Home away from home

I'm at work. It is raining (AGAIN!). I have to work all weekend. By all indications, I should be down in the dumps, but I'm not. First of all, I like my office. I've worked hard to make it my home away from home. There are quilts, plants and table lamps, and the big windows and fireplace don't hurt. Take a peek.

Here's the view when you walk in the door. I made scrappy pillow from a pattern I found in a magazine about 4 years ago. The quilt on the back of the chair was my grandmother's. She kept it on the rocking chair in her bedroom. It has a label that says "The Comfort Project from the Lighthouse Network." I imagine it was given to her when my aunt passed away, but I can't be sure. I tried googling it some time ago, but nothing came up. I use the quilt quite often because my building was built in the 1840s and it is pretty drafty - charming, but drafty. The painting over the fireplace is one that my younger sister did of herself - she is so talented. The hands in the frame on the mantel are the first project that my oldest son did in preschool. The little painting on the wall next to the window is one my mother brought me back from her trip on the Amazon a couple years ago, our (her kids) Christmas or birthday present to her one year.

Here's the view from my desk over to the other side of the room. I made this quilt out of leftover blocks from the Delectable Mountains quilt I made for my mother.

Here's the little quilt I won a ribbon with at the county fair last year (or the year before). It was just green, Honorable Mention, but a ribbon nonetheless. I hung it with a beaded necklace from WalMart. Here's a closer look...

It isn't home, but when I can't be at home, at least I am comfortable here.

Now, another reason I am not down today is that I received a bag full of scraps from my Guild, delivered to my office this morning. Woo hoo! I closed the door and dumped them out on the floor to take a look. Lots of different sized scraps,

plus some orphan blocks. I can't wait to start using this stuff in my current projects.

Speaking of current projects, I fired up the sewing machine last night and made a couple more blocks for my Pick and Choose quilt - I have 18 of the 25 blocks done at this point. Here they are on my design wall along with some of the sashing and pieced border - none of it is sewn together yet.

And here's a closer view - I am loving this quilt so far!

Feeling pretty good for a Tuesday!