Halloween Quilt

I made this for the graphic designer at work. She finished up chemo and got a new job, so I figured I'd whip up a quick quilt for her. She loves Halloween. I used a fabric panel to make the piecing go quickly.

The back is pieced as well. I used some fat quarters in halloween colors.The ghost print on the edges glows in the dark! I didn't know that!

My guild buddy, Frank did the awesome quilting. It's breathtaking! I think he had fun making this quilt sing. Or maybe scream is more appropriate. I know I was squealing when I saw his quilting. Wow.

See the witch?

I even labeled it!

Since I've been working crazy hours and doing stuff on the weekends, a few of our dinners have looked like this. Luckily I have an understanding crew.

Sunday Stash #92

First off, this delightful date nut pudding. It's really a moist cake, but I highly recommend it. My mother-in-law served this cake to me many moons ago and I flipped! It was so good! She adds a dollop of cool whip or whipped cream but it's great without.

It took her years to give me the family recipe. I think she wanted to make sure I was a "keeper!" Ha!

I always forget about this cake and everyone loves it. It was my husband's paternal grandmother's recipe.

Date Pudding

1 cup boiling water

1 tsp. baking soda

7oz. chopped dates (the dry kind)

Mix this together and let stand while you do the next step.

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 Tbsp. softened or melted butter

Cream together until mixed. I just use a spoon.

1-1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

The recipe says sift together, but I'm lazy and don't.

Mix everything together. The batter is kind of thin. Add 1 cup chopped nuts. I use walnuts.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Cotton + Steel christmas snow globes! So cute!

Black and white with some cool typography.

Halloween!

Dots and sugar skulls.

Color words and polka dots galore!

Some fun fat quarters.

Yummy Kaffe Spring 2015 jelly roll.

Hollywood went to St. Augustine and perused the antique shops. She brought me this fun metal box and it was filled with old unique machine feet. I have no idea what they do, but they're funky.

Goodbye Summer!

Playing with my gigantic bag of selvages. They always make me happy! I'm sporting two oven burns, so these will come in handy.

Here are the backs. Hot!

Another finish! It's just a mini, but it was fun. This will hang in a local library as part of the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild display.

More finishes! Another pot holder and an eyeglass case for gifts.

These bright blocks are for the Quiltcon 2016 charity quilt project. I'm in a group with six other Modern Quilt Members from around the country. Together we're making improv sampler blocks from traditional block patterns. I went with a food theme (surprise). Churn dash and broken dishes. The little ones are just thrown together.

Our guild is making a quilt as well, so I'll get to play with these fabrics again!

I found some fresh mullet and smoked it on my charcoal grill. It was so good. I've got to get more. I'll have the fish monger butterfly them next time. I butchered these poor guys. AT least they removed the heads and guts. Inspector Gadget was freaking out. His idea of fish is made by some married lady named Paul and found in the freezer section.

Have you been eating avocados this summer? The Haas versions have been so cheap. I got the Inspector addicted to them! He never ate them before, but now he can't get enough of them. I made the salad caprese for Hollywood and then threw on the avocado for oomph. So good.

Off to play with selvages. Wheeeee! Happy Saturday!

Secret Projects

Oh hey! Did you miss me? I missed you!

This summer has been non-stop. I'm working on a secret quilting project that I can't show, but I am still finding time to cook and sew other things.

I chopped up some bright batiks to make a scrappy Irish chain for the #ohscrap along that Canoe Ridge Creations whipped up. I did the first block at home on my Juki and subsequent blocks on my Sew Day machine. The sizes are quite different, so this will be a Sew Day project. I like it!

I've received two Try the World boxes. These are a blast. The one above is from France and the one below from Argentina. We're enjoying trying all the unique items.

Yumi, my buddy from Japan made these this beautiful wallet. I needed a new wallet. I finally had a minute to get my stuff in it. She uses vintage kimono scraps. Gorgeous!

Cherry massacre. I made these Sweet & Sour Cherry Salty Dogs. Yum. Cheers and happy Monday! I hope you're having fun.

Recipes to Remember

How to poach a dozen eggs at once. I'd love to have a brunch party. Eggs Benny, Bloody Mary bar, biscuits, scones, bacon, ham, scrapple, etc. I have so many good recipes pinned for brunch. After never eating breakfast as a child, it has become my favorite meal. I prefer savory stuff, and you can put a runny egg on it too! Are eggs expensive in your area? There's an avian flu that is causing prices to rise. They still have to be the least expensive protein.

