the four tops

I've been sewing, yes indeed!



It bugs me like crazy to have projects cut out but not sewn together, and these ones have been sitting around far too long. So over the last week, I finished piecing them. Somehow, a stack of finished tops, all folded up and sitting nicely in a pile, doesn't bug me nearly as much!

There were two of these (very close to this one, but using more of the printed fabric)...



One of these (almost identical to this one, just with smaller squares)...



And one of these (same stripe, but with a paisley print).



If I can get them all finished in the next few months, that will be a total of 13 Project Linus quilts for me this year, one more than my goal! But I will probably put them aside for the next month, so that I can concentrate on preparing for the quilting retreat I'm going to at the beginning of November. I'm so excited about it!! I'm really hoping I can get all my holiday crafting done at this retreat, so that I can relax my way through the holidays. And I'm even more excited because my friend Robin is going too - we are going to have a blast! If you're in the Seattle/Portland area, you should check it out, I think there are still spots left!!

This will probably be my only post this week. Tomorrow, my daughter and I are heading out for a trip to Ames, Iowa. I lived there from '94 to '98, working at my first real software engineering job out of grad school. Those were the crazy internet boom days, and it was insane - everyone was young and workaholic, and the company was growing and changing every day. It was a wild ride, with lots of high and low points. I'm glad to have had that experience - and it sure makes me appreciate working for a steady, sane company now that I'm an old married person with a kid! I am so looking forward to my first trip back there in many years, and getting to see some dear old friends.