For The Record

Ellen and Abby have both posted lists of their UFOs (unfinished objects) on their blogs, and when they did, I thought, gosh, that's brave. I'm not sure I want to look at that list in black and white! Then I was cleaning out the sewing room this afternoon, and my husband said, "You ought to start a list of all the projects you have going. You might find something you completely forgot about."

So I'm starting a list. It's over on the right-hand side, and I'll be updating it as I find more things I forgot about. I am only including projects that I have already started and/or bought fabric for; maybe someday I'll start a wish list of things I want to work on in the future, but that's more than I can handle looking at right now! I'm also going to start a list of things I've finished, although that will have to wait for another day. Here's hoping the "finished" list grows faster than the "unfinished" list!

Kitten House

I had the day off work today (another great thing about having a job is that sometimes you can get paid for not going to work!), and I used some of that time to finish up Oliver's playhouse. I've been wanting to make him something he can scratch; not only are the commercially available cat toys pretty tacky, but he won't scratch any of them, so we needed a better solution.

I used SewTakeAHike's tutorial (which is currently not available online, although you can see pictures from her version here) and the fabric is from Deer Valley by Joel Dewberry, which I bought at CityCraft ages ago.

It didn't take long before Oliver wandered over to check it out, with Kate on his heels. She won't quite fit in there, though, and I'm not sure I can handle making a Kate-size playhouse!

I think he likes it! Now if I can just get him to scratch the inside of his house instead of the outside of our furniture, we'll really have something...

Project Notes:

Finished size: Approx. 15" x 18" and 20" high

Materials: Quilting fabric fused to single-sided heavy-duty interfacing

Overall impression: This project took a little longer than I was initially expecting (ha! not the first time I've said that!). But you have to cut out the shapes from both the fabric and the interfacing, fuse them together, zig zag stitch around the edges to keep them from fraying, and then sew it all together, so it does take a little time.

I had a hard time figuring out how to feed it through the sewing machine, especially at the end when I was sewing roof pieces on. I had this big, bulky house hanging off to the left side, and I struggled to get the pieces to feed through evenly. Then it looked a little smashed when I was done. I ironed it and then let it sit with heavy books in it to flatten the base back out, and I think that helped some, but you can still see that it's a little wonky; not the sturdiest construction job ever, but I still think it's pretty cute!

Wicked Good

Still not much crafting time around here lately; although I have made progress on a few projects, nothing's finished yet. Gotta keep working on that! In the meantime, though, I've been enjoying some other leisurely pursuits: Hanging out with friends!

I had coffee at Cafe Brazil with a dear friend on Saturday morning, and then I went to see Wicked at Dallas Summer Musicals with 2 friends from work that evening. (The great thing about having a job is that you get to have work friends -- and you make money you can spend going out with your new friends!). We had dinner at Sushi Zushi (try the Cosimo Roll, which is great if you like cream cheese and fried stuff) and then headed over to Fair Park to catch the show. This was my first time to see Wicked, and I was really impressed by the talent of the performers. Musicals at Fair Park always have some pretty awesome people-watching, too, so I had a great time!

Lacking Leisure Time

The last few months have definitely been a whirlwind! I started working full time back in March and I have to say, this whole "working for a living" thing is more work than I expected! I have a great job with wonderful colleagues, but it's taking me a while to get the hang of it.

And, as if that weren't enough to keep me from my sewing room, we decided that it would be a great time to move to a new house. So in the last few weeks we've gone from talking about neighborhoods to looking at houses, making an offer, getting financing, having an inspection done -- and finalizing a contract! We're closing in a couple weeks although we won't actually be moving until mid-summer. I'm pretty excited about the new place and I love our new neighborhood, but there is still a lot of work to be done (mainly PACKING! Yikes!).

So, yeah, not much time around here for sewing, unfortunately. I'm in the middle of 3 projects right now -- my Grandma's Christmas 2009/Flag Day 2010 quilt, a playhouse for Oliver, and a needlepoint project that I got my husband for Christmas. I'd also love to get a new quilt for our bed finished before we move, but that may be asking a little too much at this point. We'll see how things go!

