Sunday Stash #55

Today's fabrics all came from an Ugly Fabric Swap I signed up for. I think these two are pretty nice. I especially like the orange print on the right.

These two weren't particularly awful either. Boy, the ones I sent were much worse. I hope they made the receivers cringe. Ha ha!

One of the swappers tucked in a huge hunk of this Asian print. I love text prints. Yumi said she believes it Korean text, but she doesn't think it says anything.

Our friend told us about a new to us seafood shop that is now selling to the public. They have 1 to 1-1/2 pound cooked Maine lobsters for $5! This lobster was full of tasty meat. I had to watch a YouTube video to figure out how to get all the meat and good bits out. I served it cold over salad greens with a simple lemon vinaigrette.

Then I wrapped some shrimp in peppered bacon and served them over cheese grits. Then I thought about eating healthier and riding my bike more. Then I started thinking about the next thing I wanted to cook.

Eight Years Ago

Guess what I was doing eight years ago today? Cleaning debris from Hurricane Charley. The kids, Bones and I survived the storm huddling in the master closet. We heard the pool screen get blown over the roof and heard our giant oak trees hit the ground with big bangs. Windows were shattered, debris was everywhere. Scary. Inspector Gadget was at work trying to secure the newspaper facility. He was only able to get back to the house on foot. There were trees blocking street travel throughout our neighborhood and community.

I sure miss those big oaks. Here are the kiddos climbing. We had two this size tumble over. And a smaller one in the back yard. The neighbors got tired waiting for the city to chop down the trees, so they rented chainsaws and did it themselves. We hauled tree debris from dawn to dusk.

View from our roof. My little car amazingly survived the ordeal without a scratch. That's our pool screen lying in the trash pickup area. It took several days to get power back, but luckily we had a small generator that ran the coffee maker and a small television. We couldn't leave the neighborhood for at least a week, but once the streets were cleared we set out to see the damage. It was bad.

On a lighter note, I entertained the kids by having them haul debris for days and I learned to cook many quickly thawing items on the grill. We ate well and provided coffee to our neighbors without generators. That summer was exciting. We had two more big hurricanes after Charley. Never a dull moment. I'm hoping this hurricane season continues to be calm. Although, I could use a thorough fridge cleaning...

Easing into the Week

Happy Monday. Fun and busy weekend here. Relaxing, too. A little bit of everything. I registered 14 quilts for AAQI. Yumi made nine and I made five. This little paper pieced apple was my latest contribution. Our guild is making AAQI quilts for our September challenge, so I get to make another. They're really fun to make. It's nice to finish a quilt for once. Or five of them!

And here's the guild BOM for September. It's a wonky donut. Fun and easy. But is it just me, or do your scraps seem to multiply in the dark? I can never put a dent in them.

Another ATC (Artist Trading Card) before I trimmed it down. Painting is so relaxing. Have you ever seen this Twenty Minute Challenge blog? I love seeing everyone's quickie creations.Very inspiring.

I did a little farming over the weekend. From left to right, rosemary, thyme, spicy oregano. I didn't take a picture of my bounty of basil, but let's just say I have basil coming out of my ears. The grocery store basil plant Inspector Gadget rescued from the trash last summer is flourishing despite the heat. We have plenty of peppers too.

I made cashew pesto with the mounds of basil. I'm not usually a huge fan of pesto, but this batch was pretty good. College Boy loved it. You should see how much pasta that kid can put away.

Sorry to see the Olympics come to an end, but maybe I'll be able to get some stuff done. Maybe.

Ready for the Weekend

I had lunch with this little lady this week. Her parents came too. Here she is sleeping like an angel on the quilt I made her. We tried the new Belle Isle Bayou restaurant. Our small little community has so many nice locally owned restaurants. We have all the chain stuff too, but I really prefer helping out the smaller establishments. The cheesy shrimp grits were amazing, but the service was awful. Hope they can work that out quickly.

Why is this crazy lady taking my photo with a flash? Mia was the perfect smiley baby while we enjoyed lunch. She downed a bottle of formula. At six months old, she's not quite ready for etouffee. She has tried and loves avocado and yellow squash. I think next up is broccoli.

