What I've been up to lately

I've been up in Ithaca for two and a half weeks now, and I'm getting settled in. There has been a lot of time spent unpacking and organizing, but we will be moving again at the end of July (we're in a sublease) so we're trying to only unpack what is necessary for now. I haven't had much luck finding a job up here, and I'm not the type that can sit for long so I've picked up some hobbies along the way.

While Mom was here, we tried to get out and about in Ithaca so I could familarize myself with the area. It's not necessarily hard, but it very different and I'm not used to driving in the mountains. Mom and I enjoy doing crafty-type things together, and this time we made a purse! Don't look too closely because it was my first one, but we had a good time and Mom is a great teacher.



Mom and I also found a quilt shop during our tour of the town and she signed me up for a quilt class. I have wanted to take a class for awhile, but was incredibly nervous. Though I'll talk your ear off once I know you, I get very anxious in new situations and all the changes lately have amplified my emotions. If Mom had not been there I would not have signed up for the class, so I'm glad she was there, because I love it! It's a beginner's class and the teacher is so patient. She teaches us all kinds of helpful tricks and techniques. In the past two classes we've learned different blocks, so now I have to decide the arrangement. I've had fun this week setting it in different arrangements and seeing the possibilities. Here are the two I'm considering right now:





I decided to pull out a quilt kit I bought a while back but had not gotten around to messing with. It was a lot rougher than I thought it would be because of the different fabrics (I'll be sticking to cotton for now) and I didn't follow a very important direction. Moral of the story, polyester and satin don't sew the same as cotton and a pressing cloth is important if you want your dot fabric to keep it's dots! Oh well, I'm learning to not be so hard on myself, it will still work as a blanket anyway =).