It's a Porridge Day!

After listening to the strong winds the last couple of days I was comforted by the thought of porridge for breakfast. I love porridge so much, I don't know why I don't eat it everyday. I can go a long time without even thinking of it as an option for breakfast but this type of weather makes it a perfect start to the day.

I am starting the year off with trying to make some healthier choices for my meals so I can fit into "the dress" come July. I know in the fall I tried to watch my carbs a bit, and I noticed immediate results. It just takes some thinking ahead and planning....which is hard sometimes when all you want to do is grab a pizza out of the freezer for lunch ( like yesterday!) .Maybe I'll take the dress out of the closet everyday and hang it in view for inspiration.

This month I find myself at the start of a long list of custom quilts. I usually just like to book one per month since they are more intense. My usual process is to agonize for a couple of days while displaying the quilt so I can get ideas. Then I get it on the longarm and somehow the ideas start to flow and I wonder what I had been beating myself up about! I swear, it's like this everytime! So, this month I'm going to trust myself and just get at it!

I started the week with something a little easier just to get myself back into the groove after the holidays. It is a "modern" quilt and I think it turned out fantastic! I can't take all the credit, though....my client knew exactly what she wanted so I just went ahead. I can't show pictures yet...I'll wait for her permission.

Today I'm on to custom #2...a beauty done by a friend of mine. She asked for feathers in a certain area, but has given me the go ahead to experiment.

I have to say, though, I wish I  had one more week of holidays so I could just sew! When I finished work yesterday I turned my attention to Grand Illusion. I think in an earlier post I may have pointed out that my four-patches were sewn in every which-way....

I had thought to just leave it be. That was probably a decision made after an afternoon of sewing. Well, looking at it again yesterday with fresh eyes, all I could think was that there had been so much sewing done already in this project that it deserved to be corrected. All it took was barely an hour of frogging and re-sewing, and I think it was worth it!

I really would just like to keep at this today and have it done! I haven't actually sat down and did the math, but I do think I'll be needing more border units. Also, since I have done only 12 blocks instead of 25, I know that I'll have to do some figuring on the width of the inner border to make it work. I can't wait to see it all put together!

Something else I'd like to do is find the project I want to take with me to the quilting retreat later this month. It's a pattern I got from Victoria Gertenbach at  The Silly BooDilly. The pattern is called "Raise the Barn Roof High" and you can see a picture of it HERE. Now, it's just a matter of remembering the so-called "safe place" that I put the pattern/fabrics! We all have that proverbial safe place, don't we????

Have a great day!