First Finishes of 2015

I finally did the binding on this strippy quilt. It's the first finish of 2015. On my screen, the greys look blue: there's not a bit of blue in this quilt. It's "modern" in feel.  I don't remember the fabric line, but I just had to make it. I completely copied the shop sample! How totally uncreative. :)

When I took the Fractured top to the quilters, I also took them a practice piece. I had batiks and non-batiks, and a slippery thread I wanted to use for quilting, so I thought it would be good to give them something work on for getting tensions right, etc. From that practice piece, I cut 8 wristlets. They didn't turn out as nice as I thought they would. The expandable piece in the bottom of each is the same color as the strap, but because you don't really see it, there isn't enough contrast. I guess this makes them useful in their "neutralness".  Regardless, they're done and count toward 2015 finishes. 

I had chickens from the grocery, so Monday night I put the carcasses in the crock pot and made stock overnight. Yesterday I used the stock to make chicken rice soup (also in the crockpot - love that thing!), had some for dinner, then froze the rest in portion containers. I've done a lot of that over the last month and probably will be able to survive any zombie apocalypse with no need to go foraging for food. Ah, well. I really enjoy cooking and have been doing a lot of it! More experimentation will be coming up: I also enjoy trying new recipes.

Any suggestions on how to give chicken soup some flavor, though? Honestly, it's quite boring and in need of some pizazz. 

And that's my update for now.  Thanks for stopping by!

2015 "finish" count - 9

Experimental Post

OK even though I'm a techie, I haven't yet tried posting to the blog from any of my mobile devices, so here's my first try.

I really have been quite busy, getting lots of UFOs to the quilters. Here are some of the things that have made it to the next step.

This Drunkards Path uses a 4" block. It was just an experiment. After learning a new way to piece curves with no pins, I whipped this out of the stack and it came together quickly.  Hooray for no pins when curve piecing! 

I can't believe how bad the border looks in this photo! Honestly, it looks much better Than this.

This was sitting in the pile, waiting for some fused appliqué. For five years. Enough already. I made a back & sent it to the quilters.

Just some fun. The rows were put together, so I added the rest of the sashings and called it done. This one is small enough for me to quilt on the Bernina.

So, then, looks like its pretty simple to post from the iPad. Good deal!

Thanks for stopping by!

A little more done

Accomplishments! After a few boring days and no sewing progress, I got some more done. I've finished all the donation blocks for the 2013 guild quilt.

I finished the last set of blocks for the design-your-own quilt  double 9-patches.

Now all the blocks are made for this one and I can get to the designing part. Here are all the blocks:

The idea is to make a bunch of each, then have fun arranging until you have something you like. Keeping similar (but varied) backgrounds adds more interest to the quilt.

I finished all the little blocks for Safari ...

...and made one big block to show you what they'll look like.

(No, the seams don't match - they're not suppose to.) Can't wait to see what this one will look like when it's all pieced. I think it will need something else - maybe a little applique or embellishment (or both). We'll see! It's really fun to make things that have no predetermination of what they'll look like when they're finished.

Today was sew-in day at the local quilt shop: I was able to finish the borders on the rest of the jelly-roll-race/1600 charity quilts. I'm glad to have them done!

I made it to a Triple D (Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives) restaurant last week - Metro Diner here in Jacksonville.  Then there was a show yesterday featuring Zia, in Santa Fe, NM - another one to add to my list! I was there this spring. I'm heading to the Mancuso World Quilt Show in West Palm Beach this weekend and will hopefully hit Havana Hideout and can add that one to my list. It'll be fun to see how many of the places I can add to my list over the next few years.

I tried a new recipe, too - Ann Burrell's Asian pork tenderloin. It's really good. And easy. I recommend giving it a try.

That's it for the non-boring parts. Thanks for stopping by!

And running around was done by all .....

Busy day running! Passport stuff. Groceries. Guild. I'm  just making it in under the wire!

The walk this morning was .. ahem ... brisk (isn't that kind?) I couldn't get that 7th mile in - had to turn around at the 3 mile mark. Still - 6 miles is excellent! I'm thinking surely I MUST have burned more fat because it was so cold, right? Right???? Tomorrow morning is suppose to be colder ... yikes.

I didn't get all the big 9-patches done today, but did manage to do 10 (16 total are needed).

 I "unmatched" the fabrics and mixed it up, hoping to spread the drastic purple-love around the quilt. I think I can catch up on the other 6 blocks tomorrow. Boy, that top left block stands out like the inside of your cheek right after you bite it, doesn't it? There's more dark to come, but I dunno .....I'm not liking what I see right now.

The photo prompt today is "lunch". Oops. I should've read the prompt earlier. I ate it. So here's dinner. Ribs for lunch - really I wasn't hungry this evening, so just tossed down these couple of sweeties to get some C for the day.

Same pic with the cherry pop flash (yea, more Hipsta fun)

Everything else is moving right along. A kinda boring day here on the ranch. Hope I didn't put you to sleep!

Thanks for stopping by.

Purple and Pounds

Gosh, I guess I should update the 13-weeks status. Funny how that has slacked off.  The idea of finishing a quilt each week kept me refreshed and eager to post something new, but I'm sure not putting much out here with the new goal of getting rid of stuff and finishing.  I'm definitely going to have to rethink this!  I AM still losing a pound a week, though (sometimes more), and I'm very happy about that. Still walking 6 miles most days - sometimes even in the rain (as long as it's really just a heavy mist and not a downpour!) So progress continues to be made.  The holiday season is here, though, and now it will be more challenging to resist those goodies that are everywhere at this time of year.

I have this much of "purple" done:

It's off to the quilters for now - sometimes that's just an intermediate step! - and then the rest of the "stuff " will be added.  I'm thinking I probably should have made the sashing bigger. The blocks are 6", the sashing is 1" ... I think a 2" sashing would've worked better, so I think I'll grab another basket of scraps and try it.  Soon.  As soon as I have an opening in the quilt schedule ....

Well, you just never know what life will REALLY bring, in spite of all your plans! That's what makes it so fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Working on the backlog!

It was way too cold to take

pictures outside so pardon the wonkiness. I'm spending some time each day working on the UFO pile. Pinky, and a little fast-and-furious Christmas quilt.