Tomato Cheese Casserole

I found an old clipping of a recipe tucked in a book, so you know...what the heck.  I tried it.  Tomatoes are kind of the wrong season right now, as it is January, but I like tomatoes. Who doesn't? I will tell you who.  Both of my kids.  Of course, I didn't know this until after I made a huge 2 quart casserole dish of the stuff.  My husband is on the Paleo diet, so guess who gets to eat it all?  I don't even have a pet to help me out here.

It has bacon in it, and a cheesy roux like sauce, that makes it impossible to stay away from though.  I will have to put the leftovers in the fridge ASAP, so I don't down it like a tub of ice cream.  Let me know what you think.

Tomato Cheese Casserole

1 7oz pkg. elbow macaroni
6 slices bacon
3 Tbsp. butter (I omitted this for bacon drippings)
3 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt (I didn't use any)
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 medium sized tomatoes, sliced
paprika

Cook macaroni until tender in two quarts of boiling salted water.  Pan fry bacon until crisp.  Drain, cool, and crumble.  Melt butter in saucepan over low heat, and blend in flour, salt, and pepper.  Add milk stirring constantly and cook until sauce is smooth and thickened.  Remove from heat.  Add 1 1/2 cups cheese and stir until cheese is melted.  Add bacon.  Pour half of macaroni in buttered two quart baking dish.  Arrange half of the tomato slices on macaroni and cover with half of sauce.  Repeat.  Top with remaining cheese.  Sprinkle with paprika, if desired.  Garnish with tomato slices sprinkled with shredded cheese.  Bake in moderate oven, 350 degrees until hot and browned, about 30 minutes.  Makes eight servings.

note:  I didn't use the butter.  I figured, the bacon drippings were the perfect thing for the sauce instead.

Sober Post

I really cannot believe that I am actually going to post on this 'dead' blog.  I mean, I really don't use it.  On the other hand, I am really not using the newer one that was supposed to replace this one either, so there you go.  What does that tell you about me?  I quilt way too slow and never write about it.
You have been informed.

I will now venture to either revive the newer dead blog, and kill this one (poor thing, it wasn't all bad...), or maybe just drop a picture in here every now and again, just to get you wondering if I took one too many pulls from the piehole whiskey.

#grandmothersflowergarden #hexagon #hexies

I Guess Goals are a Good Thing?

 

This quilt now has binding. I can cross that off my goal list from Monday, and I didn't even think that I was going to be able to get to it. I am so relieved to be getting a few things done in my sewing room. My entire goal list is complete for the week, and I even sewed a few random blocks for other projects.







 

This is a terrible picture of a cute quilt for a friend that had a baby boy very recently. The pattern is a very simple one of my own that only requires 3 yards total to assemble the top: a light, medium, and a dark print.  Pattern finishes at 50 inches square. To finish the top, all I had to do was locate the border fabric in my stash, and sew them on. Easy, right?  Can anyone tell me why I drag my feet on the easy stuff like bindings, backings, and borders; but jump in head first, with unbelievable excitement and tenacity into things like the Circle Game?





 

I purchased this pattern at QuiltCon. I totally love Jen Kingwell's style of pattern design and instructions.  Templates are clearly drawn, and easy to follow. My hopes are to begin this quilt as part of a quilt along group on flickr the beginning of April.  I still have to decide on colors, which usually takes a little thought for me. 

 

She has another pattern that is amazing called Green Tea and Sweet Beans:

 

The actual quilt is so much more stunning in person. I can't express to you how yummy it is.  Lots of beautiful fabrics on a perfectly chosen background of text fabric goodness.  Made my teeth hurt with sweetness. I will be buying this one next and Steam Punk. I truly feel as if she is designing these pattern just for me...(you are so, so sweet to do that, Jen! :)...) Okay, she doesn't know me from any other (crazy, unbalanced) quilter. She really intended others to make the quilts too, so go ahead and see her stuff HERE!  If you want to confuse the crap out of her, tell her that Button Counter sent you. 

 

 

All righty then.  Now for my goal list for this week!  I will be finishing Beca's gift. (and mailing!) I need to begin cutting pieces for an Amy Butler Weekender bag that I am starting (more on that later...enough craziness for one blog post), I will prepare the back for the baby quilt, and I need to make a backing for my toile quilt.

