Nine Patches, More Nine Patches, and Spring Cleaning My Car

I joined the One a Day quiltalong over at Crazy Mom Quilts. I've got 11 blocks done so far--the idea is to make one nine-patch a day and then, by sometime this summer, have enough blocks to make a quilt. I've banked some blocks because between work and everything else there just isn't always time to get to the sewing room. I like the idea though because it gives me a reason to get up there and then, who knows, I might find an extra few minutes to work on one of the eleven bazillion projects I've got underway.

I've decided to use my bright scraps. Lately I've been feeling a need to branch out from civil war prints and the more muted colors I'm usually attracted to. The arrival of spring, maybe? And if I run out of my brights, it will be a good excuse to shop in a different aisle in the LQS. Heh.

Saturday I took a class with a couple of friends and got a good start on a Blooming Nine Patch, from Traditions with a Twist. The sewing is simple, nine patches again (!), but the trick is in the fabric selection and the setting. So far I really love the way it's shaping up, and I'll show some pictures when I get a little further along.

This morning after dropping my father off at church I decided the moment had come for me to clean out the back seat of my car. Back in the days when I was hauling around little ones, the back seat stayed pretty clear, but since the little ones have grown up and moved on, my back seat tends to accumulate lots of stuff. Maybe it's a teacher thing? Most of my teaching friends seem to have the same problem.

Anyway, here's the haul: my middle weight jacket (40 degrees and above), a denim workshirt with the school logo, a three-ring binder and a large folder filled with Destination Imagination paperwork, a copy of the Reading/Language Arts standards for Indiana, an arts and crafts book for fall, a jar of peanut butter, a bag of pretzels (unopened), two hats, a scarf, two umbrellas, 53 cents in change, the long-lost recipe for Amish Friendship bread, Obama's Dreams from My Father, and a tote bag containing a sock I've been knitting for my son.

If I had ever run out of gas on some lonely desolate highway, I'd have had the wherewithal to feed and entertain myself for days!

I hope everyone has a great week!