Wow it has been over a week since I sat at my computer to type a few words. I usually put the pictures on my computer at home and then come to work a few minutes early to add the words.

For the previous three Mondays I have had phone problems to take care of as soon as I got in which put my behind for the week.

I had not ever realized that it had been a week till I was talking to my sister yesterday.

Saturday a week ago I spent in the kitchen. One of my successes was Black Bean and Beef soup. I topped it with shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream with a cilantro leaf on top. I even made Oatmeal bread to serve with it. That recipe is a definite keeper. The rest of the weekend was spent with laundry and errands. No time to do much sewing and I never made it upstairs to sew.




This weekend I finally made it upstairs to get the last of the borders on Freeze Frame. When I looked at the pattern I realized that I had been putting off the final borders since September. I don't know what happened but I never got any sewing done after then. Things got carried upstairs and dropped on the floor of the sewing room. It had become somewhat of a mess. It is hard to work in that kind of atmosphere.




I found this fabric downstairs and it is perfect for the backing.




Here it is in its own Ziploc bag ready to be quilted.



The backing and binding are with it. I hope to learn to machine quilt after THE MOVE. So much of my life is on hold till then. For now I will just keep making tops and then when the new studio is set up I will have space for a larger table to machine quilt on. Right now the little desk I am using is just not large enough for a quilt. Just little table toppers and such.



I spent the rest of my time clearing out, putting away and getting things ready to stitch. This block had to be redone and is usually the case these things get put down and never picked up again. I got the last four pieces pinned and all ready to be stitch. I put it back in the basket for later.

because right now I am spending most of my time on my GFG. Here it is with 10 rows of 14 attached. I can see the end of this stage of assembly.

Several weeks ago I stopped at my LQS for a small piece of lace. No I have not finished the project I purchased the lace for. In fact I am rather at a stopping point with this one. Just can't make up my mind exactly what to do next. Well, enough of that.

I had just looked at the Saratoga Lights pattern on Judy Laquidara's site. I really want to make that quilt and there were a couple of fabrics I thought would look good. I did not buy them that day. I went home to double check the yardage first.

Yesterday I stopped at the LQS once more, this time for thread. HMMM.... there were several fabrics that would look good in that quilt. That quilt does not take long to make.

I came away empty handed but feeling much better. After all, I have TWO major projects going on right now. I have quilt tops stacked up waiting to become quilts. I have fabric purchased and all kitted with the pattern just waiting for me to finish them. I have fabric kits for quilts that were purchased on sale. I have at least a dozen scrap quilts ready to be made and a large bag of scraps to make them with. In other words, my plate is full.

I still want to make Saratoga Lights but WHEN I get some of my other quilts ready to sleep under I will just let the fabric shop keep the fabric and when the time is right I know there will be more fabric available.

Meanwhile, I finished row nine on the GFG and I have it on the quilt. Tonight I can start basting the background for row ten.

This weekend I actually got upstairs to sew for a few hours. I picked up right where I left off in WHAT WAS THAT..............SEPTEMBER? My how time flies.

According to the directions I had two hours or four borders left to add to this quilt. I got one added this weekend. Perhaps I can get this quilt finished before February comes and I can get it sent of to be quilted.

Well, here it is. Eight rows completed and I have begun to baste the background for row nine.

Not much accomplished this week. It all started at 5:00 AM Wednesday morning when my dreaded back problem came back with a vengeance. I do have medication for that but it makes me just as incapacitated as the back problem. The pain is better but the nausea is terrible. I stayed in bed till the last minute before getting ready for work. I stayed at the office for a few hours but then I had to come home. Lem tucked me in and took care of his own meal that night.

Thursday was better but I still felt like I had been run over by a rather large truck. Once again Lem cooked for us. He really is a darling.

Today we are much better and I have hope that the weekend will give me more time to rest.

Sunday was mostly spent in the kitchen. I had baking to do. Three batches of cookies. One of them is Springerle cookies and they are drying to be baked after work today. I also whipped up a batch of Butter Flake Buttermilk Biscuits. Taking a lesson from Judy of Patchwork Times I put them on a cookie sheet in the freezer. As soon they were frozen I put them in a zip lock container. Now we will have fresh butter biscuits any time we want to. I find that I cannot go full speed for long periods as I did in times past so there were several times I needed to take a break.

I did manage to finish stitching one of the stitcheries I prepped Saturday. It is a free design from Crabapple Hill.


I also got row eight of the GFG blocks ready to add to the quilt. I can start on that tonight.


All of my decorations are packed to be moved. I really thought we would be gone by now. I wanted something for Valentines day for my table so I stopped at a thrift shop on Friday.

This is what I found. It was $20.00 and they loaned the stand to me for the picture. You can tell that I trade there often. I will take it back when I go to look for St. Patrick's day things.




It goes perfectly with my Hummingbird music box. I purchased a primrose to add to the collection. As soon as I finish my stitchery I will add it.

The kitchen did not get cleaned completely last night or this morning. I just was not able to get it all done. Lots to do when I get home from work. But supper is already cooked so I am that far ahead.

QUILTATHON

Today is Quiltathon and I can participate a bit. It is also the day for Saturday Sewing Society. They are a local group that meets once a month to sew together all day long. I would like to be there but so many things require my attention at home today.

I am starting off by pressing the fabric to make a few of these pincushions. The pattern has intrigued me for some time. I have selected 6 fat quarters and we will see just how long it takes to make them.