 

Random fact for the day: In every episode of Seinfeld, there is a Superman somewhere.



In Your Face!

 

Yesterday, I got that granny square repaired that my lovely daughter destroyed.  She had cut it in three different places.  I also discovered a little spot on the very top of her head where her hair is only a half-inch long.  Hmmm. If only it were as easy to fix that. To say that I have my work cut out for me is nothing more that accurate, pun and all.

 

 

Yay!!! I got the back of the Dia De Los Muertos quilt finished, finally, and crossed off of my list from Monday.  Why was this not taken care of earlier?  Let me tell you.  Pull up a chair, and grab a cup of coffee.

 

I bought the sugar skull fabric a while ago.  A long while ago, thinking that 5 yards would be plenty for the back of this quilt.  After getting the top done, I brought that and the backing fabric with me to my last retreat so that I could get it done there.  Having that extra elbow room is nice for that sort of thing.  I cut the fabric exactly in half at 2 1/2 yards, then sewed them side to side. Now, normally I take extra care to match up the design because I have OCD and OCD and OCD, but there wasn't enough fabric, so I had to grit my teeth and send it on through the Janome.  Got it together, and did a little happy dance that it was done, then measured...and did an unhappy dance (which looks something like a Sioux pow wow, except you use the quilt as a rug, and instead of chanting, you swear).

 

So when I got home with it, I threw it in the corner of my sewing room and gave it the bird on a regular basis, until yesterday.  I can only take taunting for so long, you know.  I cut it down the length about 15 inches from the side, and cut it across the width about 15 inches from the top.  I added the black fabric, and the green fabric, enough to add another 15 inches to the length and width, and now I also have a cool area to put a label.  I may even entertain appliqueing a few sugar skulls to the black area after it is quilted, just so that quilt knows that I am the winner.  I win.

 

Tonight, I will work on that border for the baby quilt. Let's see if I can't mess that one up. lol.

 

 

 



 

 

You're Dragging Me Down, Kid.

 

Wednesday.  Hump Day. The day that we all share our W.I.P.'s. I have been working on my goal list from Monday, and am very happy to report that I can cross one item off.  I worked at B and B Quilts in Buda last night, helping with the plans for a quilt in an upcoming shop hop.  I have stalled on that because I need to put EQ7 on my new computer from my old one, before I can tackle any plans for that.  Tonight?  I hope to get the border pieces cut on that baby quilt today. Maybe I can start cutting on the backing for the quilt for my brother. 

 

Here is a new little project for me this week as well:

 

 

My dear, sweet, loving daughter, who is enjoying age 3, thought it would be helpful to cut into one of my grannie square blocks that a friend made in a block exchange.  Nice.  At least it wasn't one of my applique blocks...ha, ha!!!  What the hell is applique?!  I don't get a whole lot of time to do that anymore because of my dear, sweet, loving daughter...I hope to get that fixed today.



 

 

I got that block fixed that was on my goal list. I had made the outer pieces to this block scrappy, when it was supposed to be matchy-matchy in each corner, so I got out my extensive seam ripper collection and went to town on it.  Luckily, these are all fabrics that I currently have in my own stash, in the event that McKenna would like to help me out again.  Looking forward to it.

 

...and Just So You Know:  When you learn that something is poisonous, it does not necessarily mean that it will kill you.  It may just make you terribly ill. (YAY!).  So, poisonous can mean 'deadly', but it can also just simply make you sick.  I have thus concluded that children are poisonous.





nose to the grind

 

 

Okay everyone.  I am about to tell you no more than 3 things that are in my circle of interest.  'They' say that a person cannot focus on more than 3 things at once, and usually begin to lose interest after the third topic in a discussion. 

1. I just finished helping out at QuiltCon here in Austin. The hard part about being local is that you don't get to go back to your hotel room at the end of the day.  You get to go home to your normal grind.  Kids still need to do homework, and be fed, and bathed, you need to pull a bean or two out of noses.  These things don't happen when your out of town.  When you get back home from being in another city, your children welcome you with open arms, and your husband tells you how simple everything was, and how he cannot understand why you have so much drama when you are watching them. I tell him it is because of the beans.  I put them in the top shelf before I left...and now he is totally confused.  But I live in Austin, so the bean jar is on the bottom shelf, ready for action.

