Sugar Pop Quilt

I finished up this simple little quilt last week.

This quilt turned out even better than I imagined it would! I absolutely LOVE the colors in this fabric collection Sugar Pop (from Moda). I really wish my photos did it justice! It's in the shop!

I can't wait to show you the Valentine's mini quilts I'm working on right now!

Also, on an unrelated note. My hubby and I got to go on a wonderful date night Saturday when my dad gave us tickets to the Cirque du Soleil show Ovo. A big date night for us is usually just dinner and a movie and we honestly like it that way. We're pretty big homebodies. When my dad offered them to us I was skeptical and afraid it was just going to be a lot of weird dancing and contortionists but boy was I wrong! It was completely amazing! beyond amazing! I would highly recommend it!

This has been one of my favorite Christmas presents I received this year! The day after Christmas I sat down on the couch to flip through it and ended up reading it cover to cover!

I'm probably one of the last people in blogland to have heard about The Pioneer Woman but better late than never! She's so funny and I just love her story. And the food! So tasty! But don't get this book if you are serious about watching your waistline. This is good southern food and I love how she includes detailed step by step instructions for each recipe just like she does on her website.

So far, I've made the Creamy Mashed Potatoes (Hubby said they were the best mashed potatoes he's ever had! and he's not one to compliment food like that), Olive Cheese Bread, Twice Baked Potatoes, Onion Strings and the Chocolate Sheet Cake (seriously YUM!). Now, I will admit that sometimes the butter and cream and fat can be a little over the top but they can be easily reduced without detriment (well, except for the cake, I don't mess with baked goods).

Yes, I certainly have been enjoying this Christmas gift.

And to counteract all this "hearty" food (and for general health purposes) I made a New Year's "goal" to take up jogging this year. I really wanted to be able to stick with it and not just flake out after 2 weeks so I did some reading and found the Couch-to-5k plan. I'm so glad I did because this plan really eases you into it all. I just finished week 1 of the plan and so far so good! It's been very painless and a great feeling of accomplishment!

Happy New Year...

Better late than never, right?

I was going to write a post about my knits from 2010 but after looking at the three sweaters and three scarves (one of which was knit and gifted so quickly I never got a picture it) that I made I decided that I could latch them onto a different post. So, there you go.

After a 3 or 4 week break due to the holidays I am back plugging away at my New York Cardigan. The good news is that I'm done with the body of the cardigan but the bad news is that the shawl collar (that you knit in two pieces separately and then attach) is taking FOREVER! F.O.R.E.V.E.R. I'm knitting both pieces together so they will be identical and I feel like I've been working on them for weeks now. Look at how much I still have left to go! They've got to be the length of the hem to the back of the neck each and this sweater is long, it goes well past my behind.

Okay, enough moaning. Maybe I'll have a bit more time to invest in it this week.

I have been busy finishing up this quilt for my cousin to give as a wedding present to one of her friends. She told me their style was sort of shabby chic but also modern. Hopefully this will suite them.

I love how it came out! I used a fat quarter bundle of the MeadowSweet 2 collection (from Hawthorne Threads, of course). I'm in the midst of writing up a pattern for this design as well so keep a lookout for that!