Happy 2009!

Hello to a new year! I hope this will be a happy year for everyone.

I'm going to show you the last of my Christmas projects. Above is a wallhanging I made for my daughter and her husband. As I mentioned in my last post, she loves owls. I found this photo-transferred panel at a quilt show last year.

This was not been an easy project, despite it's seemingly easy style. I didn't know when I bought this that it's one of those rubbery transfers. . . it was encased in plastic when I bought it. (I didn't enjoy that little surprise.) I tried to machine quilt through that transfer last year, when I started this project. My Bernina did not like that transfer. No matter what I did, the stitches got smaller and smaller. So, I stopped and took out the quilting I'd done in the center. It took both me and my DH, whose got more patience for that sort of thing than I do, about 2 hours to get all those tiny stitches out! Then, I didn't know quite what to do. So it hung in the closet for a year!
I finally came to the conclusion that this is just a wallhanging and won't get much wear or even washing. So, I didn't quilt the center. I just quilted in-the-ditch around the center, then meandered in the borders. Done! I'm relieved that it's done. Don't know why I didn't come to that conclusion sooner. I keep forgetting that I've banned the Quilt Police from my studio!

These are the pillowcases that I made for my daughter and her husband. Bet you can't guess which one is for which person!

And, last but not least, here is the pillowcase I made for my DH. He got to pick out his own fabrics after helping me pick out all the other pillowcase fabrics so patiently! Besides, in spite of 30+ years of marriage, I'm not entirely certain what he'd like to live with in the way of pillowcases. So, he picked this beautiful batik!

Here is the finished "yellow" page from my color book. I sewed on the buttons, and then took off the buttons. Then I sewed them on again with a darker thread, so that the extra touches I did when sewing on the buttons actually show. And I substituted the spiral for one of the buttons - I like it a lot better. What do you think? I totally didn't see that it echoes the design on that fabric until I had it all sewn on - happy serendipity!

I'm really happy with the way this page came out.

Next I did the white page. It reminds me of pinafores and eyelet curtains, and it even reminds me of the snow we've had lately. This one was really fast and easy. . .my favorite kind of project.

I may add one more button on the right-hand side after I get the pages sewn together. I'm afraid if I do it now, I won't be able to sew past the button.

I've been having fun with these 'Color' pages, and they're going pretty well, and quickly. It's a great way to start the year.

We woke up to another 6 inches of snow yesterday morning. It was heavy and wet - great for snowballs. And the trees were all covered in snow - even the bare branches. It looked like a Christmas card everywhere I looked! Beautiful!

Awhile back, Berta tagged me with a meme. It's a list of foods and I'm supposed to turn the items I've eaten bold and have some friends do the same. So I'm now tagging Belinda at Brown Dirt Cottage and Julie at Through the Barn Door! Have fun!


Foods I’ve Eaten:

1. Venison

2. Nettle tea

3. Huevos rancheros

4. Steak tartare

5. Crocodile or Alligator

6. Black pudding

7. Cheese fondue

8. Carp

9. Borscht

10. Baba ghanoush

11. Calamari

12. Pho

13. PB&J sandwich

14. Aloo gobi

15. Hot dog from a street cart

16. Epoisses

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (Cranberry – yum!)

19. Steamed pork buns

20. Pistachio ice cream

21. Heirloom tomatoes

22. Fresh wild berries (picked them myself in Georgia!)

23. Foie gras

24. Rice and beans

25. Brawn, or head cheese

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper

27. Dulce de leche

28. Oysters

29. Baklava

30. Bagna cauda

31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl

33. Salted lassi

34. Sauerkraut

35. Root beer float

36. Cognac with a fat cigar

37. Clotted cream tea

38. Vodka + Jell-O

39. Gumbo

40. Oxtail

41. Curried goat

42. Whole insects

43. Phaal

44. Goat's milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more

46. Fugu

47. Chicken tikka masala

48. Eel

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut

50. Sea urchin

51. Prickly pear

52. Umeboshi

53. Abalone

54. Paneer

55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal

56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty gin martini

58. Beer above 8% ABV

59. Poutine

60. Carob chips

61. S'mores

62. Sweetbreads

63. ratatouille

64. Currywurst

65. Durian

66. Frogs' legs

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake

68. Haggis

69. Fried plantain

70. Chitterlings, or andouillette

71. Gazpacho

72. Caviar

73. Louche absinthe

74. Gjetost, or brunost

75. Roadkill

76. Baijiu

77. Hostess Fruit Pie

78. Snail

79. Lapsang souchong

80. Bellini

81. Tom yum

82. Eggs Benedict

83. Pocky

84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant

85. Kobe beef

86. Hare

87. Goulash (in the Alps!)

88. Flowers

89. Horse

90. Criollo chocolate

91. Spam

92. Soft shell crab

93. Rose harissa

94. Catfish

95. Mole poblano

96. Bagel and lox

97. Lobster Thermidor

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100.Snake

I’ve also had crepes from a street vendor in Paris, and bratwurst from street vendors in both Germany and Luxembourg. All were absolutely heavenly! Yuuuummmm!

I'm a picky eater, so I was surprised to see how many thing on this list I've actually eaten. Living in Europe for 3 years helped, and also living in California - there's so many people and restaurants from different cultures there that it's easy to find "exotic" foods. However, there are lots of things on the list that I have No Idea what the heck they are!