The Purpose of Food Shows

I have come to realize that food shows serve a beneficial purpose in my life.  They inspire me to cook more and eat better.  With just my husband and me at home, we often default to sandwiches, salads or quick cook options.  It's difficult to cook small amounts and we get tired of eating the same thing over and over.  But the cooking shows often show me new options or flavor combinations and since some of them are forced to prepare courses in a limited time, they are usually "quick to fix" ideas.  Now, granted, I"m not going to use quail eggs or goat meat but when I look at those things I consider ways I can create similar combinations out of more common ingredients.  It's not too lasting though.  Once we have taken a break from food TV we slide back into our old habits.  Our options are getting healthier all the time (more fruit, less sweets) but food group balance is a constant battle.....there's that word again!

Snowman Quilt!

I just finished this quilt:

It was a lot of fun and my first real attempt at applique.  It's made out of flannels which gives it a warm cozy feeling.  Flannel is a little different to work with - not harder or easier, just different.  The quilting itself is a combination of free motion, stitch in the ditch and conventional straight line quilting.  I used clear thread for the ditch stitching and the sky stitching. 

The pattern is from The Rabbit Factory and the inspiration to use flannel and lighten up the color scheme came from The Queen Bee's Hive.

I had wanted to use one of my decorative stitches on the edge of the "blanket" (under the snowmen) but the stitching didn't want to cooperate through the multiple layers.  I had to pick out the stitches which was no easy task.  Fortunately I found my husband's "fly tying" light/magnifier to aid my old eyes!  My other learning curve moment had to do with the applique.  I cut out all of the heat bond material....and forgot to reverse the design, so everything was backwards.  Fortunately I bought lots of heat bond and was able to just start again. 

Next.....the infamous fractal quilt!  Stay tuned.



Different Month: Same Old Weather

I haven't posted in awhile because I really don't have anything to post about.  I'm slogging through winter, glad for the warm sunny days and sort of down on the cloudy cold days.  I know that we are almost through the worst of winter and that spring is right around the corner.  The guy who cuts our lawn commented that they would probably be back in six weeks to get started on the mowing!  I've kept as busy as I can around the house and with my quilting but, honestly, this has been a difficult season.  I've already started my mental list of "next year".....things to do differently once winter comes along.  Hopefully I'll remember to change things around a bit next year or perhaps I'll go back and reread this post and be reminded!

I guess I could do a diet check in: different month, same weight.  That's about it.  I tell myself that it's good to maintain and there is truly some merit in that, especially this time of year, but it would be nice to see the scale go down a bit.  Well, the year holds lots of promise in many ways.  Just wish it would hurry along with the promise!