I did get to meet Elizabeth Hartman, Denyse Schmidt, Heather Ross, and Alexia Abegg. They were all wonderfully sweet girls.  I now know that I will have to buy the book 'Liberty Love', 'Heather Ross Prints' and a few patterns.  Denyse Schmidt's new fabric line 'Shelbourne Falls' is so amazing that I will have to cut our credit card in half today, so that I am not tempted to do something to cause a divorce.

I bought another machine.  One that I will have to sell some of my stash to make up for the missing money from the savings account (VVBG).  Or I will have to make some totally awesome pillows or mini quilts to sell...or start an ETSY shop, or become a CEO of a very stupid company. I already own a Janome Memory Craft 6600, and will never, never part with it; but it is a little heavy to lug around to bee meetings, retreats, and classes that I teach.  I love the heaviness of it for home use, as it is a stable machine that doesn't bounce around when you put that pedal to the floor.  So I got a show machine from Janome: 3160 QDC. Great, great price and it is lightweight. I will now have a decent back-up machine for when my 6600 is being serviced. Here she is:

 

well, one exactly like it anyway. It has all of the stitches I need to teach my machine applique classes, and lots of 'stuff'.  So I will be happy when it arrives.

more on Quilt Con later this week...

2.  I have been working diligently on a project for a friend of mine in Flickr land.  Her name is Beca and she is an amazing friend.  We decided to do an exchange of hand made yummy things, and she sent hers on time (the nerve!) So I have had huge amounts of guilt trying to get hers done.  I am not rushing so fast that I do a terrible job, but I am not going so slow either.  I took her project with me to QuiltCon, and one of the magazine companies is interested in doing a pattern for it in one of their publications.  Which means that even if I get it done tonight, they would likely want me to mail it to them so that they can keep it for a long, long while.  I will now either have to hustle to make a copy for Beca or the magazine.  I am pretty sure Beca comes first.  I can't wait to show pictures of that, but it is a surprise!

3.  Goals of the week: get a block fixed that is haunting me right now...awaiting a seam ripper.  Dammit.  I would also like to get a backing done for another quilt for my brother so that I can get it sent off to a long-arm quilter. Finally, I need to put a border on another quilt for a friend's baby.  He outside of the womb, so I need to hustle on that too...oh, and finish binding on a quilt for my sister. Can I do it?

random thought of the day:

'Dammit, I'm mad' spelled backwards is...

Good Time to Change Habits

Connor will be starting 1st grade in a few days.  In the chaos, I managed to get his hair cut by someone other than his 2 year old sister.  I was able to pick up all of his school supplies in one fell swoop.  I bought 4 new shirts for him (all on clearance!).  We even managed to get new shoes for him.  Anything that you can purchase while shopping with small children deserves a huge amount of recognition.  One of these days, at a guild show and tell, I am going to stand up and say "I refused to buy candy for the kids in the checkout line at the grocery store this week.'' instead of showing a quilt...I bet I get a standing ovation.

I remember thinking when he finished school this last spring, that I would be able to get some things done now that I don't have to get up early to get him off to school. HILARIOUS!  Now I am thinking that it would be nice to get some stuff done now that I will be getting up early to get him off to school. My brain fell out when I was a small child, you know, the part of the brain that controls reason.  So now I have to get by with what I have left up there. 

I am going to go take a shower. 

Fabric Hibernation

Well, I have really had a 'come to Jesus' meeting with myself in the past few weeks.  I spent crazy amounts of money on fabric.  Fabric that, in all fairness, I have been waiting on for arrival.  They all came out at the same time and dented the hell out of the (our) pocketbook.  I actually am quite ashamed of it, and glad that I am; otherwise, I would turn into someone I really hope to never meet.  So, I will be paying very close attention to what I am spending my money on in the next few months, so that I (we) can catch back up again.  I am not saying that I won't be cuddling any new fabrics, because I did pre-order some things that will start showing up soon....but I really need to start cuddling finished blocks, or a quilted 'something or other'.

