Nostalgic Cafe

Busy as a Bee

2013-05-24T13:48:00.002-04:00

Isn't this little hexie bee block cute? You can find the free pattern right here.

It was a busy, busy week. I didn't get much sewing accomplished, but managed to wear myself out with other projects. I'm starting to research bathroom renovation ideas. Won't that be fun? No, it will not. I'd love to take a trip to Paris and have it done when I returned. Just make it pretty and easy to clean. Neutral colors. See you when I get back!

Quickie selvage coaster for a friend.

Baked apple pie donuts for Inspector Gadget. I need to figure out a recipe that only makes six donuts, since that's what my pan holds. I had to put the extra batter into mini muffin pans.

I made this Mexican seven layer dip for a luncheon. I winged a version for Sew Day, but it wasn't as good or pretty as this one was. Maybe it does matter in what order you layer the ingredients. Finding ripe avocados was an adventure. And after visiting three different produce markets, I forgot to get the celery for another dish I was making. Back out again.

I would love seeing the installation of the 1,600 flags made for the To Boston with Love project. They've installed the flags at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and they look so colorful and cheery. Amy and Berene worked miracles to make it happen. And quilters from around the world send encouraging and beautiful flags. You can see some photos here. The quilting community is always so generous.

Somehow I got sucked into another TV series while desperately waiting for Breaking Bad and Walking Dead to return. This new show is on PBS and titled Call the Midwife. It's set in 1950s London. You can catch both seasons on the site, which is handy.

Work is done for the day and I'm off to celebrate the three-day weekend. There is serious barbecuing in my future. Have fun!

Forty Something

2013-05-21T09:38:00.000-04:00

Saturday was our guild's monthly Sew Day. I worked on various projects including our June BOM which was fun and easy.

I bought this alien panel on clearance somewhere and added sides to make it bigger. I meant to make the sides different widths. Not. It's hard to measure without the proper tools. We talked about having a travel bag filled with duplicate tools we use for sewing and quilting. I forgot scissors this time. A tape measure would have been nice too.

Hollywood and her charge, Gilbert came over for a swim lesson Sunday. Unfortunately, it rained cats and dogs, so we had to entertain the little busy bee indoors most of the afternoon. A calculator is a fun toy, right? He did get a swim lesson yesterday. I forgot how hard it was to teach a child to hold their breath under water. This goof was taking large "breaths" as soon as he went under. I told him to quit drinking all my pool water.

See why I call him Gilbert? He's as comical as Gilbert Gottfried too.

This button has been floating around my studio for a few years. In 10 short days, I won't be able to claim this. Yep, the big 5-O for me. Eek!

Actually, I'm kind of excited. Especially since birthdays come with gifts. My friend Wendy sent me these beautiful oven mitt-shaped hot pads. They're way too pretty to use. I love seeing all the fabrics she's been working with.

A Monday in May

2013-05-13T17:03:00.003-04:00

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I found a little distraction over the weekend and made a quick tote bag. The instructions can be found here.

Ellison Lane Quilts kicked off the Summer Sampler Sew Along today. The blocks will feature the tasty treats of summer. The first block was a Popsicle. I made a banana one, because those were my favorite as a kid.

Our ice cream man was named Smitty and he looked a lot like Santa Claus. He had a neat old truck, wore red suspenders, and smoked cigars. If you forgot your money, Smitty would front you a cool treat for the walk home from school. We always remembered to pay him back the next day.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. My family was good to me as usual. And I was able to see my mama before she flitted off to the Virgin Islands. My favorite gift was this Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl.I usually use a plastic grocery bag beside my cutting board, so I'm styling now.

My usual Sunday family dinner of roasted chicken. I put sun dried tomato and herbed goat cheese under and on the skin before baking. Get the how to right here. I served the chicken with mashed potatoes, pan sauce, lentils, corn on the cob, salad, and cornbread.