My first co-op box of the summer arrived. Those porcini mushrooms were so good. I used them to make these Easy Creamy Mushrooms. I substituted half and half for the heavy cream. Mainly because I didn't have any heavy cream. They would be even better with heavy cream.

I made caponata with the Japanese eggplants and peppers. It's delicious!

The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild's block of the month. This was a fun one! Curved piecing is a bit intimidating, but I love the look of it. These gentle curves aren't too hard to accomplish.

This smoked salmon dip is no looker, but the taste is out of this world. I could make it again this weekend. We were eating it on bagels and crackers.

Anyone binging on the new season of Orange is the New Black? Me either. *cough*

Sunday Stash #91

Puttering around with the scraps again. I thought this random railfence block looked like a lot of fun. I might have to make a few more blocks today. They were quick. Where did I get all that pink?

May's Kona solids delivery. Tomorrow is already June! I wonder what colors June will bring?

All these beauties were on sale. I love a good fabric sale!

Have a great week friends!

Simply Saturday

I thought this Try The World food subscription service was kind of cool. My first box features foods from Argentina. I'm a sucker for home delivered items. Makes my day to get a package in the mail or on my front porch. I miss swapping when I received stuff all the time.

I also joined a spice blend of the month club. Too much time on my hands, obviously. That's really not the case, but I do tend to get easily distracted between projects at work.

Here's our guild's June block of the month. It was a fun one, even if I did mess up in the beginning. I love seeing all the blocks that everyone creates. Maybe I'll win this time!

The Inspector and I are proud parents of two college graduates! I was so happy they were able to graduate together. They both earned business degrees from UCF, my alma mater. So proud of these little boogers. I guess I can't call College Boy, College Boy any longer. Hollywood will always be Hollywood!

It's salad caprese time! My basil plant is thriving and the tomatoes are getting good. No one is happier about caprese than Miss. Hollywood. Buy stock in mozzarella.

I finished my jelly roll quilt top. Such an easy and fun pattern. I love how the white on the blocks create the look of sashing. It's time to gather some tops to send to the longarm quilter. I'm going to do the little quilts myself, but I need help on these larger ones.

TV is so boring over the summer. I did catch two good movies that are at RedBox. Gone Girl and Big Eyes. Now I'm cruising NetFlix for a fix. I highly recommend Grace & Frankie with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. I just started watching Between. I need some books on tape or fun shows/movies if you have any recommendations.

Have a happy weekend! I'm off to sew.

Funny, ha, ha!

Do you need a laugh today?

I stumbled across this adorable collection of illustrations a father created of his toddler's sayings. Oh my gosh, I forget how funny little kids are.

FRANK OCKENFELS 3/AMC

Sorry to see Mad Men end. Being in the ad biz myself, I enjoyed seeing how advertising was done mid-century. It's still exactly the same. Ha!  This finale recap is hilarious. It was written by someone who had never seen the show. Warning: SPOILER ALERT.

Beach Bumming

We had a fun sewing day at Cocoa Beach Saturday. My guild buddy has a gorgeous place on the beach. It's paradise. I wish I could win the lottery. A beach house would be high on the shopping list. Being at the beach is so relaxing. I love everything about it. Maybe I should actually play the lottery.

We sewed in the rec room. Break time was a stroll on the nearly deserted beach. The water was a little too cool for a dip, but the weather was exquisite. We finally had a perfect spring day. April has been a steamy scorcher. It was like we went straight to summer. This weekend was cooler.

Alejandrina made a huge spread of gourmet goodies. She has the largest collection of cookbooks I've ever seen. I could spend weeks browsing through her cookbooks. I love how they're all on a wall in her kitchen. Lunch was falafel with tahini sauce, meatballs with tzatziki, chicken salad, roasted vegetables with vinaigrette and a spinach and cheese strata. Oh my word! Everything was so good.

I chose an easier project as we get talking and anything complicated gets messed up quickly. I've made this jelly roll quilt before and I remember it being fun and easy. And I loved the results. I think it's the only pattern I've ever duplicated. It was a last minute decision as I threw my stuff into the bag before leaving.

The fabric line is "Ashton Road" by Valori Wells. Jelly rolls are fun sometimes. Not a lot of thinking since it all kinds of goes together. I made 20 of these strip sets.

Then sub cut them today into 3.5" sections. Here they are all stacked up and ready to be paired into blocks. That will have to wait until my next sewing session. This laundry ain't doing itself.

Someone was no help. Note fabric scraps on carpet. How did those get way over there? I can't disturb Mr. Bones with the vacuum cleaner, so they stay. Well that's my story and I'm sticking with it. Have a great week.