Off to Florence

I leave for Italy this afternoon for a week-long family holiday. It should be marvelous to relax for a week with my dear husband, who has never traveled to Italy before.

I'm bringing these books:


An important criteria in the book selection was binding -- only paperbacks need apply.

As soon as I get back, the quarter starts, and it is going to be busy. I am teaching the accelerated introduction to Greek, serving as a TA for second year Latin, and preparing for my last big exam.

My second quilting class was last night, and all I can say is that it will take me a LONG time to finish my Charm quilt. I also have been embroidering a set of pillowcases.



I used an iron-on transfer from Pattern Bee (Fairyland). I'm planning a quilt with embroidered blocks of fairies, elves, and gnomes, interspersed with bright red, green, and blue patchwork. I need to find some Heather Ross gnome fabric to put in with the patchwork. Just for accents -- not a whole quilt of gnome fabrics, that would be too much even for me. The quilt will have to wait until after Charm is done, but I can easily get started on the embroidery.

My knitting group had a children's book shower for one of our knitters who is pregnant with her first child. It was such a great idea! She is a librarian, so she truly appreciated the gifts. I contributed a Scandinavian children's book that I love:

The illustrations are marvelous, and it's a sweet little story. It was a hit at the shower. No one had seen it before, which surprised me. I suppose that Minnesota really is one of the epicenters for all things Scandinavian in the US.