Finishes

2013-05-09T14:24:00.001-04:00

I finished quilting and binding this olive tree paper pieced mini quilt. Our guild had the talented Carolyn Friedlander give us a workshop on this pattern. It was a lot of fun to see everyone's fabric choices.

Whee! This shoofly quilt is done too! I bought the quilting for this one.

The backing and striped binding.

Remember that turkey stock I was making? After I strain the solids, I like to let it set in the fridge overnight. The next day there's a layer of fat that you need to remove before you use it.

Halfway there...we're not looking for schmaltz, we want to get rid of it. I scrape it off with a large serving spoon.

Add some fresh veggies and noodles to your broth and you have a tasty soup. And yay, the turkey is gone. It made great sandwiches and I used the rest of the carved meat in the soup. Turkey is an economical dish that can be stretched so many ways.

I made some flatbread to go along with the soup. I couldn't find semolina flour at my normal grocery store, so I made do with a trio of bread flour, all purpose flour, and whole wheat flour.

I dug out a bunch of fun toppings. Flax seed, fried red onion, fried garlic, poppy seeds, and black sesame seeds.

They were a bit crunchy, so I won't let them bake as long next time.

Dog Eat Dog World

2013-05-07T16:12:00.000-04:00

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.

Sunday Stash #71 on Monday

2013-05-06T13:47:00.000-04:00

Not much to show this Sunday Stash. Probably a good thing. The Dr. Seuss fabric reminds me of my favorite childhood books. The good doctor instilled my love of reading at a very early age. I had coupons at my local quilt shop, so I treated myself to a yard and a larger add-a-quarter ruler for paper piecing.

I made a Derby pie Saturday to occupy some time. It was either bake or clean. The pie is basically a chocolate pecan pie, but not as custard-y. I heard it was good. That crust is pretty rustic looking. I tried an oil crust for a change.

Look, conveyor belt sushi at the mall. I wonder if it's any good?

Hollywood picked my gardenia bush/tree clean. Unfortunately, these blossoms have no scent. Whatsoever. They never have. At least they're pretty.

Super Saturday

2013-05-04T10:40:00.001-04:00

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!

Shake it Like a Polaroid Picture

2013-05-02T12:49:00.001-04:00

Do you crave certain foods? I am craving pot stickers today. I was craving fried chicken for about six weeks, but someone got tired of hearing me whine about it and got me a fried chicken fix. It was so wonderful. Worth every calorie. I rewarded that special someone with these sour cream biscuits. You have to love a quick biscuit recipe that only has three ingredients. I always cut the recipe in half. It makes a ton.

A little paper piecing is a great way to fit in small amounts of sewing time. I was still in Easter Peeps mode. At least it didn't turn into an orphan block. I unearthed a bunch of those yesterday for a special project. For this bunny peep, I added some Insul-Bright and made a handy potholder. Remind me to dig it out next Easter.

I was playing around with my Drunkard's Path templates and 1930s fabrics. I'm not sure what I'll do with these, but I'm sure I'll think of something. I may need to stitch a few more.

Speaking of paper piecing, I purchased a pattern on Craftsy a while ago and promptly forgot about it. While organizing my hard drive, I stumbled upon it and printed it out. With all the trimming and paper, this technique gets a little messy.

It was a semi-tough pattern for me, and I didn't get everything lined up, but it was fun. Did you have one of these cameras? It's worth about a billion dollars now. Just kidding, but they are collectible. I wonder if my college/camera boy has one in his collection?

Maybe I can finish these Polaroid blocks and make a little quilt with everything. I'm back in the sewing/working/cleaning swing of things after a nice trip out of town.

Tuesday Tidings

2013-04-23T12:26:00.002-04:00

I thought this sunglasses case was really cute. It's fun finding fabric to match the zipper. I think you're supposed to do it the other way around, but I often buy random zippers to keep on hand. I also have some vintage zippers. Fun to see the prices on vintage sewing notions.

My first loaf of French boule from the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes book. The master recipe is very easy and versatile. I used half for this loaf and half for pizza dough. Both were delicious. I don't have a pizza peel to get the dough on my baking stone, so I used parchment paper. It worked like a charm.