Marching for Babies

This is my 2nd year to participate in the March for Babies event with my friend Debra. The walk is this coming Saturday, and I'm a little late signing up for our team (no big surprise there!). Anyway, I'm hoping to raise a modest $20 for the walk, and if you can spare a little to help out, I'd really appreciate it! You can click the link below for more information.

Thanks so much!

Happy Easter

1 Down

Ta da! I finished a quilt! Which was thoroughly inspected by Quality Control, aka Oliver T. Kitten, and, having passed, is in the process of being washed and dried before taking up residence on the living room sofa.

This is my happy quilt. I've wanted to make one ever since Ellen made hers, but I've been busy with other projects, life, etc. I finally started this one in January (or early Feb?) because I was cold and wanted to snuggle on the couch with it. I used the Avalon pattern from Material Obsession and modified it just a tiny bit, using only 9 fat quarters instead of 12. I was wanting a quick, easy lap quilt -- not much easier than sashing whole fat quarters together!

I wanted to use fabric that I had on hand, which I did, except the backing, which is a light gray solid (Kona Ash) and the binding, which I bought at CityCraft (it's a Michael Miller fabric but I forget from which line). The white is the same Kona solid I used in all the Christmas-gift quilts that I will share here eventually (when they are all finished...), and I got the fat quarters as a set last fall at a local quilt store in Missouri. As far as I can tell, the tan hummingbird fabric in the very center is from Moda Arcadia and the rest are a random assortment of leftovers that the people at the shop put together.

I love love love it. Yay for happy quilts!

Beth & Anna?

This isn't quite a Julie & Julia thing (for one thing, I am not promising to make all the recipes in Love Soup by any particular time, and for another, I am promising not to blog about every single one I do make). But I really really love this cookbook. So much that I bought one of Anna Thomas's earlier books, The Vegetarian Epicure. We're not even vegetarian. The food is just that good.

Anyway, this is what I had for lunch today, courtesy of Love Soup:

Leftover green soup with mushrooms (it looks a little brownish in this picture but it's really a dark dark green) and spinach pie. The pie took me 2 hours to make last night, but it is totally worth it. It's a combination of spinach, onions, 3 kinds of cheese and just enough eggs to glue it all together. The green soup is also really good, and it just feels healthy to eat a soup chock full of greens and other veggies.

In other news, I finished quilting 1 of the quilts (the 1 for me, of course!) last night, and I hope to finish up the binding today, so there really should be a picture of that coming up soon!

A Lack of Follow Through

Well, things have a way of not working out like I planned... I was planning to get a lot of sewing done, upload some pictures and write a few blog posts in the week following my last post. Turns out I spent the week knee-deep in home maintenance projects, which was a success on the having-a-functioning-home front but not so great for sewing or posting.

And then we left for India for 2 weeks so no blogging then. Now we're back and I have 2 weeks of laundry and a dirty house to deal with (how does it get dirty when we're not even here?!?).

So... pictures of all previously mentioned things coming soon, plus India pictures. Still have not finished those 2 quilts but have made a fair bit of progress, so those will hopefully be coming soon too.

I did officially pass the OT exam and receive my Texas license, so I'm ready to start working next week (no travel for me for a while!). I am also very, very relieved to have all that behind me. Whew!

Here's a sneak peek of India pictures to come. This is Humayun's tomb in Delhi. He was the grandfather of the shah who built the Taj Mahal, and the tomb (designed by his wife after he died suddenly) was a precursor to the Taj. It's a really beautiful place!

More coming soon (probably)!

Rip Van Winkle

I know I sound like a broken record, but I cannot believe how quickly time flies! Valentine's Day has come and gone, not to mention Christmas and New Year's, and I don't really know where all that time went or what I did with it while it was here.