The remainder of July, and all of August will be spent in non-shopping mode.  I will be getting a spectacular amount of things done in the sewing room (like cleaning it), sewing projects that I would like to get the hell out of there (for a change), really making an attempt at tutorials...(I would do fancy video ones someday if anyone out there has some tips for me; but for now, pictures will do the trick), I have designed some patterns, tested them, and completed all text directions, but I need to figure out how to build the cute little diagrams that the professionals use.  I have been putting that off because...I have been too busy melting the credit card.  I have some patterns that I still need to test and maybe submit to a few periodicals.  I might even have time to feed and bathe my children...or do laundry.  But not both.

Living 'skinny', I thought that I might have to put the family on a ramen dinner diet for a while, but that would not be fair to them.  What I did do, is attack the recipe card box that mom gave to me years ago.  We grew up very simply and ate very well.  I remember this recipe being a very healthy, very inexpensive one, and surprisingly delicious:

Lentil Casserole

1 cup lentils (remove stones if needed)

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup brown rice

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Combine all ingredients except cheese in casserole dish.  Cover and cook at 300 degrees for an hour.  Sprinkle cheese on top, return to oven without cover and cook for 20 more minutes.

the great thing about this recipe is that all of your protein and carbs are right there, so all you have to do is add a side salad, green vegetable, and/or dinner roll.  Do any of you have low-cost recipes to share?  Because there is this Chicopee line that I have been eying.

The Big 10 Inch Rules

The rules:

This swap is for 10 inch square charms of fabric in masculine prints.  Each sign-up person will cut 32 squares out of 2.333 yards (or 2.5 if you like to occasionally crooked cut).  You should be able to get 4 squares from each width of fabric.  

The fabrics that we are looking for can be geometric, large or small prints, tone on tones, or medium to dark in color.   They are muddy, earth tone-type fabrics.  They can have minimal amounts of white or cream on them as long as the fabric mostly reads a medium to dark, muddy color.  Please do not use prints that are light, or have a light background.  Email me if you have any questions on this.  No florals. No feminine prints.  No theme fabrics (such as fishing, hunting, hobbys, sports, etc).  No solids.  No bright colors. (no bright reds, bright blues, bright yellows, or bright oranges) These colors are fine as long as they are a subdued earth-tone version. No batiks.

Here are some examples of lines that have great prints, but please don’t limit yourself to these.  I just wanted to provide an idea:  -Hope Valley (the greens and grays), Painters Canvas, Gatsby, Modern Meadow (think Timber colors), Woodgrains by Joel Dewberry, Curious Nature by David Butler, Michael millers zen garden (blenders), Arnolds Attic, Neutral Territory (the non florals),….

*Yes! Medium to Dark earth-tone prints, such as slate, gray, brown, brick, ocre, terra cotta, dark mustard, denim, smoke blue, ...you get the idea

Fabrics should be 100% cotton. Use quilt store quality fabric (no JoAnn’s or Walmart fabrics)  I say this, but I think that the DS Quilts line at JoAnn is fine, unless anyone raises a stink about it.  Please let me know if this would bother you to receive. Do not prewash, but ironing is okay; in fact, please iron if wrinkles are present.  When cutting 10 inch squares, please do not include selvages.

You will need to have a flickr account to join so that you can post pictures of your fabric choice(s).  This is done to avoid duplicate fabrics.

I will post a sign up discussion page, and a mailing instructions page in the flickr group.

Mail date is June 15^th.  

Please pass this information on to anyone who you may think would want to join!

Here is the Flickr group page:   http://www.flickr.com/groups/big-ten-inch-swap/

Feel free to join for this and future 10 inch swaps. 

Well, I am hosting my first charm swap.  I think that the only thing hard about this for me will be learning how to make a button, linking a html code to the button, and (this part is the hardest) making sure that the link actually works.  So, if things look a little shaky the first day or two, please, either be extremely patient with me as I am self taught, or kindly tell me what the hell it is I am doing wrong :).  The easy part is laying down the rules and guidelines, and being in charge of receiving the fabrics, sorting, then mailing them back out again.  I say this is easy, because I am an optimist.  I am pretty sure that life has given me much larger hurdles than this silly little swap can send my way.  So I am ready, and willing, to take those bulls horns and give 'em a shake.

