Monday, April 1, 2013

It's April, and I'm Alive!

The most common phrase in blog posts you read today will be "Can you guys believe it's April already?" And no, I can't.

March was insane and full of visitors and traveling. I know there are plenty of you out there who still manage to bust out quilts while being very busy, but I'm not one of you! So it goes. Preoccupying me this week is my first presentation in my Skype writing group--I joined this group this semester with four other women from my program who are living everywhere from California to New York right now! We meet every two-ish weeks on Skype and discuss one of the members' pre-circulated work. We're all working on our dissertations right now (except one member who finished hers last month! Yay!) so it's mostly dissertation chapters or conference papers. It's a little intimidating, because these women are incredibly smart and great historians--so I'm a little scared to share my chapter with them! But, they will also be very helpful, I am sure. And, it's a little exciting too. I feel like I've been working forever, but this will be my first completed chapter. I'm hoping to polish it off by the end of the month and turn it over to my committee members for dismantling. Hip hip hooray!

Anyway, that's not why you're here. My sewing machine sadly could not be fixed by my mother, so we ended up taking it an hour away to the nearest Bernina dealer. It turns out, the shop is run by either Old Order Mennonites or Amish (I'm guessing the former, since there was electricity, but I'm no expert.) Great service, and good pricing--I'm a little sad that I'll be moving and can't take it there again! They really spruced Tobias up nicely, and gave me a 90-day guarantee that he'll keep working.

So, not much quilting this month. I did make a rather unexpected return to cross stitching, as I wanted something I could take with me on my travels--you get an internet high five if you can tell what this project is going to be! :)


Also, it's currently snowing here, so I hope you're all enjoying your actual springs. :) Linking up to Plum and June.

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6 comments:

  1. What a fantastic idea your Skype group is. There's nothing like having your work dissected by magnificent brains. I wish I could read your chapter!

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  2. Cute cross stitch... but no high five since I have no guesses!

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  3. Ahh that cross stitch looks a lot like a Big Bang Theory design I've seen lately, so I'm thinking its a TV show or film? But I'm not sure which one. The Skype sessions sound like a great idea, it is so helpful getting that type of feedback.

    When I'm busy, quilting is very much on the back burner for me too!

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  4. The Skype group sounds like a such a experience! It is so helpful to get feedback from a diverse group of people. The cross stitch is so cute! I love weelittlestitches! I am working on the Superhero Alphabet. It is going *very* slowly!

    Thanks for linking up to Let's Get Acquainted this week!

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    1. "such a *good* experience" (It is getting late and I probably shouldn't be typing on the internet :D)

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  5. Still snowing here in London too... The cross stitch looks great but I can't for the life of me figure out what the show is. Hope the Skype group goes well, it's always nice to get feedback from like minded people :)

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