I was able to quilt my Peace, Baby quilt at Sew Day on Saturday. I opted for simple straight line quilting because I still stink at free motion quilting. Rene's fun Peace pattern is available here. You can make it in three different sizes.

I ran into a little trouble after quilting. Oops, the backing isn't long enough. Believe it or not, I had help sandwiching my top, but I just cut the backing a bit too small and things shifted when I quilted.

A label helped hide my oopsie. Since I rarely label my quilts (bad), maybe I should mess up more.

The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild is hosting a collaborative effort of makers to bring peace and love to Boston from far and wide. They are collecting small flags to be used in a public exhibition. The world could use a little more peace and love. I'm all for that.

Here's my contribution. You can see more of the sweet flags on Flickr. As I type this post, there is breaking news of four different bomb threats near me. Four. Is it a full moon or something? What is wrong with people? I'm hoping the threats turn out to be nothing, but at least there was warning and time to evacuate people just in case.

Look who's back. Or is it a new snake? I thought he died last year. We found an injured snake at the end of the season. This booger has already scared me twice. Did you hear my snake scream? This is right outside my studio window. Lovely.

Signed,
The Snake Magnet

Sunday Stash #70

2013-04-21T09:53:00.001-04:00

Uh oh. Someone got caught up in some Internet shopping. This is what I get working in front of a computer all day long. During my work breaks, I can only goof off on Faceplace or blogs so long. Then the online fabric shops start calling my name. Check out the fancy packaging from Form and Fabric. And always $2.99 flat shipping. You can't beat it!

It was these Kaffe Fassett shot cottons I really wanted. They're so pretty. I love how the color changes subtly throughout the woven fabrics. Shot cottons are made by using two different dyed colors of warp and weft yarns woven together to create a special depth, a “shot” of color.

And I just love these Japanese novelty prints. They get me every time, especially when they're on sale.

More adorable novelty prints. Those animal heads on the orange background are really cute.

Random fabrics that caught my eye.

Black and white prints are always fun. Especially if they have numbers or words on them.

It's a small stack, but I'm thrilled with it. What shall I make?

My guild buddy, Judy made me this adorable felt house pincushion. I put it near my Fisher Price girl with her sewing machine.

Whee! It's Wednesday!

2013-04-17T08:17:00.000-04:00

I found a new pouch tutorial on the DaWanda Blog. The video is in German, but I work best with a visual guide anyway. Plus, she has a gorgeous studio. I love seeing where everyone creates. It makes me want to straighten up my messy studio, but only for about five minutes. Then I see something shiny.

Inspector Gadget bought a gigantic ham and I'm trying to think of clever ways to use the leftovers. This ham and cheese strata was dinner one night. And breakfast the next morning. I believe I'm hammed out.

My last teenager in the house. Bones turned 13 last week. That's 91 in dog years! Love how he finds the sun whenever he can. He's such a funny dog. Just three years ago his back went out and we thought he was a goner. He swaggers when he walks (or runs!) but at least he's no longer paralyzed. A month under a laundry basket healed him.

I made this tiny pouch yesterday and didn't quite catch the pocket under the ribbon handle. I was getting ready to trash it, but I found a cute little patch to cover up my error. Crisis averted. Sewing is serious stuff. Ha ha!

The Flying Farfalle baby quilt is complete. Those little 3" x 4.5" blocks I made over a period of time. After 60 blocks, I got sick of them. Eagle Mountain Quilting did the quilting. I used the backing to self bind. The top jelled in my big tub o' tops for over a year. I'm slowly getting the tops quilted. It's preparing the backing that freaks me out. And quilting them myself? Absolutely terrifying.

It's the Weekend!

2013-04-13T11:22:00.001-04:00

Look, I made a shirt! Garment sewing scares me to death, but I had this easy pattern and clearance fabric laying around. It turned out kind of cute. And it fits! It looks better on, but I couldn't figure out how to get a picture of it on me when I'm the only one here. And it might have involved cleaning a mirror...we can't have that. It's the weekend!

