Lucky Night!

It certainly was my lucky night at guild last night; I won the blocks of the month drawing and the treasure basket! There were 16 Sister's Choice blocks and an additional yard of the focus fabric to make more blocks...I'm probably make four more blocks and add sashing between the blocks...one more project in the UFO pile! the treasure basket was a wonderful selection of eight batik fat quarters.
Tonight I'm layering Sharyn's purple and green quilt; she's been checking up on me, so I'd better get to it!

Paper piecing lesson

Sarah and Jenny from my round-robin group did a little paper piecing lesson on Thursday. I did the little flag with just a little aggravation...had to ribbit two or three times when the fabric flipped over and got caught in the stitches. Jenny helped me by figuring out the units of the star-within-a-star block that I'd done in a class about four years ago, so now there's hope of one day finishing that one!
I got an e-mail from DS David (see the second entry from yesterday). He seems to be doing ok, all things considered. I plan to make a quilt for Eric's parents; I think I will use the flag block in it.
I took the pic of the beautiful hibiscus pot right before a downpour...it looks pretty sad today, the rain really pounded it, but there are a ton of buds on it. It was a birthday present and it I can see it from my sewing room window.

Stash or purse?

These fabrics were purchased at Mary Jo's Cloth Store in Gastonia, NC...sure wish it was in my neck of the woods!! I went to visit my sister-friend, Bee, at the beginning of the month and we were going to make purses. Unfortunately, we ran out of time for this project. I don't know if I'll save these to make purses or if they'll end up in the stash. I especially like the brights on the right.
Tanya found a cubbie to stretch out in, on top of my computer box. Isn't she sweet?

Is no news really good news?

Having not heard anything official, I can only assume that no news is good news concerning my son, David. I got a call from his friend, Gayle, on Wed that his team was ambushed (in southern Afghanistan) on Tuesday and his friend, Eric, who graduated with David from Special Forces training, was killed and two others were wounded. David e-mailed me this pic of his team on Monday... he's on the right in the front row and Eric is standing at his left shoulder. They were the only two of all the guys that left in May to end up on this team. We were out last night and there was a "number unavailable" call on the caller ID...I have a feeling it was probably him.
Edit: I just talked to Gayle; she got an IM from David and he's fine physically. He was offered the opportunity to come home with Eric's body, but decided to stay and finish the mission. As much as I want him home, I respect his decison and understand that sometimes it's better to stay busy than to have too much thinking time. Please keep him, his team, and all our troops in your thoughts and prayers.

Kids...

Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em!! Steve's been home on leave for the last three weeks; he leaves tomorrow with my DH to drive his car cross-country to Ft Lewis, WA. Sharyn left early this morning, back to CA and her DH. She made the 9-patch top almost all by herself (I did most of the cutting and gave directions). She did a very good job-- it got the Wiley "paw of approval"! Time to get my sewing room back in order...it was her bedroom for the last 11 days, so things were a little topsy-turvy in here. Happy 4th of July, everybody!!