Art Gallery Fabric/Project Linus Charity quilt

          Look what I found waiting in the mailbox after the wine weekend getaway:

The scrap bag from Patricia Bravo's studio had arrived!  She's one of my favorite designers- those gorgeous prints and solids!  Her generosity has just sent her to the top of my list!  Sending out studio scraps to benefit Project Linus- it's green (reduces waste), it benefits a wonderful cause, and I get to work with her beautiful fabric- what's not to love?

      I've spent the past couple of nights piecing like mad.  The Mod Mosaic block is perfect for the scraps I received- mostly small scraps, but almost a yard and a half of Pure Elements solid.  I LOVE how the blocks are shaping up.  Little momma watched me working on the blocks last night and lamented that they were not for her.

I am now fighting what will probably be a losing battle to buy a half yard bundle of Bespoken and some yardage of Pure Elements in Cabernet to make a Mod Mosaic quilt to keep!

Wine, wine and more wine (and a little bit of fabric)

     Weekend getaways without the kids are very few and far between.  With my parents in town for a week, my husband and I took the rare opportunity to go down to the central coast of California to do a little wine tasting this past weekend.

     Paso Robles is a wonderful alternative to Napa Valley.  The vibe is laid-back and the scenery is absolutely beautiful.  If you love bold or complex reds, then Paso Robles should be on your bucket list.  It's what they do best.

     Not wanting this trip to be a blur of wines we couldn't remember, we selected a handful of wineries that we wanted to try at a slower pace.  This was a much more enjoyable experience than the usual vineyard crawl.  Highlights were lunch and wine tasting at Cass Winery, wine tasting and a cave tour at Eberle Winery, and our last stop, Calcareous Vineyards, where we had lunch outside enjoying the 50-mile view, delicious food and great wine.

     A non-wine highlight of the trip was a visit to Birch Fabrics.  It's a charming little shop with a nice selection of modern and Japanese import fabrics.  I liked it so much I went twice!  My husband was such a sport while I shopped.  It would have been quite easy to break the bank, but I showed restraint with my fabric haul.  No easy feat, but only fabric I needed to round out my stash for Flickr bees came home with me.

     My husband and I felt guilty about leaving for the weekend while my parents were visiting, but the wine helped.  As did the fact that the children seemed unconcerned when we said goodbye to them Friday morning (they knew they were in for a weekend of getting anything they wished).  And the fact that my parents could enjoy their grandchildren without us to reign in the treats.  Winners all around!

Worthwhile diversions

     It is with much regret that I report that, for the first time in my adult life, I missed a deadline.  I dislike being late for anything.  I even had all three of my children early!  [Not on purpose- they all just decided to show up a few weeks earlier than expected.]  The Habitat Challenge is a different story altogether.  Here sits the quilt, hibernating on the hutch until I feel inspired to pick it up again:

I'll blog about the Habitat challenge in my next post... not feeling great about it at the moment.

    In the meantime, I'll post about something I do feel good about- helping others.  I came across a blog post where Kelsey of Kelsey Creates put out a call for help making blocks for a donation quilt.  The quilt will be made for an acquaintance of hers who not only lost his home last year in the San Bruno gas line explosion, but was recently involved in a car accident that put him in the hospital.  His wife is due to have a baby in December.  

    The block requested is a Mod Mosaic block, which I've been wanting to try.  I love it.  Here it is in the chosen color palette:

There's still time if anyone is interested in making a block.

     And because my family keep hounding me about finishing their quilts, of course I decided instead to answer Pat Bravo's call to make a charity quilt for Project Linus.  I received an email from her, and some of her beautiful studio scraps should be landing on my doorstep this week.  I'm looking forward to playing with her pretty fabric, and I hope to knock out a quilt before Christmas.

The quilt top

   
     The Habitat quilt top is finally done.  I think.  At 50" x 72", it's kind of a funky size- too narrow to be a throw, but too long to be a lap blanket.  I'm debating on whether to make it wider, but I'm running out of time (and fabric).

     I struggled last week to find time to piece the blocks.  Most of my sewing was done after the kids went to sleep.  I thought I was finished Friday night when all sixteen blocks were sewn together, but after pressing the top and spreading it out on the floor, it seemed smallish.  So I decided to add another row of blocks.  But where to find the time to cut and sew them? 

   
     Enter the hubby.  After the older kids' soccer games Saturday morning, he took all three kids to the park and let me have 3 hours of peace and quiet so I could sew.  He even brought home dinner so I wouldn't have to cook.  My hero!  

[Full disclosure:  In the spirit of true procrastination, not all 3 hours were spent sewing.  Some of it was spent playing around on Flickr and blog-stalking.]

     I'm mulling over whether to add a wide border on the sides and a narrow border along the top and bottom in a contrasting solid color.  Leaning towards no because I want to keep things simple.  And because I have to work on the back of the quilt- more piecing!