UFO Challenge, Stash Report, Turkey Dinner

Oh, they are definitely going to throw my arse out of the UFO group.  This is number five done.

This was a Block of the Month that I won at the Binbrook guild.  If you've ever won a batch of blocks this way, you know that "9 1/2" unfinished" has many, many interpretations. 

I used up remnants on the back and did the binding on the Bindall.  I have a few customers that use this binding service.  I charge $1 per foot if I use the precut binding I have on hand, or $1.35 per foot if I cut from your fabric.

Another friggin' winter windy/snowy/frigid day.

This was the RE-scheduled dinner party after the weather-related cancellation back in mid December.  I like to start dinner guests out with a 'house cocktail' to enjoy with the appetizers.  The guys rarely partake - it seems to always be the girls who enjoy these.  I think it's the martini glasses.  Anyhoo - I made a pitcher of Pomtinis.  Then I made another pitcher.  And another...  There might have been another after that, but I don't remember.  We girls were definitely (!) enjoying these tonight.
POMTINIS

• 2 cups pomegranate juice
• 1 cup vodka
• 1/2 cup cointreau (I used Grand Marnier)
• 1/2 cup lime juice

We pigged out on turkey dinner, then apple pie & ice cream for dessert.  Around 10:30 I decided we needed POPCORN.  Then DH decided we needed CHOCOLATE COVERED ALMONDS.  Then I made another pitcher of POMTINIS.  Ha ha, I had to sleep sitting up.

Today I'll be making Turkey Soup and Turkey Pot Pies.  My s.i.l. taught me how to make the pies.  This is her quasi-recipe:  everything leftover from dinner goes in. (Except the apple pie!) Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, leftover cooked veggies, gravy, cranberry sauce.  If you were good girls and boys and you have no veggies left over you can use frozen peas/corn/carrots/whatever.  Put spoonfuls of stuff in a casserole, distributing nicely.  Depending on the quantity of gravy you might need to add a bit of broth or water.  Then top it off with a pie crust and bake until the crust is golden and the contents are hot.  If you don't want to make pie crust you can use a sheet of frozen puff pastry instead (get the good one made with butter, not the cheap one using hydrogenated oils.  Your temple of a body is worth it.).  I love to throw these in the freezer and enjoy them later.

STASH REPORT
Used this month: 11.85 m
Used YTD:         11.85 m
Added this month:    0
Added YTD:            0
Net YTD          (-11.85 m)

UFO Challenge 2014

I am participating in another UFO challenge this year.  Without a couple other gals to kick my butt I am likely to keep these projects hanging around for a looong time.

This is supposed to be a stress-free challenge because we get TWO months for each item.  We agreed to preselect item #1 for Jan/Feb, then Margaret will draw a number on the first of March, May, July, Sept. and Nov.
 

	ITEM	CHALLENGE DETAILS	DATES	STATUS
1	60's Dresden Plates	TFUQ.  This is the January project, regardless of number drawn.	jan/feb	done jan /14
2	Blooming 9-Patch	Needs outer border, then quilting.
3	Bowtie Quilt	TFUQ.
4	Double Wedding Ring	Pieces are cut.  Stitching to be started.
5	Brown Bats from BOM	Top to be made, quilted & bound.		top done jan
6	Piece 'O Cake Quilt	Hand applique.  One block must be done for challenge.

The other girls are going to throw me out of the group - I've already finished #1, and I'm almost finished #5.  No, those are not MY toys on the floor.  This quilt has ended up to be the perfect size for the Chemo Quilts we donate to Juravinski Hospital, so that's where it will go.

#5 - the Brown Bats won from the Binbrook Guild Block of the Month

The taskmaster.  Also, owner of the toys in above pic.

The POLAR VORTEX is back. I was awake at 4:30 this morning and it was friggin' cold in here!  The taskmaster was squirming herself around, getting more horizontal on the bed, trying to push me out with her arse.  I got out of bed at 5:50 and came down to throw a couple more logs on the fire and make a nice yummy pot of oatmeal.

I'm going to the Caledonia Guild sewing day today (it's an extra UFO day!) to see if I can get some socializing stitching done. I've been inside so much this winter I'm beginning to feel like Howard Hughes, but without the money.

One Custom, One Pantograph

This was an interesting quilt to work on.  The maker added trapunto batting behind the ladies in the alternate blocks.

I stitched around the ladies, really close to the design lines, and they pouffed up beautifully.

I love working on bright quilts on nasty, grey, winter days.

The pantograph is a perfect match for the appliqued flowers, and the variegated thread works really well with the quilt design.

Yesterday DH and I had a date with 1-800-LUKE and his wife for an afternoon matinee and then dinner.  We went to see Saving Mr. Banks, with Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson.  Good movie - I give it a 2 kleenex rating.  I was born in 1956, so Mary Poppins came out when I was 8 years old.  I grew up on Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.  And I can spell it, too.  (ha ha)  I was tsk tsk-ing through the whole flic over the author's nasty behaviour with the Disney writers.  Spoiler alert:  they all live happily ever after in the end.

