Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Cotton + Steel selvage birthday coaster.

Here's the back. I'm still fussy cutting this hilarious fabric. I think I'm about out of it, but I kind of hope I have a hunk stashed somewhere.

Our guild's BOM. The economy block, or square in a square. I got carried away and made four. They're pretty fun.

This is the charity quilt made for Quiltcon 2016. Our group consisted of seven ladies throughout the US. We communicated via email and came up with this traditional sampler quilt with an improv spin. I love how it turned out. It will be donated to a firefighter's organization. Our guild made a beautiful quilt as well, so I was able to participate in two of the charity quilts.

This little ditty is vacationing in Utah this month. Actually, it's getting quilted. I sent two others too.

 The backing came from my stash.

 Cool selvages.

Finally finished this hot pad at Sew Day yesterday.

And a quickie baby top using donated embroidery squares. We're making quilts for charity.

Found a cute way to use some hexies. I think I'll use mine for a coaster, but I might have to make some hot pads too!

Selfish Sewing Week

Not only is September National Sewing Month, this week happens to be Selfish Sewing Week. You're supposed to take time and sew a little for yourself each day. And apparently have a martini. Ha! There are graphics for coffee, beer, and wine too. I do love a challenge I can wrap my head around.

I made myself a hearty breakfast and got to real job early. I am totally obsessed with these Greek omelets. Fresh spinach and oregano with feta cheese. Amazingly, I can grow basil and oregano. I'm rich with those herbs. I burnt the bread, but it was Monday, you have to expect that. I hurried through real work searching for apple-shaped corn hole bags for a Zombie Crawl in Miami. True story. I couldn't make this stuff up. I wasn't able to find any and don't know anyone who sews, so I offered my client another suggestion and moved on.

Waiting on approval for other Zombie-related stuff, and a final logo design, I gathered some fabrics to make a block for our charity quilt. We're making quilts for the bunks in Camp Boggy Creek's cabins. Ten-and-a-half inch blocks with a slice and insert a stick theme.

I'm not sure what these blocks are called, but I'm calling them Pick Up Sticks blocks. Woodstock was happy to appear. He has his camping helmet on. I hope I'm doing these right. Whatever, they're fun.

I thought about vacuuming, but it was starting to rain. What? You vacuum in the rain? Just one more block and I'll go make a Key Lime pie. My cheap limes aren't going to last forever. I've already killed two nectarines this week.

Last block for the day. This one was my favorite. Bugs and marbles. Back to the trenches tomorrow. I really hope it rains again.

Selfish sewing week, day one. Nailed it. Key Lime Pie for dinner.

Sunday Stash #72

I found some fun novelty prints at my favorite quilt shop. Woodstock is so cute. I've always loved that comic strip. My dad read it to me everyday before I could read. I think a Peanuts quilt might be in order. Now where did I shove those Peanuts prints?

I also scored a new seam ripper at Jo-Ann's with a 50% off coupon. This one has a rubber cap that supposedly grabs the thread crumbs.

Guess who was the lucky raffle basket winner at our guild meeting? Lots of fun stuff in there. Fabric, rulers, quilt kit, and books. Now I get to fill it up for the next meeting. I'm sure I can find a thing or two in my studio. Or stop by another quilt shop and find some fun stuff.

I made this vegetarian Italian Wonderpot Sunday night. Fettuccine noodles, vegetable broth, canned tomatoes, frozen spinach, onion, garlic, and spices are thrown in a pot and all cooked together. Top with feta cheese to serve. It was too busy for pictures, but I highly recommend the recipe. It's so easy and quick too. Here's another version that replaces the spinach and feta with basil and Parmesan. I'm going to have to try that one too. I bought new pasta bowls with birthday money. Love them.

I'm still making Artisan breads. This whole wheat boule was great with the pasta. I made a big green salad to go with the pasta and bread, so dinner was a cinch. We were swimming and goofing off, so I didn't have time for my Sunday chicken dinner. I have to remember to dust the top with whole wheat flour before I cut the slits. Looks like a bird pooped on my bread. I get a big kick out of the "oven spring" when you bake one of these loaves. They really expand. Plus, the house smells like a bakery.

Yumi, my friend from Japan, sent a bunch of pretty little quilts for our guild's charity project. The animals at the shelter will be chillin' in style won't they? They're all so pretty and I'm pretty jealous of her mad free motion quilting skills.

She also sent a bunch of snacks to share. Thanks, Yumi! I know the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild members will enjoy seeing your quilts and sampling Japanese junk food goodies!

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.

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!

