The First Round Robin Block

I have recieved the first block from the "round robin" project. It is a scrappy blue and yellow nine patch block. My job will be to add the next row which will be a checkerboard effect of 2" finished pieces. I will need to rummage through my fabric stash to find some blues and yellows. For the first block this should be fairly easy to do. I have seen some of the other blocks I will be working on once they come my way. I think some will be a true challenge. Especially the one made up of mostly Kaffe Fasset fabric, which I am not used to working with! The only guidelines that came with the blue and yellow block are to keep the block scrappy or not, specks of other colors are O.K. Guess what I will be working on today?

Oh, one more fun thing that my Sewing Bee decieded to do. We are to gather some coordinating fabric together and put it into a brown bag. It should be enough fabric for either a small quilt or table runner. We are going to bring the brown bags to the next bee meeting and put them into a group or pile. Then everyone will grab a bag (that is not there own). We are to take the bag home and make something with only the fabrics that are in the bag! We have such a diverse group, that this could prove to be more challenging then the Kaffe Fasset round robin block!

I am off to my sewing room! Happy Quilting! ;0)

"Spring Cleaning"

Is "Spring Cleaning" a good idea or a bad idea? Hmmm. A little bit of both perhaps. I have finally finished cleaning out my sewing room! It all started because of "The Box". ( Which now over floweth! I added more than my share to the box! I hope the next box reciepient has a large trunk space! Giggle!) There are no longer any dust bunnies residing in that room. (For now anyway, but I am sure they will be back! They always seem to have a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it!)
I found 13 UFO's (unfinished objects) and have 5 tops that only require quilting. I did not count the current projects I am working on. Some became UFO's because I had to put them away when we moved and they just got buried or lost. I have a couple which were projects started in my sewing bee. For example, a block exchange, or fabric swap. Sometimes I just put a project away because I was unsure about what to do with it next. I have a couple of those too! During the "cleaning" process my creative juices started to flow! All the ideas for future projects I would like to do. But, what about my poor UFO's! I want to finish those too! Which leads me back to my question. Is "Spring Cleaning" a good idea or a bad idea? In the long run I think it was a good idea! No more dust bunnies! ;0)

My husband and I have been doing some research on new computers. We decieded to get a new one, because we have been having a lot of issues with the one we currently have. The one we currently have is a refurbished 2001. It is very slow, and we can only do web searches and check e-mail at this point. Anything more then that and it freezes and then "Kaput"! It has been a work horse that has seen better days. My hubby ordered the new one this morning! I am soooo excited! He found a 30% off sale. It's arrival date is March 18. (Sounds like I am talking about a baby!) I am sure it will be a learning process. It will have the new "Vista" which we do not currently have. A wireless mouse sounds super! Needless to say, I can't wait!
I will just have to make do for now. I will make my blogging words as coloful as I can until I can post pictures. My daughter did put a picture on my profile from her computer. Thank-you daughter2!
Daughter1 will be coming home for spring break this weekend! Something else to look forward to! She will be coming by train for the first time. We have been either driving up to get her or she has found a ride home with a schoolmate. She goes to a school about 3 1/2 hours drive from here. This is her first year away at college. It has been an adjustment, not only for my daughter1, but for daughter2, my husband, and myself!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I had the most delicious tasting soup at a Christmas Party in December. It was a broccoli cheese soup. Yummy! I had asked the hostess of the party for the recipe, but hadn't tried to make it until yesterday. It is a quick and easy recipe, with excellent results. I wish I had a picture of what it looks like to show you. I seem to be having some problems with my computer lately. Whenever I try to do anything with photos, the computer freezes then shuts down. So for now no more pictures. :0(

Broccoli Cheese Soup
1 10 oz. package of frozen chopped broccoli
1/2 pound grated American cheese ( I used cheddar cheese)
1 Tablespoon butter or margerine
2/3 cup chopped onion
3 cups chicken broth ( I used 3 cups of water and 3 chicken bouillon cubes)
1/2 of an 8 oz. package of fine Egg noodles ( I used 1 package of Ramen noodles broken apart)
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups of Half and Half or 3 cups of milk
Pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Optional: sprinkle with a little allspice or nutmeg

Heat butter and saute onions. Add chicken stock. Bring to a boil, gradually add salt and noodles. Cook covered for 3 minutes. Stir in broccoli and garlic powder. Cook for another 3 minutes. Add milk, cheese and pepper. Stir constantly until the cheese melts. Freezes beautifully.
This recipe can be cut in half for it makes a nice pot of soup.