Info on the actual swap will come soon on the next post.  Here is a teaser:

Planning, Working, Coughing, etc.

I missed a few things on my list of stuff to do. Buy cough medicine, Kleenex, body ache relief, and 2 pet squirrels for the kids, to keep them busy. I am not fully sick yet. My chest hurts from the fluid that is coating my lungs, and my throat feels raw, so I know that I am in store for one hellova sick session. The last time that I felt like this, I ended up with walking pneumonia and a finger shake from my doctor. Some times I throw caution to the wind as far as my health goes...and sometimes I wake up thinking I have every form of sickness and disease know to woman. So I am all over the place on this concern level of health. Maybe if I just ignore it, it will go away. :)

I am going to get this list done if it kills me, and it just might, you never know. I finished the flying geese border on the challenge quilt, but I still need to plan the next border around the geese. Here is how that one is looking so far:
I don't remember if I explained this one yet or not, but this is the short story. It is a challenge quilt (one that I already missed the due date on) where each person picked out an orphan block from an unknown project, yours or elsewhere. You then have to come up with a design using that block to make a small quilt. This is the block that I got, before I started the project:
It is an antique block from somewhere in France. I decided to use my turn-of-the-century fabrics to do this little quilt project. So far, I have yet to use any reproductions, but I may have to, so that I can finish the project. I am thinking of doing an applique border next, so maybe a shirting background.

as far as the other projects on my list, flowers are being appliqued, and I have been working on the needle case (pictures to come on these) and maybe tonight I can work on the borders on Simply Charmed. That is the plan. The plan does involve codeine cough syrup. The borders will look straight tonight, if not tomorrow.

Simply Charmed

I took a few days 'away' (just down the hall and at 2am-ish) and threw together a quilt top sans borders. The Simply Charmed pattern shown above was an excellent one to use on a layer cake that I had of Moda's Perennials by Kansas Troubles. I had purchased the Layer Cake to make a sample for the quilt shop and was not in love with the fabrics, although by no means ugly. The sample never materialized (ha, ha...materialized) so naturally, I had to come up with a use for it. I found a bunch of yardage in my stash of a maroon on white print that I had purchased from JoAnn Stores years ago, and had no plan for it. This means that I was able to make a stash quilt!

I buy patterns, and sometimes I wonder why. I have to affirm that it is to give the pattern maker financial credit for the design. I almost never follow the directions given, whether I use a different technique, or change size of quilt, or even quilt blocks, I am always changing them up. Have I ever followed a pattern exactly? I would have to think on that. This one was a perfect example of me not following directions. (This can, of course, get you in loads of trouble every now and then, but when you screw things up as often as I do, it is much easier to take in stride.) In the instructions, you take your charm piece, then add your sashing and cornerstone piece to make each individual block. Well, this is what I did....

I started by making an uneven nine-patch putting one charm in each corner, sashing fabric in the 'north, south, east, west' areas, and finally the cornerstone fabric in the center. None of my fabrics were directional other than the sashing, so it was easy. If you had directional charms, you would just have to pay attention when placing those before sewing.

Then I just cut the piece down the exact middle both ways and ended up with four blocks done at once. This made the quilt top go together super fast. I still have not put the borders on, but that is one of my things to cross off the old list for the month. I have been able to plug along on projects at a slow, but regular pace. I think it is near time to step up the game a little and show that darn machine how its done! Here is a little sample of how the quilt top will look, better pictures to come:

Talk to y'all later! Gotta change a diaper...again.

Here's Proof

Well, for the past few months now, I have gotten in the habit of taking pictures of things that I have been working on, whether it has been simply a finished block, or binding, or auditioning fabric for a project. I take a picture. If I don't, I don't really FEEL like I am accomplishing anything. Looking back at all of the pictures makes me realize how much I really do get done. Seeing them again on my computer (Thank you, Flickr; you are awesome!) helps me to stay motivated on the project. I do end up deleting some pictures as I go just out of pure guilt. My kids are going to wonder if I love them or not when they are older and find out that the only pictures I have of them are including a quilt. (Here is a picture of Connor, but you can only see his legs and fingers because he is holding a quilt for me...I think he is 5 here judging by those shoes.) I will really need to step up the game on taking pictures of the kids....right after I finish these flying geese.

