Well, after a day or so of rest, I'm starting to get back on track. Before I do my UFO update, I thought I'd tell you just a little about where we were the past couple of days. We went to Ypsilanti, Michigan, which is where Eastern Michigan University is. Every year, they host a regional conference for the Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan (BAAM). It is always a good conference with a good lineup of speakers. We got a room at the Marriott--splurged a little. Sweet Pea came with us, so her big reward for sitting in sessions and behaving well was to get to go swimming at night. We had a wonderful time. On Thursday night, we had dinner with a bunch of our graduate students and students from EMU, along with several speakers at the conference and the conference organizers. One thing that's really cool about this conference is that a number of very well respected behavior analysts live in or around this state, and they attend the conference. In fact, several faculty members at Western Michigan University, where I work, are considered to be some of the most prominent members of our field. They are not only wonderful scholars, they are wonderful people.
They were at dinner with us, too. Here's Sweet Pea helping my colleague pick out a sticker. He is the president of our international organization right now, which is very cool. The other man on the far left is a professor emeritus (retired) from WMU who is one of the most prominent men in our field. It was a very enjoyable evening.
It was fun to see everyone, have a little break from campus, take an opportunity to learn from my colleagues, visit with our students and other students, visit with colleagues from other universities, etc. But, it's physically draining, so it's good to be home! Again, sorry for the gap in my posts for a few days. I should know better than to promise posts when I'm at such events!
Okay, now for the UFO update. Last Friday, when I went to my Friday Night Sew In, I took along a UFO to make progress on. I didn't want to do hand sewing again, so I pulled out one of my other UFOs to work on. I decided to take something that wouldn't require a lot of thinking on my part, since I tend to spend a lot of time gabbing with the girls at these things.
You may recall that a while back, I won a jelly roll from Fat Quarterly (I blogged that here). I decided I would join in their quilt along (which was pretty well under way at the time, so I started off behind) and make a quilt to donate to the Kalamazoo Autism Center for fundraising or however they wanted to use it. (Incidentally, the man who is getting the sticker from Sweet Pea above is the man who runs that center out of his very own pocket to support children with autism, their families, and his graduate students.) You might recall that I had completed about half the blocks...they had the prints from the jelly roll on the outside, and a Kona solid on the inside. (I last blogged about that in October...here...man, I've let this slide for a while.)
To refresh your memory, they look something like this. Very simple blocks to sew.
I decided I would alternate these blocks with blocks that had the solid on the outside and the print in the middle.
So, I made these at the Friday Night Sew in. Pretty good progress! I need 40 of them. There are 20-something finished.
And you can see I have the remainig ones started anyway.
After I laid out the ones I made at the Friday Night Sew In to photograph for you, Sweet Pea said, "Can I help?" I told her, "Sure, why don't you lay out these blocks (with the pattern on the outside) so I can take a photo to remind people about these blocks. Just thrown them out here like I did."
She said, "No, Mom. I want to make nine patches!" haha! So, she set them up in nine patches. How cute is that?! It made me smile! Definitely a quilter in the making!
And I'm this close to being done with Tree of Life! I got the birds and twigs on.
Everything is sewn down except these two twigs and the dark green leaf. Then, it's ready for quilting! I put this lower bird on in the same spot that Edyta did in the pattern, but I think I should have put it up higher. I think it looks a little bare above the bird. But I think it looks okay.
Hop on over to Susans' blog, Blackberry Creek, to check out what everyone else is up to on their UFOs.
In closing, I'd like to thank those of you who e-mailed me to make sure I was okay after not blogging for a few days. I really appreciated your concern. You are all so sweet, and I really enjoy your friendship a lot. When you all don't blog for a few days, I honestly miss you, too!
Anyway, I told Papa Pea that some of you had e-mailed and wondered where I was. He said, "This whole blogging thing is just a bunch of women socializing on-line. You e-mail and gab with each other on-line. I just figured out that that's what is really going on!"
I laughed and said, "What took you so long to figure that out?!" I really laughed out loud at that one.
Too funny.
Hope you are all well and having a good weekend. I have to be honest with you...I am sick of winter.
Until next time,
Mama Pea
Jelly roll quilt is going to be such a pretty, cheerful quilt. Love the colors! Sounds like you got A LOT of sewing done this weekend!! :-) Sweet Pea is going to be a quilter for sure! So cute!! It was so much fun spending time with you Saturday!! It went by WAY too fast.
I like where you put the bird. It'll leave some nice space for quilting.
Posted by: Linda | February 27, 2011 at 12:12 PM
Sounds like you had a great conference. Love what you are doing with the Autism quilt. What size are those blocks? Your Tree of Life is coming along nicely. Can't wait to see how you quilt it.
Posted by: Caroll D | February 27, 2011 at 02:12 PM
Those blocks are so happy! It looks like something I would make. Probably why I like it so much.
Posted by: Lynn | February 27, 2011 at 03:03 PM
Oh, no! Papa Pea is onto us! Ha! Your jelly roll blocks are adorable. It's so sweet that she wanted to help you with your quilt.
Your Tree of Life is really looking good!
Posted by: Kim | February 27, 2011 at 06:59 PM
That jelly roll quilt has the most fab fabrics in it.. I have scrolled up 3 times to look at it... is it all from one designer or company?
Is your Papa Pea a professor as well?
Posted by: Jackie | February 27, 2011 at 08:58 PM
I love your Friday Night Sew In project blocks. Great job on all your UFO-ing.
Posted by: Deb | February 27, 2011 at 09:19 PM
Looks like good times.
I agree - the bird should be higher.
Posted by: sisLH | February 27, 2011 at 11:12 PM
Glad you are back. Your blocks make me feel happy, so they will be really appropriate for autistic children. I do love your Tree of Life quilt, but agree the bird should be higher. Sweet Pea is definitely going to be a quilter.
Posted by: Rosemary Dempster | February 28, 2011 at 05:06 AM
The bluebirds are the perfect addition to your Tree of Life. The sew-in blocks are lovely too. So happy. Congrats on all your progress.
Posted by: Susan Ramey Cleveland | February 28, 2011 at 11:03 AM