There's a Lap App for That!

I'm loving my Lap App! It's so nice to have a little raised 'desk' in my lap - there's a place for 3 spools of thread, a magnet for my needle, a pocket for my scissors, and a nice padded top.

This is my latest Farmer's Daughter block - I worked on this last night - see the fire in the background? Do you recognize the fabrics? These are purples and magentas from my En Provence quilt. Look over to the right - I fussy cut that tiger face in the rounded piece - fun, fun!

Yesterday was hexie day - I cut out the remaining 18 curved pieced hexies for my current star unit.  I've just started basting them, but more of that will continue today.

Oh, I almost forgot! I dyed some fabric yesterday! I love the way it turned out! The book in the photo above is a little hint for this this project - more about it tomorrow! Ha- another project!

Did we get snow? Nope! Just rain and a bit of sleet. Lots of rain! And it is REALLY cold today. My daughter who lives on the other side of the state DID get snow - what a lovely birthday present for her yesterday!

The sun is out and blasting any ice that might be on the roads. I see a pool trip coming later.

So last night we finished watching The Man in the High Castle. The last episode was a doozy! I'll admit to being a bit confused during some of the episodes, but it was still great. We are looking forward to the next season, though it will be a wait.

Wishing you a warm day!

Nine Patches!

I made a batch of nine patches for my basket UFO yesterday. They will not all match as these do - I cut more strips from other fabric so I can make these a bit scrappy.

Don't they look cute with the baskets?! This will definitely be a HAPPY quilt!

And while I was making nine patches I used my En Provence as leaders and enders - I ended up with the first block sewn together by the end of the day! (Remember, I only have six blocks total to make along with the sashing.) I also threw in a few dresden pieces as leaders and enders - got a good start on one of these, too!

But last night I did not hand sew - I was tired and just watched TV with Hubby without doing anything. It felt weird, but I needed an evening off.

Isn't Cooper looking regal here? I took this photo yesterday - I noticed his whiskers glowing in the sunlight. What a handsome boy!

No sun today though. The rain is already falling. And the snow...it might be back in our forecast. We're right on the line on all the weather models. So we'll hunker down and wait to see. I do need to run to the grocery store this morning though. Looks like we'll be hiking in the rain later...

Here's my other little news. I've lost weight - a good bit of weight! I'm not done by any means, but I lost 25 pounds during the last four months of 2016. I feel so much more energetic! Hubby, by the way, has lost the same amount. He's almost to his goal, though I have a ways to go. We are simply using the My Fitness Pal app on our phones, recording what we eat. It's a free app and it's become second nature to enter our food. 

We are trying to move a bit more (swimming and hiking), but weight loss is 80% what you eat and only 20% exercise, so the food part is the most important to us. I'm currently in a dreaded plateau (and have been for a few weeks), but I'm sure the loss will continue before long. I've sworn off weighing until February so I won't be discouraged during this slow period. 

Today is hexie day! I need to fussy cut fabric for the final 18 hexies on my latest star. I thought I had a name for the quilt and then I second guessed myself - I promise the giveaway will be coming soon!

Are you having a snow day? Hunker down and sew!

First Finish of 2017!

Last you heard, I was hand stitching the binding of Allietare. I put it aside for a bit and finally got back to it last night. Two episodes of Call the Midwife and two episodes of The Man in the High Castle and I was done. Yay!

It's too chilly to take it outside to photograph this morning, so we made our bed and put it there. As with most of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilts, I made this one with bigger and fewer pieces. It's a nice twin size - maybe an extra long twin. I plan for it to live at the lake house eventually.

Yesterday for my machine sewing time I made more quarter square triangle units for En Provence. And then I started sewing together the first block.

Today is my UFO day - the baskets and Winding Way blocks. I think I'll make some little nine patches to go along.

Looks like the weekend snow will miss us - fine with me! Hubby has a golf game scheduled this morning and I plan to sew and do laundry and sew some more.

Hope you have a sewing day!

Now That's Better!

I stared at this quilt for a bit and it hit me what I needed to do! I cut white/neutral squares and sewed a purple triangle to one corner. These replaced the yellow squares and I like it so much better!

I think the yellow squares were bothering me for two reasons - the first being the color - and the second being the fact that these were the only plain units in the quilt - every other square is pieced with anywhere from 2 pieces of fabric to 4 pieces of fabric. I finally realized this and knew I had to piece something!

I like this so much more! I am still adding a tiny bit of yellow in the quarter square triangle units that appear in the sashing. Just a bit of yellow!

I still have to finish these last quarter square triangles and then I'll be ready to start stitching it all together. 

