mug mats and weeks 39 and 40

I soooo love doing my aerobic exercise. I run. I walk. I jump. I have managed to increase the time to about 50 mins of interval style where you do high intensity for 1 or 2 or 3 minutes then walk for 2 or 3 mins to get the heart rate back a bit then high intensity again. It is very doable.

I have been drawing up a storm using the pictures I have pinned or seen in magazines and I have decided to make a quilt from 12 inch blocks of random design both applique and pieced. I have finished block 1 this week. I copied this lovely design from mamacjt 's blog.

I wanted to get some new skinny folders to file my old drawings a bit more user friendly rather than in the big fat ring binders I have now. They are too hard to pick up and flick through. I also wanted a 12 inch album to store my new drawings. I ended up getting two snap load albums from Aldi for $5 each. They are normally $20 at Lincraft. I have been using my stash of 12 inch scrap booking papers that I have had for maybe 10 years to make the designs into 12 inch blocks. The papers are the ones you get 100 for $15 from Big W. Perfect for quilting designs.

I have been carrying my brekkie outside each morning with my tray. To stop things sliding around I need a tray mat. I have been folding in the edges of my fancy tea towels to use as mats. I don't use them as tea towels because they never get seen then. I had an urge to sew so I  took one of the tea towels and cut it into a mat. I even appliqued a tea pot on the back side and I have enough tea towel left to make a tea pot cover.

I couldn't help myself and just happened to start sewing selevedges together again. They make great kitchen counter mats because spills don't show up. An applique was needed of course so a mug with marsh mallows and a cup of coffee were applied and voila another nice mat to make my tea on. The owl is going on the cat quilt instead of the parrot DD2 didn't like.

I tidied up the sewing table a bit and put all the small UFO's into folders in a hanging file box. I then started putting steps required to finish them in my Errands app so I can do a little bit if I am looking for something to do and then tick it off so I know exactly what is required next time I am looking for something to do.

The folders were left over from my teacher days. This is my half finished tote bag.

Finally I redid my workout routine folder, putting it into a ring binder instead of a display folder. I have quite a few pages now and with the ring binder I can place the current routine in the front of the folder. The routines are made up of some printed out ones from Pinterest and various websites as well as photocopies of routines from my Oxygen or Shape magazines. Having the folder makes it much easier to actually do the exercise rather than looking for, then looking through the magazine or website.

Leslie Maxwell is my inspiration. She is 55 in the photo.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Week 35

I needed a change for my aerobic routine so I pulled out my old Aerobic Oz Style video and sacheted and sweated along with Anton, Wendy and June. They haven't aged a bit since the 90's. I can remember getting up in the mornings and doing the routines from the tele.

I spent several days making a new cover for our swing seat. I used my bias binding making machine to make about 10 metres of binding. It was so quick and easy. We bought some fabric backed plastic table cloth from Mitre 10 hardware. The type they sell by the metre as well as the clear plastic.We bought some new cushions and it all looks as good as new. The frame is 20 years old. The plastic is still on the cushions til I make some clear plastic back protectors to keep the bird poos off.  I don't expect them to sit under the top. I made it longer at the back to discourage them but I don't want to take any chances.

I ironed the binding in half and stitched it through both sides at once.

I finished off my new hand bag and I have been using it. I love it but I had to fudge it a bit and cut down the top band across the  back because it went a bit skewif when I tried sewing in the side sections. The clear plastic made it all a bit stiff to sew but I am glad I didn't cover the strips with a solid fabric pocket.

I tried a new recipe last week to try to liven up some left over chicken. It has been so cold here the last few days and I needed something warming. I found this recipe in my Australian Yoga magazine.
It is called Slow Roast Carrot and Ginger Soup.

5 or 6 carrots peeled and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup of cashews
1 tbs freshly grated ginger
1 onion sliced
1 tbs maple syrup
1 cup of fresh orange juice
1 cup of water

In a heavy pot saute the carrot, ginger, nuts and onion.
Reduce heat, cover and slow roast for an hour stirring occasionally.
Fold in the maple syrup.
Add juice and some water. Blend and add water as needed.
Heat up and serve.

I made a few changes. I only had walnuts and no onion and I was too hungry to cook it for an hour. I just stir fried it til the carrots were a bit soft. I added some chopped chicken when I reheated it after blending. It was delicious. Because it was just for me I used 2 carrots and cut back on the other ingredients.

Nearly forgot!
I joined up to do a Halloween blog hop where all those who join in make a wicked themed block then post about it. Should be fun. It happens towards the end of September. The blog hops are announced at Sew We Quilt and are happening all the time.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Week 34

I did lots of sewing and reading last week. I worked on the cat quilt doing some of the saw tooth star blocks. I am thinking I might even try to finish my first ever quilt that is all stars.

I also tried a tote bag with the binding around the edges. It is not quite finished yet but at least the sides are bound now. I don't think I will do a bag like this again. The corners are a bit too messy.
I have started another bag now and will put the zipper in like I have seen on zippy purses to see how it works.

The outside pocket is clear plastic bound along the top so the strips wouldn't be hidden.

I tried a muffin recipe with oil instead of melted butter and it worked just fine. I used rice oil. it doesn't have much flavour. I can't tolerate butter very well and margarines that are dairy free are the expensive ones. So at least I know that rice oil is a fair substitute.

The new thing I did last week was to learn the second verse of Advance Australia Fair. I don't sing very well so my DH wasn't too thrilled with me practicing.

Can you believe another week has gone!

Happy Quilting,
Val

Week 33

Doesn't the time go fast. Every now and then my husband and I talk about the things we did over the past weeks and sometimes we can't remember when we did things. We know we went to lunch at the pub but was it last week or the week before and most of the time there is nothing one could call significant happening.
As part of my efforts to make each week count I will be setting some goals for each week. Some will be part of longer term goals but some will just be things I like to do. I have noticed that I tend to do a lot of 'more of the same' kind of stuff so it all just blends together.
The main goals I want to achieve are:
1. Attempt something new each week.
2. Mindfully choose some skills to improve upon.
Each Sunday I will record my achievements. I guess I am aiming to feel satisfied rather than just comfortable.

The past week I have continued with some foundation piecing and I am getting the pieces on with a bit less thinking and stumbling. I am thrilled when I fold the piece back into place and it overlaps in all the right places. I also did some free motion quilting on this one. White swirls on the white, black swirls on the black and some meandering in green on the green part.

I also did a bit of drawing practice. I would love to make the bug out of felt so I drew up an applique plan as well.

I made a point of using my binding and bias maker machine so I become familiar with it. I can whip up a length of binding quite quickly now.


The new skill concerned trying new exercise routines and pushing myself much harder than before. I have learnt that I can push my heart rate up and keep it up without doing myself any harm. I was always a bit wary about over doing it. I worked with a  personal trainer for several sessions to increase my confidence. Now I will have to work at improving my exercise skills each week.

Happy Quilting,
Val