I'm back

We returned a week ago from Israel. I have been so jet-lagged that I fall asleep early each afternoon/evening and wake up at 2 or 3 a.m. Before going away, I was usually in bed by 8, asleep by 9, and sometimes up at 2 or 3 a.m., so you could ask what's the difference... Energy is the difference. So I decided to give myself a week before I hop into my old routines.

I came back without energy but with plans to reorganize my sewing room and jump into several projects, hopefully this weekend.

Our primary reason for visiting Israel was to see our children, family and old friends. Dynamics have changed and change is always challenging. Aside from the children, family and old friends, I used this trip to meet "new" friends, of the internet and quilting variety. And came back energized and inspired.

So I'm jumping in with both feet and starting on a new quilt. It's based on a pattern in Karla Alexander's "Stack a New Deck". And it's special because I am using fabric from a robe I bought on the occasion of Inbal's birth (she'll be 35 in May...) and fabrics I've been collecting over the past two years in Perth, Toronto and Israel.

I started cutting up the fabrics (22 different patterns) this morning. I'm sure the piecing won't take more than a week or so, an hour here, an hour there. I'm excited. And I intend to quilt this one myself -- que sera sera.

I purchased all kinds of findings, ribbons, threads, stamps, etc. in Israel, received all kinds of the same from my new friends and hope to use them on my cq.

I also want to do a piece for the Pomegranate 25th anniversary exhibit. So I've got to get busy!!

I'll post my progress.