To make a long story as short as possible, this is what I've been up to:

• In the last few weeks of 2009, I finished my 2nd (and final) internship, graduated with my master's degree in occupational therapy, and celebrated that graduation with family and friends. I sewed like crazy in the few days between graduation and Christmas, finishing my mother-in-law's Christmas present (a throw) in the nick of time. When it became obvious that the quilts for my mom and grandma weren't going to be done in time, I decided to give mom and grandma a quick preview while they were in town for graduation.
• The day after Christmas, my husband and I packed up and headed to Panama for a week of tropical birdwatching. We celebrated New Year's Eve on the rooftop deck of a former radio tower (now a jungle eco-lodge), trying to catch a glimpse of fireworks in the distance. Pictures of the trip to come!
• I finished the quilts for my mom and grandma and shipped them off to Missouri. I started the final Christmas quilt, for my other grandma, and hope to have that done soon. Pictures of all the quilts to come shortly.
• I took the national occupational therapy exam, which I have to pass to be able to practice as an OT. Official exam results due any day now!
• My husband and I took a quick weekend trip to Port Antonio, Jamaica. Pictures of that to come, too. (Don't worry, all this international jet-setting is about to come to a screeching halt when I start my new job next month!)
• Oliver developed an eye infection that required a drop of medicine in his eye 4-6 times a day for a week, which resulted in several unpleasant scratches for me and my dear husband (marriage is a partnership, right, so we split the job: I actually dropped the drops into the eye while my husband held the cat still). Fortunately, Oliver's eye recovered, and our wounds have pretty much healed, too. No pictures of those misadventures forthcoming.
• I bought Anna Thomas's new book, Love Soup, and have been cooking my way through it. So far I have made 3 green soups, a cauliflower bisque, and sopa de ajo (garlic soup). I have also made my own vegetable broth twice, and while it is a bit of work, I really like making my own broth! Yum.
• I decided I didn't have enough to do and I was tired of making quilts for other people, so I started a quilt for myself. It's nearly finished -- I just need to finish quilting it and then bind it up -- so I hope to have pictures of that soon, too.
• I went to the first meeting of the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild with Ellen. It was a lot of fun to meet new folks and see all the different things they've made. I love show and tell!

Well, that's basically all that's been going on around here over the last 7-8 weeks... Hopefully I'll have lots of news to share soon as I get quilts finished and pictures uploaded!

Happy Holidays

Things are still running on fast forward around here, but I just had to share these pictures of Kate and Oliver getting in the Christmas spirit.

First, Kate, a hound who is willing to do just about anything for a piece of Parmesan cheese:

And Oliver, a feisty kitten who paused under the tree for just a minute before resuming his forays up the trunk:

Happy Holidays!

Fast Forward

I can't believe Thanksgiving has already come and gone! I've been busy with my internship, with Oliver the kitten (and his big sister, Kate the hound), with family gatherings -- and with crafting!

My mom picked out a set of fat quarters she liked when I was visiting her in Missouri in late August, and I managed to finish this table runner and send it to her just in time for Thanksgiving:

She requested matching napkins, but I haven't gotten those done just yet. My goal is to send them to her by next Thanksgiving!

I've also finished 1 of my 5 quilts (you know, the ones that were supposed to be done by Christmas...). It was a birthday present for my mother-in-law last month. She loves Christmas decorations, so a Christmas throw seemed like a no-brainer. I really love this quilt -- it was hard for me to give it away! Here's the front:

And the back, a lovely dark green-and-red plaid:

I had some assistance from Oliver with the quilting. He's a good little helper!

I'm hard at work on quilt #2 (of 5! Did I mention there are 5 of them?!?), with more finished projects to come, I hope!

Weil Update

My 8 Weeks project, like so many other things, dropped off the radar screen with the arrival of the kitten. I'm not sure what the cat has to do with not caring about my health anymore, but there you have it. We have still been walking most days (except when it's pouring), we're still taking our vitamins, and our favorite way to incorporate garlic is by eating spinach & garlic pizza (yummy!). We've also tried crystallized ginger (not quite like candy, but interesting!) and used ginger in some new recipes, like the pumpkin-squash soup I made this weekend. I haven't been meditating as much, although I was doing well for a while, but I try to do the relaxing breathing every day.

