Birthday Blocks heading to Missouri

I had SO been looking forward to attending last night's quilt guild meeting.  I wasn't able to attend the December meeting and with all the snow FINALLY melting away over the weekend I was really in the mood to get out of this house.  Frustrating doesn't even begin to adequately describe how I felt when I woke up to find fresh fallen SNOW yesterday...which continued off and on throughout the day.  We had about 4 inches by lunchtime.

UUGGGGG!  I know that this wouldn't have stopped most people....but I'm not most people. :(  I'm a true Southern girl, a Tennessee Hillbilly uprooted and stuck in this foreign land called New York.  PLUS, I have an uncontrollable fear of slipping and falling on ice/snow.  What does all of this mean?  Simply put....if there is one teensy, tiny, itty, bitty, little speck of anything remotely WHITE outside....this little lady is staying home.  And yes, this means that I stay enclosed within these same four walls the majority of each year spent in this place.  If it's a good year, I may get out for good behavior from about May through September.

So, instead of going to the quilt guild meeting last night, I spent the evening in my sewing room piecing together two more Birthday blocks to be sent to a fellow quilter in Missouri.  Now I'm all caught up with the two birthday girls in January.  I have a few weeks before I need to send two more blocks to a quilter in Nevada whose birthday is mid-February.

Teresa in Missouri requested her blocks be made with Red, Blue, Tan and/or Creams.

I'm trying to use this opportunity to experiment and make new patterns....not sure how long that idea will last. LOLOL

This pattern is the Walking Star.....

This pattern is called Nelson's Victory....

Once again...the blocks where constructed using scraps in my stash.

That's it for now....I'm sure I need to go do SOMETHING to this house. :)

Two New Quilt Blocks & Dinner

Yesterday was a productive day.  Along with the routine laundry, and slightest bit of cleaning, I was able to sew together two different quilt block patterns needed to send off to a woman in New Jersey as part of a "Birthday Block Swap" I committed to participating in for 2013.

Rules are fairly simple....everyone participating must make 2 quilt blocks that are 12 1/2 inches (once the recipient sews them together the finished size is a 12" square).  We have a document with the birthdays, names, mailing addresses and recipients color requests.  We choose our own patterns.  They can both be the same design or we can make two different blocks.  Everyone tends to send different designs so that's what I did also.

The first block is called Star Checks (designer: Sue Garman from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks)....I made a few variations to the pattern.  It originally had 56 pieces but my changes cut that number down to only 49 pieces within the 12 1/2 inch square. :)

The second block is called Star Puzzle (#87 from the Quick & Easy Block Tool)...

For the most part, I used scraps from a memory quilt I made for my friend Marianne a few months ago.  Other than the scraps, I used two fat quarters from my stash.

Had it not snowed today, I would be able to get them in the mail....but that will have to wait until tomorrow.  I sure hope Mabel in New Jersey likes them. :)

Wouldn't you know, because my birthday isn't until Dec. 20th, I am the LAST person on the Birthday Block Swap list.  Oh well....what can I do about it?  LOL

For dinner last night, I tried a new recipe using my crockpot.  It turned out to be a nice, hearty meal for a cold night.

I made "Steak San Marco" and served it over (or more like mixed with) Wide Egg Noodles and a side dish of steamed Broccoli (always have to have a vegetable or Kirsten thinks I forgot to cook half the supper).

STEAK SAN MARCO

makes 4 - 6 servings

used a 4-quart slow cooker

2 lbs. stewing meat, cubed

1.25-oz. envelope dry onion soup mix

29-oz. can peeled or crushed tomatoes

1 tsp. dried oregano

Garlic powder to taste

2 Tbsp. canola oil

2 Tbsp. wine vinegar (didn't have this so I used Rice vinegar :)

1. Layer meat evenly in bottom of slow cooker.

2. Combine soup mix, tomatoes, spices, oil, & vinegar in bowl. Pour over meat.

3. Cover and cook on high 6 hours or on low 8 to 10 hours.

It smelled heavenly throughout the day.  Kirsten and Ray said the Egg Noodles were a wise choice to serve it over (with).  I must say that although Kirsten and I ate it without adding any additional seasonings....on Ray's second helping, he did add some hot sauce to his serving.  Of course, with the noodles we didn't need any other carbs....but I thought some crusty bread would have been nice to soak up the juices. :) :) :)

