Crooked Seams

Let Me See Your Jelly Roll! in January

2012-01-31T22:13:00.002-05:00

Um, so this is embarrassing

But I'm still not done with my jelly roll quilt for January. I still have about 4 hours' worth of work on it. I suppose I could have stayed up late the past couple of nights to finish, but I guess I'm just not hungry enough for that kind of glory.

So here's the quilt in its current state...

Maybe it's kind of like showing up to your own dinner party with your hair in rollers and the back of your dress tucked into your pantyhose, but I'm going to go ahead and post the link party now, even though I'm not done. I'll keep the party going until Saturday evening, to give everyone (myself included) to wrap up their January projects.

Remember:

1) Quilt tops count, too!

2) It doesn't have to be a project made from an officially jelly roll - it can be any strippy quilt (top) or project

3) I'm asking that it is a project you've finished or worked on sometime in the past month. Please don't link up a jelly roll project you finished 3 years ago, k?

On Saturday night, I'll use the trusty random number generator to pick a winner from the link party to win 3 yards of Denyse Schmidt prints.

Aspirations

2012-01-20T21:58:00.000-05:00

I started a new pinboard on Pinterest today, dedicated to machine quilting. My jelly roll quilt top just needs borders, so machine quilting's weighing heavy on my mind right now, since I'm still undecided on how I'll quilt it.

Most of the pins are definitely aspirational at this point. If I want to stick to my self-imposed deadline on the first jelly roll quilt at least, I'll need to tame my Big Quilting Ideas. I would like to incorporate a couple of new to me quilting design elements in this quilt though.

Here are some ideas I've been doodling.

Um, I know. It kind of looks like a preschooler did this, but I was using a laptop mousepad in Microsoft Paint on a Friday night, so cut me some slack, mmkay? You get the idea anyways, right?

How do you decide what designs best fit a quilt? Does it depend on your mood? Your timeline? Your comfort level with a design?

Happy Things

2012-01-19T06:15:00.000-05:00

Upon reflection, I realize that I've been a bit of a Debbie Downer in my last few posts. This isn't at all how I wanted to start off the year. Obviously, my life isn't as bad as I've made it out to be. Let's look at a couple of things that make me happy.

In the hubbub of the holidays, I forgot to mention that I finally worked up the gumption to make a slipcover for my ottoman one Saturday morning. I had been procrastinating on this project for 6+ months. It took me less than an hour to finish. Typical.

Let's get a little before/after action up in here...

Before:

After:

Note to self: Next time you work with dropcloths, zig zag stitch all the raw edges before you hem to avoid all the endless fraying. 'm forever trimming threads off the bottom of this slipcover. I definitely followed the crowd on this project and made my slipcover out of a painter's dropcloth. I still have miles of the dropcloth left, it seems like - plenty to tackle one or two of the four wingback chairs we inherited along with the ottoman. Someday.

First I have to finish my jelly roll quilt for January.

Speaking of, here's a quick peek at the prize for the winner of this month's jelly roll quilt participant...

One yard each of three different prints from Denyse Schmidt's latest line with Joann's. INCIDENTALLY, 3 yards is just about the same amount of fabric found in a jelly roll.

So, if this selection of fabric appeals to you, there's still plenty of time to finish your jelly roll quilt (top) for January - 12 whole days!

Re-Entering the Land of the Living

2012-01-18T20:46:00.001-05:00

Slowly but surely, I'm crawling out from under my rock for what seems like the umpteenth time this year. After finally emerging from my post-Christmas funk a few weeks ago, I came down with a nasty cold this past weekend, and it ripped apart at the (crooked) seams all my well-laid plans for crafty productivity on the long weekend. No worries. I'm feeling much better now. I guess it was just my body's way of telling me to slow the heck down already and get some rest before I got too carried away with my Big Plans.

On the upside, I got a ton of sleep and drank water by the gallon, so even if I'm still a little congested, my skin is looking better than it has in MONTHS. I'll take what I can get.

On the crafty front, I made some forward-backward-forward progress with my jelly roll quilt for this month. Um, y'all. Please tell me you're not following my oh-so-prideful cutting instructions from a few weeks back and hoping to easily crank out a quilt that looks like this.

Source: camilleroskelley.typepad.com via Megan on Pinterest

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you follow my cutting instructions and piece the blocks the same way I did, your strips will not cleanly line up on the diagonal without much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

You'll spend some serious quality time squaring up subunit after subunit and block after block with your trusty ruler and rotary cutter.

Even after hours of squaring up, the blocks will look more like this.

You will not be able to line up those diagonal rows so neatly, and then you will punch your sewing machine in the face.

source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markkelley/253278143/

I wish I could say that this piecing travesty was the result of me "chasing the Ny/DayQuil dragon" (husbatron's coined phrase), but alas, I started all the cutting and piecing well before the Great Plague struck my house this past weekend and caused me to seek over the counter relief. Sometimes, I wish I wasn't such a cheapskate and that I had just hauled @$$ to Joann's with my trusty coupons to buy the friggin' book. Moral of the story: If you want to make the quilt pictured above, buy the book! Don't follow my lame attempt at directions! I'm sure there's some great nugget of wisdom in the book about what to do exactly if you're not using the fancy schmancy ruler she recommends.

Alas, we live with the decisions we make. For a brief nanosecond, I considered un-piecing everything, buying the book, and trying to make everything "right." I'm pretty sure I was chasing the DayQuil dragon pretty hard at that point. Then I came to my senses and remembered that I like spending time with my seam ripper about as much as I like having my annual exam with the Lady Bits Doctor. So, in my DayQuil-induced state, I headed to the local Hancock Fabrics down the road, picked up a couple of yards of Kona White (the last of the bolt, no less!), and sashed the heck out of all my wonked out blocks.

And just like that, things are looking up.

Never doubt the power of some good old-fashioned sashing, y'all.

I'm linking up to W.I.P. Wednesday over at Lee's place. Be sure to check in and see what everyone else has been up to lately!

Shout! Color Catchers Winner

2012-01-12T22:48:00.002-05:00

Thanks to everyone who entered the Shout Color Catchers giveaway! Congratulations to commenter #6: manybooks! Be sure to check your email and send me your address.

manybooks said...6

Oh, I can't imagine the stress! When I'm on stress overload i curl up on the couch and watch bad reality TV :) I do need to wash a quilt made with Zipadee Doo Dah which is a Moda line with lots of red - my very first quilt ever and its never been washed, so i will certainly wash it alone and with several Shout Catchers! Thanks for the reminder (ive never tried the color catchers, but I've only washed 2 or 3 finished quilts.

January 9, 2012 11:33 PM

I had so much fun reading everyone's stress-busting routines. There are some busy bees who like to keep their hands busy with housework or sewing, some who enjoy a little retail therapy, and some kindred spirits like myself. I am definitely an emotional eater. You better believe I curled up with a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese for dinner and ate my feelings the other night. Don't worry, I did round out the meal with a pot green beans, and we kept things civilized by eating off of plates, much as I wanted to eat directly from the pot of fake cheesy goodness. I realize that a walk around the block or cleaning the tile grout in my shower stall might have been a more constructive response to my anxiety, but I can't be a goody two-shoes all the time.

Thanks again! I'm off to sew on my jelly roll quilt for a few minutes before bedtime. Peace out y'all!

This Post is Brought to You by Shout and OxiClean

2012-01-09T22:44:00.001-05:00

Subtitle: When Bad Things Happen to Goody Two-Shoed Quilters

This weekend, it happened to me. That's right, the one thing that all quilters, modern and traditional alike, dread:

My red fabrics bled on not one but two finished quilts.

Stuff like that isn't supposed to happen to me. I still pre-wash my fabrics, for pete's sake. It all started the middle of last week when I decided it would be a good idea to do a load of "Christmas laundry" before I put away all the decorations for the year. So, into the wash went my 12 Days of Christmas throw quilt, my 12 Days of Christmas tree skirt, a tablerunner, and the Husbatron's NCSU quilt for the heck of it because it hadn't been washed yet. (Insert ominous foreshadowing music now.)

During Netflix night on Saturday, the Husbatron pulled his NCSU quilt out of the dryer to warm himself up a bit. (Please ignore the fact that a load of laundry sat in my dryer for 4+ days. I said I'm a goody two-shoed quilter, not a goody two-shoed housekeeper.) The light was pretty dim in the family room that night, but after the movie was over, he pointed at a white part of his quilt and casually said, "Does that look pink to you?"

I played it cool on the outside, kept binding my HST quilt, and nonchalantly said, "Hmm, you go on to bed. I'll see what I can do." But on the inside, panic gripped my heart and constricted my airways. I mentally reviewed all the fabrics in his quilt and their point of origin. They all came from "good" fabric shops and the fabrics had been pre-washed before I cut them up for his quilt. I scolded myself for not throwing a color catcher in the wash with the Christmas load, since I knew the NCSU quilt, in its entirety, had never been washed before. But in the spirit of setting aside regrets and plowing ahead, I decided to throw the NCSU quilt in the wash with a heckalotta color catchers and see what happened. I threw a small scoop of Borax and another small scoop of OxiClean in there for good measure.

Since I was running the wash anyways, I figured I might as well throw my freshly bound HST quilt in the washer with it.

Is anyone getting anxious yet?

Sunday morning, I pulled the quilts out of the wash and noticed that the pink was mostly gone from the white spots on the NCSU quilt. There are still a few miniscule pink spots on the quilt, but you have to really look for them. Huzzah!! I didn't destroy the Husbatron's quilt! Our marriage is saved! I credit Shout! Color Catchers for removing the pink tinges and saving our marriage.

Then there was the HST quilt. The Kona Snow background was still purrrrr-fectly bright white. The cream in the Moda charm squares that I used, on the other hand, somehow absorbed any and all loose dye and turned pastel pinkish melon color. Which I would have been fine with if I was using a traditional 3 Sisters or Fig Tree charm pack. This lovely pastel pink-melon color did NOT coordinate well with the fun, bright modern prints from Freebird and Chrysalis.

So, I ran it through the wash with Color catchers a couple more times. The color catchers caught some color, but they weren't really pulling any color out of the cream fabrics. And I could tell that the amount of dye they caught was on the wane.

At this point, I seriously considered donating the quilt to the guild just so I didn't have to see it ever again. When the Husbatron gently asked what the guild would do with it, my reply was something like, "I don't care, as long as it's not in my house anymore. They'll probably give it to some dumb orphan."

Um, I know. I'm terrible and black-hearted when I'm frustrated. It's a wonder God did not smite me down on my way to guild last night. Choosing to ignore that he managed to marry the most callous quilter on the planet, the Husbatron calmly asked if OxiClean might help.

So after consulting Google and discovering that OxiClean is gentle enough for antique quilts and has been successful for other quilters with similar angst, I figured, eh, what the hay. I have nothing to lose at this point.

I soaked the HST quilt in a big bucket filled with warm water and 2 scoops of OxiClean for 20 minutes, and then ran it through a rinse/spin cycle in the wash. Finally, THAT seemed to lift most of the dye out of the cream spots. The cream prints aren't quite as bright as they were a few days ago, but they're certainly not pink anymore.

I give you the cleanest quilt east of the Mighty Mississippi.

In the end, all's well that's in well I suppose, but for about 24 hours straight, I was one big ball of anxiety, wondering if the quilts I worked on for hours would ever be restored to their former glories. I know this whole whiney post definitely falls into the first-world-problem category. But I just got so frustrated when I thought about how much time I spent on both those projects, and how they went from lovely and fun to ulgh in just 2 loads of laundry. I'd really prefer to avoid anxiety and frustration like this in the future, if at all possible.

In the spirit of learning from past mistakes, this is what I'm taking away from yesterday's fiasco:

If you're washing a finished quilt for the first time, for the love of all that is quilty, use a color catcher or three.
If you have some dye transfer issues with a quilt, do NOT wash another brand spankin' new quilt in the same load with the quilt that has issues. (Filed under: DUH)
Bad things happen to good quilters, so it's a good idea to always keep OxiClean and color catchers on hand.

Once the weather clears up, I'll be back with the official "finished" post for the HST quilt.

In the meantime, if you hung in there long enough to read all this mess that's largely devoid of images, you deserve a prize, or at least you deserve to be eligible for one.

If you'd like to win your own box of Shout! color catchers, just leave a comment below, answering the following question:

What's your favorite coping mechanism for stress? Do you bake a cake? Hop online to shop for more fabric? Do you bust out the sweat bands and leg warmers to walk away the pounds? Do you clean out a closet? Scrub-a-dub the tub? Crank out a scrap quilt? Inquiring minds want to know.

I'll close the giveaway on Thursday, January 12 at 9pm EST and announce a winner shortly thereafter.

UPDATE: Comments are CLOSED. Thanks to all who entered!

Forward Progress on All Fronts

2012-01-07T23:15:00.001-05:00

First things first, I'm {this} close to finishing up my HST quilt. In a burst of energy the other night, I finished the last few inches of quilting, made the binding, trimmed up the edges of the quilt, and then attached the binding to the front. I seriously considered machine binding this quilt so I can cross it off the list asap, but I'm craving a little bit of handwork. And it's been nice to have a project for Netflix night this weekend.

The other night, I finally started on my jelly roll quilt. Like I mentioned the other night, I'm reluctant to post step by step instructions for this project, since it's published and all. BUT I will direct you to other posts describing how these blocks can be constructed and throw in any helpful tips I encounter.

This month's pattern comes from Strip Smart Quilts by Kathy Brown. The premise of the book is that with strip-piecing and a fancy schmancy ruler, you can create a pretty wide variety of block designs. Last year, Kathy held a blog tour for her book, which is how I found out about it.

During the blog tour, Camille actually had a few pictures of how the ruler works and how the blocks come together. Go ahead and click over there to read it. I'll wait.

So here's the thing. I try to be selective about which rulers I bring into the house. (Less money spent on rulers = more money to spend on fabric, amIright?) So before I haul out the fundz to buy a new one, I play around with the rulers I have to see if I can get away with not buying a special one.

I'm going to let you in on a secret. To make the quilts in this book, you don't need to buy this crazy ruler, unless you really want to. Since all the block units are cut at a 45-degree angle, you can use the 45-degree line on one of your basic rulers as a guide for cutting.

So first, sew and press 2 strips together (a jelly roll strip and a background strip in my case).

Next find the 45-degree line on your ruler of choice. It's amazing how often I use this ruler and forget that these angles are marked.

Then line up the 45-degree line with the top of the strip set as far to the left as possible without clipping the bottom left corner of the strip set. Your ruler should be on the diagonal, with the top of the ruler on the right and the bottom of the ruler on the left.

The right edge of your ruler should now be set at a 45-degree angle and ready for you to cut, like so.

(Note: I definitely save this little swatch of fabric that I cut off the ends because, well, we all know I'm nutty about scraps. I'm thinking about salvaging the printed pieces to paper-piece hexagons or maybe make some 9-patch blocks)

To get the triangle shape with a 45-degree angle on the other side, simply flip the ruler to the right 90 degrees, so that the 45-degree line that's going in the other direction on your ruler is lined up with the bottom of the strip set. Your ruler should be on the diagonal, with the top of the ruler on the left and the bottom of the ruler on the right.