I started a new internship at the end of September, and I'm still getting used to my new schedule. Which means I'm pretty much exhausted in the evenings. I have a 3-week streak of falling asleep Friday night after dinner and not waking up til lunchtime on Saturday, and there doesn't seem to be much sign of that changing, so for now I'm trying to hang on to the healthy changes I already made without adding anything new until I've got a better handle on my new routine. To be continued!

New Arrival

Meet Oliver:

This little rascal is a huge part of the reason I haven't been online much lately (and therefore not blogging at all since August!). He moved into our garage in late August and, after being evicted twice, he set up camp underneath a rose bose in the backyard. We don't encourage stray kitties to hang around the yard, since we feed wild birds and that just doesn't seem fair, but Oliver flat-out refused to move on. After a couple days of listening to him cry for his mama (who showed no signs of ever coming back), we took pity on the little guy and now Oliver is an inside cat (our inside cat!).

I've never had a cat before, and it's really different from having a dog. Especially since he's so young -- he was just 5 weeks old when he first snuck into the garage. Oliver gets into everything and has to be supervised at all times to ensure he's not eating the houseplants/shredding my quilts/using the plants as a lavatory/standing on the kitchen counter/goodness only knows what. He's starting to get the hang of the house rules, but we still have to keep a pretty close eye on him, which is why I haven't been doing much sewing or blogging lately.

I'm pretty behind on all my crafty projects but I've gotten back into the swing of things over the last few weeks so hopefully I'll have some new stuff to post shortly!

Weil Week 3 Update

We did pretty well with Week 3, but I'm still struggling with the meditation. Vitamins and broccoli are no problem but meditating is just not happening. And I actually like meditating, so that's not even the problem!

Since there are a few more things I'd like to work on (meditating and stretching especially), and since I didn't sit down and plan the new projects for Week 4 yet, I'm going to repeat Week 3 this week and move on to Week 4 next week. That should help me get a little bit more settled into the meditating routine (I hope).

Iraqi Bundles of Love

I first read about this project on Ellen's blog and thought it sounded really cool. Basically, a soldier stationed in Iraq noticed that the local folks had a strong tradition of making handcrafted goods but badly needed sewing and knitting supplies, and he asked people to send over "bundles" of excess fabric and other supplies for his unit to distribute to the locals. Since I'm such a new quilter, I don't really have much of a stash yet (although I'm definitely working on it) and I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to put anything together by the September 7 deadline.

Then I saw Sew Mama Sew's post about Iraqi Bundles of Love and noticed that they are selling "bundles" through their online store. For $15, you can buy a bundle, which they will ship to Iraq for you. The $15 includes fabric, sewing needles, pins, scissors, a pincushion -- and shipping to Iraq. It's the perfect way to contribute if you can't put your own bundle together. What a wonderful project -- and 2 great ways to help out!

What a Weekend

The last week or so has been really fun and busy, especially last weekend!

I finished a baby gift for a dear friend who is expecting her 2nd baby in October and had lunch with her and several other friends on Saturday. (Pictures of the gift to come!). It was great to catch up with everyone!

My husband and I had craft night with Ellen and her husband (who grilled an absolutely delicious meal to sustain all that sewing) and got a ton of sewing done on the first of my 5 secret surprise projects. I'm hoping to get the quilt top finished in the next day or so. Can't share pictures of that one until it's delivered but let me just say that I am thrilled with how it's turning out!

I had lunch with my husband's family -- my father-in-law's top-secret chili recipe and mother-in-law's banana pudding really hit the spot. Then Ellen and I went to the first meeting of the Rockwall Project Linus group. Abby and Jennifer of Texas Quiltworks in Rockwall set up the meeting for folks who were interested in working with the Dallas group but needed a closer meeting place. I had been thinking about making blankets for Project Linus "someday" and when Abby and Ellen mentioned the meeting to me, I just had to go. (It didn't hurt that Ellen was going to go too and willing to carpool -- turns out that Rockwall isn't really closer for me...)