I will probably make this again some day....especially on a day that I want something easy and quick, that doesn't require much time spent in the kitchen....and is a very hearty, filling, warm meal.  Because of the noodles, I have TONS of left-overs...so I will probably only plan this meal again when the rest of the family will be around to help eat it.

TN Waltz blocks, Batman & Shrimp Fried Rice

Until I find all my other projects....I'm working on the only project I have run across so far...and that is my Tennessee Waltz quilt. :)

I need 32 of these blocks....and since the weekend I have completed 13!  Yippee!!!

I'll keep you posted on the progress. :)

After my last post in which I showed the child's Batman cape I finished as a last minute Christmas gift....I was excited to receive some photos of the child who received it (wearing it, of course!).

Batman was REALLY a common theme this year.  My youngest three daughters are Batman fanatics also.  This was what it looked like at my own house Christmas morning. :)

Too bad the photo doesn't show their Batman Boots (house shoes) with gold capes hanging from the back of the boots. LOLOL  And just in case anyone questions their ages....from left to right....20, 20 and 15 years of age. :)

After sewing on my Tennessee Waltz blocks yesterday morning, lunch time came quicker than I anticipated.  Kirsten and I both were starving and I knew I needed to feed her well since we would be heading to her basketball game at 3:30.  A girl needs fuel to play basketball!

After looking through the refrigerator and not seeing anything interesting....I spotted left-over white rice from when we had Chinese take-out a few nights ago.

Huuuummmmm.....maybe I'll make my own fried rice....so out came the Wok. :)

A dollop of olive oil and some chopped onion (my goodness...I LOVE the smell of onions cooking...SERIOUSLY!!!)

Stuck my nose in the freezer and found a small bag of frozen "salad" shrimp....into the Wok they go...

They are already cooked....so just need to heat them up so they are no longer frozen! LOL

While the shrimp is heating up....I grabbed my bag of frozen mixed veggies (I try to keep huge bags on hand to throw into soups, pot-pies, etc.).  I dumped about 2 cups of veggies in a bowl with a dollop of water and quickly microwaved them until they were crisp tender.  Then they got thrown into the Wok as well....

Sprinkled some "Accent" seasoning, pepper and a tid bit of sugar over the top......then the cold left-over white rice got thrown in the mix....

As the warms up and gets stirred into the mess.....I see that I have some packets of soy sauce left over.  There's no need to use my bottle of soy sauce when I've got these (better than throwing them away...I can't stand waste). :)

Now only one last ingredient and then my masterpiece is complete!  EGGS!  Just drop a couple in and start stirring so they cook.

Once you see the egg has cooked....it's finished!

OH MY GOODNESS.....awesome, deliciousness!!!! LOLOL

Kirsten said it tasted better than any she had ever had from a restaurant....so it must really be good if she was impressed also! :)

****The only problem (which really WON'T be a problem)....is I now have tons of left-over Shrimp Fried Rice made from left-overs! LOLOLOLOL

More Christmas Gifts Made

Christmas 2012 turned out to be the year for pillows.  I TRY to make gifts that are unique and hopefully will be special to the person(s) receiving them.  Admittedly, I'm starting to run out of ideas.

I made 5 identical pillow shams for my Dad and each of his 4 siblings using a photo of their parents (my paternal grandparents).

To continue the trend...I also made a pillow sham for my mom using a photo of her parents (my maternal grandparents).

