Dusty

Well, this post is more of an introduction to the newest member of the family...

I think his name is Dusty....or Twister.....or Reggie. Not quite sure, but I think Dusty will be his name! Maybe I should call him Distraction, because I should have started working on the longarm by now!

Stash-talk

I've somehow come across a blog the last couple of days called Kimberly's Quilting and Sewing, you can check it out HERE.

The last few days she is talking about being paralyzed by the "stash". A lot of what she is saying is resonating with me but I'm also finding it a bit frightening....what is she going to tell us to do with our lovely stash?...I don't know, but am thinking of trying to follow some of her suggestions.

This past year I had a couple of good friends offer to help organize my stash somewhat. I had put their offer off for quite a while because, quite frankly, I felt humiliated by the fact that I may need some help. They assured me though of the pleasure they get out of seeing (and petting) fabrics of other quilters, lol. We had a great day and made so much headway.

But there's still some work to do. Why do I think I can put a day aside to deal with something like this....

I`ve had these two bags around the house for probably over 5 years. They move from spot to spot, with me thinking that someday I`ll devote some time sorting, pressing, etc. Another little voice tells me just to chuck it....if I haven`t looked at it in so long, will I really miss it? Probably not, but the other little voice is screaming, "Noooooo!!!".  I know that one of the reasons to hold on to these is that I am basically a maker of scrappy quilts.

Some of what Kimberly writes about does speak to me, though. I think sometimes our taste in colour, genre, etc can change. I've said it before.....I think I've been going thru' the "fabric change-of-life" the last couple of years! My  colours over the years have always been warm, country colours. Lately, I've been buying brighter colours, even being influenced by other friends and trying Fassett fabrics, and the like. I'm loving the whimsy of Australian quilters and the fabrics they use. Maybe it IS time to weed thru' the stash??

Now for my nutrition tip of the day. No, this probably won't be a regular feature, but I guess many of us have little tricks to get a bit of "healthy" into our day, don't we? Here's mine for January. I want to try to sneak a tablespoon of this into my diet every day...

There are so many benefits to Hemp Seeds....protein, iron, etc., and it's easy to add them to your meal. I've just finished my porridge and I threw some in there and didn't even taste a difference. Not that there is anything wrong with the taste of them, at all. Another way to use them is to sprinkle them on your salad.  This big bag was bought at Costco.

On the quest for healthier eating, doesn't it seem like the universe is plotting against you sometimes??? What did I find this morning but some leftovers from Christmas...

There was a little bag of about 15 Hershey Kisses. I thought all the temptations had been gotten rid of (meaning eaten!).

Time to head off to the studio to work on a friend's quilt. I'm spending a couple of days doing all the ditch-work, then on Monday I can start the fun!

This quilt is a round-robin. Check out the way someone added "wedges" to get the "on point" centre medallion to be squared up....

So cool! My friend wants feathers to fill the cream "wedges". Not a problem, love doing me some feathers!!

Here's a picture of the outer border, which may give some of you a clue to whose quilt this is!!!

Have a great day!

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!