quilt magazine (even a gently used one), a spool of thread, a sewing notion of some type, etc. We could even do a "Secret Santa" for mail out in December 2012, again keeping the commitment small. I really would like to keep some type of group going for 2012 - every now and then - just to keep us in touch. I think if we do something like the things I mentioned, it would be open to anyone who participated in the Birthday Block Exchange in good standing in 2009, 2010, or 2011. Anyway, feel free to post here (those who are reading this) or send me an e-mail with thoughts and ideas and we will put up a heading later in the summer to make sure everyone gets to see it. This whole concept of small things to do might not be needed. The majority may want the Birthday Block Exchange as usual and that is totally fine. We will find out. Have a good weekend, everyone! Jeanne