It was a Get it Done FEB and March Goals

Wow! What a Wonderful February  - Here's a update to my February goals.

1. Figure out placement of blocks for Angel'a quilt  DONE  -  Bought more material & Selected a new star block

2. Sandwich the Christmas Wall Hanging.  DONE - and quilted & Finished it! Can you believe it? FINALLY Done!

3. Find backing fabric for Green and Brown quilt. Realized it's too small and put it aside to enlarge it. 
4. Continue working on my stocking.  DONE!

I just love saying DONE! 

And the  3 new BOMs
1. Terrier Town BOM  Yep - DONE!
2.  Blue BOM from LQS - Decided not to do it- honestly I just wasn't into it. 
3.  Sully Threads Jan BOM  DONE!

It was also my goal to work 20 minutes a day.  Which I did except for 3 days, one because I was sick, one I was at a quilt meeting, and the last one I was babysitting - too busy throwing a freebie and eating ice cream!

I loved doing the 20 minutes a day.  I was able to really enjoy my sewing and quilting each day.  

And now for MARCH

1. Complete the Star Block for Angela
2. Add white border to my CW quilt
3. Terrier Town BOM
4. Sulky BOM

And if I have time: figure out a border for the green/brown quilt.

Happy Stitching,

Linda

Linking up to Judy at Patchwork Times Get-it-Done.
And Lilys Quilts' Fresh Sewing Day
And Amy's Creative Side
And of course Pigtales and Quilts!

Creating with Cinnamon

When I was young, about 8, my stepfather decided that since we had colds he would make us a Hot Toddy. (I think he just wanted to get us to go to sleep.)  Recently I heard that whiskey actually helps to make you well.  So with this last go around of being sick I thought I would put it to the test. I haven't had a Hot Toddy/whiskey since that time when I was a kid.

Something that you may not know about me.  I used to live with people (Mexicans) that only spoke Spanish - while I only spoke English.   Believe me when I say we has a great time communicating with each other!  lol  Well, the grandma would use canela (a cinnamon stick) to stir our milk and oatmeal.  I never think of it as cinnamon - I think of it as "canela" and think of ground cinnamon as "cinnamon".

So here is my "canela" recipe.

Hot Toddy (1 serving)  from somewhere on the internet

1 cup hot water
1 tea bag
1 shot whiskey
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
pinch of ground cloves
stir with canela (cinnamon) stick

The second night of the test we made up our own Easy Way for 1 Hot Toddy

1 cup of Lipton pre-made lemon tea (heated)
2 shots of whiskey - yeah, we increase it.
1 tablespoon of honey
stir with canela stick

I know you all want to know the results of the Whiskey/Cold test. I really do think that it helped with the cold. And hubby, the other test subject, agreed with my findings.

Linda

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times. 

What I'm reading: Spy the Lie

I've been wanting to tell you about this book I'm reading.

I found it at the library (it's a new book) and I have no idea why I even picked it up. It's not like I have to deal with liars.

I found it so interesting - and very enjoyable read.  Not like a text book I'm so used to reading.  And the information that it contains. Wow it's truly amazing.  I thought there was just one way to lie, but as I found out there's about 10 different ways.  I learned about clusters and different little things that people do and say! Yes, people often tell the truth when they think they are telling a lie.

There is a section is the back for dealing with people you think may have stolen, or did drugs (good one if you have kids) and other everyday life situations. I highly recommend this book.

Any way - Judy at Patchwork Times has a link up for the books you are reading so I'll link up with her today.

Linda

Monday Morning Giggle

My Great Idea

Here's my great idea - okay for you it may not be GREAT but for me it was.

 Make a French Apple Pie.  

I never eat my apple pies at Christmas because I'm so full and having only the tiniest bit of room I stuff myself with pumpkin instead - I love pumpkin pies. 

The only problem was I was sick and my head was pounding. 

So there I was making the crust and thinking this was the dumbest idea - when who should walk in?  Mark,  My best apple peeler.  I quickly enlisted his help.  He was sick too and started complaining.  My answer?  Peel faster!  LOL

I will say the pie was heavenly. The topping exquisite, the apples cooked to perfection and sweeten just right.  The crust so nice and flaky - I've been practicing for years to get that crust that flaky. 

It was totally worth it.  

Now for the update on Drop and Give Me Twenty:

 Ohhh... It's been so hard to drop and do twenty this week while I was sick - whine, whine whine. 

 And I messed up two blocks!  Whine and more whine. 

Next week should be much better and with pictures

I will be happy to give the pie, topping or crust recipe should anyone want it.

Linda, who is much better at eating than stitching this week.

It's a Finish it Friday!

