Hello North American Polar Vortex

You know it's cold when it's warmer in Anchorage, Alaska than it is in Atlanta, Georgia.  What?!?!?!?
This satellite photo from NASA is mesmerizing. You can barely see the Great Lakes under that big mass of cold air barreling down from the North Pole.

Image credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project

It was all of 6°F this morning on my way to work with a windchill of -12°F.  Brrrrrrrrrrrr! I know the rest of the country and Canada is dealing with much, much worse, but the South is ill-prepared for such craziness.  I was relieved that the black ice/snow/wintery mix missed the Atlanta metro area and I didn't have to deal with slippery roads during my 4AM commute to Starbucks.  

In quilting news for 2014: I've been working on the second Silver Thimbles Quilt Club mystery quilt and am on the final steps of putting blocks together.  Wish I could show you this fabulous pattern but it's top-secret mystery so I'll just show my fabric choices for this two-color quilt.  Since the vast majority of my stash (stress that word VAST) is in Santa Fe, it was a challenge to find enough of two fabrics here to make the quilt.  I had some stacks of yardage left to pack in an armoire so I started packing that up and picking out fabric for the quilt.

I have been hoarding yardage of an old Kansas Troubles fabric line called Prairie Moon and had enough (about 4 1/2 yards) of the black moon print for the dark print.  Finding the light fabric was more challenging as I didn't have 5 yards of a good contrasting neutral. But I did have 2 1/2 yards of the green moon fabric and 2 1/2 yards of yellow moon fabric from the Christmas Past line by Minick & Simpson.  Bingo! Now I have really cool moon-themed mystery quilt blocks that I can't show you... 

What I can show you is this great special issue of Victoria magazine that I won in a giveaway from quilter/editor/writer/black cat owning/old house loving/all around fabulous Kimber from Heirlooms at Ashton House.  Thank you so much, Kimber!!!  During this freezing cold weather, I curled up in several quilts with a pot of tea and savored this issue.  The beautiful photos of spring gardens will have you planning tea parties in no time.  Also, there is a recipe for Honey Scones that I can't wait to make.

Gomez wanted to let you know that the Polar Vortex bypassed New Mexico and he was snug on his rug in the kitchen.  

Stay warm everyone and rejoice in all those piles of quilts that us quilters have to snuggle under. I know I am :)

A Million Things

I have been busy doing a million things but apparently blogging was not one of them ;)
The weather has been nice here with moderate temps in the lower to mid-80s F, rain, and low humidity for the most part.  I've been working outside on the garden and on various maintenance projects. All those fun chores--reglazing windows, washing windows, priming exterior trim and porch posts, buying paint, etc. etc.

I would like to say a big THANK YOU to Nancy, Near Philadelphia for the wonderfully fantabulous mug rug and sewing goodies that I won on her 1600 Post Giveaway.  Nancy's blog was one of the very first quilting blogs that I started reading lo these many moons ago. This mug rug just makes me smile and it will have a treasured place in my sewing room.  You bet these great purple fabrics are going to be featured in a quilt or two and those adorable embroidery scissors are going straight into my on-the-go sewing kit.

There has been some sewing going on here at Chez Stella Bella.   I finally decided to cut into my stash of Flea Market Fancy and Hope Valley fabric that I've been hoarding.  I am pairing it with my favorite Zen Gray Moda Bella Solid.  Here is a sneak peek of a new quilt I'm working on. 

After missing the past two Another Year of Schnibbles projects.  I'm starting this month's right away.  I dug through my stash of charm packs and found an early Fig Tree line called "A Day in the Country."  The blocks are cut out and I'll be working on those this week. Photos to follow.

How could I not include an update on the cats?  They are all fine and sprawled around the house in their favorite spots.  Isn't this the cutest photo of Remy?!?!? (of course I think he is the cutest all the time).  Remy loves playing in paper bags and I try to have one out for him to play in.  Paper bags don't last very long because he likes to run into them at top speed so he runs right through the bottom or he rolls around and rips them to shreds.  

Remy's "green" motto:  Reuse, play, shred and recycle. 

Remy loves paper bags from Whole Foods

  

Rainy Wednesday Photos

The baby quilt top is done! Wish my quilt holder was around so I could fit the whole quilt in the photo but you get the idea.  Also, the light is terrible in my house as it's overcast and pouring down rain. The colors are bright and clear primary colors with apple-green polka dot border.  The quilt is not baby-quilt size; it's 68" x 75".  Big enough for laying out on the floor and making a fort out of when he/she is older.  

The pattern is "Alphablocks Quilt" by American Jane.  This was a fun and easy quilt to make.  I used  Moda solids for the letters & solid blocks.  The letters are machine-appliqued with a small blanket stitch.  I have the binding made and need to hunt around in the stash for backing fabric.  I plan to machine quilt this myself.  Not my favorite thing to do, but I need to hold off on long-arm quilting at the moment.  

What was Remy doing on this rainy Wednesday?  

Napping and planning new quilt projects apparently.  Here he is napping with my friend Pat Wys' book Spotlight on Neutrals.  Wonder what project he has in mind?  I think Remy has been closely following Baxter's lessons on quilt making.  Wonder what project he has in mind?  If you haven't been following Mr. Q.O.'s Baxtertoons on Cathi's blog "Quilt Obsession", you are missing one of those little moments that brighten up your day.  Love Baxtertoons.