The pincushions are all cut out and ready to stitch.



And two small stitcheries are traced and ready for stitching tonight.

Sad to say that was all the sewing time I could get today. The laundromat called my name. All the laundry is done and the ironing is finished. Tomorrow will be a day of baking but perhaps I will get upstairs for an hour or two.

There have been request for the pattern for the Nancy Quilt. Nancy Pollard is a dear friend and this is her quilt idea. Nancy likes pastels........green - yellow - blue - pink........ Nursery colors.

She took her scraps and made several quilts with this block. Now how easy is that. I had to write it down and I still got a few blocks sewn incorrectly. I noticed that nobody saw that in the quilt so it must be okay. As I said before this would be a great Leader/Ender quilt. Just open your 2 1/2 inch scrap drawer and start stitching.


This morning I woke up bright eyed. I actually slept through the night. That is a big change for me. No matter how thirsty I am I will not drink anything after the evening meal. That means no trips to the bathroom at 3:00 AM and a good night sleep.

I cooked a roast in the crockpot last week. They were on sale for $1.99 a pound so I could not resist. Yesterday I found a recipe for using some of the leftover roast. We had it once as roast beef with potatoes and a green veggie.

This morning I diced part of the roast and to that I added carrots, onions, garden peas and gravy.



I put it back in the refrigerator. When I get home I will top it with shredded cheese and bake it for 30 minutes. That means my evening is totally free. Right now I am thinking about grocery shopping after work. That would be one thing on the weekend list completed.

My GFG is getting bigger. We have seven rows together now. I am at the half way mark on adding the pathway hexagons to the flower blocks on row eight.

This weekend I decided to have desert first. Instead of sewing after everything was done downstairs I chose to stitch first and do the house blessing later.

I had finished my stitchery from First Friday Freebie and wanted to get it made into a pillow. But first I had to finish the last few quilting stitches on this quilt so I could use the Janome since The Duchess is set for piecing only.

Then I had to push things aside long enough to get enough space on the cutting table to cut the binding and trim the quilt.


Binding sewn on and ready to turn and stitch in place. This is a small quilt. About 42 x 42. I call it a Nancy Quilt because Nancy showed me the block. So easy to make from 2 1/2 strips. A great leader-ender.

And here is my wee pillow. I checked in BOB (box of blocks) and found some HST's left from making this quilt and added them to the border of my pillow. It looks so nice there in the chair in the living room. Even if it does not exactly go with the color scheme of the room I still like its seasonal touch.


Perhaps I could have stuffed it a bit more but I wanted a softer pillow.


And here is my first Nancy Quilt on the back of my new to me chair.



So before leaving for work this morning I have the bed made, the dishes all washed, the house in order and supper is already cooked. We will have the final chapter of a chicken casserole from last week. I have bread in the freezer, yogurt for the rest of the week and I am making another batch of food for the darlings.

The first week of the new year is past. Time to report how well I did. I did get the bed made every morning and everything put away each day. I cooked good meals and left for work each day with a clean kitchen and plans for the evening meal.

I even managed to finish my stitchery from Kaaren at the Painted Quilt offers a free stitchery on the first Friday each month. Kaaren reports that by Sunday Monica had hers all done and ready to quilt. I am just not that speedy. I stopped at Murray's on the way to work to pick up a package of piping. I am hoping to get my little pillow made this weekend. We shall see.


Everytime I go upstairs I realize how much I have to play with. So many projects in all stages of completion. So I turn around and go back downstairs. For now I am working on my GFG with an occasional break. I will soon be finished with the seventh row.

Tonight is tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. I hope to get my menus made for the coming week and the shopping list made. Tomorrow will be the house blessing and a few other chores. Perhaps I will get a wee bit of stitching done too.

Our next door neighbor came up for the weekend. They live in NJ and rarely get to the Cape. The last couple of times they were here were weekends I had baked and was able to share something with them.

On Saturday she came over with this lovely present.



What a lovely presentation of goodies. There are even rolled cookies in that tin.


This is what what I came to work in today. It started snowing Saturday afternoon and did not stop till Sunday night. It looks pretty but doesn't travel well.








Even though I was unwell yesterday I did manage to get the First Friday Freebie (button on my sidebar) printed and ready to stitch. I am taking a break from my GFG to finish this little treat.

Okay, so I am a day or two late posting this

The table is all set for New Years Day Dinner.




Lu joined us so I wanted a picture to remember the day. Lu and I have been friends for over 20 years. It was great to have her with us to celebrate the New Year.


A lovely desert from my local deli.



The next day Vickie came by for tea. How nice it was to sit with her, drinking tea knowing that the room was clean and neat. I am learning to limit the things I work on so I have less projects sitting around. I like it much better this way

Dinner last night was economical, easy to prepare and delicious. I think that covers all the bases.

Hamburger patties. Baked instead of fried. Steamed potatoes and carrots topped with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and lima beans. The rice steamer I got for Christmas has a tray for steaming veggies. It sure works a treat.



This morning I started cleaning the living room. Last week I had cleaned one side. The bookcase wall. I took everything off and eliminated a few items.

Today I got out the timers. One for each lamp. I don't like coming home after work to a dark room. They are set to come on at 4:00 PM and go off at 11:00 PM.


The Christmas decorations are packed away and in the garage.


All done........








The black eye peas are cooking and now it is time to get the rest of the meal ready.