Birds and Bees Quilt Top = done!

Yay! I am so excited to report that the Birds and Bees Tula Pink Quilt top is complete. The design is SuperNova by Jaqui Gehring. I am planning to take it to be professionally long-arm quilted next week. It is so exciting to see this come together.

I have had my moments with this quilt - sometimes I never thought it would be done, other times I really really thought it was going to be a terrible mess. But in the end - it was just so rewarding to see everything fit together, the colors look good, and I cannot wait to pick the style of the quilting. I am growing to love it!

Justin always reminds me that the joy is in the journey. For me, I think the joy is in the completion. I am trying to enjoy the process more, and perhaps that approach would help my entire outlook on life. I do tend to get the most excitement from checking things off my list. Perhaps if I had a bit more emphasis on enjoying the moment instead of looking toward finishing that would be good.

On the plus side, I have put together a nice Valentine's day surprise for Justin while I am out of town. He will wake up to enjoy Valentine's day and Ill be home in the evening to celebrate with him. In the meantime, I'll try to enjoy my work in the moment. :)

The Happiness Project: Reorganize!

I am in a book club this year, and our group is reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. We are taking a different approach than other book clubs that I have enjoyed in the past.

The Happiness Project is divided up into months, and we are reading a chapter each month. January's theme was Boost Energy and the goals are to get more sleep; recycle, reorganize, and restore; exercise; and act more energetic.

I am pleased to say that January was a pretty good month for me. I managed to make some significant progress on a number of fronts. I reorganized some drawers, joined WW, and also have been sleeping better than ever - which has been helping EVERYTHING!

For example, I have a secret weakness for the hotel soaps, shampoos, lotions, etc. I use the shower caps either for my hair or for the kitchen where they cover leftovers, etc. But the toiletries have become a bit of a beast to manage. You see, a few years ago I culled through my loot and donated (reduce and recycle) all of the brands that were not so exciting to a women's shelter. So, I was only left with my more super products. The problem was that I was collecting the faster than I was organizing them - so I was left with a bot of a mess. Well, I have tackled that! In February! (The ideas is to allow a month for the habits to sink in, and then you continue them as the year progresses).

I should have done a before and after - but here is the after and I am damn proud of it!!!

The funny part is, when I showed my husband - he thanked me and gave me a kiss and said "Thank you so much sweetie. You know I get a bit crazy when things look disorganized. This really helps me and makes me feel good to see how organized this is." I think that the amazing thing is that he had never said anything (about this particular area). One of the goals for February is to Remember Love. I am planning to practice one of the recommendations in the chapter - "The secret of a strong marriage is to leave at least 3 things unsaid each day." I am striving toward this. I did notice that J. did this without reading the book...very sneaky. I never knew this bothered him, and now I know.

Well, more on Feb goals later this month. Here is to today's successes!

The Fridge: Make it a no waste zone

I get so upset when I make a delicious meal, we only eat half of it, then we throw the rest away.

You see, what happens in our house, is that we make something delicious, in the latest case a beautiful Herbed Tuscan Pork Roast Roulade (that is a fancy way of saying it was stuffed and rolled) and then 2 days go by, then we get busy, and then we are tired so we go out. Then 5 days later - I throw the meat away.

Well, I am seriously trying to stop this irritating habit. It is a waste of money, and a huge waste of my efforts. You might be saying to yourself - well Karen, just buy a smaller roast...well we had folks over for dinner and this was left over (Everyone is dieting this time of year).

So, today I took that beautiful roast remainder and pulled out some onion, hot peppers, garlic, cilantro (I used almost finished bunches and was able to add in the stems!) out of the fridge and tossed into the Vitamix. I then added the pork, some chili verde we picked up in Santa Fe, and some broth and voila - dinner is on the stove!


It took about 20 minutes total. Should be delicious, low calorie, and a nice slow cooked meal to enjoy on a rainy winter day.

No waste in 2013! Unless of course it is something really decadent and fattening - in that case - throw that away ASAP!

Birds and Bees Quilt - in process

I've been working on a new quilt, the fabric is Birds and Bees by Tula Pink. My favorite part are the squirrels and the swallows. I have been working on it since August and I am very exited to be done!

The pattern is called Supernova, and from Jaqui Gering's book

Quilting Modern: Techniques and Projects for Improvisational Quilts

I started the quilt at a class taught by Jaqui hosted by my guild, The Chicago Modern Quilt Guild.

I'm planning to have it longarm quilted professionally. I'm so excited. My friend Jen is going to go with me to drop it off. Very fun. 

I really like the purples and blues in this line

This is my design wall - it looks best at night (it's in front of a window)

Dixie is my quilting pal - we call quilting time Girl Time :)

My goal is to be done this week! I will post more pics soon.

Toodles - K