No quilting going on here

I've done next to no quilting since my last post - just a bit of appliqué on Tuesday night during our weekly Tangled Threads get together. So what have I been up to?

First of all - I've been wandering regularly into the quilting room, where my friend Kathi's quilt has been pinned to Gandalf for several weeks. This is a beautiful quilt - but not my style at all. I'm having a really terrible time figuring out what to do, and for once the quilt isn't really talking to me. It must be done by Tuesday, so it better start talking soon! Tomorrow I'll stabilize it by stitching in the ditch around all the blocks and outlining the appliqué. I've got my fingers crossed that it'll start talking a blue streak once I start working on it.

Secondly - I reached the point where I had to stop long enough to prewash my fabric purchases. I tend to toss fabrics in baskets when they arrive in the mail or from the store. When there are just too many - the baskets are overflowing, the lid doesn't fit on the big one, and there are fabrics stacked on top of the lid too - I decide I need to take care of them. This happens about twice a year. Foolish, because I can't use any of them until they are prewashed, but that's just the way I operate. So Thursday morning I started washing and pressing. Seems to take forever when I wait this long. I have only two stacks left to press - fat eights and fat quarters on the ironing board and bigger pieces on the recliner. On the table is what I've finished. Doesn't look like much for two days of work, does it? I've been catching up on recorded TV shows while working, so I guess that's a plus.

Finally - now that I'm feeling back to normal I'm back to planning meals and really tracking my weight (I'll save that for the next post.) My Thread friend Kim - who is an excellent, knowledgeable cook in addition to a great quilter - is always amazing me with the things she knows about food preparation. I asked her where she learned so much - I should have known. She watches a lot of the Food Network, and told me the two best shows for learning things are The Barefoot Contessa (who's on a total of 12 times a week!) and America's Test Kitchens on OPB. So I set myself up with a "season pass" to both shows on our DVR, and started watching the recordings on Thursday. I've already learned a great deal - I hope it sticks! I tried a few new things for dinner yesterday, and was happy with the results. When I saw that our tax refund had been deposited I took a trip to Barnes and Noble to choose myself some new cookbooks. And I've started doing research in p[reparation to buying a new grill - what we have now is an old, cheap grill that doesn't do anything well except for hot dogs and hamburgers. My goal is to do at least 90% of the cooking outside this summer!

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Gratitudes:
1. A beautiful sunny weekend
2. A great start to the Mariners season!
3. New Mariners management who can actually put together a decent team
4. The return of Ken Griffey Jr.
5. Renewed energy and determination - finally!