There is nothing like altering a recipe to fit what is in your cupboard. :0)
Although every once in a while I find one that you have to follow exactly or else it becomes a disaster!

Spring is coming! My Daffodils are up, and I think I will see them in full bloom by this weekend! I always look forward to seeing my "Daffy's". They are such a nice bright spot of creamy yellow coloring, after the drab brown of winter grass!

I am still working on cleaning out my sewing room. It is taking me longer then I thought it would! Probably because I decieded to move some furniture around and found huge piles of dust bunnies! I will be very happy once I get this photo glitch, computer problem resolved. Then I hope to share a picture with you of my sewing room. I always enjoy seeing photos of other peoples sewing rooms!

Round Robin

Well, I think I finally figured out how to get a picture onto the blog! Although, the real trick will be if I can do it again! :0)
This is a picture of one of my bee members with her "Show and Tell". My group as a whole decieded to use her quilt pattern as our next project. Each member of the group is to make a beginning block, which will be a 9 patch. Then, the block will be handed to another member who will add on a row to that first block. It will be passed around to each member until the quilt has nine rows around. There are 12 members in my group. I am not sure yet if everyone will be participating or not.
We will start with a 4 patch of 2" squares (finished size). That 4 patch will become the center square of the 9 patch which is made up of 4" squares. Then around that the 2" squares, and around the next row will be the 4" squares again, etc.....Until we have gone around 9 times. Very easy sewing. We are doing it as a lesson in color values as each row goes from light to dark.
We are actually going to make two 9 patch blocks that are the same. One to pass around in the group project, the other we are to finish on our own. It should be a lot of fun to see how different the two quilts end up! We are still talking about the possibility of donating the finished quilts to some sort of charity. That will remain for a future discussion, once we see how well the project goes, and how many of us are going to do it. I am planning on participating in this project. We have not done a group project for quite a while.
Happy Valentines Day!!!!!

"The Box"

I am a member of a quilt bee called "The Sew n' Sews". We meet every other Wednusday. This past Wednusday it was my turn to host. One of the things we are doing right now is passing a "box" around to each member. The "box" is filled with unwanted items from all of the members. When we first started each member was to bring several items which were sewing related that they no longer wanted. (One persons trash is another persons Treasure!). One member is then choosen, by having their name drawn from a basket, to take the box home. The lucky person gets to rummage through "the box" and take out any and all items they may want! But, they must refill "the box" with things they no longer want so the next person might have a full box of goodies to pick from. Guess what? I got to keep "the box" for the next two weeks! Boy, there is a lot of stuff in "the box"! Books, fabric, pincushions, scraps of fabric as well as fat quarters, unwanted blocks from a quilt someone abandoned, webbing, patterns and tools. Whew! Well, I finally figured out what I wanted to keep. Now I need to fill the box back up with things that I may not be using or no longer want. Hmmm. I might as well start my "Spring Cleaning" now. Which means I will begin in my sewing room!

A New Beginning

I thought "A New Beginning" was an appropriate title for my first blog paragraph. After following blogs from others, I have seen inspiration, fun thoughts, compassion and friendship blossom. Some of these friendships are with fellow bloggers from around the world! I think that is really wonderful! I have finally decieded, with the encouragement of my new friend (Suzie)to take the plunge and begin my own blog.

I don't know how often I will get to do updates, and it may be a while before I figure out how to use it properly. But, I am going to give it a try.