A Busy Day - just not at the machine

Oodles got done today, but not interesting stuff. Just routine stuff that needs to be taken care of.

I did a lot of cooking, though. I made some more OMG applesauce (it's unbelievably good; be sure to use really tasty honey), and a new recipe for bleu cheese cole slaw. Tres yum! I made other stuff, but those are the interesting ones.

I got a few more rows done on the scarf, and as for sewing - just a few more 16-patches:

They're now bundled up with other Parts.

No telling what mood may hit me today! Thanks for stopping by.

And just like that, not so much!

As productive as the previous day was, Saturday was a relative bust! I got a little done, but not much.

The second set of Blue Onion blocks are done:

Here's a close-up

They are made from sliced stacks. Here's the book, by Karla Alexander. The pattern is Red Onion. I made this once in browns and tans (me!!). It turned out really nice,

 so now I'm experimenting with blues and the wonderful Westminster target fabric. (I don't have the one above anymore: I gifted it.)

I did a little more knitting - can you tell the difference? (HA!)

Just for fun, here are the current "Books on the Nightstand" (yes, I read multiple books at a time).

Fiction: (on the iPad) The Racketeer. John Grisham (he's always a good read)
Non-fiction: The Nine. Jeffrey Toobin (about the Supreme Court)
Philosophy: Ethical Theory. Louis P. Pojman (what can I say? I love this stuff)
Classic: The House of the Seven Gables. Nathaniel Hawthorne

I also listen to audio books as I sew. I've just finished Victims, by Jonathan Kellerman (goodness, he's a productive writer!!) and made a library run for another fresh selection, so nothing on the stereo at the moment.

Two fun blog reads for the day:
Victoria Findlay Wolfe (again) - her favorite moments from the Africa trip
Jane LaFazio - how much fun are these plates and cups?

Hmm. No wonder I have days when I don't get much sewing done!! Well, off to put in the miles: it's right-smart chilly out this morning. The walk will be ... um ... refreshing.

Thanks for stopping by! Come back and visit soon.

Lots Done!

A good, productive day.

The backing and binding for the poppy quilt are done, so now the quilt is in RFQ status (ready for quilting).

(poppy backing)

I worked on more free-form blue blocks (see them in this post). I finished the ones with the too-drastic curve (yikes!) so now am having a much easier time of it.

This project is from some of the (many) bunches of blocks I made over the last month. It's half-together now so should be a top soon.

I also played around with some wonky star blocks. OK - ONE block

(the blocks on the top are from my Parts Department stash - see Freddie Moran and Gwen Marston's technique). This is just a test block, to see how the process went. I used the remains from trimming strip-sets that are used for the Scrapolator blocks (See Dianne Springer's Scrapolator book - I want to make most of the quilts in that book!!). After I wonkied the star points, I then "made" fabric for the center, still using Scrapolator strip-set remains. (see Victoria Findlay-Wolfe's 15 Minutes of Play technique. She has just returned from Africa, so you may want to spend some time reading through her blog. Great stuff!)

I'll do more of these blocks, but learned some lessons in making the test one (like - don't bring the star point out the top - see the red on the center-right.) I also think I'm going to use black-and-white for the backgrounds. Black and white is an easy fix to design challenges so is looked down on by some, but I think it works great so poo on the color snobs.

I also knitted a bit more on the scarf - a little at a time will get the project done!

About 2 months ago I made a huge pot of bolognese sauce from an Ann Burrell recipe. It's wonderful, but of course way too much, so I froze it into one-serving containers. That was dinner last night: I'd forgotten how delicious it was. A nice glass of Pinot Noir was the perfect accompaniment. Yum!

As I said - lots done! Thanks for stopping by.