We hung out at Texas Quiltworks for several hours, sewing and chatting and eating Ellen's cupcakes (made from scratch, no less!). I was super excited to make my first-ever string block, and of course I didn't think to take a picture of it because I was so excited to finish it! I brought more fabric home to make a few more blocks, though, so I'll take pictures of those when they're done. I also grabbed a kit to make a small quilt. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to get that done (my to-do list is growing longer by the day!) but I couldn't pass it up.

Then back home for a lovely dinner with my husband and more sewing on the secret surprise quilt #1. Not quite what I would call a relaxing weekend, but fun nonetheless!

Weil Week 3

This week's to-do list:

• Eat extra fruits and vegetables with at least one meal this week.
• Eat fish at least twice.
• Replace at least one serving of meat with a soy food.
• Keep taking vitamins & supplements.
• Walk 20 mins/day.
• Do some simple stretches daily.
• Keep meditating.
• Ask for recommendations for inspirational books (anybody have any suggestions?)
• Make a list of friends in whose company you feel happier and more optimistic, and make plans to spend time with one of them this week.
• One-day news fast.
• Buy more flowers.
• Find out how to grow some of your own food (this one is optional!).

I think my main focus this week is going to be on the meditation! That one seems to be the hardest for me right now.

Weil Week 2 Update

Here's how we did with our 2nd week of optimum health:

• We are not planning to get a water-purifying system because our fridge has a built-in filter that is supposed to removed chlorine, among other things.
• I'm pretty sure each of us managed to eat fish at least once and broccoli at least twice.
• We ate some whole grains.
• We tried edamame, and I continued to drink soy milk with my cereal.
• Drinking green tea pretty much daily.
• Still taking the vitamins & supplements.
• Got our walking in nearly every day.
• Made plans to got to the mountains for Labor Day (that's our visit to a natural place, in addition to walking with the dog in the evenings).
• Took a news fast -- I managed to go most of the week without reading the news!
• Meditating is still hard for me but I'm working on it.
• I did buy flowers -- yellow roses -- and put them in a place of honor on the dining room table next to the Frog-O-Sphere.

Moving on to Week 3!

Quilt Plano

The Plano Quilt Guild's show was this weekend! What a wonderful day!

My husband and I met Ellen, Abby, and Abby's friend Jane at the show. Ellen and I also ran into Sharon, who we had met at the Garland Quilt Guild meeting earlier this month -- it's a small world! We saw so many beautiful, incredible, inspiring quilts. I can't begin to decribe them all!

Then we shopped. I wasn't even planning to buy anything but I just couldn't help myself! I met Michelle, who designs fabrics and quilt patterns in a Southwestern style. I loved everything in her booth! The designs are gorgeous and unique and I want to make them all. I ended up buying 2 applique patterns -- 1 features blocks that look like Mexican tiles, and 1 features a variety of different Southwestern-style crosses. Then I ended up buying some solid fabrics from another vendor so I can get started on the Mexican tile quilt.

We also stopped at the booth for England Design Studios, which also had patterns and fabric for sale. The patterns all have a naturalistic style -- we were especially drawn to the bird patterns -- and are made using a technique called picture piecing. It's similar to foundation paper piecing except you don't have to sew the pieces to foundation paper. I'm not sure how hard it's going to be but I just had to try it, so we got a pattern and fabric kit to make a small bird feeder wallhanging.

Plus I got a Norman Rockwell Santa Claus panel (no idea what I'm going to do with that), a kit (including backing!) for a cute Christmas wallhanging, a set of fat quarters from the Katie Jump Rope line (also no idea what I'm going to use it for), and some yellow fat quarters for a baby gift I need to make.

And then we bought Ellen an early Christmas present -- a lovely old quilt. I don't know anything about how old it is or where it came from, and it has a few tears and 1 unfortunate coffee stain, but it's pretty, and we liked it, and Ellen liked it, and it was affordable, so we got it. I don't have a picture of it because we already gave it to her -- nothing like instant gratification! -- but maybe she will post a pic of it.

And then after all that I managed to get a ton of sewing done on 1 of the 5 surprise gift quilts I'm working on. Plus I washed and ironed some of the new fabrics. So I did manage to do some sewing in addition to all the shopping!