The right edge of your ruler should now be in place for you to cut at a 45-degree angle.

Ta-da! Your first unit! Now just keep flipping your ruler back and forth, left and right, all the way down the strip set, until you've exhausted your fabric.

If I'm not making sense, you might also take a look at Missouri Quilt Co's blog post about using a large square ruler to cut 45-degree angles.

I was able to get 8 triangles total from my strip set, which should be enough for me to make 2 blocks. If you're working with strips cut from fat quarters or scrap strips, your results might differ.

Do these units look familiar? They're the same basic building blocks that are used in the double-hourglass blocks, as seen here (that's me!), here, and here.

Now, let's take a minute to meditate on the wonders of geometry.

If all this ruler madness isn't your style, you can also make a template a la Allison's instructions @ Cluck Cluck Sew to get the same shape. Just start with a 9" square template, instead of the 7.5" square as she tutorializes.

I hope this teeny-tiny demo has been helpful!

Jelly Roll Project - Quick Clarification

2012-01-04T23:48:00.000-05:00

Just to be on the safe side, I wanted to clarify that I'm not doing a formal jelly roll quilt-along each month with a specific project. A fair number of the patterns I've flagged to use this year come from books, published patterns, etc. so I don't want to tread on anyone's copyright by posting specific instructions for published patterns. I *will* try to be conscientious about posting process posts along the way though, for folks who want a blow by blow idea of how the project progresses throughout the month

Exhibit A: I've finally started on the project.

I'm encouraging everyone to use a jelly roll or set of strips somehow, some way this month. You don't have to use the same pattern I do. Feel free to use any pattern out there, or make up your own, so long as you're busting some rolls. And please do feel free to go ahead and start on your project! Just because I've been procrastinating a wee bit doesn't mean that you have to procrastinate also!

Bummed/Disillusioned that I'm not hosting a formal quilt-along? Just so I don't leave you completely hanging, here are a few of my favorite quilt-alongs and step by step tutorials that use jelly rolls:

Lawn Chair Quilts from Moda Bake Shop
Avignon Picnic from Moda Bake Shop
Gobble Chain Tutorial from Piece 'N' Quilt
Hexagon Quilt-Along
Postage Stamp Quilt-Along:
Fat Quarterly Quilt-Along:
A KitchenAid cover
Cross-Terrain Quilt from Moda Bake Shop

Also, keep in mind that you can sub-cut your 2.5" strips into strips of varying widths (one 2.5" strip becomes a 1" strip and a 1.5" strip, or one 2.5" strip becomes two 1.25" strips) to make strings for a string-pieced quilts. Here are some of my favorite string-pieced tutorials:

Spiderwebs, a perennial classic
X Marks the Spot
Scrappy Triangles from Film in the Fridge

Sorry if my poor communication skillz have disappointed anyone! Now let's go bust a roll...

Easing Back Into Normal Life

2012-01-02T21:42:00.000-05:00

For some reason, this year, the holidays have completely walloped me. I thought we did a pretty good job of keeping things low-key with decorations and gift-giving, but the thought of taking down the decorations and writing thank you notes is really overwhelming right now. I'm hoping that throwing myself back into my everyday work routine will give me the kick in the pants I need to carpe the heck out of 2012.

A quick addendum to yesterday's picture of my January jelly roll fabric: I rummaged around in my stash this morning, hoping to find some border fabric for January's jelly roll quilt. I emerged triumphantly victorious, with a paisley print from Sanctuary by 3 Sisters. I think I could write a sonnet about how much I love this paisley print. I know I just lost most modern quilters with that last sentence, but I'm pretty sure my love for paisley will abide with me until my dying day, no matter how many wonky blocks I make. This collection is long gone from most fabric stores. I think it came out waaay back in 2004. This particular print came from some yardage that Mom gave to me a few years back to ~~hoard~~ use. I'm so pleased I found a good use for the fabric, that I'm able to use what I have instead of buying new, and that the prints from older lines still coordinate with the newer collections. The solid reddish-pink print a Robyn Pandolph solid from a fabric shop we visited over Christmas break down in Grand Cane, La. I'm planning to use it for the inner border and binding. I'm counting on that solid print to contain the busy-ness of the paisley border fabric.

To be honest, I'm procrastinating on actually starting my jelly roll quilt for January, mainly because I refuse to put away my half-square triangle quilt until it's finished. Okay, at least until it's quilted. I have about 3 more episodes' worth of the West Wing to go/quilt through, and then I should be done with the pebble quilting (and with West Wing, season 4 for the umpteenth time). I'm down to pebble quilting the last 8" or so along the length of the quilt. I might be kicking myself later in the month for sacrificing a few days on my first jelly roll project, but I'm afraid that if I put away this WIP now, it will languish in my UFO pile for another few months. I hate to lose the momentum I've built up with this quilt.

I think the holidays have managed to wallop Gunther as well. This guy's been pretty much exhausted since we returned from The Great Trip to my parents' house on Saturday night. We've taken long walks every day since we got back (I just counted in my head, and it's only been 2 days. How is that possible?), and afterwards, he's curled up to sleep for the rest of the day/night. After a week of travel and constant activity with extended (canine and human) family members, I think he's more than ready for us to head back to work, so he can resume his normal routine of uninterrupted hibernation.

With a new year, comes a new round of menu planning. If you're here for the food, here's what we're eating to ring in 2012 this week:

Black Eyed Pea Salad with Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese, Cornbread
Roasted Sweet Potato and Tomato Soup, Cornbread
"Chicken" Pitas with Tzatziki Sauce, Roasted Broccoli
Spinach and Goat Cheese Risotto, Asparagus
Pizza, Salad
Bean and Rice Burritos, Avocado, Green Beans

Check out other (meaty) menus at OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday round-up.

So It Begins: Let Me See Your Jelly Roll!

2012-01-01T22:31:00.000-05:00

My only crafty resolution for this year is to keep up with my self-issued jelly roll challenge. (In case you're interested, my only other resolution is to re-read the Harry Potter series this year. Hurrah for fun resolutions!)

For the jelly roll challenge in January, I'm using an Oasis jelly roll by 3 Sisters for Moda with this pattern from Strip-Smart Quilts.

(Excuse the weirdness going on with the photo. My phone had some "issues" uploading the photo to flickr.)

In the spirit of bidding adieu to last year, here's the obligatory mosaic of the quilts I finished in 2011.

Needless to say, I didn't follow through on all my 2011 resolutions, but I'm okay with that. Time passes, priorities shift, and all that jazz. I still had a lot of fun sewing this year, even if I didn't accomplish all I envisioned at the beginning of the year.

Looking ahead to 2012, I'm excited to make some new (to me) patterns and bust some of my strippy stash in the process! I'll post a link party for a few days, to begin on January 31, if anyone would like to post links to blog posts or flickr photos about their finished strippy quilts (tops) for January. I've already pulled together a prize for an accompanying giveaway.

I hope everyone has a year full of fun times in front of the sewing machine!

Pre-Holiday Highlights

2011-12-24T17:47:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone's taking some time to step away from their epic holiday to do lists and enjoy time with friends and families!

Here are a few holiday wins we've had so far...

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Megan on Pinterest

A macaroni and cheese bar for dinner with the in-laws. I set up miniature bowls of caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, bacon, and goat cheese, and then I used this macaroni and cheese recipe. As a sidenote, I cooked in the bacon in the oven, and I still can't get over how easy it is, compared to the stovetop.

This is more Mom's win than mine, but she bought this adorable gift wrap from World Market, and I'm pretty much obsessed with it. I'm planning to hit the after-Christmas sales to see if there's any left.

Source: figtreequilts.typepad.com via Joy on Pinterest

A super-easy tutorial from Fig Tree on embellishing flour sack towels, which can also be found at World Market, by the way.

Ashlee's quick reversible napkins tutorial. I kid you not, these napkins are perfect for pretty much every occasion - hostess gifts, holiday gifts, housewarming gifts, the list goes on. They never fail to disappoint.

A Very Merry Christmas to Everyone!

Making My Lists

2011-12-12T15:45:00.000-05:00

I finally sat down yesterday and got a bit organized for the holidays. It's about time, eh?

I now have multiple spreadsheets - one to keep track of the gifts and wrapping supplies I need to buy, wrap, and make; another to keep track of any baking/large-scale cooking that needs to happen in the next 2 weeks; and finally, another one to keep track of what I'm looking for at the after-Christmas sales. I've also started divvying up all the various tasks into my calendar to make sure that everything is ordered and shipped in time for the holidays. We'll see how things go. I already feel better, just having captured everything in a neat and tidy grid.

As far as craftiness goes, I'm still chugging along on the pebble quilting on my HST quilt for about 15-20 minutes each night. I'm well over halfway through, so there's a high likelihood I'll be binding it soon.

Despite the fact that I have a stack of quilt tops and pieced battings collecting dust in the corner, I'm in a very zen place with this project right now.

ANOTHER spreadsheet I've been curating lately is my bucket list for next year's Jelly Roll Challenge here at Crooked Seams. One jelly roll/strippy quilt per month? I'm not quite sure what I was thinking, but I've publicly committed to it, so I'll muddle through and do my best to keep up!

If you're interested in playing along, here's the deal: There's no formal enrollment process, I have no fancy schmancy sponsors, and I'm not planning to keep tabs on whether folks participate every single month. I'll just slap some kind of linky software to the bottom of my blog post each month, and anyone can link up with a strippy project they've finished over the past month for a chance to win something fun that I scrounge up out of a quilt shop clearance bin somewhere. I'm planning to keep this as unstructured as my ISTJ self will allow.

Here are a few quilts I'm eyeing for inspiration...

Source: camilleroskelley.typepad.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Megan on Pinterest

That should keep me out of trouble for the first few months of the year, don't you think? Is anyone else already contemplating 2012 projects?

Here's what we're planning to eat this week, if you're here for the food...

Dinner with the In-Laws
Twice-Baked Potatoes, Roasted Broccoli
Slow Cooker Artichoke Pasta, Roasted Cauliflower
Minestrone Soup, Bread
Pizza
TakeOut from Maggiano's to celebrate with the family graduates!

Check out today's Menu Plan Monday post for other (non-vegetarian menus).

I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season!!

No Naked Christmas Trees Here

2011-12-01T23:01:00.000-05:00

That's right, folks. I've finished a skirt for our tree, so it won't be quite so bare beneath it this year.

For the blocks, I used my Double Diamond 4-Patch Tutorial and 24 charm squares from a 12 Days of Christmas charm pack I've been ~~hoarding~~ saving for the right project. The background is Kona Snow scraps leftover from various projects. For the basic setting/design, I followed Tracey's tree skirt tutorial on Moda Bake Shop.

I had to keep telling myself that this project definitely did not need to be close to perfect, since it will be overshadowed by a tree in a dark corner of our family room, and then later covered by gifts. It's a good thing, too. The machine binding nearly drove me up the wall. Between the round opening for the tree trunk in the middle and the wide angles, I was pretty far outside my comfort zone. But I soldiered on. And you can't really tell, can you?

If you find yourself ~~cursing~~ stressing over binding odd angles, Heather Peterson has a couple of useful tutorials for binding both inside and outside angles. In particular, I read over the outside angle tutorial a few times to work up courage to before binding the skirt.

I still have some charms left over from this project, so I'm thinking about making a couple of throw pillows for the couch. They'll even coordinate with the 12 Days of Christmas quilt I made last year. Even though I've never participated, I've been browsing the Pillow Talk Swap group on flickr to get some ideas. Inspiration overload much?

Vital Stats:

Started: November 2011

Finished: November 2011

Machine-pieced, machine-quilted, machine-bound

Fabrics used: Kona Snow, 12 Days of Christmas by Kate Spain for Moda

I'm linking up to the Sew Cal Gal Christmas show for this year. Be sure to stop by and check out other folks' Christmas quilts!

WiP Wednesday - Everyday I'm Bubblin'

2011-11-30T23:03:00.000-05:00

The theme of my life the past few days has been machine quilting.

Last Wednesday night, when I should have been rolling out pie crust for Thanksgiving, I made the blocks for a Christmas tree skirt instead. By Friday, I had the top put together. So I gathered all my backing and basting supplies over the weekend, and then I hunkered down this week to baste and quilt it.

I thought about doing something flashy but then reminded myself that this quilt is going on the floor, underneath a tree with poor lighting, and it will soon be covered up by ~~pine needles~~ gifts. Flashy machine quilting would kind of be a bit of a waste on this project. So I opted for simple stippling instead.

Now all that's left is the binding, which might actually be the trickiest part, with all those odd angles and the round center (that I still need to cut).

A few weeks ago, I pulled out my half-square triangle quilt top I started quilting last month. I decided to fill in all the white space with bubble/pebble quilting. I knew full well that it takes forever to bubble quilt, but I'm tackling it in one or two 15-20 minutes sessions a day, and I'm slowly working my way through all the white space. Once I get into a groove, it's actually pretty relaxing to quilt this pattern.

So there you have it, the WiPs that have been consuming my sewing time for the past little bit. If you're curious to check my master WiP status report, here's a link to my nutty spreadsheet.

Be sure to see what everyone else has been working on this week!

Why I Love the Bloggers' Quilt Festival

2011-11-28T18:03:00.000-05:00

There are a few features, where the bloggers' quilt festival definitely has a leg up on in-person quilt shows...

1) You can go to the bloggers' quilt festival in your sweatpants. I mean, I guess you could do this with an in-person quilt show, too. But I try not to roll out of our driveway, unless I'm wearing bottoms that zip and/or button.
2) You don't get dirty looks from the white gloved show ladies when you attend the show with a corn dog in hand.
3) You can step away when inspiration overload hits and come back to the festival a few weeks later with fresh eyes and pick up right where you left off.

I'm a big fan of the Bloggers' Quilt Festival, obviously. Here are a few of my favorites from the most recent Fall Quilt Festival...

Source: naptimequilter.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

Network by Dining Room Empire

I love that this quilt takes the humble, unassuming half-square triangle unit and morphs into something awesome!

Source: domesticlightandmagic.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

Mental Quilt by Domestic Light and Magic

All the negative space on this quilt creates a lovely effect. And the blocks really get to take center stage, since there are only six of them. Added to that, the crinkliness from the small-scale stippling embodies coziness.

Source: ahhhquilting.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

Beach Umbrellas by Ahhh Quilting

Everything about this quilt intimidates me: the curved piecing/applique, the way the white spokes perfectly alternate with the colored spokes in the adjacent wheels, and click over to the post to see some awesome quilting. Ker-plunk. That was the sound of me dropping this quilt into my bucket list.

Source: bloomingpoppies.wordpress.com via Megan on Pinterest

Fact or Fiction Quilt by Blooming Poppies

This is one of those quilts that makes me wish I could pop a few creativity pills so I could come up with a fresh wonky design and layout like this. It's so whimsical and fun!

Source: sewcraftyjess.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

Double Wedding Ring Quilt by Sew Crafty Jess

Again, ker-plunk into the bucket list. This quilt is a great example of how versatile "traditional" patterns can be. Don't scoff at a traditional block just because you don't like the fabrics.

Did you have any favorites? Are you an online quilt festival junkie? If so, then be sure to check out SewCalGal's Christmas Quilt Festival this week!

And just in case you're here for the food, here's what we're eating this week...

