Awkward

I received a sweet package from my buddy Yumi in Japan. She always spoils me.

I love this pretty pouch. Yumi is a very talented sewer and quilter.

She sent these fun Japanese prints. I adore these!

Look at the cute selvage!

Anyone remember cassette tapes?

The English on Japanese prints are notorious and hilarious. It's one of the reasons I love them.

Come on smiled!!

I conclude this post with proof I really am a silly teenage girl. Taylor Swift polka dot Keds. Yes. They were on sale, but I might have paid full price if I. Maybe I'll save my dignity and take off the brass guitar pick. At least I gave up the saddle shoes. They weren't even popular when I was young, but my friend and I wore them like we were raised in the 50s. Goofs.

And I can always tone the Keds down with my new socks. I may need a stylist.

I made a pouch to match. Kidding.

Laundry Day

I did a little paper piecing. I love paper piecing it because it still challenges me even after all these years. The "sock" on the right is wrong. Oops. Had to start over.

Paper carnage. This is a teensy block. Finishes at 4" x 6".

Cute, huh? You can purchase the pattern at The Tartan Kiwi. Psst, color your sections so you don't mess up like I did.

I used my Artisian bread dough to make a flatbread version of Pissaladieres (onion, anchovy, and olive tart). This is before it baked. Silly thing stuck to my pizza peel, so I scraped it off and put it on some parchment paper. It was really good. Not pretty, but it tasted good.

Have you seen the "banned" movie, "The Interview?" I'm watching it right now and it's pretty funny. Crude, but hilarious. If I don't show up back on the blog, North Korea bombed me.

Friends, Family & Food

I love the blog Awkward Family Photos. The link has a cute story about grandma not being in the shot. The family even recreated the photo a couple of times over the years. Grandma got a kick about being published in their book and went along with the photo recreations with gusto. Fun, family memories. I've been meaning to go through my photo albums and scan in some of my fun family shots.



I found these videos so fascinating. I love watching our food stylists during restaurant photo shoots. This gal makes the tiniest little food. I kind of want her tea light stove.

My guild buddy Rene' knows me too well.

She also found me the cutest tea towel. I almost hate to use it! Bones, the house doxie is still kicking but is getting hard of hearing. The UPS guy slinks in silently now. And you can sneak up on Bones and scare him. Not that anyone does that.

I've had this Dill Pickle Soup recipe pinned for some time on Pinterest. I finally got around to making it. Yummy! Definitely a keeper. You could easily make it vegetarian by substituting vegetable stock for the chicken broth. I'm making this Cream of Mushroom soup tonight. Or maybe this Hungarian Mushroom Soup. I love making soups and must crave mushroom soup often. My Pinterest soup board is filled with all kinds of mushroom soup recipes.

Happy eating!

Quiche Love

I started my weekend with a quiche. I'm the only big fan of quiche around here, but a few eat it. I wish they'd just leave it all for me! This version had spinach, bacon, red onion, tomato and sharp cheddar. Egg and milk too!

I use the refrigerated pie crusts a lot. They're so convenient and for some reason, pie crusts seem so labor intensive. They're not, but for a quick pie or quiche, I like the refrigerated crusts. The best part about quiches is that you can add anything you like. Obviously, I like a lot of stuff.

I finished part two of the Quiltville mystery yesterday afternoon. Part three is already up and I plan to get my cutting done on those units this week. The part three units look like lots of fun! I can't wait to get them pieced!

These little triangles were waste from part two.

Hmmm...they're pretty cute, but I'll try to refrain for now.

Linking up with the other mystery quilters right here. Sometimes the best party about these mysteries is the "drama." Cracks me up every time. Quilters are passionate people! Ha!

Victoria from Bumble Beans!

Pay it Forward Quilt  by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Bumble Beans was one of the first blogs I started following religiously when I began quilting in 2007. Victoria (V) is a talent to be reckoned with. She quilts with such speed that her projects are endless. Her use of scraps and color, ah-mazing! She has always been an inspiration to me. I've done 15 Minutes of Play, a fabric self portrait, block and quilt swaps, charity quilts, etc. with V. I even have a quilt she gifted to me years ago for a Pay it Forward act of kindness. That's it above and it hangs in my studio.

The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild was fortunate enough to snag V for a couple of classes this weekend. Yep, that's V's hand flying so fast my camera can't focus. She really does sew fast! No wonder she makes so many beautiful quilts. We took her "15 Minutes of Play" class which teaches you how to make fabric. You use your made fabric to make more things. It's a fun process. V had all kinds of tips and tricks to share along with some of her amazing quilts.

