Gardening 2011 Results

2011 Harvest, a photo by jenniferworthen on Flickr.

Overall, our gardening year went pretty well. Not everything went as expected (squash vine borers and a record-breaking hot summer), but we still got a pretty good harvest. It's pretty clear what plants worked best for us:

Peas, 1.37 lb
Green Beans, 10.29 lb
4 Squash, 0.97 lb
43 Cucumbers, 15.2 lb
62 Tomatoes, 13.01 lb
21 Bell Peppers
25 Carrots
3 Jalapenos

I've got a bunch of seeds started for the spring already since our average last frost date is less than 8 weeks away. Hopefully we'll have a cooler summer in 2012!

WIP Wednesday

I started a new project this week - my swoon quilt! I got a fat quarter set of Pat Bravo's Hyperreal Garden a while back for my birthday with this quilt in mind... but now I'm starting to second guess that decision. There are a few directional prints in this line, and that doesn't appear to work to well for this quilt. Here's my first block:

Swoon Block #1, a photo by jenniferworthen on Flickr.

I'm leaning towards switching to something different in my stash that doesn't have directional prints, or at least has enough non-directional prints to use in the quilt. What do you guys think?

I also started and completed some January blocks for two quilt-alongs. First up is the January HST quilt-along block:

HST Block, January, a photo by jenniferworthen on Flickr.

I think this might be my most favorite block ever that I've made. I really love it! I'm using DS Quilts Sugar Creek for this quilt along with some Kona Snow.

I also made the two January blocks for the Craftsy Block of the Month (BOM) quilt-along:

Craftsy BOM, January, a photo by jenniferworthen on Flickr.

Craftsy BOM, January, a photo by jenniferworthen on Flickr.

They were definitely fun and easy to make. The prints are from Amy Butler's Lark line, with more Kona Snow (notice a trend?). I'm looking forward to next month for both of these quilt-alongs.

Projects started: 

• Swoon Quilt*
• February Cottage cross-stitch*

Projects completed: 

January Cottage, a photo by jenniferworthen on Flickr.

• January Cottage cross-stitch

Quilts near completion:

• Snapshots Quilt

Quilts nowhere near completion:

• String Quilt
• Farmer's Wife Quilt
• Starry-eyed Quilt
• Drunkard's Path Quilt

Miscellaneous projects:

• Wizard cross-stitch
• Tote Bag
• Paper-pieced hexagons
• Flower embroidery
• Hoop travel bags (3)

This week's stats:

Completed projects - 1

New projects - 2

Currently in progress - 12
*Progress made

What's on your WIP list this week? Head over to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday to link up and see what everyone else is working on!

Growing in the garden

Lettuce, a photo by jenniferworthen on Flickr.

Spinach, a photo by jenniferworthen on Flickr.

Cauliflower, a photo by jenniferworthen on Flickr.

Broccoli, a photo by jenniferworthen on Flickr.

Onions, a photo by jenniferworthen on Flickr.

I've already harvested (and eaten) the cauliflower. I learned that once the florets start to separate, it's ready. I roasted the cauliflower in olive oil with salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. It was pretty good! The onions are going to take a while by the looks of them. Everything else is getting pretty close to being ready!

January Cottage Progress

Here's my progress on my January cottage for the Cottage Stitch-Along. This pattern is a bit bigger than I expected (ok, a lot bigger than I expected). It's not a problem, but for some reason it was smaller in my head. I really like it though, more with every stitch. It's definitely one of the cutest patterns I've ever stitched.

And now a question for all of the stitchers out there. What do you do with your extra fabric hanging around your hoop? I've always used a hair clip from middle school (haha!), but it seems like there must be a better way to keep that extra fabric under control. I don't like it flopping around and getting in the way. What do you use to corral your extra fabric?

TAST Week 3

The stitch for week 3 of TAST is the feather stitch. This stitch is very similar to the buttonhole stitch, and is a whole lot of fun to do! This section of the color wheel is red and red-orange. Go color wheels!