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I don't think I'll be updating the blog anymore. See me on Facebook instead!

Sit. Stay. Good cat.

It's been a while since I posted a cute cat picture. Rusty demonstrates where cats are not supposed to be in the quilting room.

A new running season

The snow hasn't quite melted yet (I cropped out the big pile to the left, but you can see some more piles behind the cars), but the last Saturday in March is my traditional first 5K race of the year. We've had so much snow this winter that I wasn't able to safely run outside again until last weekend. But after a winter on the treadmill and one run down the county road, I was apparently ready to race.

Surprisingly, there were three different local 5Ks to choose from today, so I chose the smallest, lowest key one. Only about 55 people (runners + walkers), no preregistration - just show up at the grocery store with a donation for the food shelf plus $10. Dogs, kids, strollers, and headphones all welcome. It was cool (mid-20's) but sunny, and the path was free of snow and ice.

The course was flat and seemed short, but if it really was 5K, it was an awesome race for me - more than 5 minutes faster than last fall. I guess I've finally recovered from my plantar fasciitis, and am back to where I was before the injury.

When we were in St. Louis in December, I found an old quilt magazine at the library bookstore for just ten cents. This Bonnie Hunter pattern was why I bought the magazine, and it was so fast and easy that I had the top (minus borders) done by the time I went back to work in January. Borders, binding, and quilting followed relatively quickly, and it was completely finished in time to donate it at the March guild meeting last week. Fun and done.

From My Valentine

Not as nice as actually having your husband on the same continent, but still nice.

And safely kept at work so Detour doesn't play with them.

The Quilt of Valor is finished!

I made this HeartStrings quilt during last summer's homespun project. I finished the machine quilting in December, got the binding hand-sewn during our Christmas in St. Louis, and finished the label and pillowcase this week. Today it is finally packed for shipment to Alycia for distribution though the Quilts of Valor project.

By the way, if you ever need a method of making a pillowcase, this video on the Quilts of Valor web site is great. I had seen a demonstration of this a couple years ago, but couldn't follow it well enough later to make my own. I even had some written instructions and couldn't figure it out. But with this video, everything fell into place, including finally understanding what-the-heck a French Seam is. And it was so easy. Three seams and you have a finished pillowcase!

Happy Blocks Quilts all delivered

I finished 3 of these Happy Blocks quilts (Mary's pattern) in the past 6 months, but I didn't want to post any pictures until they'd all been delivered. But now Oliver, Emma and Gage have all received their quilts.

Irene contributed some fabrics, also, particularly for the Virginia Tech and St. Louis Cardinals blocks, but I've got plenty more for the the next great-nieces or/and nephews.