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Keith worked today so I did a bit of walking and a little shopping!

We’ve visited several times before but this was the first time I actually rode a cable car. I was smart and walked DOWN to the water and took the cable car back UP.

I wandered around the piers, did a tour of an old WWII submarine.

And believe it or not when I saw the little cable car charm I started a new bracelet. These aren’t Pandora but they are sterling silver. The brand is Chamilia which is surprisingly a Minneapolis company!

Judy pulled #1 for February’s UFO challenge – that’s my Pineapple quilt. Started in March 2007, the top was finished in April 2007 … That’s FIVE years ago!

I had plans to make another Pineapple quilt for myself this year … Or at least piece the top. No border…just blocks but we’ll have to see how much I like this one when it’s done. If I love it I might keep this one for me.

But I’m sitting here with a glass of wine, a cheese plate, and my book so I don’t mind waiting.

I arrived in San Francisco this afternoon and with just a few hours before Keith would be meeting me back at the hotel I decided to stay nearby. Luckily Grace Cathedral is just a few blocks from the hotel. A visit to light candles and say a few prayers, walking the outside labyrinth, and a peaceful stroll along some side streets and I’m ready to meet up with Keith for drinks and dinner.

I think these are cherry blossom trees surrounding the cathedral. How odd to see them blooming in February.

Keith ran off and left me again this morning so I’m in my sewing room and the first thing I did was put my new ironing board cover on.

Here’s the old scorched one in the trash — when was the last time you changed yours?

We just spent $$$$ to have someone come out and replace our hot water heater and still don’t have hot water. Keith will call in the AM but he’d better hope it’s fixed before he heads out of town again or I will NOT be happy.

Simple quilts are my favorites, not only because they’re easy to make but they just visually appeal to me the most. When I started looking through my design journal yesterday to decide what I’d work on next, I wanted something simple that I could work on in little blocks of time because the next weeks are going to be very busy.

The block is called Little Cedar Tree’s although you usually see it rotated with the darks in the top corner – I like it best like this. Nothing could be easier either, I can layer 3 lights and darks right sides together on my GO 3.5 inch half square triangle die and have enough triangles for 3 blocks.

I don’t usually use this trick of fanning out the center seam of a block but in this case it has two benefits, one, it decreases bulk and two, it allows me to not worry about pressing half the seams up and half down since each block will automatically nestle with the next.

I’ll need 80 blocks plus borders to get a nice size sofa quilt and I’m contemplating borders already. I have a chisel die I’ve been wanting to use which is one possibility and I’m still flipping through Judy’s border book too.

And he needs a GOOD brushing after a week at the doggie daycare/kennel. Now that I’ve spent the bulk of the day being productive — it’s time to cuddle!

It was a thrill to come home and find a new quilt book waiting!

While I rarely make a quilt according to a published pattern, I love books that inspire my own creative efforts. Judy’s new book is perfect for me. I can flip through and get ideas for borders that I can then apply to my own quilts. While I use EQ to draft all my quilts – for those of you that don’t — Judy does most of  the math for you.

You can purchase the book directly from her like I did and she’ll even write a nice note inside!