One of her Double Wedding Ring quilts won Best of Show at Quiltcon 2013. Th gorgeous DWR above is the cover of her latest book. Double Wedding Rings -- Traditions Made Modern is available for pre-order right here. After making a quilt for the Modern Quilt Guild's DWR challenge, I'm eager to get Victoria's book and make something bigger. She showed us how to handle those curves with precision.

My table at the workshop started out neat. Look, there's a wiener mascot! Judy brought me Frank. He's really cute. That neat pile of fabric to the right was a big pile of mess minutes later. Red, my Janome is now my travel machine. I still love her. I just realized she's seven years old.

Here's some of the fabric I made during our sewing time. Now to hack them up and make something else! I could make fabric all day long. It's really fun and relaxing.

A group of us went to dinner with Victoria. The restaurant was next door to a wig shop. Is it just me, or do these wig heads give you the creeps? My uncle owns a wig shop and I've never been inside it.
The restaurant was Greek and we had flaming cheese! Opa!  I've been wanting to try Saganaki forever! It was so delicious. I want more! Maybe I can make it at home.

Speaking of creepy, the elves have come out. That's my vintage one on the left and the new (and improved?) version available today. I think I like my vintage elf better. The new elf went off to live with Hollywood's charge who is kind of creeped out and thinks the elf will come alive and mess with him while he's sleeping. I love to give gifts that keep on giving. Ha!

Weird Weekend

Never a dull moment around here.

Saturday, Inspector Gadget saw a hawk dive bombing something across the street in our new neighbor's yard. Turned out it was a Green Amazon Parrot. He called me out and we spent 20 minutes trying to scare off the hawk as he swooped down and tried to attack the parrot repeatedly. The crows were up above cheering on the death match. The hawk was not very afraid of us. During one swoop, I was close enough to feel the air move from his wings. Aaack! I hate birds about as much as I hate snakes. And that hawk was huge and relentless. Apparently parrots are a delicacy.

I brought Bones' crate out to see if we could lure the bird inside so the hawk would go away. I brought crackers too, but the parrot didn't seem to be in the mood for a snack. The hawk did get a poke at the poor parrot at some point. Finally, the parrot hopped on the crate and we dragged it across the street to our house.

That's the Inspector with his snake stick and crate riding parrot. Note the hawk gloves. I think the Inspector is afraid of birds like I am. I played parrot decoy while we transported birdy to our covered pool deck.

She hung out by the pool until we located her owner (our new neighbor). Apparently, he thought the bird would be fine in this backyard while he ran an errand. Guess he hasn't seen all the birds of prey around here. The parrot is only six months old and says "hello" and "uh oh." Uh oh, is right! It had a gash in its leg, but wasn't bleeding a lot. I think she'll make it.

And then this morning, we're drinking coffee at 6 am and a car alarm goes off. A band of idiot thieves hit our neighborhood and robbed several cars. The Inspector's truck window was smashed and they snatched his GPS before they took off. We ran out just as they were pulling away. I guess our local law enforcement is on the case as these idiots have been making the rounds. We think they left their cell phone in one of the cars they robbed. Dumbos.

I made the Inspector herbed buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy after the car break in, but I had a healthier breakfast yesterday. I'm going to continue the sausage theme and try this sausage, squash, and kale soup tonight. Squash and kale aren't big favorites with the peanut gallery, but I'm serving it anyway. I'm also going to try this fraudulent easy sourdough bread recipe. The haters can have ramen if they poo poo my soup.

I've been working on a pineapple block using Crazy Mom Quilt's pineapple block tutorial. I'll add a few more rounds to get it to 16" square. Fun and easy! Let's hope the rest of the weekend calms down. Hope yours is going along swimmingly!

Saturday was International Quilting Day

I wasn't able to sew on International Quilting Day, which is held the third Saturday in March, but I got a little quilting in today. CatVent is finally getting quilted. It's been sandwiched on my dining room table for a while. Good thing we never eat in there. The weekend was gorgeous, but laundry doesn't do itself, so I spent most of Saturday working and doing chores so I could play Sunday.

We set out to boat on the lake Sunday, but the winds were whipping. It would have been fun in a sailboat, but a motorboat, not so much. Luckily, the canoe provided some outdoor entertainment on our pond.