Three-Cheese Baked Ziti, Roasted Asparagus
Hot Dogs, Tots, Carrot Sticks (don't judge. we all have our off-nights)
Vegetable and Chickpea Curry, Brown Rice
Roasted Vegetable Soup (using up leftovers from the Balsamic Roasted Vegetables for Thanksgiving)
Creamy Orzo (double the veggies, halve the fats), Green Beans
Black Eyed Pea Cakes, Broccoli

Be sure to check out this week's edition of Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie for more of this week's menus!

Drum Roll Please, the Finished NC State Quilt

2011-11-27T20:57:00.001-05:00

A little over three years ago, the Husbatron asked me to marry him Shortly thereafter, he casually dropped hints that he might like a quilt that incorporated his love for NC State. I kind of ignored him/filed away that idea for future reference, since I was busy planning and executing quilts for my bridesmaids.

Fast forward to a few years later. Since the traditional gift for the second wedding anniversary is COTTON, I decided our 2nd anniversary would be an ideal time to crank out his NCSU quilt. So we started talking about what exactly he had in mind. Since he comes from a design background, I knew he'd definitely have ideas about what the finished product should look like. His ultimate wish was for a quilt that formed a mosaic of the NC State logo. He was even kind enough to brave a trip to the local quilt shop with me and pick out a few reds that represent that perfect shade of NCSU red. I also grabbed a few red scraps from my stash, including a print that Mom used for one of my childhood dresses.

To make the pattern, I grabbed a copy of the NC State logo from Google Images, blew it up until it filled out an 8x11 sheet of paper nicely, put a sheet of graph paper over top of it, and loosely traced the logo onto the graph paper. If you're handy with photo-editing software, you could also pixellate a low-resolution image like whoa to get a grid of the image. But what can I say? I like to kick it old skool.

Each square on the graph paper represents a 2.5" (2" finished) square. Luckily, I was able to group the squares into a series of 9-patches to make for easy construction. Instead of piecing together long chains of 2.5" squares, I was able to piece together rows of 6.5" (6" finished) 9-patch blocks. If you decide to embark on a mosaic project, I highly recommend looking for a way to turn the pattern into a series of 4-patch or 9-patch blocks. I think it will save you from wanting to poke out your eye later.

Moving on, the background is Kona Ash, the white is Kona White, the black prints came from my stash, and like I mentioned earlier, the reds are a mix of prints from Wish Upon a Quilt and my stash.

After about 4-5 weeks of quilting and a furious session of machine binding that turned out better than I anticipated, I'm happy to say that the Husbatron sits under this quilt while he does a little bit of armchair quarterbacking for his team every weekend.

Vital Stats:
Started: August 2011
Finished: November 2011
Machine pieced, machine quilted, it's even machine-BOUND

W.I.P. Recap

2011-11-21T18:18:00.000-05:00

First of all, I'm so thrilled that folks are excited to play along with some strippy fun next year! If you're on the fence because you don't have any official Moda jelly rolls, don't worry, you can still play! I'm planning to cut up some of my yardage to make my own strip sets for a few months in there.

Moving on to current events. Weekend before last, I got to go on my first ever quilt retreat with TMQG over in Wrightsville Beach, NC. It was awesome. I didn't finish anything, but I did make considerable progress on a few projects that I've been ignoring for the past few months.

Like this Martinique project. Last time you saw it, it looked like this.

They finished at different sizes, no matter how I sliced them. Bad quilt math makes me cry.

Now, the blocks look like this (minus the big red thread spot there).

They're still not all the same size, but I shouldn't have too many problems squaring up the snowballs to 6.5" since I have all that extra sashing on them now. For the first time in a long while, I think I actually made this project better, not worse.

Then there's my Habitat project. Officially, it was due at the October TMQG meeting. It's a good thing the guild is lenient about deadlines, since it's obviously not close to completion. I'm making some String-X blocks with the challenge fabrics, with some pieces from my scrap bin thrown in for good measure. I'm still debating on the main background color.

I also worked on my Central Park hexagons while we traveled. I've finished basting ALL of my hexagons, and I'm now in the process of sewing them into flowers.

At this point, I'm ever so slightly regretting this shade of buttercup yellow and wishing I had gone for a more mustard-y shade. But I'm not regretting it enough to baste 100+ hexagons in a different shade of yellow. Pick your battles y'all. I'm hoping that the right background color (maybe Kona Lake or Kona Aqua?) will brighten up the yellow so it doesn't wash out the other colors it touches quite so much.

If you happen to be here for the food, here's what we're planning to eat this week...

Pasta + Sauce, Vegetable
Leftovers - Vegan Gumbo, Brown Rice (I doubled this recipe and ended up with a 3 quarts of leftover gumbo. Luckily, it's tasty.)
Sweet Potato + Black Bean Quesadillas
THANKSGIVING - we're bringing Bourbon Pecan Pumpkin Pie (don't wanna shell out $$$ for Williams-Sonoma's pecan pumpkin butter? Yeah, me neither. Make your own with the recipe here.), Green Beans, and Balsamic Roasted Vegetables
Broccoli Cheese Soup, Baked Potatoes
I'm also hoping to make a half-batch of Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls for the long weekend. I've found that if you cut the butter in half and substitute 2% for the whole milk, they're still pretty stinkin' awesome and slightly less bad for you.

Check out today's Menu Plan Monday post at OrgJunkie if you want to see what other folks are eating this week.

Let Me See Your Jelly Roll!!

2011-11-16T21:15:00.001-05:00

Tap, tap, is this thing on?

I have an announcement.

2012 will the The Year of the Jelly Roll for me. I have a ridiculous number of jelly rolls that are lovely and begging to be used. I also have an ever-growing list of strippy patterns on my bucket list. It's high time I put them all to work.

So I'm challenging myself in 2012. Every month, I'll at least finish a quilt top using a jelly roll or some of my strippy scraps. Is anyone interested in joining along?

If so, I'll add one of those linkfest widgets to the bottom of my jelly roll post each month so folks can link up and maybe be eligible for some strippy prizes (Ahem, of the fabric variety. Get your minds outta the gutter.)

I know it seems crazy to already talk about plans for 2012, but I wanted to give myself as much time as possible to finish up some of my current WIPs and add a couple of extra jelly rolls to my holiday wishlist.

I even made a badge for my little challenge. Grab it if you want to.

Then try to get this song out of your head for the rest of the day.

Split Personalities

2011-11-03T22:52:00.001-04:00

I'm still working on the Husbatron's NC State quilt. I feel like this is the 125th time I've said that on this blog. But it's true. I'm still working on it. The quilt ended up a whee bit bigger than I anticipated, and the quilting designs I chose are taking a whee bit longer than I anticipated. Oh well, anticipation just sweetens the final product, right?

The few designs that I chose for the quilt are pretty modern - square stippling

and bubbles.

So I think the traditional part of my quilting personality is a bit repressed at this point and kind of bursting at its seams. Exhibit A: My To Do list from work the other day...

I got put on hold a LOT that day, hence all the doodling. Notice the M+Ms. I'd like to take this moment to inform you that we had 4 bags of candy and NO trick or treaters on Monday night. My chocolate stash runneth over for now.

My gut reaction was to start a new quilt with some of my Fig Tree fabrics, since I think they lend themselves well to traditional feather quilting motifs. But odds are, I already have a quilt top that lends itself equally well to my current feather fixation.

Maybe this one?

A Disappearing 9-Patch from some Peace on Earth charm packs by 3 Sisters. Just in time for Christmas?

Bloggers' Quilt Festival: Autumnal Inverted 9-Patch

2011-11-02T21:17:00.001-04:00

Two years ago this week, I started this quilt. I finished it over a year and a half later. Let's hear it for quilts that marinate!

The fabric is Gobble Gobble by Sandy Gervais for Moda, with some Tranquility (S. Gervais) and Fabulous Fall (Deb Strain) thrown in for good measure.

It's been the crowning autumnal glory of our family room this fall. We'll replace it with the Christmas version in a few (short -eep!) weeks.

Want to make your own version? You can find the tutorial here.

Grab your favorite beverage and some leftover Halloween candy, curl up on the couch, and be sure to check out the other entrants for this fall's festival over at Amy's.

Day 31 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Wax Hues

2011-10-31T22:28:00.002-04:00

Source: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/10/wax-hues.html

White: 20107 11 from Patisserie by Fig Tree for Moda
Purple: K001-1042 Kona Brick for Robert Kaufman
Pink: AAM-11489-239 Sorbet from Veranda by Amanda Murphy for Robert Kaufman
Peach: 20123 16 from Whimsy by Fig Tree for Moda
Orange: 32423 28 from Chrysalis by Sanae for Moda
Bonus (Backing or Border?) Print: C2703 Purple from So Sophie by Jen Allyson for Riley Blake

Accompanying Pattern: I really like this slight variation on an HST pattern.

And there you have it, my final day of Un-Collections. I'm awfully glad I decided to jump on the bandwagon, even though I slacked off to sew some nights. I think I've become a lot more comfortable picking colors from different fabric collections, especially if I'm in a brick and mortar fabric shop, where I can easily compare bolts to bolts.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the palettes and patterns and found something to inspire you!

I'm taking the next few days off of blogging to spend some time in front of the machine. Hopefully, I'll be back soon with a finished project! In the meantime, I'll probably be pinning like crazy.

Day 30 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Dish tones

2011-10-30T21:09:00.002-04:00

Source: photocardboutique.com via Megan on Pinterest

Green: APC-10999-43 from Treasures and Tidbits by Piece O' Cake Designs
Blue: TP10 Indigo from Prince Charming by Tula Pink for Free Spirit
Yellow: 27048 15 from Fandango by Kate Spain for Moda
Light Blue: JD50 Jade from Heirloom by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit Fabrics
Tannish Gray: AKU-10777-15 from Mon Sheri by Khristian Howell for Robert Kaufman

Accompanying Pattern: I've been working up the gumption to think about following Aneela's Pickledish Quilt-Along. Not now. Maybe next year. but I think it would be a good fit for these particular prints.

Day 29 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Floating Tones

2011-10-29T22:20:00.000-04:00

Source: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/10/floating-tones.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DesignSeeds+%28design+seeds%29

Gray: K001-1037 Kona Bone by Robert Kaufman
Aqua: 27061 11 from Central Park by Kate Spain for Moda
Navy: NW07 Sea Green from Happy Go Lucky by Nel Whatmore for Free Spirit
Magenta: DS04 Fiesta from Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt for Free Spirit
Pink: VW26 Rose from Nest by Valori Wells for FreeSpirit

Accompanying Pattern: Yet again, I found myself looking for a pattern that featured large-scale prints nicely. In the end, I chose this Picture Frames pattern. Little Miss Shabby has the tutorial posted here.

31 Days of Un-Collections: Western Brights

2011-10-28T23:46:00.000-04:00

Source: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/09/western-brights.html

Over the course of the month, I've become a lot pickier about which palettes I'll use. I've found that certain color cards are easier to match to fabrics than others. For instance, I don't want to pick a color card with 3 shades of yellow or 3 shades of any other one color either. It's tough for me to truly represent the slight variations in color and tint gradations. Unfortunately, those troublesome palettees tend to be the color cards that attract me most. So instead of spending time finding the exact. right. fabric. swatch, I'm spending all that time finding the exact. right. color. card.

Purple: 32245 27 from Freebird by MoMo for Moda
Red: 216051 24 from Pezzy Print by American Jane for Moda
Gray: K001-1037 Kona Bone by Robert Kaufman
Violet: 27099 15 from Terrain by Kate Spain for Moda
Yellow: 21094 20 from Recess by American Jane for Moda

Accompanying Pattern: I love the way the sashing off-sets the hexagons in this pattern. It's on my jelly roll bucket list now.

Hope everyone's weekend is off to a great start!

Day 26 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: An Interruption

2011-10-26T23:33:00.001-04:00

In a heroic effort to score some awesome charm packs a couple of days ago, I was commenting to Meg about how this time of year is generally when I take a hard look at my unfinished projects. I take stock of what's there, what's left to do to finish them, and I try to assess which projects will be easiest to finish before the end of the year, so I can add more pictures to my end of the year mosaic. That way, I can end the year with as much closure as possible.

Though you'd never guess it by the looks of things around here, I've been in (silent) closure mode the past couple of weeks now. In addition to the mad quilting I've been doing on the husbatron's NCSU quilt, I have a stack of 4 quilt tops with their pieced battings and 2 basted quilt sandwiches, all of various sizes (crib-sized to almost king), sitting in the corner of my sewing room. I desperately want to finish those quilts, if only to declutter them and get them up off the floor.

I also have a list of 14 charm pack projects/tutorials I blithely scribbled down back through April and May, and I assumed it wouldn't be a problem at all to crank out the quilts and their accompanying tutorials by the end of this year (Denial anyone?). I desperately want to finish those projects, because I can't wait to see if the reality matches my vision for them. And because I keep buying charm packs and need to do something with them.

After revising my October - December 2011 Craftiness To Do List for the umpteenth time in the past week, I stopped for a minute, wondering. "Why do I even care how many quilts I finish before the end of the year?" If you pulled out any given quilt in my cabinet o' quilts and asked me "When did you make this?" I wouldn't reply, "Oh, I started that in September 2009 and finished it in May 2011."

Instead, I'd say, "Hmm, let's see, I started that the week I got married to deal with all the stress of last-minute wedding planning so I didn't kill my mother, and I finished it right after we planted tomatoes for the first time on our back porch a few years later." (Note the fledgling tomato plant photobomb action to the left of the finished quilt.)

Or I'd say, "Well, I started that right after my parents moved far, far away because I was sad, and then I finished the binding while sitting on the couch in their new house almost a year later."

Takeaway: I tend to associate quilts with other things going on in my life at the time I worked on them, not by arbitrary start and end points on the Gregorian calendar. (Apparently, I also tend to start new projects under great emotional duress.) I guess it makes sense. Quilting isn't my life. I happily devote a lot of my spare time and mental space to it, but it's still part of my small, but full life. I guess all I'm saying with this blathering introspection is that deep down, I don't want 2011 to necessarily be the year where I got a lot of quilting sh*t done and had an awesome mosaic to show for it at the end of the year mosaic-fest in blogland. When I do look at my mosaic for the end of the year, I don't want to feel guilty about all the WIPs sitting in the corner, untouched for months. I don't want to let myself get all anxious, looking at all the items that haven't been crossed off the To Do Lists I've set up for my hobby. I want to be excited about the stash I still have to use and eager to try new patterns with fun fabrics.

Here's to the last couple of months of 2011. I hope you find lots of joy in your sewing time, even if your seams are all crooked like mine.

Sorry for the angsty post. I just needed to get it out of my system and preach to myself more than anything else. I'll be back tomorrow with another color palette.

Oh, but if you're interested in any of my closure thus far, I forgot to mention that I set up a "Finished Quilts" page last week.

Day 25 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Baked Hues

2011-10-25T23:00:00.001-04:00

Source: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/09/baked-hues.html

Taupe: K001-1362 (Kona Stone) by Robert Kaufman
Navy: DF85 from Tea Garden by Dena Designs for Free Spirit
Light Blue: PWDF104 from Taza by Dena Designs for Free Spirit
Oatmeal: 20166 25 from Strawberry Fields by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda
Chocolate: JD43Bark from Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit

Accompanying Pattern: Since I'm using a few large-scale prints, I'd choose this Square Dance pattern by Heather Peterson, found in her Livin' Large book.

