Finally: Hello to a new year...

Well, bloglovers, I am back from my little vacation from the blog, and sewing. Miss me?  Probably not.

True to form, I jammed Christmas sewing projects up to the last minute, making table runners I gifted without photographing, sewing bindings on in the upstairs bathroom between checking on the turkey and circulating among the family. I'm pretty sure my sister in-law thought I had some digestive virus and shouldn't be the one cooking, but I cleared that rumor up once we started opening presents.

Anyway, I came home from two weeks spent with my aging, declining parents, stressed out with worry about their health, safety, and intransigence regarding any sort of move into assisted living, and needed a break. Archie developed his own stress-related issues from being constantly bullied by my mother's cat (who he outweighs by almost four pounds), the five-hour drive, and two weeks of stealing non-prescription food from Sugar's dish when we weren't looking and ended up at the vet two weeks in a row. I didn't sit down at my sewing machine until January 30. I just wasn't feelin' it.

When I finally decided to dust the machine off (figuratively speaking -- don't worry, I have it covered when I'm not using it), I pulled down a very old UFO and got sort of enthusiastic about it but not quite, and then I was browsing through Fresh Modern Quilts and saw this. Now, I have a thing for isosceles triangles, and more recently, spiky isosceles. I'd also seen some Comma quilts recently done up with lights, and I had some leftover precuts from this quilt just begging to be used up. While I love the contrast with the black, I think they go just as well (if not better) with some Kona Snow. The light bulb went off, the UFO got cast aside; I drafted my own template in Illustrator for 2"x6" and 2"x3" triangles and got started.

Capturing the first rays of sunlight we've seen here in Chicago for the first time in over a week

Paper piecing is, for me, pretty slow going, but I love the precision of those points. I like where I'm going with it.

It feels good to be back and creating again. I know part of the reason I was so stressed was because I wasn't making things.  I should know better!