Scrappy Quilt Finished

I've done it...the quilt for my co-worker is finally done.



Close up picture of the quilt



Back of the quilt.

I didn't end up doing any fancy quilting...I just machine quilted around each square. I need to practice more before I try any free motion quilting on a real quilt. I would have had to commit harry carry on myself if I had wrecked with this quilt after working on it for so long. I think it turned out pretty good. I could have done a better job on the binding...but it was the first time I've attempted the binding on my own without my mentor's ( 32point5 ) help.

ROUND ROBIN
I bought the material I need to add my border to the round robin I am participating in. I also got a quicky lesson on how to do a flying geese border from the quilting store ladies. I hope to do that on Friday so stay tuned, I might have more pictures for you tomorrow night.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

Today is my mom and dad's 44th anniversary.

Happy Anniversary!!!! May you enjoy many more wonderful years together!!!
Love you!!!

The Long Weekend

Today I thought I better try out my new Magic Bullet. Especially seeing as the only thing I have made with it since I got it was crushed ice. LOL

The first recipe I tried out was Hummus


Hummus Ingredients



Finished Hummus

The Magic Bullet is not all it's cracked up to be. Why am I so shocked...lol.
I had to keep adding chicken stock to thin out the mixture so the bullet would chop up the chickpeas. I think a small food processor would have done the job much better.

2nd recipe

Salsa


Salsa Ingredients


Finished Salsa

Again the magic bullet failed to impress. It turned out more like soup than Salsa.

I will have to try out some drinks next on my magic bullet. I am thinking they will turn out better. Iced Coffee and Margarita will be the next things I try.

VACATION TIME
I am now officially on one weeks vacation and I'm thinking about going North to visit my aunt in Haileybury. Most of you are probably wondering where the heck that is. It is in Northern Ontario, Canada. My mom is from there and my aunt lives there now. It is a pretty little town. I haven't been up to visit since last summer. Click the link to get a little history on Haileybury

After visiting with my aunt I want to swing down to Espanola. Another pretty little northern Ontario town that I lived in when I was little. I haven't been back in 30 years and have always wanted too. So this year I will. It will be interesting to see it from the eyes of an adult and to see if my memories of the little town hold up.

I'll let you know how my vacation turned out when I return. You never know, I might find a new little quilting store on my travels.

Weekend Update

The Magic Bullet

Oh, I can't tell you how many times I have watched this infomercial and dreamed of owning this wonderful device. It chops, it blends, it mixes, it purees,....well....it is just plain magic.

I am now the proud owner of a Magic Bullet...lookout culinary world...soon I will be posting entries as wonderful as Smitten Kitchen.

Ok, so those of you who know me....know that this is a truly lofty ambition. I'm doing well when I make toast. But lets face it...this device is MAGIC...so who knows...lol.



The fabric stash grows.



And grows.....




Not all of these are metre cuts. Most of the fabric you see are cut scraps that the quilting store was selling in $8.00 grab bags. I would say most fabric would be the size of a fat quarter or smaller. This works for me, as I like to make scrappy quilts...so I don't really need a metre of fabric. Little bits and pieces work just fine for me.



I hope to get back to some quilting next weekend....

Hope everyone had a great weekend .

My Garden

I don't have any quilting updates today. Damn work. Keeps getting in the way of my quilting. :-)

So I thought I would show you some pictures of my backyard and garden. I had wanted to take some new pictures today but the weather decided today was not a good day for picture taking. We have been having terrible weather in Oshawa this summer. I am pretty sure it has rained everyday. I think I am somewhat responsible because this is the first time in 20 years I have taken all my holidays during the summer months. I jinxed the province of Ontario...lol.

So these pictures are from last summer. The garden has greatly improved since then. I did all the planting last summer, there were no plants in the gardens when I moved in. The plants were not very big...this year, however, it's like a jungle.

My gazebo. I love my gazebo...it is so calming to sit under there with a good book listening to the birds.

The view from my gate.

The back corner.

close up of the back corner. You can see some hosta's and a forsytha bush.

I will have to make sure I take some more current pictures of my garden so you can see how well my plants did this year. I guess they did well, they are growing in the "new" rainforest. (ha ha ha)

I hope everyone had a great Monday. Only 4 more days to go until the weekend!!! Not that I am counting down, or anything.

Round Robin

Yesterday I met up with 32point5 and T at my favourite quilt store in Oshawa. We met for two reasons, one because The Ultimate Sewing Centre was having an open house and two, we had to trade our round robin squares. Here is a picture the quilt square I have now. The last border was done by T and it truly beautiful.









Close up of the border T did.













Close up of the perfectly done corner.

OHHHHHHHHHH, the pressure is on. I went through my fabric stash today and unbelievably I don't have anything that will work for the border I have to do.

Oh NO!! I am going to have to go and buy some fabric...lol. As I am sure you have guessed this is not a disaster for me. Any reason to go buy fabric will do. I haven't decided what kind of border to put on. The border I am doing is only supose to be 2 inches (2 1/4) so I am not really sure how fancy I can get with that. I think I might have to just do a plain strip. If anyone has any ideas please please feel free to share them with me.

There is more to life than quilting

HUH??? There is???

I thought I would write a post about something other than quilting. Recently I have decided to try and lose some weight. I have tried all the fad diets and exercise machines and really, who is kidding who, the only thing you lose with those fad diets and infomercial gadgets is your money.


So this time I am taking a radical approach. Now I know, this may not be for everyone...but stay with me for just a bit longer.




No more of this!!!













And lots more of this!! (this is my lunch for tomorrow)











and daily some of this....about 1/2 hour 6 days a week.



















Simple? Yes! Easy? We will see. I am pretty motivated so hopefully I will be able to stick to it. Also one more thing that I am going to do...or not do...is I am not going to weigh myself? Now, I can hear people yelling at their computers ...WHAT?? But yes, it is true, I know what I weigh, and I am not happy, I don't need to keep reminding myself...that will only make me discouraged. So part of my radical approach is going to be that I base my success on how I feel, and how my clothes fit. If my clothes start to get loose, then I am doing a good job. If they are not getting loose then I need to raise the intensity of my exercise routine. I'm going to keep a chart and mark down everytime I exercise. My chart will have the date, the amount of time exercising, how far I walked, and at what speed. I may alter my chart as I go along, but for now I think that is good enough to start with. I am also going to stick the chart on the wall for easy access. (this is my basement so it is all good...lol)

Wish me luck!!