Wednesday, November 27, 2013

WIP Wednesday

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The thing about having no children at home is: you don't have to cook Thanksgiving dinner!

I remember the first time I cooked dinner for lots of people. It was when we lived on Andrews AFB in Maryland. I invited a bunch of my co-workers from the Air Force Frequency Management Center, plus assorted away-from-home airmen from my husband's office. Carolyn Thomas introduced my DH to "real" mashed potatoes (until then, he had been content with instant!). The next week, a neighbor commented that I must "really like to cook."  Umm, no, why do you say that? "Oh, because you invited so many people for Thanksgiving dinner!"

The next time I made a "big" Thanksgiving dinner, I cooked for three days after work and early in the morning before work.  It took my nephews less than 10 minutes to empty the table.

This year, we're eating out for Thanksgiving! I will miss the five kinds of dressing I usually make, but not the mess and expense.

Which means today I have time to work on the next Jelly Roll Party sample. The pattern is from Eleanor Burns, "Swirling Stars." It comes with its own little acrylic template, and can be made with strips, fat quarters or yardage.

I'm using Moda's "Vin du Jour" jelly roll.  OK, two of them. I'll tell that story when I post the finished quilt.


I threw the blocks up on the design wall to arrange the colors. I see that I will need to do a little more aranging. The finished quilt has sashing and cornerstones. Here are the fabrics I'll use for the sashing, cornerstones, and borders:


I really love this collection. Good thing, since I have about 30 leftover strips.

The sky has finally cleared so I can look out at the snow on Pikes Peak while I sew. Isn't it gorgeous?


Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Have a lovely day tomorrow, whether it be Hanukkah, Thanksgiving or just another Thursday! 

From the desk of your auntmartisignature

11 comments:

  1. Pretty blocks! I haven't seen that line of fabric before, and can't ever get enough purple, so I'll be checking it out :)

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  2. A few years ago, I cooked the traditional Thanksgiving meal for my immediate family-husband,3 teenage sons and myself. Honestly, the meal was over in 5 minutes and the kids scattered to do whatever. Needless to say, I carefully think about meals for Thanksgiving as I do not wish to repeat that year!

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    1. My nephews teased me "if it's dry, do we still have to eat it?" I never watched TV then, so I didn't know they were quoting a popular commercial. I was all set to be deeply offended until my sister explained the joke to me!

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  3. The swirling stars are beautiful, Marti. The view out of your window is amazing. I'd never get anything done! :o)

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  4. Thanksgiving can often be thankless for the cook. I did not enjoy making the meal until my daughters were old enough to help. Then it became fun! My favorite memory was during Desert Storm, and I brought home lots of "orphan" military people from Dover AFB where I worked. It was quite the party, and they were so thankful to be in a home, unstead of the chow hall. We aren't hosting a meal this year, but going to some friends. I am making vegetables(2) and cranberry sauce to take along. Feels funny not up to my elbows in pie dough!

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  5. Have to say that looking at Thanksgiving from the outside (in Australia!) it does seem there are a lot of hang ups about everything being perfect and loads of different things to eat. I'm always intrigued by the idea of pumpkin pie which I understand is a sweet dish. We eat pumpkin here as a savoury vegetable - its fantastic oven roasted with the skin on!
    Have a lovely thanksgiving, without the mess to come home to!

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  6. Echoing Sooli here - a lot of work for such a short term gain - but we tend to do the same at Christmas. Supermarkets jam packed, tables laden with food, very full tummies and afternoon sleeps seem to be the order of the day.
    I'll just enjoy a plain old Thursday thanks.

    Seriously envying the view - though the associated cold weather/possible snow may not be so appealing.

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  7. Have a lovely day tomorrow; eating out sounds such a good idea :-) Like Sooli, I'm an Aussie (from Brisbane) and I noticed that US bloggers have been writing posts about the enormous amount of food preparation they are undertaking as Thanksgiving gets closer...does the cook get so exhausted from all that cooking that they don't enjoy the day??

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  8. I love those autumn colours, they are perfectly to my taste. I love this time of year, mostly for that reason.
    How lovely your view is, funny enough, I look out over "Crookes peak" when I sew!
    Happy thanksgiving Marti x

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  9. I love your color choices, and what a view from your window. Thanks for sharing. Blessings and smiles, Emilou :-)

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  10. Gorgeous view out your sewing window! Going out for dinner sounds great. Actually I don't mind cooking a big meal, but I hate cleaning up the house prior to visitors coming. I like the colours of Vin du jour, quite unusual aubergine.

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