Day 24 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Autumn Spectrum

2011-10-24T22:50:00.001-04:00

I've never really considered autumn to be a "cool color" season, but I really dig this color card.

Lavender: TP08 Mist from Parisville by Tula Pink for Free Spirit
Blue: 32507 11 from Sophie by Chez Moi for Moda
Purple: JD54 Garnet from Heirloom by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit
Green: AFT 9790 223 from Sparkle All the Way by Amy Suther for Robert Kaufman
Oatmeal: K001 1706 Kona Celery by Robert Kaufman

Accompanying Pattern: I know it's a pretty traditional block for these fabrics, but I'd love to make this Triangle Star block from each of those fabrics to make a small lap quilt or something similar.

And if anyone's interested, here's what we're eating this week...

Creamy Orzo (halve the cream and cheese, double the vegetables), Roasted Broccoli
Macaroni and Cheese (I used about 1c of cream and 3c of skim milk instead of a quart of whole), Sauteed Collard Greens
Chipotle and Sweet Potato Chili, Cornbread (holdover from last week)
Spinach Quesadillas, Drunken Beans
Butternut Squash Risotto, Kale
Pizza

Check out today's Menu Plan Monday post at OrgJunkie if you need more inspiration.

Day 23 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Monstrous Cupcakes

2011-10-23T22:28:00.003-04:00

Um, so I missed a few days in there to spend some time in the sewing room. It seems like I can either quilt in my free time or I can blog. I just can't quite get it together to do both on most days.

In honor of the monstrous holiday coming up, today's color card features monstrous cupcakes.

Orange - JD48 from Heirloom by Joel Dewberry for FreeSpirit
Pink - 22167 22 from Amelia by Me and My Sister for Moda
Blue - 18065 11 from Sugar Pop by Liz Scott for Moda
Green - TP10 in Olive from Prince Charming by Tula Pink for Free Spirit
Gray - JY34 in Charcoal from Habitat by Jay McCarroll for Free Spirit

Accompanying Pattern: I've always liked the Verna's Quilt pattern that Natalia designed a couple of years back. It's been on my bucket list pretty much since the day I saw it.

Also, I've been catching up on my flickr current events tonight and stumbled across this awesome spiderweb quilt. Don't you love the contrast of the bright white and the other bright colors?

Day 18 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Cookie Tones

2011-10-18T22:58:00.001-04:00

Is anyone else already looking forward to holiday baking?

Source: photocardboutique.com via Megan on Pinterest

Red: 5464 11 from Hometown by Sweetwater for Moda
Maroon: 9306 12 from Summer's End by Kansas Troubles for Moda
Light Blue: 55022 13 from Bliss by Bonnie and Camille for Moda
Blue: D1670 240 from Katie Jump Rope by Denyse Schmidt for Free Spirit
Gray: 5503 13 from Ruby by Bonnie and Camille for Moda

Accompanying Pattern: For some reason, these colors just scream Irish Chain quilt to me. I'd start with Allison's pattern for a Modern Chain quilt.

Day 17 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Bloom Tones

2011-10-17T23:04:00.001-04:00

Source: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/10/bloom-tones.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DesignSeeds+%28design+seeds%29

Navy: 14696 14 from Charlevoix by Minick and Simpson for Moda
Grayish-Brown: 27060 16 from Central Park by Kate Spain for Moda
Green: 27023 13 from 12 Days of Christmas by Kate Spain for Moda
Pink: JD48 Crimson from Heirloom by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit
Purple: PWVM056 Wisteria from October Skies by Verna Mosquera for Free Spirit

Also, here's a quick peek at what we're eating this week, since I've been terribly remiss in posting our weekly menus lately...

Chipotle and Sweet Potato Chili, Cornbread
Dal, Brown Rice, Kale
"Chicken" Sandwiches, Green Beans
Pizza
Bean and Rice Burritos, Avocado Slices
Chipotle Squash Soup, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Check out OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday post to find out what other folks are eating this week.

Day 16 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Fallen Hues

2011-10-16T22:25:00.000-04:00

Source: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/10/fallen-hues.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DesignSeeds+%28design+seeds%29

I thought this photo was appropriate, since we're about to hit that great time of year, when the trees are so dang pretty, I don't care that my allergies are driving me crazy.

Beige: 17476-11 from Gobble Gobble by Sandy Gervais
Light Olive Green: 20141 16 from Breakfast at Tiffany's by Fig Tree Quilt
Orange: 27105 12 from Good Fortune by Kate Spain
Brown: 11416 14 from Santorini by Lila Tueller
Darker Olive Green: 11175 14 from Modern Workshop by Oliver + S

Accompanying Pattern: I've been eyeing Rachel's Postage Stamp Quilt Along for a few months now. I'd love to see it with these colors and a nice tan-nish muslin background.

Day 15 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Herbed Hues

2011-10-15T06:29:00.000-04:00

Source: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/10/herbed-hues.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DesignSeeds+%28design+seeds%29

Gray: 55037 13 from Ruby by Bonnie and Camille for Moda
Blue: 3968 12 from Aviary by 3 Sisters for Moda
Yellow: CX2490 from Baby by Michael Miller
Olive Green: 17544 13 from Awesome by Sandy Gervais for Moda
Purple: JD46 from Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit Fabric

Accompanying Pattern: I love this Butterscotch Tart pattern, with the big stars and pinwheel sashing.

Day 14 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Who knew leeks could be so pretty?

2011-10-14T23:45:00.000-04:00

(Source: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/10/leeked-tones.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DesignSeeds+%28design+seeds%29)

Gray: 5461 26 from Hometown by Sweetwater for Moda
Blue: 32186 39 from Odyssea by MoMo for Moda
Turquoise: 32106 16 from Wonderland by MoMo for Moda
Light Gray: 55031 23 from Ruby by Bonnie and Camille for Moda
Green: 20158 12 from Buttercup by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda

Accompanying Pattern: I've always liked this pattern from Camille. I think it would look super-cute in these colors.

Day 13 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Color Field

2011-10-13T21:46:00.000-04:00

(Source: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/10/color-field.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DesignSeeds+%28design+seeds%29)

Green: DS05 from Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt for Free Spirit Fabrics
Blue: TP10 Aqua from Prince Charming by Tula Pink for Free Spirit Fabrics
Pink: 20105 21 from Patisserie by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda
Coral: PWAB068 from Lark by Amy Butler for Westminster Fabrics
Navy: 21098 16 from Recess by American Jane for Moda

Accompanying Pattern: I love the clean right angles in this Half-Time quilt.

31 Days of Un-Collections: Something Different

2011-10-12T23:22:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd post something a little different tonight and highlight some of my favorite Un-Collection quilts that I've run into over the past few weeks.

1. Nautical Quilt from Film in the Fridge. Ashlee just posted the tutorial was just posted here.

(Found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27953607@N05/6211083720/in/photostream)

2. Peppermint Twist by Cluck Cluck Sew; pattern available here if you need it. (Sidenote: Allison's "un-collection" quilts are consistent favorites of mine.)

Source: flickr.com via Megan on Pinterest

3. Little Leaves Quilt by Nikki (original pattern found in Oh Fransson's Practical Guide to Patchwork). Whew, I am crushing HARD on this block right now. It's enough to make me consider applique.

(found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/forgueam/6090811482/in/photostream)

4. Tracey's Swoon Quilt - I think Tracey might have been the very first blogger to start (and finish!) a Swoon quilt, after Camille, of course. Sidenote: If you stop by Tracey's blog, be sure to send happy thoughts her way on her new daughter!

Hope you enjoyed the eye candy!

Day 11 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Bubble Gum Balls

2011-10-11T22:19:00.000-04:00

Source: photocardboutique.com via Megan on Pinterest

I fell in love with this photo and its colors when this post popped up in my reader this morning. I don't think I've ever made a quilt that's quite this girly, but for some reason, this set of colors really struck a chord with me today.

Bubble Gum Pink: 11416-11 from Santorini by Lila Tueller for Moda
Blue: 32376 36 from It's a Hoot by Momo for Moda
Brown: 32201 14 from Panache by Sanae for Moda
Light Blue: 4005 12 from Martinique by 3 Sisters for Moda
Light Pink: 18505 16 from Sherbet Pips by Aneela Hoey for Moda

Accompanying Pattern: This lattice and applique pattern by Heather Mulder Peterson would look super-cute in these prints. I think the pattern is in her first Livin' Large book.

Day 10 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Pumpkin Vases

2011-10-10T23:02:00.004-04:00

Source: photocardboutique.com via Megan on Pinterest

Green: 32246 14 from Freebird by Momo for Moda
Mustard Yellow: 17597 16 from Grand Finale by Sandy Gervais for Moda
Orange: 27069 12 from Central Park by Kate Spain for Moda
Navy: K001-1071 (Kona Charcoal) by Robert Kaufman
Brown: 4051 25 from Grace by 3 Sisters for Moda

Accompanying Pattern: I love the random simplicity in this Summer Pop Quilt that Katie made.

31 Days of Un-Collections, Day 9: A Day Off

2011-10-09T23:29:00.001-04:00

I'm taking the editorial liberty of taking a day off from the challenge. It's been a fun, productive weekend, but I'm ready for bed.

Here's a quick picture of what I've been working on this weekend.

I volunteered to make a few wine totes and some reversible napkins for a silent auction as part of a Triangle Modern Quilt Guild charity project. I used Kate's tutorial for the wine totes and I pretty much follow FITF's reversible napkin tutorial, except I cut my fabric pieces to 17.5" square (to bust stash more efficiently), and I usually omit the rick rack.

These are two of my favorite "perennial projects to have on hand." You can use the wine tote for fancy bottles of olive oil or vinegar for your non-drinking friends. The napkins can be easily personalized with a monogram (or maybe some hexagons?), and they make perfect housewarming or hostess gifts.

Day 8 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Baked Tones

2011-10-08T23:25:00.000-04:00

Image found here: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/10/baked-tones.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DesignSeeds+%28design+seeds%29

Nothing says quilting like a fresh tray of iced cookies, am I right?

Light Blue: AT44Blue from Soleil by Annette Tatum for Free Spirit
Dark Blue: 32186 39 from Odyssea by Momo for Moda
Yellow: 5489-44 from Deck the Halls by Heather Mulder Peterson for Henry Glass
Red: 20120 27 from Whimsy by Fig Tree for Moda
Bright Blue: HB15 Blue from Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey for Free Spirit

Accompanying Pattern - These bright primary colors would look nice in this Framed In pattern by Little Miss Shabby over at Moda Bake Shop.

Day 7 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Big Yellow Stripes

2011-10-07T22:40:00.000-04:00

Source: photocardboutique.com via Megan on Pinterest

Image found here: http://www.photocardboutique.com/blog/2011/09/20/cool-colors-9-20-2011/

Blue: 17402 23 from Tranquility by Sandy Gervais for Moda
Light Blue: 55021 13 from Bliss by Bonnie & Camille for Moda
Yellow: HB22 Tangerine from Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey for Free Spirit Fabrics
Tannish Gray: 4040 26 from Oasis by 3 Sisters for Moda
Gray: K001-1037 Kona Bone by Robert Kaufman

Hmm, so something looks kinda strange with this one. I liked the looks of each print as I was picking them out and comparing them to the color card, but something's kinda off now that they're all together. I think the red flowers in the light blue are competing with the yellow. And I think there might just be too much white space in the yellow. Or perhaps it's because I picked out more than one large-scale print. Oh Well. This series is a growing experience for me. I could spend all night sitting here analyzing what went wrong, or I could go sew.

Accompanying Pattern: Strawberry Fields Forever - I think those wonky 9-patches would be just the ticket to provide some contrast to the symmetry of some of these prints.

Day 6 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Fruit Star

2011-10-06T21:19:00.000-04:00

(Image found here: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/10/fruit-star.html)

Navy: K001-1178 - Kona Indigo from Kona® Cotton for Robert Kaufman
Lime Green: EIP-11016-38 from Metro Living for Robert Kaufman
Yellow: 27009 12 from Verna by Kate Spain for Moda
Light Blue: 4064 13 from Etchings by 3 Sisters for Moda
Gray: 13566 22 from La Petite Ecole by French General for Moda

Accompanying Pattern: I love this Christmas Stars pattern by Bonnie Olaveson of Cotton Way.

Day 5 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Citrus Brights

2011-10-05T21:09:00.001-04:00

Here's to Day 5 of 31 Days of Un-Collections...

Image found here: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/09/citrus-brights.html

Yellow: K001-353 Sunflower from Kona® Cotton by Robert Kaufman
Cream: 4044 11 from Oasis by 3 Sisters for Moda
Orange: 5440 13 from Sunkissed by Sweetwater for Moda
Hot Pink: PWDF104Red from Taza by Dena Designs for Free Spirit Fabrics
Light Pink: 20144 17 from Breakfast at Tiffany's by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda

After trying to match these colors, all I have to say is yellow is hard, y'all.

As far as the accompanying pattern goes, I think that Fig Tree's Jelly Girl pattern would be adorable in these colors.

Day 4 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Yarn Vintage

2011-10-04T22:36:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Day 4 of my 31 Days of Un-Collections series. If you have no idea what's going on here, check out the introductory post.

Image found here: http://www.design-seeds.com/search/label/crafted%20color

Beige: K001-1055 (Kona Butter) by Robert Kaufman
Off-White: TP10 Cream from Prince Charming by Tula Pink for Free Spirit Fabrics
Hot Pink: DS11 Cranberry from Greenfield Hill by Denyse Schmidt for Free Spirit Fabrics
Brown: AB40 Brown - Sweet Jasmine from Daisy Chain by Amy Butler for Westminster Fabrics
Purple: 27095 17 from Terrain by Kate Spain for Moda Fabrics

Accompanying Pattern: It has lots of pieces, but I love this Rocky Mountain Chain block.

Day 3 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Color Pier

2011-10-03T22:55:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Day 3 of my 31 Days of Un-Collections Series! If you're confused about what it's all about, check out the introductory post here.

Image found here: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/03/color-pier.html

(From left to right)

Light Blue: 13538 19 from Rural Jardin by French General for Moda
Light Beige: 13521 41 from Lumiere de Noel by French General for Moda
Dark Brown: BRC-5992-174 Espresso from Paradise Pareaus for Robert Kaufman
Dark Melon-ish Red: PWAB 068 (Persimmon, Souvenir) from Lark by Amy Butler
Blue: ADZ-6864-58 Cactus from Mama's Feedsacks Dots by Darlene Zimmerman for Robert Kaufman

Accompanying Pattern: Since a few of these swatches are pretty-large scale prints, one of Heather Mulder Peterson's Livin' Large patterns would fit quite nicely. This one's a favorite of mine.

Day 2 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Autumn Breeze

2011-10-02T23:42:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Day 2 of my 31 Days of Un-Collections Series! If you missed the introduction post, check it out here.