I made homemade sofrito for a Cuban dish. I've bought it jarred before, but never tried making it myself. Fresh is definitely better. I whizzed everything but the bay leaf in the food processor and let it simmer a while.

The Cuban dish was this pork in wine sauce. You let it cook low and slow with onions, garlic, chicken broth, and white wine. When the pork is tender you stir the sofrito into the pan drippings. Outstanding. It makes a killer sauce. I served it with black beans and rice and asparagus with feta vinaigrette. Leave it to me to make vegetables more caloric. Plus, I can get the picky one to eat exotic vegetables if I make a tasty sauce for them. And by exotic, I mean anything other than frozen peas.

My favorite Cuban cookbook is Cuba Concina. I've had it for years and every recipe I try is a winner.

Woo hoo! My Penzeys Spices order arrived. I bought the wrong peppercorns, but that's okay. I was tired of buying small little bottles at the grocery store. I go through a lot of pepper. They sent two free gifts too. Lemon pepper and Berbere, an Ethiopian spice blend.

Okay, let's go goof off!

No One Is Going Hungry Around Here

2013-04-11T14:33:00.000-04:00

Work has been busy, so not much time to sew. But we still gotta eat. I used my leftover roasted chicken and chicken stock to make a green chicken chili. It was spicy, but really good. I plopped some sour cream, cilantro, scallions, and parsley on top hoping to cool it off. I served it with cheese quesadillas and fruit.

Green Chicken Chili

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2 to 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Saute onion, garlic and peppers in olive oil until soft.

4 cups low sodium or homemade chicken broth
1/4 cup red salsa
1/2 cup salsa verde (green salsa)

Add broth and salsas to vegetables. Let simmer 30 minutes to an hour.

2 cups cooked chicken
masa flour to thicken (if needed)
1 small package yellow rice

Add chicken and yellow rice to pot and let simmer until rice is done. You can add masa flour to thicken if needed. Garnish with toppings of your choice: cheese, sour cream, cilantro, scallions, parsley.

I needed a quickie project to sneak in and stumbled across this Red Herring paper pieced block. I trashed my sewing area, but it was worth it.

I also needed another container to hold fabric scraps and threads. This little fabric box should fit the bill. And it matches my sewing machine. I have tons of buttons but couldn't find four that matched.

Poached egg fever around these parts. Poaching eggs is sometimes tricky and messy, but then I remembered the trick about soft boiling. Five minutes in boiling water, run under cool water, and then peel. I served it atop some grits and bacon pieces.

Tackling Tuesday

2013-04-09T12:51:00.002-04:00

Lucky Stars of the Month for April. I decided to go with scraps and make the 6" version. Challenging to say the least. I think I'll go back to the 12" size. And maybe use some coordinated prints.

Scrappy Trip Along made with 2" strips. I got bored with these blocks really quickly, but I think this pattern is something I'll tackle again someday. With 2.5" strips! I love how everyone's quilts have turned out. I did a self binding with the backing fabric.

I made a 20 lb. spinach lasagna yesterday. My kids hate lasagna, so I never make it. Something about the ricotta cheese (best part in my opinion). They were both out, and I was craving lasagna. Plus, I had leftover bolognese sauce I needed to use up. It will be up to Inspector Gadget and I to consume this monster. I froze half of it, but there's still plenty. It made a good breakfast this morning.

Don't forget about the Mondo Mushroom Pincushion pattern giveway.

Mondo Mushroom Pincushion Giveaway

2013-04-08T17:25:00.001-04:00

I had the awesome opportunity to test drive one of La Todera's new patterns. Julie creates the cutest patterns. They're all very unique and always colorful. Julie and I both have a thing for toadstools, so I was thrilled when she asked if I would like to test the Mondo Mushroom Pincushion. Mondo, indeed!

