I'm Addicted!

About 3 or 4 years ago, I ordered a set of work out DVD's called Turbo Jam. I used them intermittenly for a few months, but eventually they found their way to the back of the movie cupboard, collecting dust. Well, a few weeks ago I got them out again, and for some reason this time it's sticking!
Anything that can tear me away from quilting must be pretty good, and so far Turbo Jam is doing the trick. I workout with the DVD's 45 minutes every day except weekends, and some days I do over an hour! For me, this is some serious progress, since I've never been paticularily athletic and especially not good at pushing myself into a sweat. It's making it especially hard to get much quilting done, but I just can't seem to help myself!
I usually miss work outs over the weekend, since it's just too hard with the kids and Monte home, and not as much fun with an audience. Boy do I feel it, though! All weekend, I'm tired, cranky, and just generally don't feel well. By Monday, I can't wait to work out again. It's getting so bad that I've decided to start finding things for Monte and the kids to do outside the house, just so I can get my weekend work out in.
So, you might think that this would be creating some serious weight loss. So far, sadly, that's not the case. I've just about decided to quit weighing, because it can be discouraging, even though I feel so much better. If I could just give up that morning latte, it might help, right? And then there's the evening glass of wine. But hey, Dr. Oz says that one glass of wine a day helps keep you young and healthy. Who want's to give that up, especially since I found a red wine I actually kind of like. (I tried one over Christmas that tasted like smelly feet, no kidding!)

My latest obsession is the annual Camp Turbo Kick. I'm seriously considering going, it looks like a blast. Since I won't go alone, I'm trying to talk my mom or sister into going with me. I can't be the only uncoordinated one there, can I?

Our only close neighbor returns from Winter in Mexico next week. Guess that means tomorrow I'll be buying the remaining window blinds for my living room. They'll stay shut until I start looking like the people in the videos. Hey, stop laughing, never say never, right?

Quilting Product of the Week-Yo Yo's!

It's Monday Again!!! This week, I am choosing Yo-Yo's and everything that goes with them for the product of the week. You may know already that I have never been very good at doing anything that requires handwork. If it is possible to use a sewing machine, I do! However, I have always admired yo-yo projects and thought they were very neat. Until the recent introduction of Yo-Yo Makers, I was unwilling to try making any of my own. Now, I am finding them to be a lot of fun, and a great way to make your projects unique! My current Garden Friends project uses yo-yo's in the center of a few flowers. Even though they still require some hand work, the yo-yo makers come in all shapes and sizes, and with them making yo-yo's is effortless!
I recently received the new book from Indygo Junction, Yo-Yo Fashions. This book is packed with great and unconventional ways to use yo-yo's. There are scarves, sweaters, belts, even shoes! One of my favorites is the yo-yo jeans, which I am making for my girls to wear this spring! I purchased a pair of jeans last night on clearance for only $9.00, and I'm going to use them to make Kylee's pair. They are absolutely adorable, with yo-yo's around the bottom of each leg, and a matching yo-yo key chain to hook in one belt loop.
You will also find yo-yo's making a come back in many new patterns, such as the cute Valentine's patterns from Sandy Gervais. Kim Diehl also uses yo-yo's to make awesome quilts in her Simple Seasons book. Even if you think you don't like hand work, you should give these a try!

It's only money....

It's only money, right? At least that's what I keep telling myself today. I spent the day shopping for new display pieces for the quilt shop. My mom and I share a love of antiques and old things. The older, more worn and beat up it is, the better! We found some great things at an eclectic store we love in Rockford, WA. Now we can't wait to rearrange the shop tomorrow! I will try to post some pictures when we are finished.

If that wasn't enough excitement for one day, the kids and I took a drive this evening to Lewiston. It's nice to get away from the snow once in awhile, and the kids are so tired of being snow bound and shut up in the house. Hopefully it was enough to get them through a day off from school tomorrow without driving me mad!


Will is turning into quite the little shopper!
"Here Mom, we should get these for you," he said about a pair of jeans. Bless his heart, they were a junior's size 7! If only.....
"No," I told him, "I only like jeans with pockets on the back.
Expert shopper that he is, he wasted no time in finding a different pair. "Here, these ones have pockets," he showed me. What a sweetie!

Hopefully this week is a productive quilting week. I'm taking Tuesday and Wednesday off from the shop to ensure that it is. Believe it or not, I did get started blanket stitching on my tablerunner that was previously in pieces for a couple months. If only I could find what happened to my heavy weight black thread, I could start stitching the applique on my Garden Friends quilt. (Thank goodness all of our toilets are working, or I wouldn't have to look for the thread! Remember Toilet Trauma, Part 1 and Part 2?) Three Garden Friends blocks down, 3 more to go! I promise pictures later this week!