The picture that I posted today is a block that I made for B and B quilts in Buda, TX. It is a challenge block for the Bluebonnet Shop Hop in this area. The blocks will be donated to a family advocacy group, an organization that provides counseling to children in military families. If you want to participate, it is only 2 dollars and you can get the information at this participating quilt shop, called Honey Bee:

http://www.honeybeequiltstore.com/Honey_Bee_events_Blue_Bonnet_Shop_Hop.asp

The block took awhile for me to do, mostly because I had to collect just the right scraps from my scrap bin (took forever) and because it was so difficult for me to purposely make the squares not square. The challenge fabric is the dark brown one that I used as sashing strips...and boy, does that sashing eat up yardage. I didn't need to use any more than what I was provided to make that block, but boy, did I come to within a hair's breadth of the end of that fabric.

If any one is interested in making this block, or a whole quilt like this, I got the tutorial here:

http://www.ohfransson.com/files/mod-mosaic-floor-pillow.pdf

If you have not ever been to www.ohfransson.com....well, you haven't been on the Internet! :)

Anyway, gotta go change a diaper. good times.

Old Way of Thinking

Talking with a fairly new quilter the other day, I had mentioned that I have a stash of fabric. But before I go into this story, let me first tell you that my stash is by no means 'out of control', in fact, it is much smaller of a stash than many of my friends have (jealous of those lucky shits). I didn't even elude to her that I had an overabundance of fabric. What I said was that I have to really focus on getting projects done, and done fast. Upon hearing that I had (at least) 25-30 UFO's to get done, not counting fabric that I bought for projects not started yet, or kits for that matter, she immediately began to help me with her advice that I should not start a new project until my current one is done. She also kindly mentioned that I could donate my fabric to church groups and maybe even post my fabric on Craig's list for people to come pick up. I about injured myself laughing. I know that I probably offended her, but I couldn't hold it in. lol.

Now, before you think of me as an un-sharing hoarder, let me tell you that I certainly do give A LOT of fabric away, especially if it was given to me by someone who wanted me to find a good home for it. I even buy fabric for people as I am shopping, knowing that they were looking for it, or would simply like it. I am always trading fabric and mailing fabric via Flickr...worse, I am always prowling the Internet for fabric that friends are looking for. The bad part about that is you keep coming across more fabric that you now want (hence another UFO created).

Going back to our new quilter, I remember a time (many, many years ago) thinking that you must do one project at a time; and that you must only buy fabric for that project. It is kind of a cute theory. It would certainly require a hell of a lot of control. But let me be the first to tell you that most quilters are not happy or creative confined to a limited perimeter. Too much structure and you end up with ''boring''. I have become enlightened as a quilter over the years to this new way of thinking that you don't worry too much about all of these unfinished objects, and that it is OK to collect new fabrics that make you happy. It is the journey that we love. Besides, all of my fabric can go to the ladies at church when I die. Hopefully they will love Amy Butler and Heather Bailey as much as I do.

Sheepish Grin

I think that I need to just come to grips with the fact that I am a complete 'hit or miss' kind of blogger. If you don't already know of my famous inconsistencies, let me start by telling you that I do not blog every day, or every week, or even every month. I will have an entry one day, then not again for another month, then 15 days in a row. I am trying very hard to change my ways, but I don't think that they have the kind of rehab that I require. I am not addicted to drugs or alcohol, I am not a hoarder (I hope not, anyway), and I don't have anything that I need to ''tell you more about''...but I do know that the first step in making yourself better and correcting your problems is admitting that you have a problem in the first place, however, I am not sure which ''step'' this is. I also know that one of those steps consists of tear-filled apologies to all of the people that you have affected (and sometimes infected) along the way.

So I stand sit here before you with outstretched arms (palms turned up, not begging for money), asking you all to please forgive me. I am a baaaaaaaad girl.

...and although I have some fancy, creative excuses that I have dreamed up, I am sure that the excuses are something that I am supposed to forgo in these types of settings. Still, I think that you will like the one I have that involves digging myself out of my own stash with nothing but a seam ripper...(that was really a good one, too.) Oh well, time for another giveaway. Tomorrow. What? I really mean it this time. Honest.