I took the pincushion outside to try for some beauty shots. Here it is on the rocks. This baby will hold lots and lots of pins. It measures approximately 7" across. Or how about using it for threaded embroidery needles? I'd like to practice my hand embroidery skills and having the needles pre-loaded with different colored threads would be convenient.

I used some eyelet lace I had, but the pattern shows you how to make your own sassy ruffle. La Todera patterns include lots of photographs and step-by-step instruction. Even I can't mess them up. I got to fire up the glue gun for this one. Fun!

Julie has given me a Mondo Mushroom Pincushion pattern to give away. Just leave a comment below and I'll put you in the running. It's a fun pattern, I know you'll love it.

Cruising Pinterest again. Too bad it doesn't pay. These blackberry pie bars were really good. I used frozen blackberries, but fresh would be even better. Most of the fresh berries are still pricey around these parts, but you can always find them frozen.

I tried Hollandaise sauce for the first time last week. Sheltered life, right? How did I miss out? We were eating breakfast out and they served the English muffins and poached eggs on top of fresh spinach and avocado. Then they drizzled hollandaise sauce all over the dish. Oh my. After that delicious breakfast, I came home and ~~obsessed~~ thought about hollandaise all week. So yesterday's brunch I whipped up a batch. Uh oh, that stuff is really good. Now I want it on asparagus and artichokes.

Log Cabin Baby is quilted, bound, washed and then tossed in the grass for a picture. I used a hunk of starry, starry night batik to back it. I think it will make a fun outdoor baby quilt and not show dirt. I've been doing machine binding on these baby quilts so they're more durable and can be washed a couple times a week.

Sunday Stash #69

2013-04-07T08:14:00.000-04:00

I may have shown this fabric before. Big, bold flowers. I unearthed it this week. Maybe I pulled it out for a special project? It's always fun to see what's under some of my piles.

Pretty batik fat quarters I found on sale. Love the aquas with the black. I'm starting to like batiks again. Good thing, I have a slew of them.

Orange floral and pirates. Not on sale. Couldn't resist. Inspector Gadget is a pirate. Did you know that? We fly the jolly roger on our boat. And swig rum if we're not towing kids behind the boat.

Polka dots. I may collect spotted fabric. I really like it.

My pal Yumi from Japan sent me this one. Pretty interesting. Want to see what else she sent? I love her care packages!

My favorite Japan snack cracker -- Cheeza! Looks like the orange bag is a new flavor. Cheddar and red wine? Oh, yum. One of the bags has already disappeared.

Candies for the "kids." Some of these are kits where you grow your own candies. College Boy and his girlfriend had a blast making them last time.

Smart rice and the funny face fabric again. This is Yumi's favorite rice. We both love to cook. She likes to cook American food and I like to cook Asian food. Go figure. We tried the rice last night with banh mi bowls. Delicious.

The little man charm is so funny. I have no idea what he's doing with his hand in the waistband of his pants, but just look at his face. Translate, Yumi? But I do love that she translated the item on the right. With drawn pictures and everything! It's a brooch vase you can fill with water and keep small flowers fresh. I'll have to go steal some flowers from one of my neighbors. All I can grow is celery.

Sew Saturday

2013-04-06T08:30:00.000-04:00

I whipped up this scrappy Chevron block for our guild's May BOM. I'm on the ball this month. This block was fun and easy. Chevrons are all the rage right now.

Our block of the month is pretty popular with guild members. The Shoofly was April's block and there were quite a few blocks submitted. One winner takes them all home. I'm always amazed at how pretty they all look together. We have a talented group.

Work was busy this week, but I did find some time for a little applique dachshund. I'll use the tear-away stabilizer that I learned at my QuiltCon class when I stitch him down.

Uh oh. This looks like trouble. 41 different flavors of jelly beans. Fun ones like boysenberry, mango, tramisu, and ice cream cake. I'm not much for sweets, but the Easter candy clearance got the best of me and I thought the kids would like these. Wouldn't it be great if they had flavors like truffle, Buffalo chicken wing, shrimp scampi, bacon wrapped chicken liver, and brie cheese? Or is that just me?

