On the eleventh day of Christmas

Where is this year going?  Tomorrow is the twelfth day of Christmas, and everything will come down on Friday.  This year has gotten off to a great start, and I am looking forward to 2012 and all the changes and challenges it will bring.  In my sewing room the last couple of days, I've been watching the food channel as I sew.  I'm not someone who loves to cook; I love to bake, but my family is really picky, and so I have not enjoyed cooking for them over the years.  My husband loves to eat out, and so we do eat out several times a week.  We generally try and make healthy choices, and we don't dine at McDonald's or Jack in the Box.  However, I realize that even when you are eating healthier choices in restaurants, you still don't know what they are putting in to the food.  The only way you have that control is if you cook yourself.  Tonight I made homemade chicken noodle soup; I usually just use chicken broth and veggies, spices, and steam some chicken and add it, then cook it for a while.  Today I took a whole chicken, threw it in the pot with water and all the extras and let it cook/simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  Then I took the chicken out and pulled the breast meat off, saving the rest of the meat for treats for the dogs when we train.  I boiled up some pasta and kept it separate from the soup; I hate it when the noodles get too soft and soak up too much juice.  The soup was so much more flavorable than it normally is, and the chicken was so tender.  I will never make it any other way!  It took a long time, but it really wasn't that much work.  My husband tried to talk me out of it and talk me into Subway sandwiches, but I said "no!"  Ha, ha .... he hates the cleaning up part!

A few more hours of sewing today, and another row done!  This row is actually row five.  The two inner rows have less pieces (I believe).

Once I get all five rows put together, there are a few borders (I think three), and that's it!  Yahoo!!  Now to quilt it ... hmm ... it is going to be a really busy quilt, and at the moment I have no idea what to do to it?  Any suggestions?  I would welcome them!