Japanese Puzzle, Part III, Piecing Class and Skating Goal

Met with Kathy S., the Japanese Puzzle instructor at Cabin Fever, and "commissioned" her to complete my Japanese Puzzle piece.  She found the most extraordinary fabric for the outer border. A gorgeous Batik with these contemporary geese.  It's PERFECT for this piece.  She is also going to add two flying geese appliques to the upper left-hand corner and an inner border.  Actually, with Kathy's expert assistance and skill, this piece is going to be quite stunning.  I can't wait to see it (and post a picture, of course). 

The piecing class yesterday was not a great success.  I worked hard on my Flying Geese row but didn't get it completed :( .  Other students had more success and seem to be ripping through their Geese.  Then, I experienced a problem with my Geese that even stumped the instructor. This could only happen to me, I bet.  But, I will work through it.  I have much work to do on this before next Tuesday's class, when we are supposed to have completed all rows and added the lattice (I haven't even purchased fabric for this yet).  I don't much like this quilt because it's a sampler; hence, I don't feel fully committed to it, which is a little sad because it's a gift for my voice coach.  I really need to work up more enthusiasm for it.  I do think it's going to be cute when it's completed and much appreciated, I'm sure.

From quilting to skating. What a leap (no pun intended, BTW).  I won't be skating in our local April competition, as previously planned because of a little 'hitch' in the music requirements. My music cannot be cut to 1:40 without serious damage to it. So, I've decided to set a goal of taking this program to the music from "Passion of the Christ" to ISI Worlds in July 2009 in San Jose.  I will need to pass two freestyle tests before July to complete at the level I would like, so there is much work ahead.  But, I love the program and would really like to perform it at Worlds.  Many adult skaters have told me how much fun ISI competitions are, so I think I'll take the plunge and give it a try.  So, skating goals for this year:  pass Ten Fox, 14-Step and Fox Trot, work on Silver Moves (no testing however), and compete at ISI Worlds.  Now that I've put this in writing on the Web, I guess I have to follow through!