I attempted quilting the log cabin baby quilt yesterday. Just some spirals with my walking foot. The results were less than perfect, but it will do.

My spirals got wider toward the edges of the quilt. I was getting bored. I wish I liked the quilting part better. At least my catch-all table got cleared for the basting part. Hate that part too. Now to get the rest of the studio in order. Or not. Maybe I'll just start something new. Who's with me?

Terrific Tuesday

2013-04-02T14:27:00.000-04:00

Me and irons. Boy, do I have stories. My latest iron turned two years old in January and started boiling and sputtering water yesterday. I think it was an April Fool's Day joke because today it's working just fine. Last week we had to replace the ground fault breaker I plug my iron into...again. I can abuse some electricity. On to better things...but keep my iron in your thoughts.

Easter lunch was a delicious crab boil. My cousin's family hosted and along with all this crab, shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes we had a ham, macaroni and cheese, green salad, potato salad, ambrosia salad, deviled eggs, sandwiches, loaded potato skins, roasted red pepper garlic bread, and loads of desserts. As I've said before, I love potlucks.

They had a huge turnout and everyone participated in a messy egg toss and competitive whiffle ball games. The outfield chatter had me cracking up. My cousin Meka was throwing it down with style. She's a trip and always makes me laugh. Funny, funny girl.

These Buffalo cauliflower fritters were really good. I nuked some fresh cauliflower until it was somewhat tender and mashed it slightly. Added in some bread crumbs, Buffalo wing sauce (Frank's), parsley and a bit of shredded cheese to bind everything together. Then I formed them into patties and sauteed them in a bit of oil until both sides were brown. This picture is a cold one I had for breakfast. They were even good cold.

The extent of my Easter basket prep. My kids love Reese's. I buy them some for every holiday. They each got a bunny this year and I bought bags of Reese's eggs and Cadbury dark chocolate candy eggs for Inspector Gadget.

The beauty shot of the homemade Peeps I had to pry off the parchment paper. Marshmallow is so sticky. I added eyeballs with melted chocolate. College Boy worked Sunday, so he took them to his peeps at work. He said they liked them.

The other day I busted out my solids and started a log cabin quilt.

It's getting bigger. What color next? Does it even matter? What won't I have to piece together to get the length. I'm going for a baby quilt size. And I want it to work for a baby girl or boy.

Keep going. I think one more round should do it.

All done. Approximately 40" square. Fun and easy. I got the idea here, by one of my favorite quilter gals, Malka Dubrawsky. I think this super size Shoo Fly quilt might be next. I've been in a Shoo Fly and Log Cabin mood lately. Now to clear off the dining room table so I can sandwich this baby. I'm going to attempt to quilt it myself. Deep breath.

Happy Easter

2013-03-31T08:15:00.002-04:00

Happy Easter to you and yours. I hope the Easter Bunny visited and dropped off a pretty basket filled with goodies. If not, all that Easter finery will be on clearance tomorrow, go get you some. Continuing my paper piecing frenzy, I found a little carrot to sew.

I had to make a little "Flat Sally" for a certain little girl. I'm sure her Easter basket(s) will be brimming with candy and toys, but I wanted to tuck in a little homemade something. She'll probably try to eat it.

I had way too much time on my hands Friday and decided to try to make homemade Peeps from a recipe in the newspaper. College Boy was home and even helped me pipe the birds. First, you boil sugar and water to 245 degrees. I get sweaty when I break out my candy thermometer. Me and candy making, not so much. I've sacrificed many pounds of sugar over the years trying to make candy. I have stories.

After your mixture is hot enough to melt lava, you beat that screeching hot liquid with gelatin. Look at that mixer go. It takes about 5-6 minutes and voila, you have homemade marshmallows. And a sink full of sticky dishes and utensils. What a mess. :( This stuff hardens quickly, so you have to work fast.