I always find it extremely difficult to think of gifts for my in-laws....but since I was on a roll...I decided to make two pillow shams.  Both photos are recent....one was taken when they visited our oldest daughter and her family in Tennessee.  This was the first time they had ever met their youngest great-grandchild in person.  The other photo was taken when they visited us a few months ago and I was able to snap a picture of them with their son (my dear hubby) and our three daughters living here in New York.

 
I think everyone was pleased with their gifts.  If not, they didn't let me know! :) :) :)

A couple days before Christmas, my daughter Emily called and asked if I could "whip up" a Batman cape for her to give to her friend's 5 year old son.  She said it didn't need to be complicated....just something for him to put around his neck that would go with the Batman hat she had purchased already.

I searched on-line and was able to find a free superhero cape pattern that I could download and print.  Then I googled and searched for a Batman logo I could print off also.  With pattern in hand, I then had to go to the basement and search through my old fabric stash for a solid black.  I should be embarrassed to tell anyone this, (but I'm not)....believe it or not I found JUST ENOUGH solid black fabric for the cape that was actually left over from when I made my twin daughters identical Pilgrim outfits when they were about 4 or 5 years old (they are turning 21 in April!). hahahahahah

I know the little boy who was to get this cape and I knew it wouldn't be really safe to give him something that he tied around the neck....so I adjusted the pattern in order to use velcro to secure the neck.  Another search around my sewing stash unearthed enough black velcro (left over from making my boy dogs belly bands).

The last thing I needed was a small piece of gold fabric, felt, etc., to make the Batman logo.  I couldn't find anything appropriate and was beginning to panic when I looked in the corner and spotted a scrap of gold fleece (about 7" square) that was left over from when my daughter Kirsten made the fleece blankets for all the family for Christmas.  JUST WHAT I NEEDED!

I think it turned out rather cute, if I do say so myself!!! :) :)

Here's a close up of the logo....

Emily seemed to be surprised and very pleased when she came to pick it up.  I later heard that the young man who received it was beyond happy and kept it on all day, every day since Christmas.

Now it's time to get my sewing room back in order now that I no longer have house guests needing the room to sleep.

Time to get back to the many quilt projects I was working on before the holidays arrived.

Bonding Time with Kirsten

Time to play some "catch-up" with this blog.  I had to wait until after Christmas to post much of what I've been up to in order to not ruin any surprises for family members. :)

Kirsten decided that she wanted to make a few home-made gifts this year.  I'm very happy that at least ONE of my four daughters is willing to do some sort of crafting.  There's still hope...I'll just keep bugging them until I turn them all into sewaholics like myself.

Our code word was "bonding".  We couldn't tell anyone what she was making because she was trying to make everyone in the family the same thing.  Each time her grandmother called and asked what we were doing that day...our answer was always "just bonding". heeheee

Only a 15 year old girl could sit like this and actually accomplish anything!!

She decided to make 2-layer fleece blankets, 60" x 72".  It's a great project for teenagers.  You simply take two coordinating pieces of fleece, lay them "wrong sides" together, then using a rotary cutter trim fringe and tie knots to hold the two pieces together.

This project started out small...but she had so much fun that she kept adding names to her Christmas gift list.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that she was causing me to go broke purchasing the supplies each time she wanted to make more. haahaa

The gifts were a HUGE hit with everyone who received one and she was so happy with herself.  The pride she took in making the gifts was well worth the expense!!!!

She made the blue solar system for her brother-in-law Greg and the tan Air Force fighter plane for her nephew Austin.

The butterfly blanket was made for her Grandma B. and the red football blanket was made for her Grandpa B.

The tan and black bear blanket was for her uncle Tim and the red guitars was for her uncle Gene.

The purple monkey was for her niece Abbi, and the turquoise and brown trees with doves was for her aunt Debbie.

The purple and black flowers was for her sister Shannon and the turquoise winter penguins was for her nephew Liam.

She made two identical black and gold football blankets for her sisters Amanda and Emily (Pittsburgh Steeler colors) and she made a second turquoise penguin for Amanda's friend and room mate Trish.

A picture of one happy and proud young lady!

