Busy as a Bee

Isn't this little hexie bee block cute? You can find the free pattern right here.

It was a busy, busy week. I didn't get much sewing accomplished, but managed to wear myself out with other projects. I'm starting to research bathroom renovation ideas. Won't that be fun? No, it will not. I'd love to take a trip to Paris and have it done when I returned. Just make it pretty and easy to clean. Neutral colors. See you when I get back!

Quickie selvage coaster for a friend.

Baked apple pie donuts for Inspector Gadget. I need to figure out a recipe that only makes six donuts, since that's what my pan holds. I had to put the extra batter into mini muffin pans.

I made this Mexican seven layer dip for a luncheon. I winged a version for Sew Day, but it wasn't as good or pretty as this one was. Maybe it does matter in what order you layer the ingredients. Finding ripe avocados was an adventure. And after visiting three different produce markets, I forgot to get the celery for another dish I was making. Back out again.

I would love seeing the installation of the 1,600 flags made for the To Boston with Love project. They've installed the flags at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and they look so colorful and cheery. Amy and Berene worked miracles to make it happen. And quilters from around the world send encouraging and beautiful flags. You can see some photos here. The quilting community is always so generous.

Somehow I got sucked into another TV series while desperately waiting for Breaking Bad and Walking Dead to return. This new show is on PBS and titled Call the Midwife. It's set in 1950s London. You can catch both seasons on the site, which is handy.

Work is done for the day and I'm off to celebrate the three-day weekend. There is serious barbecuing in my future. Have fun!

Forty Something

Saturday was our guild's monthly Sew Day. I worked on various projects including our June BOM which was fun and easy.

I bought this alien panel on clearance somewhere and added sides to make it bigger. I meant to make the sides different widths. Not. It's hard to measure without the proper tools. We talked about having a travel bag filled with duplicate tools we use for sewing and quilting. I forgot scissors this time. A tape measure would have been nice too.

Hollywood and her charge, Gilbert came over for a swim lesson Sunday. Unfortunately, it rained cats and dogs, so we had to entertain the little busy bee indoors most of the afternoon. A calculator is a fun toy, right? He did get a swim lesson yesterday. I forgot how hard it was to teach a child to hold their breath under water. This goof was taking large "breaths" as soon as he went under. I told him to quit drinking all my pool water.

See why I call him Gilbert? He's as comical as Gilbert Gottfried too. 

This button has been floating around my studio for a few years. In 10 short days, I won't be able to claim this. Yep, the big 5-O for me. Eek!

Actually, I'm kind of excited. Especially since birthdays come with gifts. My friend Wendy sent me these beautiful oven mitt-shaped hot pads. They're way too pretty to use. I love seeing all the fabrics she's been working with.

A Monday in May

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I found a little distraction over the weekend and made a quick tote bag. The instructions can be found here.

Ellison Lane Quilts kicked off the Summer Sampler Sew Along today. The blocks will feature the tasty treats of summer. The first block was a Popsicle. I made a banana one, because those were my favorite as a kid.

Our ice cream man was named Smitty and he looked a lot like Santa Claus. He had a neat old truck, wore red suspenders, and smoked cigars. If you forgot your money, Smitty would front you a cool treat for the walk home from school. We always remembered to pay him back the next day.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. My family was good to me as usual. And I was able to see my mama before she flitted off to the Virgin Islands. My favorite gift was this Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl.I usually use a plastic grocery bag beside my cutting board, so I'm styling now.

My usual Sunday family dinner of roasted chicken. I put sun dried tomato and herbed goat cheese under and on the skin before baking. Get the how to right here. I served the chicken with mashed potatoes, pan sauce, lentils, corn on the cob, salad, and cornbread.

Finishes

I finished quilting and binding this olive tree paper pieced mini quilt. Our guild had the talented Carolyn Friedlander give us a workshop on this pattern. It was a lot of fun to see everyone's fabric choices.

Whee! This shoofly quilt is done too! I bought the quilting for this one.

The backing and striped binding.

Remember that turkey stock I was making? After I strain the solids, I like to let it set in the fridge overnight. The next day there's a layer of fat that you need to remove before you use it.

Halfway there...we're not looking for schmaltz, we want to get rid of it. I scrape it off with a large serving spoon.

Add some fresh veggies and noodles to your broth and you have a tasty soup. And yay, the turkey is gone. It made great sandwiches and I used the rest of the carved meat in the soup. Turkey is an economical dish that can be stretched so many ways.