We piped bird-like blobs and dusted them in colored sugar. I didn't taste them, but the kids say they taste nothing like Peeps. Preservatives must add that distinctive Peep flavor. I was going to use them as decoration for an Easter dessert, but they may just become a topic of conversation. I'm going to put melted chocolate some eyes on a few, pry them off the parchment paper, throw them on a plate and call it a day.

Luckily, you can't mess up deviled eggs. Well, unless you put sweet pickle relish in them. Ha! Just kidding, but we like them sans sweet. I tried making a few look like little chicks with triangle carrot beaks, olive eyes and parsley combs.

We're having a crab boil for Easter dinner. My favorite! I think someone is doing a ham, but crabs are the main course. My mom is making her potato salad and I also made a chocolate eclair dessert. I can't wait to see the spread. Potlucks are so fun.

Leftovers

2013-03-29T08:34:00.000-04:00

I normally roast a whole chicken every Sunday for our family dinner. The leftover chicken is used for a second meal and I make stock from the bones and vegetables. I also made buttermilk biscuits Sunday and needed to find a way to get rid of those. With the homemade stock, lots of vegetables, leftover chicken and biscuits I threw together a chicken pot pie.

Finished my little Easter basket mug rug. It's about 5.25" x 7.25". I love working on miniature quilts and small sewing projects. It's fun to finish something.

Speaking of mini quilts, my name tag measures 4" x 3.5". I couldn't figure out how to put a neck strap on it, so I guess I'll just use a safety pin.

Look at this idiot lizard still in my studio. I keep hearing rustling and occasionally he pops out and startles me. I think he's losing color, he looks sickly. I wish he would follow me outside. Maybe when it gets warmer. They never survive inside.

Scrappy Trips is done. There was plenty of backing fabric, so I used a self binding method. Works like a charm and should be sturdy since it's machine sewn.

I was still in log cabin mode yesterday. The citrus colors of the squash blossom block inspired this mug rug.

Love this Angry Bird paper pieced block. I might turn him into a pouch. It's fun to find interesting paper piecing patterns. Let's see what kind of work I can avoid today. ;)

Working Hard

2013-03-27T15:57:00.001-04:00

So many fun distractions today. I saw this Squash Blossom block by Bloomin' Workshop this morning and couldn't get it out of my head. 51 pieces later I got her done. Now I want cheese stuffed squash blossoms. I've never had them, but they sound delicious.

Instead of decadent cheese and squash blossoms, I made soup for lunch. It's been chilly this week, plus I had homemade chicken broth I needed to use. I found the inspiration for this recipe in a magazine and gave it a try. Here's my version:

Kill the Limas* Soup

1 bag frozen succotash (nasty baby plastic green lima beans and corn)
1 bag frozen broccoli
spices (salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, garlic and onion powders)
chicken or vegetable stock to cover veggies

Bring to a boil and then let simmer 15-20 minutes (kill those lima beans). Cool slightly and use an immersion blender or food processor to puree. Leave some chunks.

*I am not fond of frozen baby green lima beans. It's a texture thing. The taste is great, but the tough skin and mealy insides have never appealed to me.

My new Liberty Love book has a great pincushion pattern. Too bad I don't have many Liberty fabrics, but I do have lots of scraps. Lots and lots of scraps.

I need to find a home for this. I'm currently flush with pincushions. I may even be a pincushion ~~hoarder~~ collector. It's about six inches square and filled with poly-fil. If you'd like it, leave a comment below. I'll chose a random winner if it comes to that. ;)

The last of my Madrona Road fabrics. I organized my scraps early this morning and unearthed them. So I made a pouch. I guess I better get some real job work done. It's almost quitting time!

Wrap Up

2013-03-26T17:46:00.000-04:00

I finished my scrappy log cabin quilt. These blocks took a while, but they were fun and put a little dent in my stash of scraps. Just a little dent. I bought the quilting, but then I almost always buy the quilting. Not my forte. I'm not even sure I want that to be my forte. I enjoy piecing much better. Quilting makes me perspire.

Some of the blocks close-up. I dabble in quite a few novelty prints, don't I? I've always been a sucker for them. They're descriptive in an artistic way. Kind of like my real job of graphic design.