(Image found here: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/09/autumn-breeze.html?utm_source=feedburner)

From Left to Right:

Dark Yellow: TP08Gold from Parisville by Tula Pink for Free Spirit Fabrics
Red: 55026 21 from Bliss by Bonnie and Camille for Moda
Orange: 27061 15 from Central Park by Kate Spain for Moda
Lighter Yellow: 20114 12 from Whimsy by Fig Tree for Moda
Light Blue: HB09Ice from Bijoux by Heather Bailey for Free Spirit Fabrics

Accompanying Pattern: I saw this pattern on Moda Bake Shop early last week, and I've been obsessing over it ever since. I think I'd use some cream or maybe some dark brown as the background, even though they're not pictured.

Day 1 of 31 Days of Un-Collections: Jarred Tones

2011-10-01T17:31:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Day 1 of my 31 Days of Un-Collections Series! If you missed the introduction post, check it out here.

(Image found here: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/09/jarred-tones.html?utm_source=feedburner)

(From Left to Right)

Aqua: 55035-12F from Ruby by Bonnie and Camille for Moda
Light Grey: Kona Bone by Robert Kaufman
Green: D1670-418 from Katie Jump Rope by Denyse Schmidt for Free Spirit Fabrics (Hey, I never said the fabric had to be easy to find.)
Dark Brown: 32422 13 from Chrsaylis by Sanae for Moda
Light Brown: 20166-25 from Strawberry Fields by Fig Tree for Moda

Accompanying Pattern: Right now, I'm really digging this Love in Bubbles top made by Rachel.

Check in tomorrow for Day 2!

31 Days of Un-Collections

2011-09-28T17:30:00.000-04:00

Have you read about the 31 Days Series? It's a group of 8 bloggers who are blogging about one topic for 31 Days in October and inviting other bloggers to do the same.

I've always been drawn to the idea of a "posting challenge" (National Blog Posting Month in November and the like), but I've been completely intimidated by the idea at the same time. 31 (consecutive) Days of posting? From me, the queen of blog erraticism?

But this year, I'm embracing the challenge. I've been brainstorming ideas and themes to try and come up with a topic that:
1) challenges me to explore something new in quilting land or strengthens some of my existing quilt skillz, and
2) doesn't involve hours upon hours of time in front of the sewing machine and computer to create bloggable content because the dog still needs to be walked, the laundry still needs to be folded, the whole job thing, and my husband appreciates it when I talk to him face to face, rather than asking him to take dinner out of the oven via text msg when I'm sitting in the next room or maybe even on the couch beside him.

(Image found here: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jNMeIhsXLNY/Tm8oBjIot2I/AAAAAAAAEn8/hdiUD5At9ZI/s1600/172051442_SrmIgbyI_c.jpg)

So without any further pre-amble (rambling), my theme for this year is...

31 Days of Un-Collections.

What To Expect:
Every day in October, I'll pick a color card from a site, like Design Seeds or PhotoCard Boutique, pick a group of fabric swatches to match from *different* fabric lines/collections, and pick a quilt pattern or block that I think would work well with the colors.

What I'm Hoping to Gain (Warning: Rambling Ahead):

It's no secret that I love myself a good fabric collection. I think the librarian in me absolutely cannot resist the siren song of a complete set of anything, and fabric is no exception. I have Moda pre-cuts coming out of my ears, and I have big and small plans to put them to work. Someday.

But in the meantime, I'd like to get a little more comfortable with picking my own fabrics and breaking out of my comfort zone to explore life beyond Moda pre-cuts. (No offense to Moda, of course. Nothing can take away my love for a good charm pack.Obviously.)

The fun starts Saturday, October 1st. See you then!

Also, if you're in the market for some new blogs to follow, be sure to check out the original 31 Days bloggers' series (listed below) and the linkfests they're sponsoring. Folks are writing about any and everything in October. I'm so excited (and I just can't hide it) to get started!

Jen - 31 Days to Balancing Both Beauty and a Budget

Jessica – 31 Days of Memory Keeping

Melissa – 31 Days: Inspired Holidays

Sandy – 31 Days of Warm Connections

Darcy - 31 Days of Photo Tips

Emily - 31 Days to Change the World

Emily - 31 Days of the Little Things

Nester – 31 Days of Charming Imperfection

I Can See Friday From My House

2011-09-22T23:38:00.000-04:00

I'm afraid there's only minimal quilting progress to report, hence the blog silence over the past couple of weeks. We're coming to that crazy time of the year for work, and my mental energy is completely zapped by the time I've fixed dinner. I'm also trying to get out and walk the dog a few miles every night since the heat's finally breaking.

Remember the hexagon project I mentioned in my last post? I've finished basting all the pieces I cut from the Central Park charm pack. I had my doubts about using this group of fabrics being suited for such small hexies, since so many large-scale prints are included, but I think the hexagons still turned out to be pretty stinkin' cute.

I'm planning to make lots more hexagons in coordinating solids, but first I have lots more paper templates to cut out. I know they sell those plastic templates at Joann's and fine quilt shops, but I'm cheap, yo. Since I have no deadline for this project, I'm content to take my time and cut out the templates from scratch paper when I have the time to sit down and watch TV.

(For those who are curious, I'm using the 1" hexagon templates linked from here. There are several other sizes available as well.)

I FINALLY finished all the nine-patch blocks for the Husbatron's NCSU mosaic quilt. It took waaaay longer than I thought it would to get to this point. (sidenote: I'm pretty sure I should make that the tagline for my blog.) But I'm a lot more optimistic about the project than I was a few days ago. I can see the bright light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm really excited to see the finished quilt.

To recap, there's nothing terribly exciting going around here - mainly work, yardwork, walks, and random spurts of sewing. The weekend forecast calls for lots o'rain this weekend, so I have big, big plans to make some headway on both the mosaic quilt and the mountain of laundry I've been dutifully ignoring.

I'm nothing if not wild and crazy.

Hunker Down and Crank One Out

2011-09-05T22:17:00.000-04:00

In typical fashion, I've been dabbling in a little bit of this then a little bit of that over the past few weeks. No big finishes, but I am ticking off boxes on my massive WIP list.

I took 4 piles of blocks and turned them into quilt tops.

Then I pieced battings (Yes, BaTTings) for the tops from my batting scraps. I can now close my huge bin of batting scraps without having to sit on it. (Small victories, y'all)

After that, I made a backing from my stash and basted one of the tops, then added it to my stack of quilts to be quilted.

Just last week, the hexie bug bit me HARD, and I've been assembling the supplies I'll need for an ongoing handwork project and dabbling in that.

Now, I need to ignore all those projects so I can hone in and focus on an anniversary project for the Husbatron. This month's our 2nd anniversary - the "cotton" anniversary. Of course, my chosen mode of cotton is a quilt. He's been asking for a quilt mosaic of the NCSU logo for the past year or two now. This is the perfect opportunity to stop procrastinating and finally fulfill his wish.

The fabric's been purchased
(an assortment of reds from Wish Upon a Quilt mixed in with some Kona White, Kona Ash, and a couple of blacks from my stash)

the pattern's been drafted (graph paper to save the world!), and I've been diligently strip-piecing 9-patches.

What I really need is the precision focus I managed to muster for my TMQG Solids Challenge a couple of months ago. I'll try to post some progress pics over the next few weeks without divulging too much of the quilt to the Husbatron (my #1 Crooked Seams fan, right dear?).

In the meantime, here's what we're planning to eat this week...

White Bean and Avocado Sandwiches, Roasted Sweet Potato and Tomato Soup
Pizza
Eat Out, Concert
Slow Cooker Artichoke Pasta, Bread, Roasted Zucchini
Macaroni and Cheese (add 1c of Peas for fun), Garlicky Greens

Giveaway Winner!

2011-08-23T10:06:00.000-04:00

I'm very excited to announce that the Random Number Generator chose #61 - MiniMNM's:

Mini MNM's said...61

I am looking forward to letting my kids outside without the worries of heat exhaustion or death by mosquitos!

August 20, 2011 1:08 PM

Death by mosquitoes! Um, I can definitely relate. I had so much fun reading through all your comments. Are we excited for fall or what?

If you didn't win, keep your eyes peeled. I'm sure I'll run across something else I'm willing to part with in the next few weeks.

I'm also very pleased to announce that as of yesterday afternoon, my etsy shop has been cleared out! I still have some items to list. I'll try to get that taken care of in the next few days.

Mini MNM's - I just sent you an email - be sure to get in touch with your mailing address.

I hope everyone savors these last few days of summer in anticipation of cooler weather around the corner!!

Best of My World

2011-08-20T17:45:00.000-04:00

Blog post trailer: If you're looking for the giveaway post, it's here. For all the folks who have entered, I am LOVING reading through your comments. I think I'm more excited than ever for fall.

(found here: http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/08/autumn-purl.html)

CRAFTINESS

Design Seeds - I have a hunch I might be the last person to find out about this site. It's not specifically for quilting, but check out all those color palettes. Don't you wanna make a quilt for each palette?
Lily's Dead Simple Quilt Along - If you answered yes to the previous question, then check out this blog post. Lily's preparing to host a quilt-along, where everyone makes the same pattern but pulls fabric, based on a color palette from design seeds. Brilliant.
Embellished Tea Towels - It's never too early to start filing away ideas for Christmas gifts or maybe beginning of school teacher gifts.

(from Taste of Home website: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Mozzarella-Sticks-2)

FOOD

Peach Cobbler for One - We're having this for dessert tonight. I'm pretty excited.
Mozzarella Sticks - from string cheese and wonton wrappers

(from here: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-La3adDO5mLI/TidvLEhsZYI/AAAAAAAABAM/iRTLK8M_wFk/s400/MichaelPennykitchen1.jpg)

LIFE

Party in the C.I.A. - I might like this version of the song better than the Miley Cyrus version. (Thanks to the husbatron for passing it along.)
Michael Penny House - I want to live in every one of these photos.
How to Love Your Laundry Room - I don't really like laundry all that much, and our laundry area is kind of a disaster.

Letting Go with a Giveaway

2011-08-17T22:31:00.001-04:00

UPDATE: This giveaway is closed. The winner will be announced on Tuesday. 'Night all!

I'm finally coming to grips with the fact that I have more spare fabric than I will ever have spare time, so I'm de-stashing. Head over to my etsy shop to see if there's anything that tickles your fancy. I'm starting out with some old skool Moda pre-cuts. Keep an eye out over the next few days. I have a lot more left to list.

To celebrate the fact that I finally worked up the gumption to de-stash, I'm also giving away a Moda Scrap Bag, filled with strips from Sandy Gervais's Awesome collection - her annual autumn collection from 2 years ago. I'm a big fan of the scrap bags. They're composed of leftover selvedge ends of the fabric that was used to make pre-cuts. The scraps are cut on the length of the fabric, rather than the width, and they're usually only about 30" long, as opposed to the standard 42"-45" length on a jelly roll strip.

All the strips in this particular bag are cream or gold and vary in width between 2"-4". They're pretty much perfect for a quick fall project.

To be eligible to win the strips, just leave a comment, answering this question - What are you most looking forward to this fall?

Pumpkin bread? Crisp cool mornings? Setting your clock back an hour in a couple of months? Football? Mosquito hibernation? Sending the kids to school?

I'll close the giveaway Monday night at midnight EST and announce a winner Tuesday. Good luck!

Weekend Accomplishments

2011-08-16T22:18:00.000-04:00

With all my quilts in progress, sometimes I get the itch to complete something quickly. With a family birthday coming up, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to start and finish a quick projet.

Enter Kate's wine tote tutorial over at Needle and Spatula.

The brother-in-law requested some wine for his birthday. While the Husbatron and I were out shopping for wine the other night, he said, "Well, I don't really know if my brother's looking for quality or quantity."

My reply: "I only made one wine tote."

That decided it. We went for one quality bottle of wine, as opposed to multiple bottles of cheaper wine.

To me, finishing this little tote was kind of a big deal. I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't do bags. They just seem awfully fussy. (says the blogger who last posted about saving the tiniest bits of fabric and scraps) But after reading through the tutorial a few times, I worked up the gumption to just start it and carefully followed the step by step directions.

I'd definitely make the tote again - it used up 2 fat quarters quite nicely, and I also was able to bust a few smaller scraps of batting. I've even entertained the idea of modifying the tutorial to make larger-sized gift bags to keep on hand for birthdays, etc.

I also received my fabric for the Color Wheel Charm Swap from Stitch 'n' Frame in Vicksburg, MS. One of my projects for this week will be to cut it up into charm squares and send it along on its merry way to Kati.

In the background of the photos, you'll notice a pan of pears. We have a few pear trees in our yard that have yielded quite the harvest this summer. They're way too hard to eat raw, but native North Carolinians say they're good for cooking. I tried a recipe for crockpot pear butter over the weekend and had my first adventures in canning Sunday night. I'm very pleased to report that all my jars seem to have sealed properly. I still have at least 3 more batches (that's about 15 more pints) of pear butter ahead of me.

Every Last Bit

2011-08-11T19:50:00.000-04:00

I don't know what it is, but I rarely throw away fabric. Sure, I'll get rid of it and donate some to The Scrap Exchange or to the guild to sell off for their annual auction. But you will rarely findfabric in my trash can unless it's smaller than a 1/2" square.

If the leftover bits are "incidental" random trimmings not associated with a larger project, I usually just toss them in my crumbs bin to make some crumb blocks (See Bonnie Hunter's crumb tutorial here),

or I'll trim them to fit in one of my scrap bins.

If they're part of a larger project, where I have lots of little bits that are all roughly the same size, then I'll bag up all the trimmings from the project and store them together. After following this routine for a few years without making something from these trimmings, I'm gathering quite the stash of little bits.

For some reason, all these leftovers have started to weigh on my mind over the past year. It's probably because I'm running out of room for them on the bottom shelf of my fabric bookcase.

Not that I really need a new project, but here are some inspiration mosaics for what I could possibly make with all these bits...

Bonus Triangles

1. Dime Quilt- completed!, 2. An afternoon with bonus triangles, 3. Purl Soho Quilt, 4. pams geese block - oct australasian bee :), 5. flying geese in blue and red accents, 6. More Triangles Quilt, Georgetown, KY, 7. Save 'em, Wash 'em, Clean 'em, Squash 'em: The Mini Quilt, 8. Imogen's Quilt, 9. ZigZag Quilt

Selvedge/String Quilts

1. Selvedge table runner, 2. Selvage Star - b, 3. Bookshelf, 4. DSC_0670, 5. Basting, 6. Selvage Mummy Progress, 7. Selvage Quilt Progress, 8. selvage quilt sneak peek, 9. Molly's Quilt, 10. Strings Quilt Back, 11. scrappy x is progressing like a champ!, 12. triangle strip quilt

Crumb Quilts

1. DSCN2121, 2. Morsel Mosaic Quilt top, 3. brown crumbs, 4. crumb quilt 2, 5. green crumb quilt, 6. Quilting detail, improvised wallhanging, 7. Stroke of midnight, 8. The Confetti Quilt, 9. Confetti Quilt for Anni

What about you? Do you save every last bit for a rainy day? If so, are your bits organized by color, collection, etc? Inquiring minds want to know.