Easy Street Clue 4

I've been doing my best to keep up with the clues for Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt "Easy Street"....working steady and strong.  I'm almost completely caught up, but at this point I know it's not going to happen until the new year.

I have about half of the last clue (#4) complete...

My 64 purple flying geese with turquoise wing tips are completed...but I still need to trim the dog ears and sew them to another earlier completed clue.  I also need to cut out the lime green squares.

Clue #4 would probably be 100% complete had I not been "behind" on Clue #3 from the previous week.  I did finish that part this week also....

Alas...I still need to trim the dog ears from this clue also. :)

Sadly, as of this moment, I'm temporarily putting away everything "Easy Street" related in order to finish the last remaining Christmas gifts.  I MUST complete two gifts by this Friday when Ray and Kirsten take a quick weekend trip to see his parents in Pittsburgh.  While they are away (and I'm watching the dogs), I will also be completing 3 more gifts needed by Christmas Eve!

It looks like our oldest daughter and her family will be coming to visit us two days after Christmas which means I must put EVERYTHING away in my sewing room because it is needed as a guest room.  My youngest grandson just turned two years old this past September and he loves to touch, disassemble and "work on" anything he can reach.  This means all my sewing machines must be put away in their cases, all cutting tools completely hidden.  I'm sure you get the picture.

Hopefully, I will be able to pull everything back out and get going again around January 3rd....unless I need more time to recoup from having the entire family together for an entire week. :) :)  I'm really looking forward to having everyone home at the same time for the first time in several years!!!!

I hope it won't be too difficult to play "catch-up" at that time and be able to complete the mystery quilt along with all the other quilters around the world.

You can keep up with the progress of many other quilters participating in the Easy Street mystery by clicking on this link....

EASY STREET CLUE #4 LINK-UP

Until next time....

Merry Christmas!

128 Flying Geese Complete & Other Stuff

Yippee...finished the 128 flying geese units that was considered our clue #2 in the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt called Easy Street.  All I need to do is clip the dog-ears off to consider them completely finished.

(Side note:  It's still not too late to jump in and make the quilt along with all the thousands of Bonnie Hunter fans across the world.  All the "clues" so far (there are three at this point) can be found at:

Easy Street Mystery Quilt by Bonnie Hunter

While I finished sewing up the above 128 flying geese, I sewed on some of my Tennessee Waltz units as my "leaders & enders".  Just look at how far along you can get without even realizing it simply by having a different project to the side of your sewing machine to lead or end with....

Are you familiar with the term "leaders & enders"?  It's really simple...when sewing together small quilt pieces...rather than have all these irritating long strings of thread at the beginning and end of each individual unit (and then taking the time to cut the long threads off)...you simply maintain SOMETHING under your needle at all times so that you are basically sewing a never ending piece.  This is also called "chain-feeding/sewing".  You sew one piece and rather than pull it away and clip the thread, you just add another item under the pressure foot.  Another plus....you don't waste any thread.

To help me keep count of my flying geese units, I would sew 10 flying geese seams, then "end" that section with one Tennessee Waltz block.  While the Tennessee Waltz block was under my needle...I clipped the flying geese away, clipped them apart, pressed the seams, then brought them back to the machine and started feeding them through the the machine again for the second seam in construction.  In other words, I'm killing two birds with one stone. :)

Today I plan to cut out the pieces needed for Clue #3 that was released this past Friday.  Now we get to play with the Turquoise fabrics we chose (if you are using Bonnie Hunter's color suggestions that is)....or whatever color you like best for your own selection.

Here is my assortment of Turquoise fabrics....

My daughter Kirsten came in the other day and saw all the fabrics I planned to use for this mystery (Lime Green, Turquoise, Purple, Grey and Black on White prints) and claimed this quilt for herself. :) :)

With this next clue we will be making 64 shaded 4 patch blocks using turquoise triangles, purple squares and black on white triangles.  I don't recall ever making this particular block before so I'm looking forward to learning something new.

Now it's time to get to the cutting board!