What a Crock

I've been pinning all kinds of things on Pinterest. My crock pot is getting a workout. I tried Greek Chicken Pitas and served them on warm onion pita with feta cheese, tomato, greens, pickled red onion, and tzatziki. I made hummus and burnt Cajun pita chips for an appetizer.

Mississippi Pot Roast was next up. I'm not sure why it's called Mississippi roast, but it was pretty good. I've made an Italian pot roast that was similar. The recipe called for a stick of butter, but I couldn't do it. That's butter waste. ;) I also used beef broth instead of the au jus package. You can see how much fat was in the finished cooking liquid. I threw some carrots, onion, and celery on top of the roast the last hour. The de-fatted cooking liquid was thickened and used for gravy on rice. Come to think of it, my friend's parents were from Mississippi and they cooked a pot roast and rice every Sunday. It cooked while we were at church and I was always invited to lunch

Since it was Pi Day (3-14), I made a blackberry pie. The pot roast and pie were made special for College Boy, who is usually at work when we eat. I knew he'd be home, so I made his favorite things.

For St. Patrick's Day, I threw this Guinness Glazed Corned Beef into the crock pot. The glaze was really good and a nice change from the usual boiled corned beef dinner. I never bought cabbage, so I made Reuben sandwiches instead. I'm going to miss the convenience of crock pot cooking this week. It gave me some extra goof off time.

This sand hill crane hung out in my yard all day Friday. When he wasn't warming himself in our dead crab grass, he was on his feet squawking or following me to the mailbox. They normally travel in pairs, but I think his mate got lost or killed. I have no idea why he thought she was in my house. For a minute I thought she might have got trapped in the garage. Wouldn't that be exciting?

Saturday's Sew Day was a blast as usual. We had a big group of quilters working on tons of fun projects, including 23 adorable pillowcases for Nemours Children's Hospital. Here's my owl one. I hope those big eyes don't keep someone awake! OvO

I also took advantage of the huge space we have at the library and attempted to lay out my Easy Street Mystery quilt. This sucker is huge. Turns out, I was short four blocks. :( I wondered why I had so many extra pieces! Good thing I kept them. I was able to sew three diagonal rows together at Sew Day and start piecing the blocks I needed.

Tada! Everything is put together and pressed. The top measures 86" square and I'm attempting to add borders now. The first border didn't fit correctly, so I need to tackle that today. Or just wad up the top and put it in a box. I believe this quilt has 2,181 pieces. Gah! I really prefer making smaller quilts. I had to sweep my back porch to get a picture and measure for borders.

P.S. I'm moderating comments for a bit because apparently the spammers like to make me blush. Usually Blogger catches spam comments, but recently I've had some "spicy" ones published. I hope you didn't see them before I deleted them. I blame my racy headlines. That's crock, spammers! Stay away from my blog.

Give a Little, Get a Lot

I've been a fan of the fabulous V at Bumble Beans for some time now. I had the opportunity to meet her in person at QuiltCon, where her amazing quilt won Best of Show. Besides being a world-class quilter, teacher, and inspiring kind of gal, she likes to give back to others. I don't think I've ever met a quilter that didn't like to give. Victoria is no exception.

Her Bumble Beans Basics has provided handmade quilts to those in need for a few years now. Seeing the recipients smile, cry, and wrap themselves in quilter love is a gift in itself. The latest endeavor is providing baby and twin size quilts for The Child & Family Institute. The program fosters healthy and strong relationships between babies and their caregivers. I can see how a cozy quilt made with love might just aid in that special bond.

Here's the little baby chick quilt I'm sending. Before and after washing. I love the crinkle goodness. I found this pattern in the book below. There are some really cute patterns in that book and I need to drag it out again and make something else.

I also had a little fun paper piecing this weekend. This Friendship Teacup was one of the free patterns from the QuiltCon mix tape and was designed by the talented Penny from Sew Take a Hike. Penny is another great inspiration in the quilting world. The top little mini will be a quilt for AAQI and I think I'll make a mug rug from the bottom one.

Hey Bones, get off the quilt! I'm trying to get a picture here. Animals and quilts...they go together like peanut butter and mayo. Really. Try it on toasted bread.

There ya go, Mr. Bones. That's your quilt. I even found some sun for you. Bones would be content to lay out in the front yard on his quilt and bark at everyone who dares to walk by. He'll be 13 (91 in dog years!) next month and still acts like a deranged killer around large dogs. That's mini dachshund attitude for you.

We're making pillowcases for Nemours Children's Hospital at our next guild Sew Day. I'm all cut out and ready to stitch. Ooh la la, French seams here I come.