I have been keeping up with my sewing for 20 minutes a day; more like an Hour and 20 minutes - but that's not the point. I wanted to make myself sew each and every day - just for the fun of it.  I did miss one day - the day of my Sewful Sister's meeting.

All this sewing has lead to some wonderful finishes this week. Ready?

# 1 Finish - My Chickadee Christmas Stocking. 

I would estimate the total time on this stocking was 60 hours.  I started in early December and worked about 1 hour a day.

#2 Finish - Three Hearts Block

This is a BOM - Terrier Town.  I love BOM's as I don't feel pressure to get a whole quilt done.  I'm pretty good at keeping up each month and at the end of the year, I'm sitting there with a quilt top.

#3 Almost Finished  Will be Finished Tonight - Christmas Tree Wall hanging

This wall hanging was not even on my list for February - but it's been hanging out my lists for about two years.  I thought I would just "do it". So it's done including the hanging sleeve on the back - I just need to hand stitch it down. And I WILL do that tonight.  

Sew that's all from me today. 

Happy 20 Minutes of Stitching,

Linda

Linking to:

Happy Valentine's Day

I've been working on some hearts.

These hearts are part of a kit. And the kit doesn't have very good instructions.

Well, they aren't good for me.

Cause I've already made a mistake. (Three of them!)

Although mistakes are really just design challenges. Right?

I cut my center heart out and then cut my curvy heart out. But I should have cut my center heart out with 1/4 seam. Yikes!  I know better than that.

So now my center is just slightly smaller than the curvy heart and thereby showing gaps of background fabric in between. 

It really only took me a minute to think of a solution - but for that one minute I was panicked! 

Rick-Rack

The solution to all life's ails. 

(The first time I said Rick-Rack my teen daughter laughed at me. She thought I was just making up a word. Until she looked it up in the dictionary.  I had the last laugh with that one.)

Simple fix.  Now I have to machine applique the outside of the curvy heart.

What color thread to you think I should use?

Red?  Pink?  White?

Any suggestions?

Happy Valentine's Day

and Happy Stitching,

Linda

McCall's Ebook: Modern Quilts Patterns

I would like to share with you McCall's Quilting Magazine's new ebook, "Modern Quilts Patterns".

In this small ebook the editor, Beth Hayes, answers the question "What is a modern quilt?"  I've often wondered how to explain a "modern" quilt. Hayes provides a good definition of a "modern" quilt. Also included are three great patterns.

I really enjoyed the eye candy -and I plan to make at least one of these quilts. Maybe even two if time permits.

Lemon Squeezy by Sherri Driver

This quilt by Sherri Driver is my favorite - and it's a quilt-as-you-go method. I couldn't get a good picture of it but you can check it out in the ebook.

Here the link to McCall’s Quilting magazine ebook: "Modern Quilt Patterns".  Enjoy.

Happy Stitching,

Linda

19 Years and Counting

Hubby brought me flowers yesterday.

They had these cool roses made from decorative cabbages - I just love them.

It was our anniversary - 19 years  ( I know I can't believe it either, I'm way too young to be married for that long. wink, wink)  Which is just great but the truth of the matter was...Huh...I was a bit worried because I took that Stop & Give me Twenty Pledge of sewing through sleet or snow or anniversaries and I'm serious about keeping it.

We always go out to eat and I knew when I came home I wouldn't want to sew. I would be just too tired. And then, my hubby said the magic words - "let's have your homemade pizza". Yikes. That's not very romantic!  But then I could sew - Okay, sounds like a good plan.  But a good marriage is always full of compromises so I did my part and bargained for dessert out. Deal! We went to Johnny Rockets and had hot apple pie with ice cream. Oh yummy.

I did get in an hour and 20 minutes of sewing too. Yay!

Next year is our 20th and I think we should do something extra special.  What are your suggestions?

Happy (20 minutes) Stitching,

Linda

Drop & Give Me Twenty

Oh my gosh, here it is February 1st and it's time for Drop and Give Me Twenty!

I'm taking the pledge to join Quilting Hottie Haven and work on my quilting for at least twenty minutes per day - as long as I'm in town.  Out of town and the deal is off for that day. And I pledge to do this for the whole month of February. And even if my sister has a party and my other sister comes to town I will try to work at least 20 minutes on that day also.  That's a big commitment from me cause my sisters are a LOT of fun.

So I hope to accomplish quiet a bit - mostly just the list I already made yesterday and enjoy my quilting.  Thanks Beth Helfter for being so "brilliant for coming up with this concept and inspiring me to join".  

I'm hoping you will join in on the fun too. 

Happy (20 minutes a day) Stitching,

Linda