I May Not Finish Quilts; But I Make Damn Good Blocks!

I am so amazed at how fast some quilters 'get 'er done'. Some of these fabulous fabric lines come out, and before I can even pull out my husbands credit card...someone else has already quilted something astounding with them. I am not talking about company and designer samples here; I am talking about, honest to goodness, Sally, two houses down the street, kind of quilter. By the way, ''Sally'' has 4 kids all 1.75 years apart in age. She is president of 3 non-profit organizations. has won 5 blue ribbons for her peach pie. Now I can't be sure, but I am willing to bet she hopped up the judges with a recipe as good as this one here: Honey Bourbon Caramel Peach Pie. (yes, click on the link...you know you want to.) Sally doesn't know how to 'not know' anything. How do these kind of people do this? Don't they have Facebook for crying out loud. Do their eyes not close at night? You know what? For all I know, she is at level 1,543 in Mafia Wars and icing people left and right while she stitches the binding on her 52nd quilt this month. (and of course these quilts are ALL being donated to a non-profit organization who's main interest is saving the unicorns...yay! tax write-off!) OK, Her children even have their hair combed daily sans jelly and peanut butter. I have a little girl that likes to put her feet on the table while she eats in restaurants.
And I got another block done!

Somewhere in This Post, is a Winner

The bad news is that I am sick. I am sick with a cold that Connor brought home from school, along with a few red marks from his teacher. I guess that I should be like a ''normal'' mom and be disappointed in him for being verbal in school and for his lack in self-control during class (and that is definitely the message that I perfectly portrayed to Connor); however, I am really just ecstatic that he is not the mousy, shy boy that I thought him to be. I am sure that this bad boy image that he has acquired from his first week of kindergarten isn't a downward spiral into tattoos, body piercings, and bad taste in music. It is kind of funny to see other moms think otherwise though. ''Oh, NO! Johnny got a red mark! Now he is NEVER going to get into Yale!'' lol. Yep. You're probably right. But I think it has less to do with Johnny talking during class, and more with the bottle of glue that he chugged during recess. Really, Connor goes to school with a lot of normal, happy, good, smart kids...with a few overly privileged ones thrown in, just to make it interesting.

The good news is that I had the foresight to package up the winner's fat quarters last week into an envelope, all ready to mail. So no yucky germs being mailed to anyone! I am calling this foresight, but we all know that this was pure luck. Being a mother, you can plan a schedule better than the Presidents secretary, but that all means nothing with a baby, 5-year-old, and husband always changing things on you. You might as well wake up every morning planning for train wrecks, alien invasions, and house fires. Then if those things don't happen (yeah, right), you have got yourself a special day!

I am hoping that this is the way that the gal who writes the blog My Life in Quilts starts out her days, because these 6 free fat quarters thrown in will probably make the invading aliens seem like a minor detour. Congratulations!...And a heartfelt 'Thank You' to you all who entered the drawing. I enjoy doing these things, so I think a new one will be in the plans for October 1st as well. I will keep you posted.

Back in Session

well, my give-away is drawing near, but there are still a few days to enter to win the fat quarters. The good news to those that already have is that your odds look pretty good! See my previous post for details.

Connor started kindergarten this week. He is loving it and doing great, with just a few minor hiccups here and there. His mother, on the other hand, is trying to adjust to waking up at 6:30 in the morning, with temper tantrums and pouting. I have been going to bed at midnight or earlier (can you believe it?). It is not so bad, because now the kids go to bed at 8pm instead of 9pm. I just really wish that I could adjust as well as they have. The secret is coffee, and lots of it. Then after the kids are taken care of, I will usually have a cup myself.

My sister called yesterday to see if I would be interested in making some wall hangings or banners for her church in Oriska, N.D., that recently burned. They are now in the process of rebuilding. I am not Lutheran (those heathens...) :), but I am Methodist, and ''Method''ists make the best quilters, so how could I not. Plus, Oriska's church has been long overdue for a Larry-the-cable-guy lent banner, or an Elvis Easter one. What? At least people will notice them for once. Too bad they're not Catholic; I would make a Madonna Madonna.