I made two dresdens, too! A good day!

And last night I began stitching another Farmer's Daughter block - 

Correction: The Man in the High Castle is on Amazon, NOT Netflix!

The rain has finally let up! We received 4.5 inches in just a few days. Everything is soggy. And they're saying we might get snow (???!!!!!) this weekend. EEK! But this morning the sun is shining and it's fairly warm outside.

Today En Provence is up on the schedule, so I'll work on those final quarter square triangle units. That shouldn't take long, so I may even begin sewing the blocks together.

Hope you have a sunny day!

Not Sure About the Yellow...

I'm just not so sure about my En Provence quilt. I like the pattern, but the yellow squares seem to stick out like a sore thumb. There are empty spots in my layout - pieces that aren't sewn yet. And I haven't laid out the border yet. Hmmm....

I'm only planning on 6 blocks since they are BIG blocks. But I'm not sure I'll be happy with it as is...

(As I'm looking at the picture I see a piece that needs rotating. Do you see it?)

What to do? I think I'll live with it on my guest bed for a few days. Maybe I'll do a bit of a switcheroo with some pieces and see what I end up with - but I think the yellow has to go. What goes with purple, pink, and green? My favorite color, orange, maybe????? Or maybe a fun print??? Hmmm....

I finished the latest Farmer's Daughter block last night...

Here are the vintage 'things' I bought this weekend - the top of each one is spring loaded. I think they would make great plant stands. I plan to clean them up today and bring them inside.

Today is the day for Gardenvale! Dresdens will be sewn. And I'm really hoping to see the sun today - such a rainy spell we've had.

Have a happy day!

Back to Normal

Hope you had a wonderful New Year's Day - we did! I started the day by cutting the final pieces needed for En Provence. Yay! I still have to sew more parts and pieces together before I'm ready to sew a block, but that won't take long.

I really love Bonnie's finished quilt - great pattern! I had planned on using scrappy yellows, but once I saw the final quilt I decided to cut all the yellow from the same fabric - I had this in my stash already.

Today's schedule calls for machine quilting...but I don't have Bliss ready for this yet...so I'll probably work on En Provence instead.

We went out for breakfast with good friends yesterday (after I did the fabric cutting!) - LOTS of fun, and a great way to start off the year. Later in the day I did some hand work - I've made it all the way around the hexie flower! It's time to select more fabric for more hexies for this now.

I also stitched on my latest Farmer's Daughter block last night.

For dinner, our traditional Southern New Year's Day meal of black eyed peas, greens, and pork (ham).  If you're interested, the tradition is explained HERE. It was so delicious and we should have lots of happiness and wealth the coming year! Ha!

We started a new-to-us Netflix show over the last week - The Man in the High Castle. I highly recommend it - it tells the story of what might have happened had we lost WWII.

So after much thought, I think I'm getting much closer to naming the hexie quilt - I hope I'll have that for you tomorrow! I knew if I let it percolate in my mind for a bit that it would come to me. I'll also announce the ruler winners tomorrow.

Wishing you a fabulous day!

2017 Goals...Happy New Year!

You know, I don't make New Year Resolutions. I make New Year Goals. And it's time to work on plans for 2017! I truly believe I'm never too old to stop trying to better myself and learn new things!

You know me - I love a list! So here's my list of goals for the year...

1. I plan to continue with my daily quilting schedule - it's such a help to have purpose and direction every single day. The schedule allows me to move several quilting projects forward at the same time. And because I switch up machine sewing and hand stitching, I never allow my hands to get too tired - I don't ever want to battle Carpel Tunnel Syndrome!

During the year,  I plan to finish En Provence, my new curved hexie project, a Sue Spargo quilt, my basket UFO quilt, Gardenvale, New Bedford, I'm a Farmer's Daughter, and whatever else suits my fancy.

Also in the new year, I plan to make some clothing in the style of Alabama Chanin. Fun hand sewing!

2. Keep swimming and hiking. I know that I'm not a 'gym' person, but I've finally found exercise I enjoy. Swimming and hiking! Bingo! I will have to say that our new neighborhood has made hiking and swimming much more accessible to us. In fact, our new neighborhood has been life changing!

3. Take better care of my skin. I'm pretty good about applying sunscreen to my face daily. But that's about all the babying my skin gets. It's time to do better! More about this later.

4. Read more. I'm going to set a doable goal - read 12 books during the year. I should be able to do that!

And that's it! Basically I want to keep on keeping on - continuing what I'm already doing. Life is good!

Do you have goals for the year??? What are they?