Garden Friends & Other Quilting

I love this quilt! Block 1 is pictured in my post from a couple days ago on applique. I finished block 2 this morning, and will probably have block 3 done this afternoon. I fell in love with this quilt at Fall Quilt Market, and have been waiting since to make it! Best of all, it seems to be going together easier and faster than the Strawberry Faire quilt. There are less embellishments and unconventional technique in Garden Friends, which is probably why it's going so well.
I moved Garden Friends up to my "Current Projects" list (Yeah!), and to be fair, I should remove Gathering Leaves. I passed that one off to a couple other people, my mom is finishing it up right now.
I'm also not doing too bad on quilting lately. I finished 3 this past week, not the 7 I hope for, but still not bad! Maybe there's hope yet. I'd love to get caught up far enough to do some of my own, but it will be another week at least before I feel comfortable doing that. Just when I start to see the light, I usually get hit with a new wave of quilts. I do have to get busy before the quilt show in Moscow this April, if I hope to use any of them in my booth!

I'll leave you with another recipe I tried out Thursday night. Simply Lasagna was easy to make, and it was really good. The only change I would make is to leave the top noodles off, or put more sauce on top of them. They were still crunchy around the edges. Other than that, great dinner, and it made enough for 2 nights! A night off from cooking = more quilting, which is always good!

Lucky Day!

Yesterday I ran to town for a few groceries. We're having dinner with friends tonight, and Monte requested tacoes. Of course, with all the food we DO have, we didn't have anything for tacoes! Since having company over compelled me to spend all of Wednesday afternoon digging a snow tunnel to my front door, having to buy special groceries on top of it put me in a bad mood.
However, my grocery trip meant that I finally foudn time to shop at Hastings for a calendar. I have a Debbie Mumm calendar holder I bought about 7 or 8 years ago, and every year I go through the same thing. The Debbie Mumm calendar that goes with is always about $20, so I usually decide it's not worth it, and I find another one for around $10 instead. This can be challenging, to find the right style of calendar, the right colors, and the right size to fit the holder. Well, it seems yesterday was my lucky day!
I guess when you wait until 1/2 way through February to finally buy a calendar, you should expect to get a deal. What I didn't expect was to find an actual Debbie Mumm calendar! First, I found the outer envelope on the rack, but as soon as I grabbed it I coule feel it was empty. I figured someone had either stolen the calendar or bought it without a cover. How disappointing, to almost find it! However, after some searching and flipping through every calendar shelf, I stumbled upon the unwrapped Debbie Mumm calendar just when I was about to give up. To top things off, it was on clearance for $4!!!
Lucky Day! I don't get so lucky very often. Then again, if finding a calendar on clearance is so exciting, how pathetic am I???

Link to Kraft Foods Magazine

Here is a link where you can sign up for the free magazine. It comes out quarterly.

Kraft Food & Family Magazine

You'll have to register as a Kraft Foods member, which is not a big deal. I don't get any emails from them or junk mail, just the magazine.

Fusible Applique Quick Lesson

As a follow up to my earlier post on applique, here is a quick lesson on how I do fusible applique.

First, trace the pattern onto the paper side of the fusible product. Be sure to check your pattern to see if you should reverse trace. Since the fusible is ironed to the back of the fabric, the pieces will be reversed. Many patterns, but not all, account for this already.

After all pieces are traced, cut them apart about 1/4" outside of the lines. DO NOT cut on the lines yet! Also, if you trace the pieces in sections according to which fabric they go with, it will be easier to cut them out in sections according to fabric as I have done in the photo.

Once you have the pieces cut out, iron them to the WRONG side of the fabric. Use your iron on a medium to high setting, with no steam.

Now, you can cut your pieces out on the lines. The paper should still be on at this point. It is especially helpful to leave the paper on, labeled with the piece number or location, until you iron it to the block. When fusing multiple pieces, it is easy to lose track of where they go if you remove the paper too soon!

Now for the fun part! Remove the paper, place your pieces on the block, and iron them on. Be sure to place them in the right place the first time, because they are not easy to remove, and sometimes ruined if you try! Iron them on by placing the iron, again without steam, directly on top of each piece, NOT sliding. Sliding can catch the piece and move it out of place, often sticking it right to the bottom of your iron! (Don't ask how I know this)

The final step is to applique stitch around each piece. This can be a satin stitch, running stitch, or blanket stitch. It can be done by hand or machine, with embroidery thread or jean stitch thread. Black is often used, but you can also match color to fabric. At this time, also add any details like french knots in the flower centers.

I hope this is helpful for you! Please leave me a comment if you have questions or helpful hints to add.