I made some flatbread to go along with the soup. I couldn't find semolina flour at my normal grocery store, so I made do with a trio of bread flour, all purpose flour, and whole wheat flour.

I dug out a bunch of fun toppings. Flax seed, fried red onion, fried garlic, poppy seeds, and black sesame seeds.

They were a bit crunchy, so I won't let them bake as long next time.

Dog Eat Dog World

Another cute little orphan block I chose to make a charity dog quilt. This is a tomato character from Veggie Tales.

It grew to about 20" square. It's washed and ready to turn in at our next guild meeting. I have two more orphan blocks to transform. I think I'll use both in the same quilt.

Bones thought it was comfy. He doesn't like cold tile. Poor little thing. Such a tough life.

I roasted a turkey Sunday instead of my usual chicken. I debated having a turkey dinner with all the fixings, but decided to just carve it up for soup and sandwiches. Bones was my sous chef and wouldn't leave my side.

The turkey bones and veggies were made into turkey stock. Since I made the turkey earlier in the day, I was able to carve the bird, clean that huge mess, and then get the stock started.

Pasta salad for the Inspector. He's the only one who likes cold pasta. I tried to healthy it up with veggie noodles, celery, bell peppers and a tangy vinaigrette mixed with a tad of plain yogurt.

Pesto and olive hummus for Hollywood. I cook dried beans all the time, but this was the first time I cooked chick peas for hummus. It turned out okay, but was not quite as creamy as I like it. Plus, one bag of dried beans made enough for 500 people.

Off to bake some chicken wings. Never a dull moment around here.

Sunday Stash #71 on Monday

Not much to show this Sunday Stash. Probably a good thing. The Dr. Seuss fabric reminds me of my favorite childhood books. The good doctor instilled my love of reading at a very early age. I had coupons at my local quilt shop, so I treated myself to a yard and a larger add-a-quarter ruler for paper piecing.

I made a Derby pie Saturday to occupy some time. It was either bake or clean. The pie is basically a chocolate pecan pie, but not as custard-y. I heard it was good. That crust is pretty rustic looking. I tried an oil crust for a change.

Look, conveyor belt sushi at the mall. I wonder if it's any good?

Hollywood picked my gardenia bush/tree clean. Unfortunately, these blossoms have no scent. Whatsoever. They never have. At least they're pretty.

Super Saturday

Our quilt guild traded lonely orphan blocks to make quilts for displaced pets. All of the blocks were lovely, but this one made with batiks caught my eye. Plus, I knew I had plenty of batik scraps to make this block grow.

One finished pet quilt. I used strips to make a wonky log cabin. It measures about 25" square. We decided a quilt with no binding might work better since it may need to be washed frequently. I used the pillowcase binding method and it worked like a charm. I stuck with quilting in the ditch to keep the layers together.

Oh Bones, you already have a quilt. I had to dump him off, silly dog. A quick wash and dry and this little quilt will be on its way to comfort a pet.

I've made one of these gathered round baskets before. I use it as a thread catcher. This morning I made one to match Red, my sewing machine.

Look who popped out to say hi. I'm proud to report I didn't scream. Have a great Saturday!

Shake it Like a Polaroid Picture

Do you crave certain foods? I am craving pot stickers today. I was craving fried chicken for about six weeks, but someone got tired of hearing me whine about it and got me a fried chicken fix. It was so wonderful. Worth every calorie. I rewarded that special someone with these sour cream biscuits. You have to love a quick biscuit recipe that only has three ingredients. I always cut the recipe in half. It makes a ton.

A little paper piecing is a great way to fit in small amounts of sewing time. I was still in Easter Peeps mode. At least it didn't turn into an orphan block. I unearthed a bunch of those yesterday for a special project. For this bunny peep, I added some Insul-Bright and made a handy potholder. Remind me to dig it out next Easter.

I was playing around with my Drunkard's Path templates and 1930s fabrics. I'm not sure what I'll do with these, but I'm sure I'll think of something. I may need to stitch a few more.

Speaking of paper piecing, I purchased a pattern on Craftsy a while ago and promptly forgot about it. While organizing my hard drive, I stumbled upon it and printed it out. With all the trimming and paper, this technique gets a little messy.

It was a semi-tough pattern for me, and I didn't get everything lined up, but it was fun. Did you have one of these cameras? It's worth about a billion dollars now. Just kidding, but they are collectible. I wonder if my college/camera boy has one in his collection?

Maybe I can finish these Polaroid blocks and make a little quilt with everything. I'm back in the sewing/working/cleaning swing of things after a nice trip out of town.