Sunday Stash #83

"Borrowed" from The Sewing Studio

Uh oh. The Sewing Studio had one of its 40% off everything sales on July 4. I had an open morning, so I buzzed up there and shopped with the crowds. It was my first time for one of these big sales and a lot of fun. Great shoppers, friendly staff, and tons of goodies to grab. This photo shows the line 30 minutes before opening. I was still at home. I bopped in around 20 minutes after they opened and there was no line. They even had parking attendants to help you park your car.

"The Exciter Pack" of Dye-na-Flow dyes. I bought some Kona PFD fabric for dyeing too. So many things to do with fabric.

Kona solids charm pack and a sunglasses print I really just wanted the selvage on. Ha, ha, I'm so bad. Hollywood loves it, so there's that. I can make her something with it and hoard the selvage.

Fun, fun fat quarters. Orange gingham...yes! Pretty sure I have some of the google eyes. I bought the Simpsons because it reminds me of College Boy. I delivered College Boy during an episode of The Simpsons. True story. I just looked up the episode and it was "When Flanders Failed." College Boy still loves The Simpsons.

The center fabric is Kokka from Japan. The stripe on the left was like a quarter a yard. The batik caught my eye as soon as I walked in the store. I love when people ask what you're going to do with the fabric. Uhm...not sure. Luckily they still let you buy it if you have no plan. Phew!

Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably love. I heart those guys.

Pop art fun. This is "Home Sewing is Easy: part 2 Hawaii." What a hoot. "Susan...is this bikini top too revealing? I'll raise the hem on this little number..." Girls!

That rascal Jim!

Speaking of crowds, I visited our brand new Trader Joe's on the way home from The Sewing Studio. What a zoo! Fun stuff, though. I bought all kinds of junk. The store is smaller than the one I've been to in Indianapolis, but fun nonetheless.

Dried flattened banana is nothing like banana chips. They had so many dried fruits and vegetables. These cheese section had me drooling. I may have bought 30 lbs. of it.

My flowers are looking lovely. Just kidding, you know I can't grow stuff like this. These pretties were in a huge planter at Trader Joe's. Happy Sunday! Thanks for stopping by.

Michael Miller MQG Challenge

Well, I've started the challenge. I had no idea where to go with these fabrics, so I made wonky log cabins at our last Sew Day. I may have blatantly ripped off this idea from a guild buddy. I really love this fabric collection. Fun, citrus-y colors and plenty of orange. I took a peak at the finished projects on the Modern Quilt Guild's website. Creativity galore! The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild gals did a great job as well. I have 20 days to meet the deadline, but if I miss it, no biggie.

Got a little bug and decided I wanted to own toy sewing machines. I know. Here's the first little one I acquired. Isn't it sweet? It really works too! That is if I could see to thread the needle. These silly little things are expensive. I may already be over this bug. Maybe. That's my siggy block for V. It only measures 3.5" square, so you can see how small this 1970s Little Gem sewing machine is.

I grilled some King Crab legs. I'll grill anything, won't I? They're slathered in a sauce of olive oil, butter, minced garlic, Old Bay seasoning and lime juice. Pretty darn good.

Hollywood and I went to the produce market and grocery store. She made me buy all the things she loves. I think she was hungry. When we got back we started boiled peanuts (that's a habanero pepper in them), and fried okra and green tomatoes. Then she wanted salad caprese and Chicken Parmesan. I tried this quickie recipe with spinach. Easy! I guess I should be happy Hollywood's favorite foods have graduated from blue box mac 'n cheese and cosmic brownies.

Our Marketing team meeting included imbibing hand crafted cocktails and happy hour snacks. Someone has to do it.

Yeah, that's what I thought too. But it's true, to market something, you have to try it yourself. Maybe I should work for a travel agency, or quilt shop.

Sunday Stash #82

Birthday goodies from Rene'. We both adore cats, so we have a little inside joke going on. Meow.

Our guild is collecting fabric and quilting supplies for an auction to suplement our education fund. We had a pre-sale at Sew Day yesterday. I donated a box of stuff and only came home with half a box of stuff. Progress, yes?

Cheesy Goodness

Orlando Modern Quilt Guild gals with Carolyn Friedlander at Bok Tower in central Florida. The ornate musical tower is part of a 50-acre garden donated to the American people by Edward Bok. Carolyn's gorgeous quilts were on display in the visitor center and a group of us met up to socialize and tour the gardens. We had a delicious lunch at the cafe and walked the grounds. So many beautiful flowers and plants. The gardenias were so fragrant. I told my bush at home to get with the program or I was getting my ax.

I popped into Whole Foods to get a few things. I wish we had one closer to my house. Central Florida is getting a couple Trader Joe's and I'm excited. They won't be close by either, but I'll make the trip for fun groceries. The blood orange soda was really good. RIP dill plant. Three days, people.

I bought $900 worth of cheese.

Only spent $200 on olives. I felt like I was shopping in France. It was Memorial Day weekend so Whole Foods was hoppin'. I still managed find all kinds of fun foods.

This was dinner for me one night. Might be lunch today.

Lightening struck our neighbor's tall tree last weekend. We were sitting inside and heard the loud strike. What a mess. Blew that tree to smithereens. We're expecting more storms this afternoon.

