Week 6: Too Cold/Snowy For Golf. Will Quilt and Knit.

Hello from freezing, snowy KS.  Definitely quilt weather!

Two days ago but today should bring the snow melt.

Negatives temps and 7" of glorious snow meant no golf (ack!)

but almost 2 weeks for sewing.  And packing, but I'm pretty

sure you're just here for the quilting so I'll try to stick to that.

But first, I want to let you know that if you comment, I do see it!

Mailchimp or Blogger suddenly stopped sending the comments

to my email so I have no way of directly replying.  In the past,

I have found them in spam but this time I'm at a loss.

No idea.   But I'm still looking.

Since hubs was off on MLK Day and it was too cold to golf, we ran

up to KC for hubs to try out some specific golf clubs; we then ambled

through Nebraska Furniture Mart to spur ideas for the new house

and then IKEA to spur ideas for my new quilt studio.  All killing time

until we could catch an early dinner at Lidia's before heading home.

(With a 3hr drive ahead, we went right at opening time.)

We recently discovered that Lidia Bastianich (long-running cooking

show on show on PBS) has 2 restaurants:  one in NY and one in KC.

We used to watch her quite often so we were surprised to find the

 KC location opened in 1998--how have we missed this?!?

Both hubs and I have been getting our diets back on track and

a dive into Italian food was certainly not in line with this but oh,

the taste of soft focaccia after no flour for weeks!  And then I was

served a piece of lasagne that was ginormous.  I'm a quilter.  I can

judge measurements, right?  That puppy was easily the size of a

6" square ruler, I kid you NOT!  Needless to say a ton of food came

home with us but we were only cheating for one meal--what was

 I supposed to do with leftovers?!  (Ha--Duh!)

My official review?  One of the few places that can make decent

drink (hubs is well-known as a pro so I've become pretty picky).

Starve yourself for 24 hours because those portions are huge.

The entrees are good but it's the focaccia that I will remember.

For football fans:

Randomly, just up the street is Patrick Mahomes' (#15) and

Travis Kelce's (#87) new restaurant.  I'm assuming the wait list

 is still very long there but maybe in a year or so we'll try it out.

Well I do remember that you're here for quilting so let's get on it!

What did I get done?  To be honest, I've still been struggling with

my sewjo since the loss of my little sew-buddy Chloe.  It didn't

help to have a Lucey-issue.  I put off dealing with that for a whole

week until I finally had hubs give it a look.  He found it instantly.

I felt pretty lame at not seeing it but what can I say?

I haven't felt motivated and I've been avoiding my quiet studio.

She loved to snuggle.  (She's totally smiling there!)

I'm just going to say that I've never had an animal take up

such a space in my heart.  But I'm pushing through now.

I really am.   So, no more about my cat!

Cabins in Pines, 87x87

1) Finish the cabin quilt, pic and list

Hoorah, it's finally a finish! With the holidays and my lack

of sewjo, this one took over a month.  I'm really more of a 

quilt every week or two kinda person but hey, it's done now.

On the back is a Kim Diehl 108" which was a speed-treat.

I prefer piecing backs, slipping in extra blocks and/or scraps to

create more interest but I was happy to move out an odd-size

[for my stash] fabric; I now have only one other 108" piece. 

I think I'm going to be back on track at a pace that at least

sort of resembles my usual go-at-it-ness--until we move.

2) Start patriotic quilt #1:  In progress
I went with an easy, no-brainer kinda project--not really what

was planned but with the sewjo struggle, certainly this was a

good idea, yeah?

Yeah. (Sew smart!)

Toutes Les Etoiles/All the Stars (free pattern) 

(photo credit)

The goal was to bust some red & blue stash but neither

the inspiration or motivation was found there so I took

 a much simpler road.  That one called Layer Cake Lane.

This one is flying together easily and it should provide the

motivation I've been needing to get going on my next.

When I realized I'd cut the star leg squares in sets of 8, I decided

it was a sign to make them all the same rather than stick to the

easier scrappy look as in the pic.  I think I want just a wee bit

more order to the design anyhoo.

Digressive rhetorical question:

Random scrappy:  is it actually easier or more time consuming?

Have a quick look at the quilt.  I prefer a more balanced look so I'm

currently making a few more stars so it can begin and end on a row

of three.  As is, it finishes at 56x64 so I don't think it'll be too long.  I'm

sorta tight on background fabric [for the borders; could be changed]

but I have plenty of star fabric.  Worst case, they can go on the back.

But I also suppose the quilt is fine as is so...thoughts?

3) Patriotic quilt #2:  No decision made yet but I have ideas.

4) Finish knitting UFOs, starting with socks;

also continue with the small gifts I'm working on.

Still working on the small gifts--currently on #3.

I gifted this one made from some yarn I picked up last year

in Friedrichshafen, Germany (good times, good times!).

A perfect match for that kitchen.

5) Work out my plans for 2026

Currently in progress.

6) Move Efforts

I've been trying to pack an easy one box/day but being a good

2 months out from moving yet, it's a bit tricky.  I gave up trying

to keep our house home-y after the holiday decor came down so

now even the walls are mostly bare.   We both feel we've gotten

rid of about everything we can but we continue to go back at it,

over and over, finding a bit here and there.

My big task this week is to find someone who cuts/sells firewood.

We have 4 large oaks (100yr+) and a pecan tree that will just be

torn down so I have permission from the buyers to do with them

as I will.  My plan is to let someone have them for firewood

in exchange for 4 or 5 ricks of firewood to be delivered to our

new lot.  (The new house will have 2 wood-burning fireplaces.)

I'm not sure if this is a good deal for both parties but I guess I'll

get on the phone and see what I can come up with.

Needless to say, I'd rather be quilting but I'm trying to think

ahead to that cozy fire in the new house...

Happy quilting!

Linking to:

Monday Musings

Sew & Tell
Tuesday To Do

Put Your Foot Down