What to do, what to do?

Should I play with selvages?

Finish some WIPs?

Or bake a pie? I made this three-berry pie yesterday, so we probably don't need another pie in the house.

Sunday Stash #27

Also known as the birthday stash, since I don't really need to be buying any fabric, thank you very much.

Mental note to do something with batiks soon. I have some cool ones. That red on the left is a batik.

I did get a block sewn this weekend. Tutorial by Freshly Pieced.  I had hoped to get more sewing in, but I went to the mall with my teenagers, did 7,000 loads of laundry, cooked, and lounged by the pool.

Mr. Beer Chicken before he went on the grill. Isn't he dapper? This cooking technique is fail proof. I love it. I made soup from the leftovers, because soup is always good when it's 94 degrees out.

Happy Friday!

Did you see this hilarious Dad waving to his teenage son on the school bus every morning for an entire year? I bet the kids on the bus couldn't help but have a great day with a funny start like that! Go Dad!

I shipped off eight AAQI quilts this week. Four I made, three Yumi made, and one a doll quilt swapper made. How's that for productivity?! And speaking of productivity, AAQI awarded a $60,000 research grant this week! You can read the article here. How about them apples? A bunch of talented quilters and their little quilts are helping corral this awful disease. Makes me want to make more. They really are fun to whip up.

In fact, the June auction ends today and you can always buy others on the ongoing Quilts for Sale page.

Have a great weekend. I'm getting my chores done today so I can goof off more than usual. ;)

Housekeeping

I found some sewing time this week and made another portfolio cover. You can find the awesome tutorial from The Cottage Home right here. I used a tacky plastic portfolio to make it sturdy. There are plenty of pockets to store other stuff.

My Fridge Food is a neat site where you check off what you have in your cupboards and fridge and it will come up with recipes for you to whip up. Nutritional information is also provided if you're into crazy stuff like that. I like to play Survivor Island here at home and put off the grocery store as long as I can. My fridge was so bare a couple of days ago that everyone was commenting on it. I finally broke down and shopped when I took poured a glass of rotten milk and took a big swig. I will never again make fun of people who smell food before they eat it.

Speaking of crazy stuff, The Krazy Coupon Lady is a great place to find deals on food, toiletries, and a myriad of other things. I'm hooked. I saved over $25 using manufacturer coupons on my last grocery run.

I forgot to post about the soup I made from the leftover crab. It has everything but the kitchen sink in it. Crab, onion, celery, carrot, red peppers, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, brown rice, coconut milk, crab and chicken broth. I thought it needed something else. Maybe curry. Or some other type of heat. Or lime. Sometimes those kitchen sink soups work, sometimes they need some work.

I was getting ready to toss/donate this hideous green homespun, but I decided to try my hand at garment sewing. No worries, clothing manufacturers, I am not cut out for sewing clothes. And considering the time and brain effort involved, I'd be better off shopping at Neiman Marcus or Sax.

Gary Larson is one of my favorite cartoonists. I was crushed when he retired The Far Side. I love his wacky sense of humor. I'm cleaning out files and ran across a folder of comics I clipped when I worked at the newspaper in the 1980s. Sheep dip, anyone?

Pummelvision

One of the blogs I read is Wendolonia. I have no idea how I stumbled across her blog, but she makes the cutest bento box lunches for her adorable little boys. Today she introduced me to Pummelvision. With Pummelvision you can make a spiffy video from your photos. Try it, it's fun!

Here's the one I made of my miniature quilts.



It's Monday again. Those weekends fly by. I did get some chillin' and grillin' time in over the weekend. Have you ever had a savory watermelon salad? I tossed watermelon chunks, onions, black olives, queso fresco, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper together and chilled everything for a good half hour. It was really good. My inspiration for the salad was from this recipe that uses feta cheese. I didn't have feta, but I bet that would be wonderful too. Or bleu cheese.

Two blah-ish miniatures are done. I did some free motion quilting around the Dresden Plate. Feed dogs up, baby! It really works much better for me.

I made these half square triangles with the trimmings from the Friendship block. It's mug rug size.

This paper piece pattern has been hanging out on my desk for a while. I skipped the lake activities yesterdays and got a little sewing in. Hope your weekend was fun!

Throwback

I'm screwed. I knew it a couple of weeks ago when I was in Publix and saw these little numbers.

Yep, there they are in all their original 1970s glory. Even the original packaging. Taco-flavored Doritos. The original flavor I munched all through junior high and high school when I weighed 80 lbs. and could eat anything. Bags were purchased on early morning trips to Cocoa Beach to watch my boyfriend surf sleep on the beach. These chips were served at awkward boy-girl pool parties, available in the junk food lunch line at school and eaten by everyone I knew.

Funny story sideline here, my friend Jane had a Nutty Bar and a Coke for lunch every day of junior high. She's been on Crestor since she was 20. I guess that's not really funny, but she sure is. Anyhoo, I loved the Taco-flavored Doritos. When Frito Lay quit making them, I quit eating Doritos.

Until I had kids. You can't deprive children of Doritos. It's just wrong. [Hush, Jamie Oliver, they eat veggies too]. My kids ate all the funky new flavors. Buffalo Chicken Wing and Bleu Cheese, Pizza, Cool Ranch, Beer and Pretzel, Sushi, etc. Just kidding about the sushi flavor. That would be odd. Like the seaweed snack Yumi sent me from Japan. It tasted much like sushi Doritos. While all these new flavors were imaginative, they just didn't grab me like those Taco babies. It was a good thing. A junky snack I could avoid. Until now.

On a husband-inflicted trip to Wally World, I made him buy me groceries and a bag of Taco Doritos. Heaven. They're just like I remember. The sodium content has to be off the charts. My feet will be even fatter than ever tomorrow. But for now, I'm going to don some bell bottoms, mess with my shag and gather my roller skates. There's a skating rink nearby and I plan on skating until it's 1999. Or at least until curfew.

Forty Eight

Forty-eight pieces in this 12" Friendship block. I made it today for a 1930s block swap. It's a cute block and easy as pie. I found the pattern in Eleanor Burns' book.

I turned 48 yesterday. That's not in dog years either. How the heck did that happen? Time flies when you're having fun. My family showered me with neon blossoms and dinner at my favorite restaurant. Hubby gave me crabs too. If you haven't read my previous posts that might sound really bad. I've been getting crabs on my birthday since I was a little kid.

And speaking of 48, I believe I need stronger glasses. I'm still on the baby step bifocals. I may need big girl bifocals. Hand sewing these English Paper Pieces for a Grandmother's Flower Garden block gave my eyes a workout. At least with the bad eyes, I can't see all the bad stitches. Maybe I don't need stronger bifocals.

Our guild's July block of the month is the Disappearing Four Patch in red, white and blue. I whipped up these two. We have a drawing each month and someone takes home all the blocks. It's so fun to see what everyone comes up with. We have a really talented group.