Afterwards, at dinner, DH made some joke about being a sensitive man.  Then I said that Nick Lowe has a song called Sensitive Man.  I was in love with Nick in my 20's when he released Pure Pop For Now People, and I guess I'm still in love with him today.  I just discovered that he was married to Johnny Cash's daughter.  Huh.

Quilts for Sale and Stash Report

I've been working at adding a page (see the page links above) of my quilts for sale.  This is a work in progress - I have PLENTY more to add.  Please send this along to anyone you know who might be looking for some quality, hand made goods.

My vibrant assistant, hard at work.  Hmph.

STASH REPORT
Used this month    8.85
Used YTD           8.85
Added this month    0 - HAH!  I've been very good so far!
Added YTD           0
Net 2014            -8.85

This yardage used represents the vintage Dresden Plate quilt in my previous post. 

I'm currently working on finishing the hand stitching on the binding.  If you check you will see that this quilt was supposed to have been finished in 2011 when I was participating in the UFO challenge hosted by Patchwork Times.  Yup, right on schedule, over 2 years late. 

Book Report:
I just finished reading Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood.  Excellent book!!!  I still had this on hand (from the library) when s.i.l. was here over New Years so she read it too. This is book one from a trilogy that ends with MADDADDAM.  I've just gotten book two The Year Of The Flood from the library.  We'll see how that is...

Vintage Dresden Plate quilt and a Polar Vortex

Yay - a TFUQ is finally quilted! These plates were bought from a customer.  Her mother-in-law was a quilter, but now lived in a nursing home, and was getting very close to her 90th birthday.  She brought me a whole bag of stuff  from presumably some time in the 1960's, that MIL had started but never finished. The daughter-in-law wanted me to make up the plates into a twin size quilt, based on the pattern in the bag. 

There were 20 plate blocks plus 20 plates not yet sewn to a block.  I made the quilt with the 20 finished blocks as requested and asked if I could buy the leftover stuff, if it turned out that no one else in the family wanted it.  My concern was that this would end up either in the trash or in the Goodwill box.  A few weeks later my customer called to let me know how much her MIL had appreciated her new/old quilt, and gave me the news that I could buy the leftover 'stuff' if I wanted it.  Woo hoo!!  Honey pot!!

These plates are the ones I bought - I appliqued them to a dotted yellow print and then sashed with the 30's reproduction blue print.  I love rescuing vintage quilts.

So... on to the current story of my life.  Sunday Jan. 5 was the first time I left the house since the previous Monday - Dec. 30th.  It has been snowing, blowing, raining, icky, icky, icky.  I went out once to shovel, but I'm not calling that 'going out'.
Sunday was a nice clear day with a looming, dooming forecast.  DH and I went for brunch with the out-of-town family, spent a ton of dough at Costco on our way home, then shoveled off the back patio and the front walk before the snow and rain/freezing rain started.  I am wondering "what was the point?". This was the back patio Monday morning.  Solid footprints in the ice.

This is the front walkway - snow & ice.

After breaking a wrist on ice each of the past two years, I am NOT GOING OUT.  And now we're in the grip of a Polar Vortex.  When I woke up this morning the bedroom was 58f.  That was with the furnace running.  There is a wind warning AND a wind chill warning.
Just what is a Polar Vortex?  Click here.

This is the current forecast:

How do I handle being home for so many days in a row?

Tomorrow, Wednesday, is Caledonia Guild day.  I also have a hair appointment (see comic above!).  The car hasn't moved in over a week and with the bitter cold temps I doubt that it will start.  Ha ha.  I may still be sitting here come spring.

It's a New Year after a "Women of Courage" Quilt (& a recipe)

This Women of Courage was the final quilt for 2013, and what a beauty.

Getting all those pieces to match up with the neighbouring parts must have been quite a challenge.

As you can see, I had some nice sunny days to work on this.

Just lovely on the back.

My brother & s.i.l. came and stayed with us for a few days, and celebrated New Years.  A little too much champagne, but the girls still managed to beat the guys at Trivial Pursuit.  Even with the bastards cheating!!  Anyhoo - they are here for two weeks and roaming around like gypsies - a few days here, a few days there.  They have moved on and are staying with her family for a few days now.  Got tired of my cooking, maybe?  Nah!!!

Yesterday I was trying to clean up some of the leftovers in the fridge, so I made a pot of soup to go with the mish-mash of food.  This is from a 'family' cookbook that a friend gave me at Christmas.  Yum, yum, yum. (as you can see, I've already doctored up the recipe - necessary based on my normal refrigerator inventory).  DH really liked this, in spite of the sweet potato.  I'll get him converted yet.  (although broccoli and zucchini are still pretty difficult)

Today I'm starting on one of my TFUQs.  Happy 2014...