A whole bunch of stuff and CABBAGE!!!

First things first. This jubilee quilt idea. I really like the idea and I'm finding the excitement of the others that are planning one for this year to be infectious. Seems that every time I read about somebody making one, I add a follow link to another blog. A new person that's turning 50 and planning their own jubilee quilt.

But, I'm having issues with the commitment. My resolution was to finish as many quilts as I could this year before starting anything new. Since then, I have started two new quilts. And, finished nothing. Of course, one of the new quilts is a baby quilt, so it gets a special exemption because I don't have any control over when babies are born. The other one is sitting, waiting for me to finish something and get back to it.

Without losing my excitement.

So, the thought of starting something else is daunting. Should I start a new quilt, or should I finish something I have started and call that my jubilee?

Grrrr. Pardon me for a bit of rationalization [So what if I leave 347 unfinished quilts when I die. It ain't about what I leave behind. It's about how much I enjoy life while I'm here. And, I'd rather leave 347 unfinished quilts than 4000 yards of uncut fabric, right? I saw a commercial the other day and the brand and product didn't stick with me, but this line did..."I want to die exhausted." I think that's my new motto.]

So, if you didn't notice, I think I just talked myself into going ahead and starting a jubilee quilt to celebrate my 50th. Of course, I've made that decision about 12 times and then I walk into the sewing room and see the unfinished projects laying around and so I've talked myself out of it about 11 times. But, if I'm going to do it, I need to commit!

Yesterday, I went looking for a pattern. This is what I found when I googled Jubilee quilt pattern.

module 1
module 2
module 3
module 4
module 5
module 6

If that worked right, you can see 36 different paper pieced Mariner's Star blocks. Yesterday, I bought module 1, just to make sure of what I'd get before I spent $24. It's exactly what I expected and looks pretty straightforward. Certainly something I could do.

Last night, I pulled all my batiks and hand dyes down and sorted them by fabrics that would work in these patterns and fabrics that wouldn't; mariner's compass blocks need distinct colors and lots of my hand dyes are multi colored. And, wouldn't you know it, I found a big piece of hand dyed background (and some beautiful hand dyes from my friend Patricia).

So, I've been dancing around this for at least a couple of days. I think that means I'm dragging my feet while at the same time, making a plan. I'm starting to think that the only person I'm fooling by straddling the fence is me.

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This morning, it was raining. YEAH!! That meant I couldn't walk. Darn. So, I spent extra time quilting. I got the last stars quilted and I got all the way around the border. And, I started on the sashing. I fully expect to get the quilting finished on this very soon and plan to be sewing the binding down next week in the evenings while we're watching TV.


I sure do hope all the fire I've quilted into this quilt doesn't keep that poor baby up nights.

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The new carpet is scheduled to be installed on Valentine's day. Happy Valentine's Day dear! Maybe I'll have the installer hand you your card. I picked Tuesday, not because it's Valentine's, but because it's the only day on the long range forecast next week when there isn't supposed to be rain. They won't install in the rain. And, we are ready. This weekend, we'll move out of the bedroom and do all the same cleaning we did last weekend in the living room and we're going to paint the closets. And, then we wait.

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Okay, so the cabbage. There was an episode of the TV show Dinosaurs where the baby yelled CABBAGE! for most of the half hour. Now, anytime I make cabbage, Rob takes the opportunity, about every 30 seconds, to loudly work CABBAGE! into the conversation.

This is my simple recipe for "fried cabbage". I grew up eating boiled cabbage or cabbage cooked in boy scout dinners. I've also had it with sausage and sliced potatoes and carrots, cooked in good beer. All of those are wonderful, but my FAVORITE way to eat cabbage is fried.

I slice up a half of a head of cabbage and toss it in the wok with about a tablespoon of olive oil.



Then, I cut up 4 or 5 slices of turkey bacon and add a handful of chopped onion and a bunch of pepper and a little salt (the bacon has plenty of salt).

And, I let it cook down to something that smells wonderful...not really like cabbage at all, and tastes delicious. It takes about 15 minutes to cook down on medium heat and it's mostly sweating the water out of the crispier leaves. When it's all nice and tender, it's time to eat.

Last night, with baked chops and about half the mac and cheese I originally put on this plate. I didn't realize how much I'd put on until just before I put it on the table.

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And, Kathy was interested in the 70's sweater patterns. Thanks, Kathy!! I'll contact you soon for an address.

Okay, so that's it for me. Everybody have a great Friday. If you wanna help paint closets, just let me know. I'll pay you in yarn. Lane