I finished another basket for a gal in Australia that didn't get one from her swap buddy. She doesn't have a blog. She doesn't have Flikr. The only thing that I know about her is that she likes blue, and her address. Most people would be frightened by such mystery and vagueness; not me. To me it is a ticket to bend rules, and to do what I want to do. The most difficult swap partner that you can have likes ''Lego's, penguins, and yellow, but not gold yellow...and can't stand Amy Butler.'' Huh? What do you make for those kind of people? That's right! A gold/yellow Amy Butler bag! Anyway, back to this gal in Australia. If you are out there, sweetie; if you ever bump into my blog in the land of Internet and see this, I want you to know how much I loved making your bag for you. Your bag is on it's way. This is what it looks like:
I have a challenge quilt to make that is (thankfully) only 24 inches square, and it does not have to be done until February. I am going to applique some on it though, so I should get started now. Finally, I have also been working on a t-shirt quilt for a friend that I have been dragging my feet on only because I cannot stand making t-shirt quilts. I make them. I just grumble and piss and moan about it the whole time. I think it is because for every person you meet, they have a sentimental stock-pile of T-shirts in a box. A box filled enough to make 3 king size quilts. If you make the mistake of making one, you are automatically elected to make one for each of their friends and family. It is like a bad virus. The next thing you know you have 5 quilts in your closet (Jennifer's high school band, TJ's baseball, Margaret's Triathlon t's, Ed's Softball and beer drinking, and Egbert's Harry Potter). And your double wedding ring quilt that you have always wanted to do can just wait until Egbert is taken care of. Your grand children will wonder why the hell they don't have a single one of grandmas quilts, and why she made one for that weird neighbor who still loves Harry Potter.

lol. I need a coffee.

Free Fabric for Someone...

I have been buying fabric lately that really needs to be in my stash. I have always loved anything ''funky'', or ''ugly'', or just plain ''Seriously?''. I have liked them for a long while. In fact, I think that it is funny that the fabrics that I am attracted to are called ''Modern'' because they are really either a reproduction of 1940's prints, 50's prints, or most recently, inspired by 60's and 70's prints. It is like I waited 30 years for my favorite prints to become cotton instead of double knit. And now that this kind of fabric is more readily available, I can even score some at lower prices. Last week, I bought some fabric that was discounted. The catch was that you had to buy a yard minimum. I only wanted a half yard cut of these prints, but when I found them available at 1/2 yard, they were more expensive than the full yard. So, I bought the full yards, cut a set of fat quarters for a friend, and decided that I will give a set of fat quarters away to one of you fine people in blogland. I know it is not much, but it is free; and if this goes well, I will do FUNNER things again and more often. You will get the 5 fat quarters shown above with an extra bonus fat quarter. I will choose a winner from the comments of this post on September 1st. The only things that I ask of you is that you leave a comment, and tell your friends on your blog about it. (and Thank You!)

Lord, Bless This Poor Child.

Well, I am happy to report that McKenna's baptismal gown is finished. I made a similar one for her older sister, so I couldn't very well not make one for her. I started it when she was a little baby, knowing that it would take me a while to get it done. These sort of things take me a while because I worry so much about getting it right that I drag my feet getting some of the steps completed. The pattern that I used did not call for any needle-turn applique. All of the ''stuff'' that you see on the front was either completely designed by me or inspired and adapted from another source.

here is a better picture of the front:
The flowers that I drafted are Myrtles, which are symbolic for ''one converted to Christ'', the Columbines symbolize ''the Holy Spirit'', and the white rose stands for purity, (if you are Catholic, it is also one of the many flowers associated with the Virgin Mary...we are Methodist so it probably means ''brings extra food to the church potluck''). I wanted to do some broderie perse applique on the gown, so that someday, when McKenna is older, she can hopefully appreciate all of the different things that I learned along the quilting road.

This is a better picture of the collar, again with applique lace medallions:
I made a bonnet to go along with the dress:
I was wondering if it was going to even make it to her head without being grabbed and thrown on the floor right away, but surprisingly enough, she loves to wear the darn thing...everywhere, no matter what condition her hair is in, or how dirty her clothes are. She watches cartoons with it, wants to take a bath with it, and don't touch her precious 'hat' or you will surely get a display of tantrums. weird kid. Bless her heart all the way to the alter.