stuff and things

 That is our family answer when asked: "what you been up to?" Here goes....

I had a great time teaching a Liberated House Workshop for the Wayside Quilters in Sudbury, MA.

There are no two houses the same and it makes it a lot of fun to see what happens.

I love this quirky one.

It is so rewarding to see students having fun!

I took a workshop hosted by my guild; the Ninigret Quilters make to make this bag.  Our teacher, Charlie was wonderful!

I did most of my homework, while still taking care of Mr. Fun and his new knee.  I used two pretty large scale florals for the outside.

and two others that look like 1970s polyester sheets to me.  ha ha

So, I decided to approach the workshop as a fun day out and did not pressure myself.  I did make the complicated zippered pieces.  I will finish it at some point.  Stay tuned.

I was honored to be awarded 2nd place Hand Applique' at the Connecticut State Fair Banquet for my Chrome Quilt.

Every quilter who attended the banquet  received a nice zippered pouch and gift certificates from two local quilt shops; what a nice surprise! I also received a nice $35. money prize.

I'm back to winter beanie crocheting with this new pattern for  my guild's Holiday Charity silent auction.

Hope you are all staying warm and doing well.

Thank you so much for visiting my little corner of the blog world.  I know it is not as popular as it used to be, so I appreciate it even more!

xo

Year of the Tiger! 🐯

 I was born under the Tiger in 1962.  Yep, I'm turning 60.  Seems like only 10 years ago I was 50.

🐯🐅In the Chinese zodiac, a woman born in the Year of the Tiger is independent, solicitous and a born leader.  She seeks a partner who equally matches her strong qualities, yet still respects her need for freedom and autonomy.  I got blessed with Mr. Fun.

Speaking of  Tigers - the Cincinnati Bengals are in the superbowl for the first time in over 30 years!  woo hoo!!!

My soon to be son in law is from Cincinnati so we are super excited!

Around the house:

My final amaryllis bloomed.  This is Apple Blossom - pretty.

We survived the big snow storm.  I'm so grateful for Mr. Fun who always works hard without complaint.

It was very pretty when it was all over.

On Sunday I made a family favorite:  Toms Pork Chops in the crockpot.  Hearty comfort food.  I'll add the recipe at the end of this post.

I made two more crochet hats with pom poms as gifts.

I've done very well on my Hitchcock viewing thanks to the library.

I have watched 34 so far!  I will give a final top ten report after I see the remaining five I intend to watch. I can not watch the silent ones.

For now the next few weeks, I'll be watching the Beijing Olympics! 

Curling is one of my favorite sports.  I saw the Italy/Norway match last night.  Since I am a quarter Italian I cheered for  Italy who is 3-0 after defeating Norway.

My current wordle stats:

I will leave you with this sweet little photo I took on my way into the house the other day.  This is my little bunny garden figure.   It looks like a groundhog popping up to check things out.

Stay well and warm!

xo

Tom's Pork Chops  (named for the boat cook Tom Jensen)

4-6 pork chops, I like bone in, but I couldn't get them last week.

1 onion

1 lb mushrooms

olive oil

butter

1 can cream of mushroom soup (I used low sodium)

1 can cheddar cheese soup

1/2 cup white wine

• Brown pork chops in olive oil and butter on both sides, add to crock pot.  
• Add more butter if necessary and brown the mushrooms and onions for about 10 minutes and add to pot.
• Mix the soups and wine and pour over the top and toss with chops.
• Cook on high 4-5 hours or low 8-10
• I serve them over egg noodles with vegetables and cranberry sauce.
  
  
  

humming along....

Greetings!  Here is my finished top for Curves Sew Along with Cecile.

I didn't really plan (nothing new there).  I just made blocks combining 2 solids.  I machine top stitch appliqued the circles.

I moved them around a zillion times.   I'm looking forward to machine quilting it.

Recently while waiting for my car tune up I did some doodling.  I would like to learn how to FMQ better and I've heard this is a good way to practice your eye hand coordination.

In crocheting news, you may have seen these 2 projects on IG.  I find both relaxing and challenging.

A hat for Andrew's Girlfriend.

A shawl for me.  It is called the virus shawl, but not because of covid, but because it grows and grows.  The yarn changes color all on its own color and is called "Lipstick on my Collar" so cute.

This past Saturday I attended a zoom workshop with Tara Faughnan.  

The morning was spent doing color exercises and discussing colors.

I had planned to use this soft pastel palette.   I cut 6" pieces of each. Notice the center area of this arrangement.

I sewing a few random strip sets and quickly decided that it looked like Demented Easter.  yuk

I quickly changed gears to an analogous color scheme.   I'm calling it the Cantaloupe quilt at the moment.

Amazing how perfectly Mother Nature nailed this analogous scheme!!

What do you think?   Like it?  Hate it?  all views are welcome here.  I am using about half of the color wheel from medium orange through medium blue green.

Mr. Fun and I quietly celebrated our 34th Wedding Anniversary on February 14th with a great pasta dinner and bubbly.    Costo roses were $14.99 for a dozen!  I took this photo on my Iphone with the portrait setting on Saturday.

They have opened beautifully.  This how they look this morning.

I think coco has the right idea; find a quilt and nap your way through a covid February.

Snuggle up and stay warm and safe friends.

xo

Ever Onward

 That's a little how I feel with the Pandemic still with us all.   But there is hope and we will overcome it.

I always feel lucky when I spot a pretty sunrise while letting Coco out in the morning.

Nature is a balm that soothes the soul and replenishes hope for me.

I've been working on my Whig Rose, which may have an official name soon.

The borders are slow going and putzy.  I am doing them out of the hoop.  You can't really see it, but I've sew basted through all layers.  I had also stay stitched the edge so it wouldn't stretch.

There are ALOT of edge triangles, so I am doing them as I finish a side.  If I wait until the end......who knows what might happen.

Nutmeg is all too happy to guard it when it is parked on the couch.

I have been making pom poms for a mantel design.  My friends are a little concerned about my slight obsession with them lol.

I added some driftwood from the beach.

I got the LED snowflake lights on Amazon.   It is very charming at night and is almost making up for the fact that we have had such little snow!

I was working on a hat for my son on zoom sessions and miscounted and made it WAY too big.  I ripped the whole thing out

Ripping out is fun.  Anyway it came out great in the end.

Speaking of Andrew; he is a Covid nurse at St. Raphael's Yale Hospital and got his first vaccine.  Yay!

I pin basted my guild mystery quilt yesterday so I 'm ready to go with that "intention" this week.

I made two loaves of honey wheat bread.  Is there anything more comforting than warm homemade bread?

I passed this noble tree the other day and stopped to admire it.

It made me think about the nature of time and how it has withstood every drought and storm. 

Take care of yourselves and those you love.

xo