A finished quilt and some veggies!

My snuggle quilt for my youngest boy is finished! Hooray--I am so happy mostly because he is now 2 and I bought the fabric *especially* for a quilt for him when I was pregnant. He likes snuggling with a flannel receiving blanket, so I did not use any batting in this little quilt. I love it.... that said, if I were to do it again (I am not going to) I would maybe put a batting of flannel. I think that the quilting would look nicer...blah blah blah. The other exciting thing that happened when I was making this quilt was (drum roll...) I bought myself a new sewing machine....I think that I might be willing to dress in rags for the rest of my life because I can sew on this machine. It is a Bernina and I feel so ritzy....

So, I guess I really like it...I like the variable speed A LOT. My old machine was a Viking and I totally loved it....BUT can you say BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator)? I started playing with this machine when the BSR foot first came out and I have been coveting it ever since. I am glad that I decided that I was deserving of such a great treat and it is nice that my husband thought so too!

This picture is a bit weird, but it is a little sea horse that I drew out first and then quilted it...I haven't ever drawn out a design before---I am more a "by the seat of my pants" type of girl. It totally has merit...I even tried the old trick of tracing over the picture first and then quilting and it went very smoothly. (I just think that it would look better with a bit of loft behind it, but I have to practice where I can...)

I just finished basting up on of my mystery WIP (Works In Progress--for those out of the loop--like myself, it took me a bit to figure out why everyone was spelling "whip" wrong on their blogs--and maybe I wasn't so interested in a blog "like that"....but you live and learn.) I am excited to get started on quilting it, because it needs to be finished and I need to get rolling on the may other UFOs (Un-Finished Objectionables, in my book.) Remember we have to move out the fabric to move in yet more, right?? *Note: I did read the other day about QuIPs--for Quilts In Progress and I think that sounds WAY more positive.

I have also been working on a Summer class with Lazy Gal Tonya, here are my latest endeavors, it is turning into quite the neighborhood...really fun to do.

Lastly, I feel the need to toot my own green horn (?!)--I have actually been EATING the greens that I have grown over the winter!!! What we have here in this basket is mostly just Swiss chard, but there is some kale in there as well as these crazy Bright lights chard leaves from a plant that is almost a year old. I planted it near my dahlias, so I think that when it got really hot last summer the plant was really shaded and so there was no bolting. Bright lights--not a prettier vegetable out there.

I have not always eaten greens, but the last few years I have been trying them out in soups (cut into ribbons they are rather noodley.) and sauteed. I am partial to the soups because I tend to over cook them and I haven't found a recipe that I like a lot. One of my friend really likes to cook hers with bacon (how could you go wrong with a little pig fat?) but bacon is like crack to me, and I really don't need to eat more of it. I will try some more ideas and report back.

Here's to more quilting!!!

JMB