The pieced back. I have to say I'm getting a little better at figuring out the math for the backs of my quilts. Those calculus classes are paying off. That's what I tell my kids. They surpassed me in math years ago, but guess who they make decipher their income tax returns? I made each kiddo sit with me this year as we filed. I plan to "retire" from that chore next tax season. I will still push savings accounts, home ownership, the stock market, CDs, diversifying, treasury bonds, retirement plans, etc.

All washed, crinkly, and wrapped up for Hollywood. She's never asked for a quilt, but she got one for her birthday anyway. I bought her a gift she really wanted while we were out shopping last month, but I wanted to have something to give her on her actual birthday. Her friends are impressed and I've had to text pictures of my wall o' fabric to her today to share with her friends. Apparently, I'm a phenomenon. Or weirdo. Sweet.

Time to Sew

2013-03-25T10:53:00.001-04:00

It's almost Easter, peeps. I found a funny bunny to whip up. He looks a bit deranged. Probably too much chocolate. I really miss assisting the Easter Bunny make Easter baskets. Kids grow up way too fast.

I made this Amish Cinnamon Bread yesterday after surfing Pinterest. My baby's birthday is today and she loves cinnamon coffee cake, so I thought she would like this. She's not much of a birthday cake girl. I normally don't eat sugar, but this bread is taunting me. Maybe I have a cinnamon deficiency.

We had a terrible storm yesterday afternoon. It was scary, but only lasted a bit. There are huge trees down and power outages in nearby communities. A poor little baby rat snake somehow got in the pool during the downpour. Inspector Gadget rescued him and put him out in the yard. First snake sighting of the season. Eek.

I was in a paper piecing mood the last few days. I'm attempting to make a name tag for our guild meetings. I let a six-year-old do the embroidery. Not really. And I just realized the machine is facing the wrong way.

And continuing an Easter theme, this little basket will probably be a mug rug. I'm still in a paper piecing mood, so I may tackle another pattern today if I have time. Happy Monday!

Linking up to Made by you Monday over at Skip to My Lou.

Why Hello Weekend

2013-03-22T09:08:00.000-04:00

I used our leftover St. Patrick's Day corned beef to make this Reuben Quiche. The crust is toasted rye bread mixed with a bit of butter and shredded Swiss cheese. I thought it was better than pie crust, and I'm a pie crust lover. Even my quiche haters (everyone but me!) thought it was pretty good.

Procrastinating ripping off and re-sewing my Easy Street quilt borders, so I whipped up this cute little oven mitt. It was super easy and went together quickly. My machine struggled a bit on the thick layers, but I made it through.

I was procrastinating on this quilt top too. Shoofly blocks are kind of ho hum after making two or three. Most of the fabrics I used are Sandi Henderson's Farmer's Market. I threw some others in there for variety. I found a fun backing fabric and have enough of a striped print that I may use as binding. This baby is on it's way to Utah to get quilted.

Happy weekend. I hope to get some stuff done. Next week is Easter. I need to get ready for the Easter Bunny.

Rain Day

2013-03-20T08:56:00.000-04:00

I couldn't resist this bee block by Lori Holt at Bee in My Bonnet. Lori hosted a row along and the blocks and rows for the quilt were so cute. This bee block is intended for the label on the quilt, but I just needed a little sewing sanity Monday morning.

This little mug rug is for a swap. I scaled way back on my swaps last year, but this one was a special request. Swapping is tons of fun and I love getting happy mail. I wish I had more time for it.

These Chicken Parmesan Meatballs were really good. They are easy to throw together and bake quickly in a hot oven. Perfect for leftover marinara sauce. I have big chicken parmigiana fans here, so I was wondering if these would fly. Sure was easier than pounding chicken breasts, breading and frying them. I usually bake them, but it's still kind of a process.

We are getting much needed rain today. I can even hear thunder. I love a rainy day. Bones is hiding under my desk. He's no fan of rainy days.