I Spy I Spy Quilts...almost...

I finished all the alternating blocks for the I Spy Quilts. Here are pics of each one next to the border fabric. This top one is for my oldest grandson.

This is the border for the animal themed I Spy quilt, and I picked the colors for the alternating blocks from the border fabric.

This is the border fabric for the travel/transportation themed quilt. I picked traffic light colors for the alternate blocks on this one.

I really need to get this one for my grandson finished first, so I laid it out on our bed today. This is just part of the quilt, but the best picture of the three I took. I managed to get the rows assembled, and all the rows are marked, so no getting things confused now.

I have all the main blocks (not the string blocks) for RRCB done now, I finished those yesterday. I am working on the pieced borders as my leader/ender project. I already have the corner pieces to the border done, so it's coming along well. The blocks for the log cabin quilt are all finished too. I see lots of assembly in my future :-)

Tomorrow is the day I am hoping to rearrange my sewing room. I need to somehow fit the Juki in its cabinet in there, so a couple things are going to have to move out to make room. I "think" I have it figured out.

I do have some news I am really excited about! DH and I are going to take a vacation in a couple weeks. We haven't had any time alone in ever so long (unless grocery shopping counts, and I don't think it does), and we are both exhausted and stressed out. We're going to go to Sedona for a few days. I told him he could bring his scooter and I'll bring my sewing machine. I'll sew while he rides, then we'll spend the rest of each day together. I think it sounds like so much fun and very relaxing. He is always good to stop at quilt stores for me, and there is some great antiquing to be done around there, especially in Cottonwood.

I have never sewn away from home, on one of my machines anyway. I have mended for a friend on her machine. I've never taken a class or taken my machine on vacation before, so I am trying to figure out what to bring. I want to take my Brother cs6000i because it is so much lighter than the Bernina 1080. I don't like switching machines mid-quilt because of slight variations in the 1/4" foot. I still have most of the string blocks to do for RRCB, and I think that is a great thing to take. The exact 1/4 isn't as important in string blocks, and I will be trimming them to size anyway.

I should probably take something else to work on too, just in case I finish the string blocks, and that I can't decide. I have some garments cut out, (honestly they've been cut out for a while) but I don't think that I will consider garment sewing relaxing, and I'd have to bring a lot more stuff, interfacing, zippers, etc... I could bring more strings and work on my Christmas stockings. I really find string blocks stress relieving. I could also bring my crumbs with me, and see if I can get some crumb blocks made. I am going to see if we have a suitcase that will fit my sewing machine, and if we do I'll just take as many projects as will fit in the extra space. I looked at sewing trolleys, and boy, are those expensive! Unless we started doing this regularly, I couldn't justify the cost of one.

Our hotel room has a kitchen with pans, plates and utensils, so we will probably cook some meals in, and only eat a few out. The room has an iron and ironing board, so I needn't worry about that either. I might bring my adjustable craft table, so I can sew at the right height, and maybe a folding chair. I could always leave them in the van if the hotel has suitable furniture for sewing. I sewed at the kitchen table for years, but now I am spoiled with the two machines I use most often being in cabinets. I can hardly wait for our adventure!