Surprise Ingredient

Made quiche this AM. I really do not cook so this is my first time on this and internet of course got me to a recipe. I had in the fridge some asparagus that needed used and so why not quiche? I had no crust so why not no crust quiche? ham and swiss cheese  All good. Who knew the secret ingredient is nutmeg and it really lifts the flavor delightfully. Well I guess those that cook would know that...

All good and I can now say I know how to make quiche.  (Yes, husband and son were pleasantly surprised at my cooking ability)

Trunks Stacking Up

I am making quilts for 2 GrandDts for HS graduation and getting a lot done during this stay at home adventure. I got the basics done and now working on the applique for them. Keep checking back as I work through the fun...

Friendship Album 1933 a Great Listen

If you are looking for a great "read" (audio)  then the Friendship Album,1933 is very entertaining. I am a fan of audio and this fits my quilting thing well. I am a fan of Frances O'Roark Dowell and her podcast the offkilterquilt.com  So if you are looking for a listen, try this.

New to the Quilting Party? No problem, Friendship Album, 1933, is still available for free. You can listen to the entire novel on your podcast provider of choice, or right on our web site. Set in small town Ohio during the Great Depression, the story chronicles an improbable group of five strangers brought together by quilting and turned into family.

The Mystery continues to Frolic Along

My Bonnie Hunter Frolic Mystery is gaining momentum even though I only sew a few hours here and there. I am looking forward to Friday when I think I can do an all day sew day. I have all the parts and pieces so now it is just the tedious sewing of piece by piece. I am not one to say I don't enjoy it, but I can get a bit bored with the same over and over. I am not one to say I lose interest but I can begin to think of how much more...how much more. I know this is where the process of it all keeps me going and not the hunger for a finished product. My goal of having this done my January end will just not happen so the two quilts I need to start will be pushed back a bit. The deadline for them is the last of April as they need to be gifted in May. I have a retreat weekend in March and that will help with the two quilts giving me just them to focus on and good friends to cheer me on.

I am AbSEWlutely having fun.

AbSEWlutely Great Mystery

Quilting for me is the love of the process and not about getting the end product as fast as I can. I love the feel of the fabric, the sound of the machine, the heat of the iron, pinning when needed and the design board first look at a block. I love the quiet of the sewing studio with the color of fabric surrounding me. I love the sound of the rotary cutter or the Accuquilt cutter as I take in the design in the first stages. One of the reasons I love doing the Bonnie Hunter  quiltville.com mystery quilt each year is it gives me time with each part, time with color, time with cutting, time with sewing and time with design. I don't feel rushed to get each part done in the week but love getting what I can of that part and know I will have to maybe come back to it to complete. This year with Frolic I pretty much kept up. My main goals of getting the new hip (now 7 weeks in) stronger each day; love my gym and trainer for the workouts and making sure I take it somewhat less busy (yea like I can do that). But I do use the hip as somewhat of a reason to spend hours in the sewing studio working on Frolic in that it keeps me out of trouble with breaking the hip protocols. The grabber also in the sewing studio keeps me from bending over when I drop things (OK so maybe I bend over...don't tell my doctor). I now have 10 of the 25 main blocks done...here is the first one that hit the design wall.  There is still time to go to the Bonnie Hunter Quiltville site and get the pattern for this wonderful quilt.

#frolicmystery #quiltville

New Year New Decade and Same Me with Word of the Year

Word of the Year for me is .....drum roll please....

AbSEWlutely  
 It seems to fit the fun stuff I want to do in my sewing studio this year ...get the fun done  

New Hip

New hip is great and while cannot sew for a few weeks on machine there is that knitting going on.

Murmuration Started

The colors for this Rebecca Bryan quilt of diamonds of string piecing have been curated using her method of color fabric chips to get the gradation from darkest to lightest. All these are from my stash which was another goal I had to see my stash differently. It worked. Don't think I would have pulled these without the pattern and color guidance.

The first three center blocks that are from the darkest colors.

Six more diamonds an the color starts to show some light peaking through. I am anxious to get more diamonds done but alas....

I have lost use of my right hip for all practical purposes and am waiting to get the surgery date for hip replacement done.  Darn this slows me down but not out. I am in the process of getting my machine from my studio upstairs to the downstairs and soon will have a downstairs set up to get back on this. In the meantime I am working on a a Christmas Stocking for our new GreatGrand Dtr Riley Hope born Oct. 31.

Funny I bought this one in 2002 off a sale rack at Hobby Lobby for $5  the price was $17.99 so quite a bargain. Figured I would use it some day and now is that day.

Halloween Small Hanging

We were RVing last week and my Halloween small quilt hung proudly in our campsite. It makes me happy to see it wave in the breeze as our friends and us sip our happy hour

EEK!

Love this pillow I made a few years ago and love seeing it during this Halloween season.