SCORE!

Sorry if I seem too excited but I just got back from the market with some bacon! Well, it isn't really the same as the bacon we get it the States, but it is close. It isn't as cured or salty and it is extremely thin cut. I love bacon and egg sandwiches or BLT's when I can get lettuce, but getting lettuce is very difficult also. I am so spoiled and I didn't even know it. I found out how spoiled I am by living in Romania for the last 3 years. I plan my menu for the week but I may not be able to get all of the ingredients so I have learned to be flexible. There are so good things here that we don't have or command a higher price in the States. Brown eggs are the only eggs you can buy here and at home, if you can get them, are a much higher price than the white ones. Virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar are very inexpensive here but command a higher price at home.

Well, I'm off to cook my bacon. There wasn't any lettuce so I guess it will be bacon and egg sandwich for lunch.

until next time
God Bless you

Did you notice?

Did you notice my new button on the side? It is my declaration that I am a very slow quilter. I love the process and the stitching of quilt tops. It does take me a long time to finish a top. I have a very large pile of quilt tops to sandwich and quilt. I have to make the backs for most of them so maybe instead of piecing I should just buy yardage for the backs. That would be the fastest way to get them sent off to the long arm quilter. I do have some that are small enough to quilt myself and I plan on hand quilting several just for the fun of it. I should have finished them long ago!

I am still working on the blocks for my current project and looking longingly at the table runner kit that is still in the package. I really want to start a new project but I won't until I get the top finished for my current project. I have finished 12 more blocks since my last posting and hope to finish the top in the next 2 weeks or sooner if I can manage.

I guess it is too late to officially join Judy's UFO challenge since since it is already March, but I plan on doing it unofficially. I will watch for next year around December and join then if she hosts it again. I really need something to keep me on track to finishing my UFO's but I need to make a list of them. I don't have an exact count so I will add counting and listing UFO's to the long list of things I need to accomplish when I am home for a week in April.

Until next time
may God Bless you and keep you safe

Snow again

It snowed again but it was just a dusting. This picture is what I see from my bedroom window. The trash can used to be under that staircase, but the neighbors built an enclosed storage there so now the can sits right by the stairs going down to the lower sidewalk and street.

I didn't sew on the weekend but plan on getting the last of the blocks done this week for the quilt that I have been working on. I have 25 blocks to finish so if I complete 5 a day, I should have enough to start sewing the top together next week. Then I have to decide what to do for the boarders. Did I mention in an earlier post that I must be the world slowest quilter? It seems that it takes me so long to finish a quilt, but then I really enjoy the process and feel a real sense of accomplishment when I put that last stitch on the binding. I usually sew my label into the binding on 2 sides so it is really secure.

My next challenge will be to count the number of pieced tops that I have at home and create the backs so I can finish them. That will have to wait until April when we get home. I also should count the number of kits and UFO's but I'm afraid to do that. I know I have many, many, many UFO's and PIG's. Did I mention that I have a real abundance of kits and UFO's? I have never formally joined a UFO challenge but maybe I should just to stay on top of them.

I did not do all the shopping for my stash and kits. I am one of the lucky ones that has a husband that loves to shop. He did a good portion of the buying. He also designs some of my quilts and has a much better sense of color than I do. I have learned to trust him when he says 'put that piece of this fabric in that quilt, you'll love it'. It always makes the quilt 'POP' but it was never a color that I would have chosen!

Well, back to the sewing machine
until next time
God Bless

What am I working on?

I'm still working on our son's quilt. It seems like I have bee working on it for a long time. I know I am a very slow quilter, but I really do enjoy the process. I have a dozen more blocks to make for this quilt before I can start sewing it in rows and columns. I already have the boarder material picked out and it is here in Romania with me so I hope to finish the top before we have to go home in April. Then I can piece the back from my stash. As you can see from the picture it is a 2 block controlled scrappy blue, green and orange colors.

When I am working on a quilt for someone special I say a little prayer for them each time I finish a block. If I am making a quilt just to make it and I don't know where it will end I just say a little general prayer for whatever is in the news at the time. Prayers and quilts just naturally fit together as the quilts will bring comfort and warmth to the receiver and lets them know someone is thinking of them.

I was doing laundry while I was quilting today and happened to get a picture of one of my visitors. She was very interested in the spin cycle.

Until next time
May God Bless you

Quilting Area in Romania

Today I am sharing the quilting space with you that I have in Romania. Here we have a small 1 bedroom flat so there isn't much room for quilting, but I do have my small travel sewing machine (Janome sew mini) and a travel iron which has a steam setting. I do miss my quilting studio at home with the wall to ceiling built in cabinets and all my lovely stash. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining as I am well aware that our accommodations could be much worse with no place to quilt. I think I'm just a bit homesick.

Yes, this is a chest freezer and it is right next to the counter where we eat because the lap-tops and sewing machine have taken up residents on our dining table.
Until next time we visit together,
May God bless you and keep you safe

Thank you

I must send a thank you to Pippa at Welsh Quilts for pointing out the Stats tab where we can go to see some great statistics about our blogs. (if you use blogger.com for posting your blog) I do love the blogging world and the wonderful people that are so willing to share their knowledge with each other.

It is Friday morning here in Romania and Bruce just left for work. I am way behind on my goal of finishing one quilt every six weeks in 2011. I have so many UFO's and PIG's that I may never finish them all in my lifetime. I have stopped buying fabric unless it is yardage to finish a UFO and I am not starting any new quilts unless they are PIG's. Stay tuned for updates.

Until next time
God Bless you and keep you safe

Blog Envy!

I guess you could call what I suffer from is blog envy. I have never felt envy towards anything or anybody before, so I am not sure that is what I am feeling. I get this longing when I read other blogs and see the amount of comments or followers that are listed. I wonder if anyone reads my blog or even looks at the photos that I have posted. I need to lean how to jazz up my blog with some of the neat graphics that others have on their blogs. I guess a class is in my future!

until next time
God Bless you and keep you safe