Getting Things Together . . .

Doesn't it sometimes seem like going on vacation takes an awful lot of work? For the next several days, I'll be getting ready--that's one of the reasons my friend Imelda and I got together last night to cut the Autumn House kits instead of waiting. As it turns out, most of our group will be vacationing together, so we thought having the last kits available to work on would be a good idea.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I DID just now say my stitchery group would be going on vacation together. Most of us, anyway. Those of us who can make it rented a house in Pismo Beach for a week, and we leave on Thursday. A whole week of sewing, shopping, wandering on the beach, eating out when we want, and relaxing without having to worry about the family . . . what could be better?

The only drawback is that I'll be away from all of you here in Blogland for a week. We've learned the house has WiFi, but I don't have a laptop, so any internet access will probably be on my Kindle unless I come across an internet cafe with computers available for use. So maybe I'll surprise you and post something, but probably not.

I plan to spend the next few days getting projects prepped for hand work, so I won't have to take a sewing machine or too much "stuff" along. The first block I have ready is the second Sew Spooky block:

There are yo-yo spiders and embroidery to be added, but the piecing is done and the applique is glued into place, ready to be stitched. There's a cute owl button that belongs up there in the window of the Haunted Barn, but that will be added after the quilt is done.

Here are the first two blocks side by side:

Finally, when I was uploading photos, I "found" the photo I'd taken of the swap blocks. There are nine blocks here, but after I took the photo, I decided to make one more block before I moved the scraps into the bin and put the yardage back on the shelves.

Thank you all for the suggestions on applique--I'm leaning toward the red birds, I think. I liked the ideas for bells and ornaments, but the group agreed to stick with a winter theme and not include Christmas. There were several other good ideas too--and I might use a couple to make blocks of my own to keep, but I'll applique at least eight or nine similarly for the swap. This is another one of those projects I'd like to take with me to work on while I'm at the beach.

Of course, not all the vacation preparations are as much fun as hanging out in the Sweat Shop, getting blocks ready. I also need to do a little house cleaning and probably work some overtime next week before I go. Then there are a couple secret projects to surprise my friends with on vacation, and I won't be able to show those to you for the time being, but maybe I can write a post or two and set them to publish after I'm gone, when it won't ruin the surprise for my friends. Over the next few days as I'm getting ready, if I don't have time to write or much of anything to write about, I might not post, but I'll probably be here as usual. I know I say that from time to time and then post anyway, but I don't want you to worry that there's anything wrong in case I'm "missing."

Have you taken a vacation yet this year? Or do you have vacation plans coming up soon?