Blocks 11-24

Last week was productive.  Lots of 4-patches.

A trio of string blocks. 

Part 2 of Just Takes 2.

Please don't look too closely at my applique, house block, or paper piecing.

N.O.T. my strong suits.

Now I need to make up for lost time (18 hours from Saturday to Monday were spent in the car.  7 1/2 at training.  4 hours spent in activities relating to a funeral).

from the room of Zana's Ninis,

katie z.

350 Blocks

Don't you love that blogger rotates pictures for you whenever you DON'T ask it to?

These are my first 10 blocks for the 350 block challenge over at Prairie Moon Quilts.  Why 10 and not 7?  I intend to make 365, if I can, because it will be easier for me to track over the months if I do one for every day of the year beginning January 1.  It's a need for order thing.

Pantry Challenge

Amy at Finer Things has been doing a little pantry purging, and I've joined in.

This week, I packed my kitchen, purging scratched pans, glass bottles we had saved for "maybe someday," that I refuse to move into storage, bits of this, that, and the other, particularly plastic and candy.

I examined the depths of my cupboard to see what we had that I had forgotten about.  Two canned jars of apple pie filling (from our apple extravaganza last fall) were used to make apple crisp.  My daughter used the frozen store bought bread to teach her class a cooking less, using also three jars of home-made jam and jelly (blueberry, strawberry, and peach).

In the coming week, I'll need to buy milk, and probably fresh fruit.  We have fruit-in-a-jar, but the almost-two-year-old doesn't eat it very well, and he needs his fruit most of all.  Otherwise, it's another pantry-diving week!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Finish it up Friday

Woohoo!  A few finishes this week...

A pillow for a friend.

A slip cover for our glider rocker (I'd take a picture, but it's 40 degrees in the living room, so I might freeze!).

A quilt!

This quilt has been several years in the making, and several permutations.  I've been collecting music fabrics, primarily in black and white, for my musical older sister.  Originally, I had a crazy idea to replicate a page of sheet music, preferably one of my sister's favorites... but lots of these music fabrics were not going to fit the bill for that.  Then, last year, I took part in Judy Laquidara's monochromatic challenge.  Every month, until December, I made table runners.  By the time the black, white, and ???, rolled around, I was tired to table runners, so I opted for this quilt... I had been wanting to make a D9P quilt for a while, and now?  Now, I'm SO over that.  Why?  This just didn't quite look the way I thought it would.

Not looking like I thought it would does not, thank goodness, mean I don't like the quilt.  I love the piano key border, the musical fabrics, the backing pieced out of leftovers... but in a much more organized way than I usually piece leftovers.  You can't quite see it in the picture, but there is a tiny red flange between the body of the top and the border, and it's bound in red.  I also quilted it in record time (for me), four hours, start to finish, including breaks for making supper and bathing the kiddos.

Check out other fabulous finishes at Crazy Mom Quilts!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Stash Report Week #2

I have 24 projects on my list for the year, 12 larger and 12 smaller.  My goal is to finish one of each per month.

So far, I've completed two small projects... socks for the Screamer and a pillow for a friend who lost her babies.

IN this week: 0 yards
IN YTD: 0 yards

OUT this week: 1/2 yard
OUT YTD: 1/2 yard

YTD total: 1/2 yard OUT!

I also quilted the red, black, and white quilt for my sister... in one afternoon.  I've never quilted a quilt so quickly!  This week, I hope to finish the binding, and my first large project will be done!

I also bought yarn... 10 pound spools of dyeable white yarn, as well as dye to try my own yarn dying!  I'm having so much trouble find the yarn that was available last year, but has been discontinued now, that I decided I needed to try dying myself.

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Where's baby Jesus?

We bring out several different nativity scenes during the Christmas season, including a Hummel on that is irresistible to my children, and has therefore been repaired several times!

We also have a very basic, unbreakable Fontanini set.  This year, for some reason, baby Jesus and his manger have been disappearing almost as fast as I can find him.

Fast forward to last Saturday, when I was packing up our Christmas things.  We had a Mary statue at our house to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life sitting in our dining room.  As I opened her case Saturday morning, imagine who I discovered nestled at her feet?

Bear Cub Q had also hidden a precious dinosaur as well as a piece of penguin candy.  Isn't he sweet?

Pantry Challenge

Lately, I have not planned a monthly menu.  I have learned that, for now, I need to be a little more flexible on what I intend to prepare and serve.  Sometimes, my children are too needy for attention for me to prepare a more complicated meal.  Sometimes, DH is delayed at work, and I don't have his help in corralling the kids... but it's okay.  I've had plenty I used out of my panty this week...

- Asian pasta that DH had picked up from the Asian grocery, but I could never find a recipe for.  My final meal was only mediocre, but definitely edible!

- Broth from the freezer

- Bullion cubes (yes, I use them... they make lentils taste great)

- Buns that I found in the depths of the deep freeze

- Pumpkin from the freezer (I need to begin emptying the freezer in hopes that we will be moving this summer!)

There's plenty more to use up, but this is definitely progress!

This post was inspired by Amy at Finer Things, who is having her own Pantry Challenge.

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Socks

My daughter has an issue with socks.  Namely, that pesky little seam over the toes ALWAYS itches.

Not just, gosh, I have an itch, let me scratch it.

No, if she were older, she'd probably share some colorful language.  Since she's not, she screams and cries in total meltdown fashion.

So, in an attempt to bring myself a little more sanity to my mornings, the first version of seamless socks...

Yes, I agree, they look like duck feet.  When you're trying to work fast and avoid seams, you don't make fancy toes.  You use leftover sock yarn and get to work!

 A satisfied customer.

Check out the other finishes at Amanda's place.

Pantry Challenge

Amy over at Finer Things is holding a pantry challenge... Using what's in the freezer or pantry that should be used... It's not food storage, it's forgotten bags of zucchini, etc.

Last night, I sorted through our deep freeze and upstairs freezer compartment to take stock of my forgotten bits. What did I find? That we really don't eat as much meat as we used to, but neither do we eat enough vegetables.

I brought up all the remaining strawberries and blueberries from summer harvests. With winter fruit being so expensive, it's hard to fulfill the girls' craving for fruit.

I also dumped the remainder of my very seriously sprouted and shriveled potatoes. (On a side note, I need to learn to can potatoes so preserve the harvest next year!). I also peeled and chopped the last of the summer's harvest of onions. I probably chopped enough for 8-10 recipes, and then there will be no fresh onions until next summer.

Deep cleaning the house to be ready for the new year has certainly helped me be aware of all the extra/excess in our house that needs to be used up or disposed of before our house goes on the market in (gulp) less than three months.

It's time to go back to work (and cuddle with my boy).

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Stash Report Week #1

Through no fault of my own, I didn't add any fabric this week, nor did I finish any projects.

The Screamer's blue and red is basted for quilting in turquoise and orange (her choice).  I've begun quilting, but that's a long road for my hands.

My sister's music quilt is a top!  The back is going to end up being another top, so it will be a while before this one is ready to quilt.

What are your plans for the new year?  I'm going to learn to dye yarn so I can make hats in colors I can't buy anymore!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.