Tasting Table Tuesday - A New Year

Happy New Year!  Seems like forever since I've posted anything new here.  The holidays were a flurry of activity, both before - and during - leaving no extra time for blogging.  I made almost all of my Christmas gifts this year, and in hind-sight, I probably got in a little too deep this time.  I got a little stressed out in  my attempts to finish everything on time, but in the end, it all worked out fine.

Following tradition, hubby and I got up early Christmas morning and drove to a nearby State Park at the PA Grand Canyon for a daybreak pancake breakfast.  We always do this when we find ourselves alone on Christmas morning, and it's a very special start to our holiday.  This year there was a fresh snowfall and absolutely no wind.  The weather was perfect.  We built a fire in the huge stone fireplace in the pavillion, cooked pancakes and drank coffee.  A peaceful start to a perfect day.

Our daughter, SIL  and granddaughter were here for most of the week, including Christmas, and the 5 of us had plans to travel to Western PA to see my parents and brothers, but Mother Nature had other plans.  We got dumped with about 18 inches of snow between Wednesday and Saturday so that brought our travel plans to a screeching halt.  Very disappointing, to say the least.  But we made the best of it and enjoyed a quiet end to the week and enjoyed the time together.  And you have to admit - the snow was beautiful.

Little Miss R kept us totally entertained as she played "dress-up" for hours on end.  Grammie's hats, shoes, jewelry, purses, scarves - you name it - she wore it.

Now for some of my Christmas projects...
My husband loved his target quilt, so that was a huge success.  In my rush to get everything done, I neglected to take a picture of it after I finished quilting it, and I just now realized it.  Oh well - I'll take one later.
The Weekender Bag was also a hit, as was the I Spy Matching Game, as you can see here.  She's not yet two years old, but was already finding the pairs and matching them up.

At the last minute, I also decided to make a Computer Bag for my DIL.  I used the Two-Zip Hipster pattern by Dog Under My Desk, but made it twice as wide and an inch taller, so it would hold her laptop computer. I also added a padded, elasticized pocket for the power cord and the mouse, along with some slip pockets on the other side.  I love these fabrics.  They're from the Juggling Summer collection by Moda.

There were many other small miscellaneous gifts, but I neglected to photograph them all.  Besides, I don't want to bore you with picture overload.  Next year I think I need to get an earlier start on my projects...
Thank you for sharing 2012 with me here at the Cotton Cellar, and I look forward to keeping in touch with you all in 2013.  Happy New Year!
Cheers!

Tasting Table Tuesday - What's Behind Curtain #1?

I'm almost finished quilting my husband's quilt and I've had to do a little "creative engineering" to keep it out of sight.  My quilting machine is the first thing you see when you come down the stairs, and while I trust him to not look, it's a little hard to avert your eyes when the quilt is right under your nose!  So I hung an old shower curtain as a temporary screen.  He knows I'm working on a quilt for him, but I really want to surprise him on Christmas, so I don't want him to see the finished result until then.  It might not be pretty, but it works in a pinch!  I should have pictures of the finished quilt in time for next week's Tasting Table Tuesday post...

By the way, my Juki is behaving VERY nicely!  I'm so glad I decided to keep her :)
Cheers!

Tasting Table Tuesday - Bullseye!

Yesterday I finished piecing my husband's Target quilt.  It's his Christmas present this year, but I can show it to you here because he never reads my blog.  Not really a computer kinda guy...

My original plan was to add sashing between the blocks, but after I laid it all out, I decided I liked the blocks better without sashing.  So I just added a narrow inner border in a muted earthy green, playing off of the bullseye centers, then an outer border of black with narrow brown sketched lines.  I think it's just the right finishing touch.

Now I just have to decide how I want to quilt this...

1. Straight lines on either side of every seam?
2. Concentric circles in each bullseye, and at the intersection of each block (where the brown points all come together)?
3. One big series of concentric circles starting in the very center of the quilt and radiating outwards to the very outer edge of the quilt?
4. Some sort of traditional feather design in each block?

What's your suggestion???

Tasting Table Tuesday - Target Quilt

I hope everyone is safe now that Hurricane Sandy has passed by.  We had lots of rain and wind here, but we're fine.  And our daughter and her family in NJ are fine as well - thankfully!  It was a scary night for all of us, but everyone is ok today.  I sure hope that's not an indication of what our winter weather will be like this year!
Now for today's Tasting Table.  I've started a new quilt!  A few months ago, I was awestruck when I first saw David Butler's Curious Nature quilt and his collection of Parson Gray fabrics.  (If you missed it, here's a link to his site.)  My husband is an avid trap and target shooter, and I thought this would make a perfect Christmas gift for him.  After all, everyone else has quilts I've made for them, but I've never made one for him.  I think it's time :)
I could have just ordered a kit and make the Curious Nature quilt, but then I'd be making the exact same quilt as everyone else, and I've never liked to do that.  I'm often inspired by quilts I see, but I prefer to make mine a little different than everyone elses.  Kits are fine - they're just not for me...
So here's my take on David's quilt - his pattern is on the left, and my interpretation is on the right.  I'm making nine smaller blocks instead of one big one, and I'm using Civil War Reproduction fabrics.