The time between Thanksgiving and New Year's always seems crazy, but never more than this year! My husband started a new job in New Jersey in mid-October - and yes, I live in Massachusetts. He comes up to visit most weekends, but this is my third time driving down to New Jersey with the kids since Thanksgiving. I know that many, many families live apart in order to make things work financially or because of the nature of their jobs, or for any number of other reasons. I always thought, "wow, that must be a challenge." I was right! I miss him terribly when we are apart, and I don't want him (or me) to leave when we are together. That's normal, I guess. What perhaps isn't so normal is how much I RESENT the traveling! All I can think of when I'm stuck in traffic (usually somewhere in Connecticut) is that if I can't have my family all together, I at least want to spend the time apart doing something I love - quilting or knitting - not stuck in a car surrounded by other cars. Ugh! (OK, pity party is over)
As a result, I've not been as productive in the sewing room as I normally would strive to be during this time of year. My main project has been
Bonnie Hunter's Good Fortune Mystery Quilt. I'm behind, but not too behind. Another clue will be released tomorrow while I am still working on last week's clue - and I still haven't finished assembling last YEAR's quilt, but I'm enjoying the process.
 |
| Clue 1 done and trimmed |
 |
| Clue 2 done but NOT trimmed |
 |
| Clue 3a done and trimmed |
 |
| Bonus triangles from Clue 3, NOT trimmed |
 |
| Clue 4 done and trimmed |
I've been keeping my finished pieces in a butter cookie tin (much like
the HSTs that I shared last month).
 |
| I dutifully ate 5 lbs of butter cookies so I could use the tin in this way. :) |
In the meantime, my 16-year-old son has been sharing memes (is that right? Are these memes?) with me, letting me know that he isn't the only one who doesn't know what to expect when he finds a tin of butter cookies:
I'll have two days back at home before I get back to work. I'm hoping I can get completely caught up with this year's mystery, make some more progress assembling last year's mystery, and plan out some baby quilts. I have two showers in February and one in April - better get cracking!