Current Events

2011-08-10T17:38:00.001-04:00

Over the weekend, the Husbatron and I spent several hours outside doing yardwork. In honor of the occasion, I diligently slathered myself in bug spray. Twice. The mosquitoes diligently avoided all skin that came into contact with the bug spray. Instead, they flew up my shorts and bit me on the butt. Five times. True story. I guess I'll be wearing old jeans for all future yardwork, even though it will probably be 90+ for the next month or so. I always scoffed at those treatments, where someone comes out to spray hardcore bug repellent on your lawn that supposedly lasts for weeks. As I sit here squirming in my seat, those treatments don't seem quite so silly.

In happy news, I signed up for the Color Wheel Charm Swap, hosted by Kati. The first round filled up in a matter of hours, but keep an eye out on her blog. She's planning to coordinate a few other swaps after this one.

It's my first charm swap. Can you believe it? As much as I love charm packs, I've never swapped to get one before. Even though I supposedly don't like orange, I requested it as my first choice to please my subconscious, I guess. Kati assigned me orange and orange-yellow. I've actually had a lot of fun poking around online for orange prints.

Here are the fabrics I'm planning to submit:

from Chrysalis by Sanae for Moda (for my orange print)

from Modern Workshop by Oliver + S for Moda (for my orange-yellow print)

I'm ordering from a new shop - Stitch 'n' Frame in Vicksburg, MS. I mainly picked them because they were the first shop I found via quiltshops.com to have both the prints I had chosen. But I was also pleased to see that they're en route to the parents' house. Nothing like a little fabric shopping to break up a 16-hour car trip, right dear?

I've also been trying to make some headway on another charity project. The day after I mailed out my H2H quilts to Judi, one of the local guilds had a workday for Quilts of Valor. The space where we met was absolutely gorgeous with lots of natural light, and there was plenty of food and fabric to go around. I only brought my cutting mat, rotary cutter, and rulers because the idea of lugging my sewing machine around in the 100-degree heat was less than appealing. At first, I was worried that I wouldn't have anything to do, because everyone else brought all their cutting supplies AND their machines. But once I let it be known that I was willing to cut fabric for folks and press seams, etc, I stayed pretty busy.

I went to work on the scrap bins and cut out fabric to make some scrappy Just One Star blocks. The fabric from all the sawtooth stars came from the QOV scrap bins, and I'm pulling some cream background fabrics from my stash, along with some red and blue prints for the sashing triangles.

On a side note, I'm thinking this pattern would be a perfect way to use up a layer cake of Cotton Blossoms I've been ~~hoarding~~ saving

or maybe a fat eighth bundle of Breakfast at Tiffany's.

(Image swiped from here: http://hollyhillquiltshoppe.typepad.com/boughs-of-holly/2011/03/can-i-get-an-amen-in-here-its-a-contest.html)

I'll file away that idea for a rainy day.

If you're here for the food, here's what we've been eating this week:

Creamy Orzo (halve the cream, double the vegetables), Oven-Roasted Zucchini
Risotto Cakes (made from leftover corn and roasted red pepper risotto), Green Beans
Chipotle Potato Soup
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Empanadas, Avocado slices, Rice
Spinach Tortellini Soup (modified for the crockpot), Homemade Bread
Gnocchi with Vodka Sauce, Broccoli

Piles

2011-08-05T20:24:00.000-04:00

Are you a piler?

I sure am, especially in my sewing room.

I tell myself that it's because I don't have a sufficient storage system and that the problem will be solved when I get a new! improved! storage system. But much to Ikea's dismay, that's not really true.

My piling instincts are deeply ingrained and defy all storage systems out there.

I could browse Ikea and Pinterest, pining away for and designing the most perfect storage system for my sewing space, but that isn't very productive. Instead, I'm going to focus on appreciating the fact that I have the space to contain such a wide array of haphazardly stacked projects and start sewing some of these piles together into quilt tops.

Then they can be piled in a bin with the other quilt tops that are ready to be quilted. {Insert vicious cycle here}

But those bins are stored under the guest bed. So they don't count, right?

On a random note, I don't think I've shown y'all this quilt top yet.

It was my "twin project" for this H2H half-square triangle quilt. It's from a Chrysalis charm pack and a Freebird charm pack, and I used up the last of my Kona Snow for the background and border. I'm pondering some fun quilting designs in the middle of those cream diamonds and some heavy allover quilting in the cream background around the printed diamonds.

H2H Finale

2011-07-31T21:43:00.000-04:00

I know I've been blogging about my finished H2H quilts over the past couple of days, but here's a quick round-up...

From the awesome French General fabric that Vicki sent me, I made this quilt.

(See here for more information)

Then I made this quilt.

(More information found here.)

I also decided to send my Kona Solids Charm Pack Challenge quilt. It was the perfect size, and I didn't have any immediate need for it. To read more about it, see here.

Be sure to check out Sarah's post today to see all the other finished h2h quilts that are on their way to an orphanage in Romania with Clint and Judi!!

Final H2H Quilt!

2011-07-30T21:50:00.000-04:00

For my last H2H quilt, I decided to bust as much of my stash as possible. You see, I have these two bolts of fabric that Mom bought 7-8 years ago, and then forgot about. When they moved out of their house a couple of years ago, I went home one weekend to help clean out the attics and found the bolts. My eyes lit up at the thought of having not one but Two Whole Bolts of Fabric in the house. She saw that excitement and told me I could have them.

This was an awesome development. The problem: I'm not really sure how to use that much of 2 fabrics. So I've been sneaking them into backings where I can and calling it a day.

The pattern is a variation of the Double Four-Patch tutorial I posted. I used the grey-ish tan print that Vicki sent me as the charm squares and the red background. The red background in this quilt comes from one of the bolts. You might recognize it from the backing of my Winter White quilt a month or so ago. The selvedge says it's from the Folk Art Christmas line by Robyn Pandolph for Moda.

The backing for this quilt is from the other bolt. This is the print that really confounds me and my stash. It's a Kansas Troubles fabric from way back when, so I guess if I get a hankering to make some Little House on the Prairie style quilts, this can be my go-to fabric. On a related note, I'm really into the craze of sewing the leftover blocks into the backing of the quilt. No orphan blocks!!

Another notable feature of the quilt is that it's the first quilt that's completely bound on the machine. I initially tried out this method. But then Brita posted some helpful tips today that I think I'll try to incorporate for the next time around.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for an H2H round-up!

Vital stats:
Started: May 2011
Finished: July 2011
Machine-pieced, machine-quilted.

A Finished H2H Quilt!

2011-07-29T20:30:00.001-04:00

Do you ever make a quilt for charity where it's kind of tough to follow through and give it away? Yeah, this is one of those quilts for me.

It started out with these fabrics.

Then, I added in some solid brown fabric for the background, and by the time I started to put the blocks together, I was completely smitten. This Moda Bake Shop tutorial was largely my inspiration for the overall pattern.

Alas, I was strong and packed up this quilt and a couple of other H2H quilts and sent them along their merry way via the UPS store this afternoon after work.

For the quilting, I stitched an overall stippling loop. It's one of my snappiest quilting designs thus far.

For the backing, I pulled a couple of novelty prints from my stash - a Winnie the Pooh fabric (on the left) and a Noah's Ark fabric (on the right). They blended well with the colors on the top and made the quilt a bit more childlike overall.

It makes me a little sad to see this quilt leave, but I'm confident it will find its way to someone who will love it.

Please note the dog peeking through the back door, wishing he could be in outside crashing my photo shoot.

Just One Charm Pack - Yet Another Coin Quilt

2011-07-24T20:57:00.000-04:00

Disclaimer: You guys, I cannot claim to be the genius behind this project. Essentially, it’s a bigger version of Vicki’s Skinny Verna table runner tutorial at Moda Bake Shop. I’ve just expanded it to use up an entire charm pack. So, I’m going to refer you to her tutorial for many of the steps to give credit where it’s due. I almost feel like this one’s a “cheater” tutorial, since it’s obviously not original or that difficult to figure out, but it’s just so stinkin’ cute that I couldn’t help but share.

Supplies:

1 charm pack or (42) 5” squares- I’m using Buttercup by Fig Tree Quilts
1 yard of background print - I’m using Kona Cream
3/4 yd of fabric for inner border and binding - Mine came from the Whimsy collection by Fig Tree Quilts
1 yd of fabric for outer border - another Fig Tree Whimsy print
batting - at least 50x54
3 yds fabric for backing

Cutting Instructions:

From the charm squares...
Following Vicki’s tutorial, cut each charm square into (4) 1.25”x5” strips. While you’re there, ogle over the cuteness of her Verna strips and lament the fact that this fabric is becoming impossible to find.

From the background:

Cut (4) 2.5”xWOF strips
Cut (3) 4.5”xWOF strips

From the inner border print:
Cut (4) 2.5”xWOF strips
Set aside the rest of the fabric for the binding. I usually cut my binding strips 2" or 2.25” wide on the straight grain of the fabric.

From the outer border print:
Cut (4) 5.5”xWOF strips.

Piecing Instructions:
Following Vicki’s tutorial, arrange and piece together the strips from your charm pack prints.

*Tip: I know it’s tedious, but I prefer to press before I add a new strip to the set to prevent bowing and wavy strips. For this project, I pressed my seams open in the charm strip sets.

Instead of making just one charm strip as the original tutorial indicates, make 4 strip sets total that measure roughly 31.5” long.

Despite my noblest intentions, my strips still turned out a little wavy and wonky (see above), so I trimmed about ¼” off both sides of each strip to square each strip to 4.5”x30.5”

Lay out the pieced charm strips and the background strips in this order:

2.5”x30.5” background strip
4.5”x30.5” charm strip set
4.5”x30.5” background strip
4.5”x30.5”charm strip set
4.5”x30.5” background strip
4.5”x30.5” charm strip set

Sew the rows together in order, being sure to press each row. Trim the extra background tails flush with the edges of the charm strips.

Then add a 2.5" strip to the remaining sides of the quilt.

Trim those tails flush with the opposite ends of the quilt.

Adding Borders: I do NOT add borders the way I’m supposed to. I know this. It’s something that probably should keep me up at night, but it doesn’t. If you prefer to add borders another way, please avert your eyes and ignore the next few steps.

Take the (2) 2.5”xWOF” inner border strips and with right sides together, pin one strip to the top of the center and the other to the bottom of the center. Sew together, then press towards the border.

Rinse and repeat with the remaining (2) 2.5”xWOF inner border strips, attaching them to the sides. Press towards towards the border print.

Repeat the process with the 5.5” outer border strips, attaching them to the sides with pins, right sides together. Sew, trim extra borders, and then press towards the outer border.

Repeat on the remaining 2 sides.

And now your quilt top's done. Mine measured about 47"x61"

Now it's time to talk about backing. I didn't have 3 full yards of a coordinating print, but I did have a yard here and yard and a half there of fabrics that worked, so I laid out all my leftover Fig Tree fabrics end to end, and sewed them together to create one big 3-yard piece.

Once you have your 3 yard piece of backing, cut two 53.5"xWOF strips and sew them together along the 53.5" sides.

After pressing, you're ready to baste, quilt, and bind! (If only it was that easy, right?)

Here's my finished product.

I hope you enjoy the tutorial!! Like most coin quilts, it comes together really quickly, so it's ideal if you need to put together a quilt quickly. Enjoy!!

Yet Another Coin Quilt

2011-07-18T18:06:00.000-04:00

This quilt has been waiting in the wings for a few weeks now. I finished it before the Kona solids flurry of activity, but it's taken me awhile to make time for a photo shoot and to gather my thoughts about it.

I'm very pleased to introduce you to Yet Another Coin Quilt.

I used a charm pack of Buttercup by Fig Tree Quilts to make the coins, the background = Kona Cream, and the borders and binding came from Whimsy, another Fig Tree Quilts collection from a year or two ago.

The backing fabric is a combination of leftover Fig Tree and 3 Sisters prints I had in my stash - Hurrah for using up the stash!

The quilting is a paisley-type echoed scallop pattern. I think I first saw this pattern in action here (blogged here). Then I decided to ~~shamelessly copy~~ try my own hand at it. I've used this pattern in the borders of my Christmas-y inverted 9-patch quilt and again in the borders of my first double diamond 4-patch quilt. But this coins quilt is the first time I've attempted to quilt it over the entire surface of a quilt. You guys, this quilting pattern takes forever, compared to your run of the mill stippling. Maybe speed comes with practice?

Stick around for a(nother coin quilt) tutorial later this week!

Vital Statistics:

Started: May 2011
Finished: June 2011
Machine-pieced, machine quilted
Fabric: Buttercup by Fig Tree Quilts, Whimsy by Fig Tree Quilts, and Kona Cream

The Swing of Things

2011-07-18T18:02:00.001-04:00

This past weekend, Mom and I met up in Knoxville for the AQS show. We had a great time looking at all the quilts and shopping our pants off at both the show and at Gina's Bernina Quilt Shop there in town. (Okay, we didn't literally shop our pants off. That might have scandalized the vast majority of show attendees.)

My loot:

My latest obsession: These 5-yard bundles of last year's fabric that kept popping up in booths. I'm absolutely enamored. I restrained myself and only bought two - one of a few Fandango prints (even though I've already made a quilt with Fandango) and another of coordinating prints from assorted designers and manufacturers.

I also snagged one of those Angler rulers to try out. I have high hopes I'll save time by not having to mark all those lines on the wrong side of my half-square triangle and flying geese units. I'll let you know how it goes.

I wish I could show you photos, but most shows ask that you not share your photos online for copyright reasons. I'm a rule-follower through and through, so I'm dutifully resisting the urge to post all my pictures on flickr.

All passive disgruntlement aside, if you get the chance to go to an AQS show or any quilt show for that matter, you should go. There's always a ton of inspiration to be found, even if it can't be shared on the Interwebz. If you're lucky, you'll probably also stumble upon some hot quilting deals.

As I was straightening up the sewing room last night, I found my Bee Splendid packet for June. Yes, JUNE! I'm terrible. So I spent the rest of my free time last night making some HST blocks from Amy Butler's Love fabric for Tracey.

Please excuse the blurriness of the photo. Apparently, my tired brain thought that photo was in focus last night.

Here's what we're eating this week:

Macaroni and Cheese, Green Beans
Leftovers
Instant Tamale Pie, Spanish/Mexican Rice
Indian Skillet Black Eyed Peas, Brown rice
Pizza, Salad
Potato Soup, Salad

To see what other folks are eating this week, be sure to check out OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday post for today.

Kona Charm Pack Quilt - FINISHED

2011-07-13T22:21:00.000-04:00

I didn't think I could do it, but I did.

I polished off a quilt in a week. Here are a few grainy snapshots of the quilt in process.

Here's another picture of the finished product.

Essentially, it's a wonky variation of my Double 4-Patch tutorial. I roughly followed this tutorial to refresh my memory on wonky piecing. I squared up the wonky 4-patches to about 4" and matched them all up with a 4" dark gray background square to create the larger 4-patch block.

Then I used this layout variation, bordered the middle with some more background fabric, pieced the backing with a purple jacquard print from Joann's that doesn't match at all (though I still love it), basted, quilted, and then bound the thing.

For the quilting, I used Oh Fransson's square stippling pattern that she used for her Tokyo Subway Map Quilt-Along a few months back. I might go back and stitch in the ditch around the wonky patches to make them puff up a bit more.

