Monday Night Wine Selection

Ramian 2009 Pinot Noir

We enjoyed this bottle with our Mexican Chicken Packets tonight (see recipe on last blog).

Troy says this of the wine: Smokey, chalky, new world, nice big finish, high in alcohol, earthy, nice rounded cherry, black pepper, seductive with long legs. Troy seems to think that it will lay down great and be even better in a few years.

Now my uneducated thoughts on the wine: I was expecting a slightly spicy note on the front, instead the front was very light, fragrant, cherry and a hint of honeysuckle. The spicy note was in the finish. This was a light wine with a hint French Oak.

We loved the Ramian Chardonnay and we enjoyed this. We will certain repeat the Ramian Pinot Noir.

New Year, New Favorites

Troy and I have a new list of favorite 2012 commercials. Our last link from June 2011 needs some updating...

#5-
Not a Star Wars fan or necessarily a fan of Volkswagen, but a HUGE fan of dogs.

#4-
A little bit of Carrie-Oke.. They should have called me

#3-
Like Father like Daughter?!

#2-
Takes my breath away each time, then I almost pee my pants. Oh Roseanne...

#1-
Spoiler Alert (I posted this last weekend, it is still the best!)

Strip Quilt- Topper Done!

I can not believe that I completed a quilt top and it LOOKS good! The tutorials and guilds that showed this online was giving a time frame of 30-50 minutes. WELL, not for me that's for sure.

Here is the break down on time for this newbie-
Wash, dry and iron strips- 55 minutes
Sewing 48 strips end to end- 45 minutes
Cutting on the crap scraps off the cheap fabric- 30 minutes (THIS WAS THE WORSE!)
Matching end to end and right side to side side on the first length- 2 hours
Matching end to end and right side to side side on the second length- 1.75 hours
Matching end to end and right side to side side on the third length- 1.5 hours
Matching end to end and right side to side side on the fourth length- 45 minutes
Matching end to end and right side to side side on the fifth length- 25 minutes
Total time (the best leisure time to myself in a long time)- almost 7 hours

The "recipe" for this quilt top calls for 40 strips of 2.5"x42". I of course used 48 strips (over achiever). The topper has finished (before ironing) at 50"x68". I am now thinking what the border/binding and backing will be.



Layed out on a queen bed



Horizontal?

Vertical?

Hanging in the hall

New Hobby: Part Seven

You know you are hooked on a hobby and will one day be a “real” quilter when…

Well I messed up the edge of the Pink Explosion quilt. I am unsure how I did it and unsure how I will fix it. But I am official… I will just put it aside and start a new project.

“Real” quilters have several projects going and sometimes NEVER finish one of them at all.

This weekend is the International Quilt Festival here in Houston. I just couldn’t bring myself to go down there though. I think it was all the horrible memories of my Mom and Grandmother dragging me down there as a child at 8am and not leaving until it was 8 or 9pm. OMG that was so boring. I think that is what made me so hate sewing and quilting for so long. This was before cell phones, portable DVD players, portable Nintendo’s were around. AGHHHH that was dreadful!

But I did scope out online some quilt shops here in Houston area. I found one that is just down the road from me. OHHHH their place looks so cute and cozy online. I just had to visit…

Quilters Crossing in Tomball, TX (http://www.quilterscrossingtx.com/). I went for a visit today and drug Mom along with me. Mom thinks she is ready to jump into quilting, but she hasn’t made the leap yet… Get in the pool Mom!

I met the owner, Deb, her daughter Amanda and another lady, Nancy. Oh these ladies were sooo helpful. Their shop was just as I thought, cozy, fabric overload, pattern overload, project overload.

I cant wait to take a class from Quilters Crossing. They will help turn it all around and get my cutting on the square and then I will be off and running… Thanks ladies!

So my next project?? A class from Quilters Crossing for sure and maybe another patch quilt!

New Hobby: Part Six

Wow this thing is wompy. The fabric placement and putting colors together was a cinch for me. Cutting the fabric and sewing a straight ¼” seam, not so easy.

In trying to get the edges to some how match up a bit better, I began to cut the sides.

What the Hell was I thinking?

Notice the right edge…. All I can say is WTH??

I must have been hungry and in a rush… yeah yeah that is what it was. I was trying to “get done” and dressed to get to a birthday party.

Oh I messed this up and am really unsure how to fix it...

New Hobby: Part Five

My last post I asked you which way I should lay out this crazy quilt; with or without spacers. Two of my three followers responded, however, I did NOT do as suggested. Sorry ladies.

I decided to uses a small strip of neutral fabric between each row. I did this in hopes that the uneven squares wouldn’t look so wompy.

I laid out each row with the spacer and when I finally got it to the position that I wanted, I marked the rows A-F, this helped me to remember when sewing it all together which direction and row went where. This is also what the experienced quilters do, and I need to do and be everything that they are so I can get this thing down!

Yep that is the back… not pretty but I did it.

Its sewn together!!!! But I am not done.

New Hobby: Part Four

I completed the 30 squares that is on the list of to-do's on "how to make a patchwork quilt". Now it is time to sew these squares into rows.

Row one complete

Moving forward... I have completed all the rows. Now I need your help, which layout looks best??

Completed rows laid out

Completed rows with neutral fabrics as spacers

I cant decide which one I like best. I like the solid pink layout, you cant see as many mistakes in the sizing and seams. But that neutral fabric makes the pink pop- do I really need a Pink Popping Explosion quilt?

What do you think?

Grandmama's fabrics and my new hobby

I have never wanted to quilt before, but I have been thinking about a hobby I can really get interested in and “participate in” for years to come; something other than reading and cooking, those two things are instant gratification and doesn’t have much to show for once you are finished reading or cooking.

But my Grandmother was a quilter. My Grandmama quilted for 50+ years, volunteered for the largest quilt show in the world (Houston’s International Quilt Show) and was a member of the Austin Quilt Guild for YEARS. I always thought it was weird to spend so many hours quilting.

My Mom and Aunt are working on cleaning out their childhood home 15 months after my Grandmother has passed away. This home is a two bedroom home and one room has ALWAYS been wall to wall, floor to ceiling of sewing/quilting things. There are fabrics of every color and every print. If there is one pair of fabric sheers, there are 20 pairs.

Mom and Aunt Ann haven’t even begun to work on this room. I haven’t asked for much from my Grandmother’s house, but I decided I wanted to raid this room of some goodies. I was going to throw my hat in the ring and try this quilting thing out.

I wanted to share some of the things that I picked out and take you along the journey of my first quilt. Stay tuned.

Who Rocks It Best? (blog post from Troy)

Who rocked it best? You know that old clitche of the USA flag bikini? I think these two ladies are on Troy's crush list this week...

Jessica Simpson

Juilanna Hough

Troy thinks it is Ms. Hough... who do you think rocked it best?