Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The secret revealed

I can spill the beans now! My husband's birthday quilt:

I made him a bright and cheerful summer quilt. Really thin polyester batting. He's been happily sleeping under it since! :)


A shot of the back:

I did big loopies in the blocks and stars and loops in the border. This was a surprisingly "cheap" project - the fabric for the quilt came from Walmart's $2 pile, the backing is a piece of hand dyed fabric that's muslin from JoAnn's. Add in the batting and the thread, I spent less than $30 out of my pocket for it, but MANY hours putting it together.

And no, I don't mind that I used "lesser" quality fabrics, as thin and lightweight was my intent for this quilt. He's married to me, I can always make him another quilt if he "loves" this one to death. ;)

***********
School's out and we've been settling into a routine. The alarm is set for 8:30, but we seem to get up on our own a little after 8. Then we go to the gym, eat breakfast and settle into the day as we wish. Usually we take turns with dinner or sometimes we both participate - I prepared the pork, he did the rice tonight.

On Tuesday my husband dropped his computer off to a shop - it's been shutting down, showing the blue screen of death and other funky stuff. Not good, especially since his computer is almost 3 times the cost of mine, but only 2.5 years old, whereas mine is 5 years old and I still haven't gotten the blue screen of death. :P (But I did back up all my goodies in the beginning of this month!)

So we're dealing with that, but very thankfully it looks like between the cleaning, diagnostic scan and the upgrades (more ram and a better video graphics card) it'll be $500. Much better than the $1000 he was guessing or the new $3000 computer he was eying as a replacement! ;)

Today I "went to town" - a.k.a. Tucson. Very short-timed decision, but we realized it'd be best/easiest if I just went today. First I went to the Sunflower Farmers Market and was pretty impressed. They have great sale prices (white peaches .97lb, onions .33lb, large artichokes .77each, brown coconut $1.29) and Wednesdays are their double ad days. It was hectic! :) Now I want a store like that to come to my town. Oddly enough, it'd probably be a better deal than having a Trader Joe's here.

Speaking of Trader Joe's...

I got some creamed honey. It's white-ish and almost fluffy looking. I've really been trying to branch out into eating more "naturally", as in no boxed or frozen meals. But fruit, veggies, whole wheat, and goodies like this honey. My goal isn't organic or vegetarian, but aiming for less processed foods in our lives.

Two perks is that I'm starting to lose weight again (I basically bounced up and down between 5 pounds since November) and my husband's actually working on eating healthier. As a kid he'd sit at the table all night long and still not eat his veggies. Totally a "potatoes and meat" kind of guy. Now he's really branching out and exploring in the food area. I won't push him (or else he'd be eating salad by now ;), but I'll keep encouraging him to make baby steps towards better health.

He's gonna be so hot and healthy on his 30th birthday next year! ;)

Leah

6 comments:

Kim said...

what a pretty quilt. I'm sure hubby will love it to death. No shame in using Wally Wolrd fabric. I have some here- and some of better quality than the local quilt stores.

All the girls and the cookie mom loved their quilts and especially the fact that the borders were in their favorite colors.

With the money left over in their account I also got them all Visa gift cards which is pretty handy with prom a week from tomorrow. Manicures, etc....

I still have some extra blocks here in a pale green that didn't make it into the quilts...maybe enough to make another quilt.

They'll all be scattered in a few weeks from Princeton to University of Maine- We're all going to dinner in NYC after graduation......

Jeanne said...

Great quilt for your husband!

Sweet P said...

I love DH's quilt. It does look very summery.

Gill - That British Woman said...

love the quilt, your hubby is one lucky guy. I must get rid of the dust on my sewing machine and get back to my sewing!!!!

Stefanie said...

You do such pretty work! I hope next time you'll consider using fabric that will last for years.
Remember that you get what you pay for when you buy from JoAnns and Walmart. The fabric companies run the prints on the cheapest grey goods (base cloth) for the box retailers, and this fabric is inferior in grade and dye process to the first quality you find in a quilt shop. Independents also have sale sections too, where fabrics marked down aren't that much more expensive that box retailers goods.
A good trick for backings and backgrounds is picking up sheets at dicounters because you can get high quality cotton often times for very good prices.
Going forward value your art enough to work with the highest quality materials you can afford!
Neat quilt!

bingo~bonnie said...

oh Leah - this is the BEST "stiched.with.love" post I have read!! Wat a great summer quilt gift to your hubby for his Birthday! How did you keep it a secret???

I can almost see the smile on your faces as you loopied-looed all over the quilt :) :) :)

Love from Texas! ~bonnie