Seven, yes seven more AAQI quilts from Yumi, my friend in Japan. I'm such a slacker. I haven't registered the last ones she sent. We're going to have a big pile of quilts to contribute. I bet they all get to go to the International Quilt Show.

Fun Japanese candy for the kiddos. They love when a package arrives from Japan.

Yumi also sent me a charm pack of vintage kimono scraps. I'm going to have to figure out something fun to make with these. Love all the different prints.

These crab stuffed mushrooms were the bomb. The wine and butter made the perfect dipping sauce for a sturdy hunk of bread. With a green salad, dinner is served. Yum. They're even good cold for breakfast. Or that just be my odd self. I'm ready for the weekend and some sewing time.

Being Random Again

I'm not usually a fan of pizza. As a kid, my parents drug me to a local pizza joint several times a month. They ordered the number 22 which was sausage, pepperoni and mushrooms. Ironically, this combination is also Inspector Gadget's favorite. I like sausage, pepperoni, and mushrooms, but the combo just seemed too heavy or greasy on a pizza. I ate sauteed mushrooms or spaghetti instead of the pizza at Johnny's Pizza Parlor. Recently, I found a new pizza place called Stone Fired Pizza. A little mom and pop start up right in my community. The pizza is really good. The crust, tomato sauce and cheese application are perfect. I get it topped with spinach, tomatoes and bacon. It's yum.

They bring Bones free treats too. There are several different shapes, but I'm not sure if there are different flavors. I didn't try any. I guess I'm not a fan of dog cookies either. I did eat a Tender Vittle once on a dare. Cannot recommend.

What? The pizza is here? Ha, don't be fooled! This crippled old dog flies off the couch in a frenzy when someone comes to the door.

I played with batiks yesterday. I could rearrange half square triangles all day long.

My latest mini quilt for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative or AAQI. Ami Simms, the founder has placed a shout out for more quilts. They plan on taking 2,000 quilts to the International Quilt Festival in Houston this year. Their August online auction is going on until the 10th of August. There are some really pretty quilts up for auction this month. Yumi and I are getting our piles of little quilts ready to send. Our guild is making donation quilts too.

I've really been enjoying the Olympics this summer. It's like one big exciting World Peace Party with talented athletes and encouraging fans. My mom sent me the picture on the left. It's Michael Phelps as a child. The kid on the right is College Boy circa kindergarten.

Sunday Stash #54

We had our monthly guild meeting at the Sewing Studio Fabric Superstore. I'm so glad that shop is not on the way to my usual haunts. I could do damage. I hit the sale section and scored a bunch of fun fabric.

Love this pink gingham print. Reminds me of Japanese designs. Anthropomorphic food always makes me smile. I like text on fabric too.

Malka's jazzy prints I've been collecting. That one on the right reminds me of fried green tomatoes.

Jo-Ann coupons for these. All, in all a fun haul. Now to chop them up and sew them back together. Those crazy quilters.

A Little of This, A Little of That

Hillbilly Hand Fishing? Really? Have you seen these guys catching gigantic cat fish with their bare hands? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since growing up we spent a week each summer in the Florida Keys hunting lobster by hand. We didn't catch and release either. We ate those suckers. Some years we caught so many we got sick of eating lobster, if that's even possible.

I'm totally making my young adult children read this.

How about those summer tomatoes? I'm in produce heaven. I bought these at our local farmer's market. They were so red and juicy.  Can you guess what I'm going to have for lunch?

Yep, a BLT! Oh it was so good. I want another.

Kathryn, one of my guild buddies gave me some small batik squares in pretty jewel tone colors. I put them all together and then framed them with a batik from my stash.

I made a pieced backing with even more batiks.

Now don't faint, but I made the binding for the quilt too. Very uncharacteristic for me. I usually just put a hunk of fabric with the quilt top and call it a day. Now to get that flimsy quilted.

I used the leftover bacon to make a bacon and blue cheese bread. I gotta get off that blue cheese wagon. I can't quit it.

Our guild is submitting blocks to the QuiltCon Block Challenge. Here's my rushed entry. All of the blocks submitted were really cool. The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild has so many talented quilters. It's so much fun to see what everyone creates.

Broke out the watercolors yesterday to make a sunflower ATC. I left everything out, so I may get to paint a little more today.