A Busy Sunday With a Lot Accomplished

Every year or so I make a HUGE batch of chili verde and freeze a bunch so I can eat on it all winter long. A couple months ago I realized that I had used the last container from my most recent batch. So I’ve been wanting to make another batch and get my freezer stocked again.

That was my main goal for today. So after breakfast we pulled up the live stream of a sheep herding competition in Colorado where a friend and Rico and Bender’s breeder was competing (she took fourth place on some really difficult sheep!). Then I started chopping, browning, measuring, combining and simmering a great big stock pot full of delicious chili verde. I’ve used this green chili recipe for years after my friend who is currently visiting shared some of hers with me and passed the recipe on to me. I usually at least quadruple the recipe.

I got nine containers in my fridge with a good bunch left for my friend and me to eat a few dinners this week.

I’m happy to say that my friend has continued to be Covid free and has moved out of her hotel and into my guest room. Phew!!!

While I was busy making the chili verde today, she dug into my sewing room and started sorting my ridiculous pile of fabric scraps.

She really made a good dent and got some lovely organization done. But I have to say that the scrap pile that I have left is a little over whelming.

While the chili continued simmering, we went into my sewing room and started in on organizing my fabric. I shared some photos in a blog post a few weeks ago showing how chaotic my sewing room is.

I had three drawers full of black and white fabrics in the chest of drawers in my sewing room. We took all those out, put them in bins, and put the bins up in the top of the closet in my sewing room.

I had to organized and move a few things from that closet first. There is still some room on that shelf and in the side of the closet.

With those drawers empty I sorted and organized the fabric already in those drawers and made space for the Kaffe Fassett fabrics that hadn’t found a storage place yet and had been languishing in various piles around the room.

In the top drawers I dedicated one drawer to my relatively small selection of yellow KFC fabrics. One drawer was dedicated to millefiore, Roman glass and paperweight fabrics, along with my stack of various colors of jumble. The other drawer is holding some larger pieces of white with black fabrics that I’ve had for some time.

Look at all the flotsam and jetsam that’s still sitting on the top of that chest!!!

The larger middle drawers were rearranged so one holds nothing but red/pink/orange Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics with my small collection of Kaffe spots, and the other one holds darks/blacks, greens and various lighter neutral Kaffe fabrics.

I laugh as I state what color these fabrics are sorted into because there are many that I look and ask myself, “what color IS this?” Is it blue, red, green or black? Eventually I just shove it in where there’s space!

One of the bottom drawers of this dresser holds all my KFC blues and purples. The other drawer holds larger cuts of KFC fabrics (most of the other pieces of fabric in the rest of this chest are 1/2 yards). This drawer also holds all my KFC black and white fabrics along with some non Kaffe fabrics… linens, denims, some ikats, all the aged muslin I purchased recently and various other stuff that I have forgotten I have.

So, the good news is that ALL of my KFC fabric, with the exception of larger cuts intended for quilt backs, are now contained in THIS chest of drawers. It’s a really good feeling.

The bad news is that my sewing room is still a mess! I have a huge stack of scrap bins and piles that I need to organize. Case in point…

With all that work we were tired and hungry so we took a break and had a nice plate of chili verde served on some tortillas with melted cheese. It was so good and brought us back to life.

So after dinner we dug in and made eight more blocks for my Fractured quilt. We made four last night, so we’ve completed 20 blocks in all. That’s half of what I want to make for this quilt.

Here’s the first four we made tonight. We set up my sewing machine, cutting mat and ironing station in the dining room last night so we’d have more room to work.

(I’ve had several people ask again for a link to this pattern, so here’s the link where you can buy this pattern.)

Here’s all twenty blocks on the design wall.

It measures about 47×67 right now. It’s going to take some meaningful squaring up once the blocks are all done. So I’ll lose a little size, but with 40 blocks, this will be a generous size quilt. It’s entirely possible that I will decide to make this quilt smaller than planned. If I do I’ll probably use the left over blocks on the back.

It’s a lot of red!!!

If it’s Sunday, it’s Frankenbag sharing time!

This first bag tonight was made by Quilty.Girl on Instagram. I just love her bright batiks and the big pieces that let the fabrics and colors shine. And I love that broad blue strip with match stick quilting at the top. It’s so nice and structured and contrasts nicely with the more relaxed wavy quilting on the rest of the bag. Lovely!

Next up is this bag made by Sandee Henricks. She’s really on a productive streak! I love her little sunburst pieces with the sort of muted colors over the rest of the bag. And I’m envious of that vintage Kaffe design she’s used for her lining and zipper placket. I wish I had some of that in my stash!

This next bag was made by Jeanette Kandray. I love the bright colors and mix of fabrics. The rivets on the handles are a fun addition too.

Up next is this bag made by Kim Thibodeaux. It’s a lovely bag with some fun piecing. I love the great big print on the front of the bag. Kim said she’s a sewer but not a quilter so she started from scratch… no orphan blocks to use. She said she enjoyed the process and can’t wait to make another one.

Next, we have these bags made by Rhoda Helton. I love the raspberry and greens in the first bag and the bold diagonals in the second bag are wonderful. Love how she’s left those succulents great big too! She made a few variations to her bags in materials. I love it when readers customize their bags!

The last bag tonight was made by Barbara Rivenburgh. I just love that spiral sort of sunburst! And I love that Barbara has added a zipper placket. What a fun bag!

Thanks to everyone who sent photos of their bags.

Tomorrow we’re going to work on making a couple quilt backings for my friend’s quilts. She brought them with her to take to my long arm quilter because my long armer hand sews bindings! That makes us both very happy!