Bones kept watch over the rowers even though he wasn't feeling well this weekend. He loves being outside and in the sun, so hopefully that made him feel better.

I had already made picnic type foods to take on the boat, but you can picnic anywhere, even in your own backyard. These prosciutto wrapped asparagus were so good. I think I ate 90. Just toss asparagus in a bit of olive oil and wrap with prosciutto. Grill or bake at 425 degrees until prosciutto is crispy. I made a dipping sauce of Greek yogurt, capers and fresh lemon juice. Also on the menu: pasta salad, grilled kielbasa, deviled eggs. fresh fruit, and sugar cookies. We should probably have celery sticks for dinner.

Edamame are one of my favorites. These roasted edamame are addictive. I used this recipe, but substituted frozen edamame I cooked a bit in the nuclear wave. You have to dry them off really well before baking them. Add Parmesan cheese before baking. You won't be sorry. They are much better than the roasted variety you can buy in the store.

Check out these mind-blowing facts about time. My allergy headache just got worse.

Have a great week!

Feel Like Laughing?

I can't get enough of these First World Problems. The poor dogs and cats have issues too. It's a rough world out there.

Looks like first world problems have been around a while.

Another laugh:

Post by Kiki Marie.

Sourpuss

Pretty sure it might be Monday again. The milk was slightly sour in my coffee this morning. Yeah, I was flirting with the expiration date, but if it says OCT 23 2013, you'd think they'd give you until the end of the day. I drank a cup and half of probiotic coffee anyway. Yuck.

And if sour milk wasn't bad enough, I'm still making sourdough bread. It smells...well, sour. I finally get to make the dough this evening and bake the loaf sometime tomorrow. Fun little six-day project for one loaf of bread. I just hope it doesn't kill anyone. I'm sure my super nose doesn't help matters. I'm flying to San Francisco next time I want sourdough bread.

Canoe Ridge Creations is starting a Giant Starburst Quilt Along November 18. Go see how pretty this quilt is. And it looks somewhat easy. Gigantic half square triangles. I'm game.

If you enjoy mystery quilts, Quiltville is hosting a mystery called Celtic Soltice. Bonnie traveled to Ireland over the summer which provided inspiration for her colorful mystery. Bonnie's mysteries are fun, sometimes challenging, and usually yield king size quilts. This time you have the option of making a smaller version. Thank you, Bonnie!

Another whine if you will indulge me, I reduced the speed of my sewing machine when I was attempting free motion quilting. Didn't help. That was Saturday or Sunday. I've been sewing on medium speed since then. What? Finally realized it today. It didn't stop me from making a few 15" blocks with my scraps. Slow motion piecing. I have 9,000 yards of that white on white floral print fabric. Ick. Not sure how I obtained that. Think I'll add even more as borders now that I'm sewing up to speed now.

Starting soup always makes me happy. Even when it is 90 degrees. It's supposed to cool down today. 81, brrrr. Break out the jackets.

I was chatting with my mom on the phone while I cooked and she dared me to dump an entire box of frozen, chopped spinach in my chicken soup. Apparently, I'm hoarding frozen spinach. That box was one of five. Must be craving spinach dip. I served the soup with toasted pimento cheese bread.

Off to get some milk and water chestnuts, I think I smell spinach dip in my near future.

Monday, Monday

Happy Monday! I received a package this morning and it rattled. I knew it was a slate cheeseboard, so I assumed it broke during shipping. Nope, it was the metal handles rattling around. Yay! I ordered some cheese knives as well, so I'm ready for a cheese party. There may be wine involved too. Anything as an excuse to buy and eat cheese.

I use my blog as reference for many things, recipes, sewing and quilting projects, snake encounters, etc. I'm defrosting the turkey meatballs I made last month and wanted to see when I froze them. I made them on September 14, 2013. What was funny was when I did a search, I also made them on September 14, 2012. Same exact recipe. Bookmarked and photographed for reference. I raved about them back then too. Ha ha!

I finished the little pumpkin mini quilt this morning. Hope my friend likes it. I was going to try some free motion quilting in the white part, but my test/practice piece looked horrible.

Anyone watching The Walking Dead? As if zombies weren't bad enough, now there's a flu that turns you into a zombie. I'm also getting a little sick of them poking zombie heads through the prison fence. Wouldn't that get old?

Look! My first tomato. I'm a bit excited.

Don't forget the Shabby Apple dress giveaway.

Linking with Skip to My Lou's Made by you Monday.