I tried this spinach, tomato egg bake this morning.

Delicious! It's easy and you can bake it until the eggs are to your liking. I like them runny.

May Sew Day

 

Catching up around here. Nothing like a holiday weekend to pack in the fun. Hollywood made me the cutest basket of kitchen stuff for Mother's Day. She knows what I like! The little cups under the anti bacterial bottle are actually silicone measuring cups. So cute and colorful. I used the tongs today, but I've kept the basket in tact because it was so darling.  I'll dust it off next weekend.

Sew Day for our guild was a blast as usual. The block of the month was so much fun I made two! The block pattern is called Anita's Arrowhead and is a cinch to make. Our color scheme was green and gray.

 Look at all the quilters!

Cara is making a gorgeous quilt for her husband. He's been waiting patiently for a quilt of his very own. I believe he's going to flip over this beauty. We were all drooling over her fabric choices.

Pat had a fun one going up on the design wall. Some of my favorite colors too. It's going to be king size. No biggie. Pat ain't scared. These guild gals awe me all the time. Quilt warriors, all of them. 

I played around with a Red Riding Hood charm pack. I added in a few squares to round it all out. A few borders and it will make a cute baby quilt. Our guild is making them for a local organization.

I was also able to get this pinwheel quilt top basted and quilted at Sew Day. Look how close my batting is! It was a spare piece that barely fit. Worked out fine. I pieced this quilt back in the day and unearthed the top for our guild's UFO challenge. The Pinwheel Baby Quilt is a Moda Bake Shop pattern from 2009. It's a fun pattern and suitable for beginners. The edge triangles are prairie points, which were really easy. I don't always let my tops age...oh, who am I kidding. I just prefer the piecing part. At least it hadn't yellowed. 

And it's finished! I got it bound during a thunderstorm. Here it is before its bath.

A co-worker is having a baby, so this one has a home. The mom was a week past her due date when we left work Friday, so I'm hoping baby girl cooperated and decided to meet the world over the holiday weekend. It's a first baby, so lots of excitement. 

Julie helped me figure out quilting the border at Sew Day. Simple, but it got the job done. 

Happy Mother's Day!

I whipped up a salsa to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Garlic, dried peppers, red onion, jalapeno and roma tomatoes.

I found some grape tomatoes too and grilled everything on my stove top grill pan. It would have been better on the grill, but I didn't have time to light a fire.

Whir evertyhing up in the food processor. Add a squeeze of lime juice and a pinch of salt. Fresh and yummy. Nothing like the jarred stuff.

Last week's roasted chicken was gigantic, so I made a batch of chicken salad. It made so much we got sick of it, but it was really good the first day or so.

Since it's Sunday, I'll show you my latest stash acquisition. Amy Butler organic goodness. So girly and bright. I can't wait to hack it up for something.

Our friend and his twin sister celebrate their birthday with a big seafood feast each year. There are always steamed crabs, which are my favorite. I didn't pass up on the clams, shrimp or oysters either.

There's always a big spread of food. Buffalo chicken dip, corn, gumbo and rice, cheeses, salads and desserts. Inspector Gadget signed me up to bring the Pioneer Woman's Olive Cheese Bread, which he loves. We made two huge loaves. I'm not going to lie, we ate for six straight hours. They are our Italian family and that's how Italians celebrate.

Jackpot! Look at the mustard on my crab. You're supposed to avoid it, but it's a rare occurrence and a true delicacy. Now off to Kobe to celebrate Mother's Day. I may need stretch pants tomorrow.

Happy Mother's Day to all

Quick Week

Oh my gosh, this Sun-dried Tomato Cod with Greens, Asparagus, Gold Potatoes was a real hit around here. The original recipe calls for collard greens, but those scare some people around here. I substituted spinach and left out the corn. After nearly 30 years, the Inspector is just getting used to eating green stuff. Stubborn much? Anyway, it's a quickie dish that you can whip up in no time. I have a love affair with little potatoes. These are the Honey Gold variety.

Did you watch the two minute Kentucky Derby? Horse racing makes me nervous, but I watched. None of the horses wrecked, so that was good. One of the gals at work made these Kentucky Derby cupcakes which had chocolate chips, walnuts and bourbon in them. This recipe is probably similar. They were so good. I don't usually eat sugar, but they corrupt me at work.

After a week of rain in Florida, today was gorgeous. Cooler, clear skies, gentle breeze. I love the rain, but it's nice to see the sun too. I wish I could tan, but my dermatologist is such a bubble buster. He's really pale too. Doesn't look healthy.

This guy was probably happy to feel the sun today. My first snake spotting of the year. I bet it won't be my last. Why do they love me so much?

This week's roasted chicken. I never get tired of it. I grilled romaine to go along with it. That freaks Inspector Gadget out, but then he remembers he likes it. I threw some avocado and cotija cheese on the romaine too. Kind of like this recipe but minus that killer tomatillo sauce. I'll be making the full recipe once I score some tomatillos.

Never being much of a pizza fan, I've gone nutso over this Rustichella pizza from our local pizza joint, Tartini. Put pancetta, roasted grape tomatoes, ham and arugula on pizza dough and shove it in my face. Oh, and I'll have a runny egg right in the center of the pie. So good. Let's go right now, I'll drive.