Thanks so much to Robert Kaufman for generously donating charm packs for this guild challenge. Be sure to check out our guild's flickr pool and the Modern Quilt Guild's flickr pool for some great eye candy for this challenge!

Vital Stats:

Started: July 2011
Finished: July 2011
Machine-pieced, machine quilted
Fabric: Kona Dusty Charm Pack, Kona Charcoal Gray (background); Kona Grass (binding)

Now, I'm off to work on my H2H projects and polish off some tardy bee blocks.

If you're here for the food, here's what we've been noshing on this week:

Spinach and Goat Cheese Risotto (I was planning on using roasted tomatoes, but the baby spinach was on super-sale.)
French Ragout Beans, Roasted Asparagus, Mashed Potatoes
Tacos, Avocado Slices
Roasted Red Pepper and Corn Chowder, Homemade Bread
Pizza

Radio Silence

2011-07-05T18:30:00.005-04:00

Just a heads-up that things will be pretty quiet 'round these here parts this week. My nose is to the grindstone, working on the TMQG Robert Kaufman Charm Swap. The guild is doing it's big reveal this Sunday.

(To allay any who fellow TMQG-ers who happen to be concerned, I have, in fact, cut into my charm pack. I just haven't taken any photos of the project since this one. Quilt blogger FAIL.)

I'll try to remember and snap some (grainy) in-process pics with my phone and upload them to flickr. Keep an eye out on my flickr stream for the eye candy if you're so inclined.

Lest you think I'm leaving the Husbatron to his own devices for food, here's what we're eating this week:

Okay, so last night, I made him forage in the fridge - leftover broccoli cheese soup with homemade sourdough bread for me, and a frozen burrito for him.
Spinach and Ricotta Shells (from the freezer), Asparagus
Crockpot Dal, Brown Rice
Crockpot Chili, Cornbread
Pizza
Asparagus (+Shrimp for me) Risotto

Check out OrgJunkie's edition of Menu Plan Monday if you'd like to see some other weekly menu plans from around the interwebz.

Procrastination

2011-06-28T19:02:00.014-04:00

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcostin/31357524/

Sometimes, I'm crazy conscientious and get things done ahead of the deadline. Most times, though, I kind of procrastinate. I don't know about you, but I get most excited about a project when it's the absolute last thing that I should be worrying about.

Examples:

Looming deadline at work? It's the perfect time to clear out my email!
Friends or family visiting my currently filthy house in a few days? Why yes, I believe tonight would, in fact, be the perfect time to start re-watching all of the Mad Men seasons in preparation for the new season in August.
Time to go to the gym? Nah, I'd rather bake a red velvet cake. From scratch. But it was a nice thought.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lamiacucina67/434263597/

Unfortunately, this tendency follows me into my sewing room, too. What I should be focusing on right now: The Triangle Modern Quilt Guild's Kona Charm Pack Challenge (due July 10th). If you click over to my WiP spreadsheet, you'll see I haven't started. Haven't even bought the rest of my fabric. Tsk tsk tsk. Or maybe the baby quilt I've been meaning to make for the mom who just posted her 38 week belly photos on Facebook yesterday? (Hi, Betsy!)

What's distracting me instead: this Nittany block. I'm crushing on it. Hard.

1. Red Aqua QIP, 2. Block for Sherri, 3. String X Quilt Top Finished!!!, 4. Livvy's baby's string-x quilt 2, 5. String X Quilt on Bed, 6. X Marks the Spot, 7. My Nittany Block Party Quilt Top, 8. String X quilt top, 9. String X Quilt

I'm thinking it would look a-mazing with the Martinique strips I got on ebay last month, along with the leftover trimmings from the Buttercup quilt I mentioned yesterday.

Throw in a light blue for the skinny border around the string-pieced strips and some brown for the background triangles, and I believe I have myself a new project.

found at: Fat Quarter Shop

Because that's just what I need right now. A new project.

If you need me, I'll be trying to ignore the string-pieced elephant in the sewing room, so I can focus on my Kona dusty charm pack.

What's distracting you right now? Procrastinating minds want to know.

One Thing, One Week Results

2011-06-27T18:22:00.000-04:00

Last week, I left a comment on Amy's One Thing One Week challenge, pledging to finish the machine quilting on my Buttercup quilt. I'm pleased to say that as of 9:30pm last night, I met my goal.

I even went so far as to make and attach the binding on the front. All that's left for this quilt is to whip-stitch the binding to the back and send it through the wash. Now I'll have a little something to work on in front of the TV for the next few days.

Here's the backing - I used up some leftover border fabric, along with another green Fig Tree print from my original Double Diamond 4-Patch quilt, and I threw in a pink print from Aster Manor by 3 Sisters. Hurrah for using up bits and pieces!

Be sure to check out Amy's post today to see what everyone else was able to accomplish this past week.

If you're here for the food, here's what we're eating this week:

Spinach Risotto Cakes, Grilled Vegetables, Fruit Salad (we never ate this last week)
Creamy Orzo (double the vegetables, halve the cheese), Kale Chips
Bean & Rice Burritos, Avocado Slices
Broccoli Cheese Soup, Baked Potatoes
Breakfast for Dinner - Scrambled Eggs, Sweet Corn Hash
Pizza

Check out Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie for more of this week's menu plans!

Best of My World

2011-06-26T14:12:00.000-04:00

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/simplegirlsimplelife/4618888856/

CRAFTINESS

Scrappy Zig Zag Quilt - A strip-pieced zig-zag quilt!
Hidden Star Quilt - from a couple of layer cakes!
Get More Done with Creative Quickies - It's written for writers, but I think there are a lot of applicable tips for sewing, too.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/simplegirlsimplelife/4618888856/

FOOD

A Brief History of Pimento Cheese - One of the flavors of my childhood.
Sweet Corn Hash - Mmmm, it's what's for (breakfast) for dinner
Elvis Granola - With chocolate and peanut butter!!
Raspberry Lemon Shortcake - those yummy thumbprint cookies!
Avocado BLT with Fried Egg and Chipotle Aioli - mmmmmm
Top Secret Cinnamon Rolls - No yeast = no rise time. Quick and easy!!

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ooh_food/2745071348/

LIFE

I've Got Your Number (Pottery Barn Knockoff) - So cute!
Plastic Jungle - Did your grandmother give you a gift card for Christmasto a store where you never shop? You can get a little bit of $$ by selling it to this website.

WIP Wednesday - the lazy edition

2011-06-22T18:07:00.001-04:00

After all the sewing I did last week and over the weekend, I think that I needed a mental break. Monday night, I went to the DOQ Guild Meeting, where a YLI rep spoke about thread and its importance in quilting/piecing. I left the meeting plagued with guilt that I hardly ever use fancy thread. Well, I guess I didn't feel guilty enough to buy thread the speaker brought with her, but oh well. On the other hand, I was super-excited to see the small samples of machine-quilting she passed around. Feast your eyes:

The first sample (above) was from Diane Gadynski, machine quilting guru.

The second quilt was made by someone who I'm sure is equally awesome, but I didn't snap a photo of the label on that one. Oops.

After dinner last night, I spent a couple of lazy hours on the couch, kickin' it old skool and reading a book. No computer. No TV. Just a good old-fashioned mass market paperback.

Despite my laziness in the sewing room, I have managed to cross a WiP off my list this week. I packed up the rail fence quilt top I made from a Portugal layer cake a few years ago and sent it to Sarah for her quilt ministry.

I fell out of love with the fabric (too much yellow for my tastes now!) and really had no desire to finish this project, so I asked Sarah if she'd like to adopt it. She graciously agreed to take it off my hands, and I know she and her friends will find the perfect home for it.

For anyone who's keeping track, I'm now down to 32 active projects.

Here's a link to my monster WiP status spreadsheet, if you're interested in a peek at the insanity.

Check out Lee's W.I.P. Wednesday post to check out everyone else's progress.

The Original Inverted 9-Patch

2011-06-21T18:00:00.000-04:00

Back in November of 2009, I saw an innocent enough post on Moda Bake Shop by Pat Sloan, encouraging readers to enter her Gobble Gobble challenge. The general gist of the challenge was to make something out of Gobble Gobble by Sandy Gervais in time for Thanksgiving. All I had was a lowly charm pack of the fabric, but I figured it would be enough to make something for the challenge.

I tossed out the idea of a table runner. Our table's pretty small, so table runners look kind of silly on it. So I sat down with some graph paper and started doodling ideas. I finally came across the idea of 9-patches with lots of sashing between the blocks. I made the top but then quickly lost momentum to finish it. The main reason behind my inertia was that we were still living in our apartment at that point and just didn't have a good place to lay out all the layers and baste them together.

So, it sat in the WIP bin for a couple of years. I finally pulled it out a few months ago to baste and quilt. The backing came from the sale rack at Thimble Pleasures. The fabric itself doesn't match any of the prints in the collection at all, really. But once I quilted it, it seemed to blend with the top a lot better.

For the quilting, I initially wanted to try my hand at straight-line quilting again, but the fact that few of the 9-patches lined up meant that if I tried to use my seams as guides, then it would just look funny.

Instead I opted for squiggly lines about an inch apart. Since each of the patches in the 9-patch and all the sashing strips are roughly 2" (finished), I squiggled along the seams and eyeballed the squiggly lines in the middle of the blocks.

After I finished quilting the squiggly lines vertically, I thought the quilt still looked a little bare, so I turned it around the other way and quilted the squiggly lines horizontally as well.

If you'd like to make your own version of this quilt, be sure to check out my tutorial for it!

Vital statistics:

Started: November 2009
Finished: June 2011
Machine-pieced, machine quilted
Fabric: Gobble Gobble by Sandy Gervais; inner border: Fabulous Fall by Deb Strain; outer border: Tranquility by Sandy Gervais

Weekend Productivity

2011-06-20T22:11:00.000-04:00

The husbatron has had his nose to the grindstone with some work deadlines lately, so I've been trying not to pester him toooo much. That basically means I've been holed up in the sewing room with my H2H projects and Mad Men, Season 2.

I finally finished almost all the blocks for my H2H projects and their corresponding stash projects:

H2H - French General Half-Square Triangle Blocks - DONE!

H2H - Double Diamond 4-Patch Blocks - DONE

Stash Half-Square Triangle Blocks from Freebird (Momo) and Chrysalis (Sanae) - DONE!

Scrappy Double Diamond 4-Patch blocks - almost done. I'm making about 100 of these blocks. That's why they're taking so dang long.

After all the piecing I did last week, I was in the mood for something different. I ignored the fact that the H2H deadlines are looming and pulled out a Fig Tree top that I basted awhile back and started quilting it. After a solid hour or so of quilting, I'm about 1/4 of the way finished.

On a side note, I've pledged to finish the quilting on this Fig Tree quilt by next Monday in Amy's One Thing One Week Challenge.

It's time like this when I'm glad I have nearly 3 dozen projects in progress - no matter what kind of quilty mood I'm in, there's sure to be a project that will satisfy my yen to shop, cut, piece, baste (um, as if), or quilt.

If you're here for the food, here's what we're eating/have been eating this week:

Banh's Vietnamese!
Father's Day Family Dinner with the In-Laws. I made Grilled Vegetables with some goat cheese on the side to go with the steak + potatoes. FYI - this recipe makes a HUGE batch. We saved half the vegetables to make pizza later in the week, and still had plenty of food for 6 side-dish servings.
Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese, Cream of Tomato Soup
Tortilla Soup, Taquitos (with black beans instead of chicken)
Spinach and Goat Cheese Risotto
Homemade Pizza with aforementioned Grilled Vegetables

Check out some other menu plans on OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday post.

ebay - love it or hate it?

2011-06-14T07:30:00.001-04:00

I'm not one of those ebay fiends who buys some awesome item at a rock-bottom price and then re-sells it and turns a profit, but the few ebay transactions I've had have been pretty satisfying. The first time I used ebay was to buy my wedding dress.

I was a bit nervous about the idea, but I figured that if the dress turned out to be a complete disaster, then I was only $100 in the hole, which isn't too terribly bad when it comes to purchasing a wedding dress. I'm happy to say that after Mom altered and re-hemmed it a bit, it worked out just fine.

My next purchase: this Cotton Blossoms layer cake, many many moons ago. I bought it a couple of years back to do Rachel's Pinwheel Quilt Along. I think I'll still eventually use this fabric for this particular project, but I've been sidetracked for the past few years.

My most recent purchase: some Martinique scraps by 3 Sisters for Moda. I'm still pondering what exactly to do with these strips. I didn't have a specific plan in mind, but the strips weren't expensive, the fabric is cute, and I was feeling exceptionally virtuous yet fun-loving because I had just finished a couple of projects and was about to head out on vacation.

What about you? Do you have a love or hate relationship with ebay? Have you ever used it to de-stash?

You Really Like Me

2011-06-13T17:30:00.002-04:00

Over the past month or so, I've been very touched when fellow bloggers have contacted me to let me know they've awarded me with blogger awards of one variety of another. Jen of Ellison Lane Quilts was kind enough to nominate me for the Stylish Blogger Award, and Jen of The Quilty Home was nice enough to nominate me for the Versatile Blogger Award. The rules for both awards are pretty similar - 7 things about yourself and then you tag other bloggers you like for the award. Forgive me for lumping these awards together into one post.

So first, 7 things about myself:

1. I love dishes, all varieties, at all places. Whenever I make a Goodwill run to drop off donations, I always take a couple of minutes to peruse the dish selection. When I'm in Target, any department store, Williams-Sonoma, TJ Maxx, pretty much anywhere that might possibly carry dishes, I always peruse the merchandise, just to see what's there. I rarely buy anything. I just like to look.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/phlora/3515552154/

2. I used to hoard books the same way that I hoard fabric now. When I was in library school, I had this terrible fear that in order to find a job, I'd have to accept a position in a teeny tiny public library at the corner of Nowhere and Down Yonder, USA that wouldn't have much of a collection or a budget to build one, leaving me with only Charles Dickens and monthly Harlequin novels as my only reading options. (Disclaimer: this was long before e-readers hit the market.) So I hit the local library book sales and thrift store bookshelves HARD. Luckily, this fear has not yet materialized. I've only read a small fraction of the hoarded books, and I'm coming to the realization that I can check out most of them from one of the awesome libraries nearby. So, I'm gradually giving them back to the thrift stores and libraries to sell (again) to some poor paranoid grad student.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccacnorthlib/3554628032/

3. There's something about warm weather that really brings out my self-sufficiency in the kitchen. I'm much more likely to make homemade kitchen staples in the hot months of spring and summer than I am in the winter. In the past month, I've made homemade marinara sauce, focaccia, yogurt, and tortillas for the first time since last summer.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/60in3/3167360869/

4. I'm a Freecycle convert. It's the greatest tool I've found to quickly get rid of stuff I don't want and/or that I can't fit in my car to donate off-site. I think it even beats the Goodwill (assuming you don't want tax receipts). You don't have to load the stuff in your car, you can just leave it on your front porch, and the designated person comes to pick it up. So far, I've gotten rid of an old ceiling fan, smelly fabric from the 1980s and 1990s, an old desk I used as a sewing table, a seatless garden chair, and all the old cabinet pulls from our kitchen cabinets. (Seriously, someone sent out a call for kitchen cabinet knobs.) I look forward to many more happy years of freecycling.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hebe/2217288128/

5. I save almost all of my folded corner triangles. You know the ones I'm talking about, right? The ones that are leftover after you've made a flying geese unit or snowball block, where you cut away the triangles and fold over and press the top fabric? Yeah, I've saved them all in sandwich bags by project, which are then stuffed into an even bigger plastic bag. Hooray for teeny tiny scraps!

6. I don't like mushrooms. The Husbatron doesn't either. It's one of the many reasons we're so compatible.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofstone/168867476/

7. One of my favorite things in the world is to use up stuff. I derive grreeeaaat satisfaction from using all the thread on a spool, all the peanut butter in a jar, and the last of the milk. It's probably because I like closure.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortimer/250349049/

Sorry to take the cheater's way out, but I feel kinda guilty singling out some people for an award and not others. So, if you're reading this and haven't been nominated for one of these awards, consider yourself officially NOMINATED and TAGGED.

If you're here for the food, here's what we're eating this week:

Spinach and Cheese Quesadillas, Drunken Beans
Orzo Salad on a bed of arugula
Twice Baked Potatoes with some fresh corn and roasted red pepper thrown in for added veggies, Green Beans
Soup Night - I have a quart each of Black Bean Soup and Tomato Soup, along with some bread sticks and corn muffins stocked up in the freezer. We're having a soup buffet that night.
Pizza? Carrburrito's takeout? Whatever it is, Friday night's dinner will definitely be low-maintenance, since this week is my first full work week in about a month.

Return of the Schnibbles

2011-06-09T22:12:00.000-04:00

Do you ever have times in your life when there are a billion things you really *should* be doing, but you say, "eh, screw it. If you need me, I'll be at my sewing machine." Yeah, me too.

I'd like to submit this quilt as exhibit A to be filed under "using my hobby as procrastination." I started this quilt about 6 days before I got married. There were probably other things I should have been doing. But at the end of the week, I still ended up married, right?

Sidenote: this wasn't my oldest WIP, but that's another story for another day.

Back in October 2009, I finished my first quilt top for the Year of Schnibbles project with Sherry and Sinta. Ideally, I would have quilted each Schnibble as soon as I pieced it, but meh, we all know how that goes. You don't have the ideal backing fabric on hand and don't have enough fabric allowance left at the end of the month to buy some, you're seduced by the next greatest collection that just came out and start a project with that instead. Oh, and then you buy a house. I could go on, but I don't really need to, do I?

Anyways, folks like John and Angela actually followed the instructions. Take a look at their blogs to see what the quilt was supposed to look like. Rather than shell out the money for the pattern, however, I decided to wing it and rely on some good old-fashioned quilt math to get me through. This trend continued throughout most of the Year of Schnibbles; my quilt math worked better some months than others. I settled down with some scratch paper and did the math on how many charm squares were in each block and in which colors.

I had a Glace layer cake and some cream background fabric on hand, so I was able to make a few more blocks than what's in the original pattern. To make the quilt even bigger, I set the blocks on point and added a couple of borders. Also, if you take a close look, you'll notice that I swapped the print and the background fabric for the flying geese units. This block is my favorite one overall. Don't you just love the itty bitty red flowers against the blue?

These two changes (setting the blocks on point + swapping around the flying geese) led to a lot more neutral/background space in the quilt, which was an effect that I was really starting to dig at that point.

All together, I made 16 blocks, with 3 leftover that I turned into a tablerunner, along with probably a dozen or so leftover charm squares.

A couple of months ago, I finally backed and basted the quilt top.

For the quilting, I just free-motion-quilted an allover loopy design that has turned out to be my most efficient quilting motif. Here's a peek at my favorite print from this quilt with a close-up of the quilting:

After sending it through the washer and dryer, it's ready to grace the back of my couch. If you'd like to see other versions of this quilt, take a blast through the past and check out both Sherry's and Sinta's parades.

Vital Stats:

Started: September 2009
Finished: May 2011
Machine-pieced, machine-quilted
Fabric collection: Glace by 3 Sisters for Moda

WIP Wednesday - the month-long edition

2011-06-08T08:00:00.002-04:00

Like I mentioned the other day, we spent a week at the beach with family to celebrate the brother's graduation. Mom and I set up shop on the huge dining room table with our sewing machines, an ironing board, and a cutting mat.

Some people binge-eat or binge-drink on vacation. I chose to binge on new projects, 4 of them to be exact. Two of them are H2H commitments. For the other two projects, I'm making the same blocks as my h2h projects, but I'm using fabrics from my stash. Ever since I read about how Sherry simultaneously made 2 sampler quilts from different fabrics, I've been inspired to multitask like this to whittle down my stash ever so slightly.

I did a fair amount of cutting before I left, so I could immediately start working on block construction while on vacation.

First up - my half-square triangle projects. For the H2H quilt, I bought a brown solid fabric to use as background with the various French General prints and the medium green and blue prints pulled from my stash. I've mentioned it before, but I'm planning to eventually arrange the blocks like Natalie's HST-Bliss quilt.

The equivalent quilt from my stash uses a charm pack of Freebird by Momo and a charm pack of Chrysalis by Sanae, along with some Kona Snow from my stash as the background. I'm still pondering layouts for this quilt. I'm leaning towards a classic layout like Rita's. Mom worked on a similar pattern at the beach, using a crisp white background with lots of scrappy French fabrics, so that pattern's been on my mind.

I'm looking at a LOT of cutting, pressing, then squaring up for both projects. I might have HST fatigue by the time I've finished.

My next H2H project only has two fabrics - the gray is from Rouenneries by French General, and the red is old-school Robyn Pandolph; I think the collection's name is Folk Art Christmas by Moda. Mom had a whole BOLT of that red that she passed along to me, so it's probably going to keep popping up in projects over the next few months. It's the first time since forever that I've used such a small number of prints in a quilt. I'm making Double 4-Patch blocks, as tutorialized here, but I might choose one of the alternate layouts.

The corresponding stash quilt is using charm squares from my scrap bin and some cream tone on tone that Mom bequeathed to me. I'll probably use this layout for the scrappy version. I was a bit shocked to discover that there was 6+ yds of the tonal fabric - plenty to make either a huge bed quilt or a couple of lap-sized quilts. I'm leaning towards making a couple of smaller quilts, so I can have some charity quilts on hand. I initially cut out the fabric for this quilt months ago. I'm glad I've finally developed a plan for it.

The H2H quilts are "due" in mid-July, but I've set an artificial deadline for myself to finish by the end of this month. I might have to abandon the corresponding stash quilt projects to focus on cranking out the H2H quilts in time.

I had an ever so narrow window of time at home between the beach and my conference. Over those few days, when I wasn't doing laundry or straightening up the house, I was in the sewing room, working on a new Just One Charm Pack tutorial, using a few different Fig Tree collections. The quilt top and the backing have been pieced. Next, I "just" need to baste, quilt, and bind. I'm hoping to also knock out that project soon-ish.

Still waiting in the wings: my Bliss quilt. I basted it before we went to the beach, and I've decided on how to quilt it. I'm planning to use tracing paper to transfer my designs to the quilt. The designs themselves are 5", and there are 3 designs per square, with a total of 42 squares in the quilt. All that adds up to a heckalotta prepwork to get the tracing paper ready. This one might take awhile. In the meantime, I cringe every morning when I make the bed with the Christmas quilt still on it.

So, there you have it - all the sewing I've managed to squeeze in over the past few weeks. I'm so eager to start working more on these projects in earnest. Here's to a productive summer!!!

I've been inspired by other WIP Wednesdays to track all, yes ALL of my WIPs. To that end, I've set up a spreadsheet (you're shocked, I'm sure) with the basic steps of my quilting process to get a handle on where everything's at. If you're interested, just click here to see my spreadsheet/nuttiness. Please don't judge me when you see the total number of WIPs listed, k?

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. Check and see what everyone else has been up to lately.

Absence

2011-06-05T11:46:00.000-04:00

I knew the months of May and June were going to be a little nutty, but I had high hopes that I'd be able to push through and keep blogging with scheduled posts, provocative thoughts and questions, etc. Denial, anyone?

We spent the month of May watching the brother graduate from college (he makes me so proud)

planting tomatoes and basil

source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/barraclough/2502996388/

and then celebrating aforementioned graduation at the beach with family.

I spent just enough time at home to do a few loads of laundry and scrub the toilet, then I headed to St Louis for a work conference.

My brain is now full, as is my Google Reader; please don't even ask me about my work email. I'm trying not to think about it. Instead, I'm going to spend my last day in the STL with one of my Furman BFFs.

(Image credit: Picsee. they rock.)

Don't worry. I won't make her repair my hair like I did for my wedding. Instead, we'll be exploring the city.

The good news is the Hubz and I got the bulk of our summer traveling accomplished early and had a fabulous time in the process. Now that things are about to simmer down, I'm looking forward to a summer of sewing,

stacks of finished projects a la Summer 2009,

and homegrown tomato salads.

source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/simon_aughton/3517689399/

I hope everyone's summer is off to a great start, too!

Best of My World

2011-05-13T07:30:00.000-04:00

It's been forever since I've posted a link-fest, mainly because my recreational Internet time has been greatly reduced in favor of weeding? cleaning? sewing? I don't really know Maybe some of all of the above. Anyways, here are some links I've enjoyed lately!

CRAFTINESS

Project 13: Blankets for Tornado Survivors - If you have the time, please consider making something for this cause! They're not picky about the types of blankets they receive.
Strawberry Fields Forever - I love the whimsical look of this fabric paired with this pattern!
The Moda Fabrics Archive - this is where you go to download jpgs of all the prints in their various collections if you want to load them into EQ or a similar program. I don't have such a program, but it just seems like a good idea to grab what I like before it's not there anymore. Hi. My name is Megan, and I hoard fabric (jpgs).
2-Square Quilt Tutorial - This pattern is so elegantly simple. Pardon me while I go dig through my stash of jelly rolls for the perfect fabric.

FOOD

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich

- And the heavens opened up, and all God's children said, "Amen."

Lemon Blueberry Pancakes - Lemon + blueberries is one of my favorite flavor combinations. How did she know?
Double Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting - Nothing novel or fancy. Just good clean fun.
Mashed Potato Pizza - I'd really like to try this, but I'm not sure if I'd survive the post-dinner carb coma.

LIFE

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ratatatratsy/5394750775/

Turning Twenty-One - I love lists. I think information is much more easily absorbed and relateable in lists. This is one of the best I've seen in quite some time.
Clara's Weekly Photo Project - Dear Husbatron, If you're out there reading this, just know that we will be doing this with our children after they're conceived, born, etc. because it's cute. And because I like any good excuse to buy some fabric.

Catching Up

2011-05-10T12:38:00.001-04:00

Sweet readers, I pray you haven't abandoned me or moved me to the "Inactive" category of your feed reader! I feel like the past few weeks have been quite busy, but I'm looking around and trying to pinpoint what exactly I have to show for my busy-ness. It makes me wonder how I'm really spending my time.

(Let's not talk about everything on last weeks' To Do list that still hasn't gotten done, hmm, okay?)

I've been trying to make the most of my "sit-around" time and have fabric ready to cut while we watch our small handful of TV shows. (Is anyone else rooting for Kelly Kapoor to be the next Dunder Mifflin-Scranton manager?) I figure that if I'm going to let the TV suck me in, I might as well try to be productive while I sit there. Even if it means I'm technically starting new projects, at least I'm putting my fabric to work somehow, right? Currently, I'm cutting fabrics for my H2H quilt, and I might break it into 2 quilts in order to get things to look the way I'd like them to AND to use up all the fabrics. You see that grayish print, second from the right? Yeah, it's not playing well with the other fabrics right now.

I've decided I'm going to make this HST quilt from the stack of French General fabric that Vicki sent. I've supplemented it with a couple of subtle green and blue prints from my stash. By the way, see this link for a bunch of other awesome layouts for HSTs! I always forget how versatile they are.

All my prints have been cut. I just need to finish cutting the solid fabric into squares. Then I can embrace the glorious tedium of HST (half-square triangle) construction. I'm not being facetious or sarcastic. I really am convinced that some repetitive and mindless piecing is just what the doctor ordered for me right now.

I've also been cutting fabrics to make scrappy versions of my Double Diamond 4-Patch pattern so I can eventually have some charity quilts on hand. My charm pack scrap box has gotten pretty out of control, so hopefully, these projects will alleviate the congestion in those stacks of squares for a few months.

(Those are my scrappy charm squares there at the front, bursting out of their box.)

I'm particularly smug that ALL of this fabric, even the yards upon yards of tonal background, came from my stash. I didn't have to buy any of it. Hooray for "free" quilt tops! It's not my usual palette of fabrics really, since it's not all that matchy-matchy, but I'm not going to argue with free-ninety-nine.

If you're here for the food, here's what we're planning to eat this week...

Mother's Day Dinner @ the In-Laws - Fajitas! I made homemade flour tortillas.
Penne Pasta with Vodka Sauce, Roasted Cauliflower
Black Bean Soup, Corniest Corn Muffins
Thai Green Curry, Steamed Broccoli
Pizza!

Check out other menu plans at OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday.

Life Update

2011-04-28T21:38:00.000-04:00

1. Home Improvement

For the second weekend in a row, I took a few days off from almost all technology to get caught on some ToDos around the house. The biggest accomplishment: We painted over the wood paneling in our family room. Here are a few "before" pictures:

Here's an after picture:

Doesn't the white make the room look so much cleaner? Let's face it, I need as much help as I can get in the cleaning department. This was definitely a welcome change. The Husbatron also replaced our ceiling fan/light fixture with something a bit more modern AND replaced all the 1970sesque chocolate brown wall outlets with some plain white ones that blend in with the walls a bit better.

This week, we're hoping to paint the upper walls in this room. But first, we have to find a color that will work.

2. Works in Progress

While waiting for paint to dry, I did manage to sneak upstairs for a sewing session or two. I've finished quilting vertical squiggly lines on my Gobble Gobble quilt.

Next I'll quilt horizontal squiggly lines to create a squiggly grid.

3. H2H Update!

Y'all, I would just like to say that my swap partner for the H2H project is what you might call the bomb-diggity! Look at the fabric she sent - all French General prints! I've been eager to bring a little bit of French General into my life, and I'm so glad I have the opportunity.

I'm throwing in a few other medium-to-light-toned prints from my stash.

I might also pick up a dark chocolate brown print to use as a background. I'm still churning around pattern ideas, but here are a few pictures that have inspired me:

4. FOOD!

I've been so remiss in posting our menu plans lately. We've been eating, promise. Here are some highlights from the past couple of weeks:
For Easter dinner, we went to the in-laws, and I made Monica's deviled eggs for an appetizer and Dorie Greenspan's carrot cake for dessert.
We've tried out a few new (to us) Durham restaurants - Bull City Burger and Brewery (this one's actually brand spankin' new), Handy Kitchen for takeout Chinese, and Blue Corn Cafe.
There have also been lots of old standbys in rotation - Bean and Rice Burritos, Risotto, Pizza, Spinach and Ricotta Shells
A few new recipes - Potatoes and Peas in Red Curry with Rice, Enchiladas (modified to use fake beef crumbles)

I hope everyone is staying safe with all this crazy weather and doing their best to enjoy the week!