Cat Quilt Layout :)

Well, here are all the blocks, although some of them are somewhat hidden in the corners - it was hard to get a picture of the whole layout, even tho I was standing on top of a bench, lol. Looks pretty good, I think!! These blocks are trimmed to 13" X 10", so the top lays out to 65" X 70" - I allowed for 1/2" seam allowances. I hope to get the top mostly assembled today - or at least, half of it! I still haven't picked backing fabric, and I'm not sure if I like the border fabric I chose - I'll have to do a layout later on and see how it looks. For now, I'll just worry about getting the blocks assembled. If I run out of time, I might drop from two borders to one - there's definitely a time crunch issue at work here ;)

Shopping in New York :)

I admit it - it THRILLS me to go to New York for the weekend ... to stay in a crappy cheap hotel, to shop in 3 or 4 Joanns stores and a couple of Walmarts ... what can I say - I'm a CHEAP DATE!! We went to the Buffalo area this weekend - left the kids home alone (gotta love having teenagers that can takes care of themselves and that don't get into too much trouble!) (although they sure made a mess in my kitchen while we were gone - there wasn't a clean plate or piece of clean silverware around when we got home, LOL) - I picked up some goodies in my favorite stores, had a nice dinner out (steak, yay), hit NO traffic at the border in either direction, and were lucky enough to get waved through customs without having to pay anything! I should buy a lottery ticket!

The batiks I bought ... a 2 1/2 yard piece, then several 1/2 yard pieces, then 5 FQ's I found on clearance of a tone on tone creamy batik - really pretty! In front - the kitty cat button I got at the quilt show at the Amherst Museum, and the set of fabric that my husband won as a doorprize at the quilt show, LOL!! He very generously donated them to his loving wife, for a price *wink* *wink* ;)

Loralie Harris "Sew Girls" panel (from the quilt show), 2 X 1/2 yard and 1 X 1 yard background fabrics in creams/light colors, a 14" X 60" remnant of doggy fleece (for donation bibs, I think - $1.80), a couple of pieces of warm and natural (freebies from the quilt show), and a little floral remnant I found at Walmart for 46 cents :D

Fun goodies! Knifty Knitter set, with an extra "hook" and pattern book, some yarn to try the above-noted knifty knitter ;), 2 sewing patterns, a red/white kitchen tea towel (50 cents @ Goodwill - I *told* you I was a cheap date!), transfer pencil for making foundation pieced blocks, white thread, a wing needle, some beads for some future craft projects, a beautiful Aunt Martha transfer set (for a gift), and a "hump jumper" - aka a Jean-a-ma-jig, for sewing over lumpy parts of projects ;)

20/35 blocks now done :)

I just came upstairs for a break - have been in the dungeon/studio most of the morning, and it's dark and dreary down there!! Also, the cat is up here and ... HOLY CRAP I SEE A HUGE SPIDERWEB 2' away from me --- how the ... what the ... ???!! It goes from the edge of the stereo speaker to the cushion of the couch ... how on earth could THAT happen???! Well, I was going to vaccuum today anyways, so I'll make sure I take care of that freakish thing!

Anyways - I got 5 more blocks done today, and I must say - looking at them all up on the design wall is a quite a pleasure!! The individual colors, to look at each block - are nothing special, but when you look at the whole project with all the colors together, it's really striking! That's GOOD! LOL!!! The blocks are trimmed to 13" X 10" so my 20.5" ruler is coming in QUITE handy - I'm glad I bought it! Even tho it's a bit awkward to use, it's definitely a useful beast :)

I changed the quilt plans a bit ...

Fooled around with EQ to change the donation quilt a little bit --- I want to have cornerstone blocks (which I've never done before), so I'm going to try to do a double border - an inner border of a plainish batik, with another border of pieced batik scraps. I even figured out how to manipulate my project in EQ to reflect these changes! *struts* :)

I got 5 more blocks done yesterday, and then I started on the pieced border. I may be able to get all the blocks done by Friday, which would be really good, as hubby and I are leaving for New York on Saturday morning. I'd like to work on finishing the quilt when we get back on Sunday! (Joanns here I come!!)

5 more blocks done for today, so 15/35 are completed - I'm seeing progress!

OT: Google Earth - MY HOUSE!!

Our house!!! Even our car and van!!! This is a photo from Google Earth - is free download, is VERY fun!!

I got the idea to post this picture from Elaine Adair's blog - those irrigation pivots she posted about, are tres interesting, and now I'm looking them up to learn more, lol. Here's an image I found, so now I know more about what they look like :)

Thanks for the great idea, Elaine!!

New Project?

I drafted this up in EQ tonight to possibly use for a project I want to complete. This is just an idea and I'm not even sure if it will fly, but it sure does look pretty! The pattern was a freebie at Golden Quilts - I've had it saved for a long time as I've wanted to make it for a long time! And of course - who doesn't like delicious delectable aloof kitty cats?? ;) I got the first 5 (of 35) blocks made yesterday - they're paper pieced - I'm quite liking them, so I hope the project goes smoothly!

Rich and decadent fabric :)

This involves sewing, but not by me - by my SIL Heather!! She's doing some work in their bedroom, and sent me a picture tonight of the fabric she bought at Fabricland to recover a chair (a curb find, no less!). I think the recovered chair and the throw pillows will be GORGEOUS when they're done!!

Lucky me!

For Mothers Day, I'm getting a RED (!!!) Kitchenaid mixer, wooooooooohoooooooooo!!! I'm so excited - I can't wait!! It's been ordered from hbc.com and will be delivered to my closest Zellers store, where I'll pick it up. I have no idea of when it will arrive at Zellers, but it was shipped there this morning, according to the order status! I'm pretty sure my husband doesn't realize that you can buy ACCESSSORIES for the mixer too - I'm already scouting them out on ebay, haha!! Don't tell him! ;)

Yesterday I baked a Ginger Pear cake for supper, and then last night I baked an Orange Kiss Me Cake because I felt like baking. The longer I'm on this diet, the more I bake - it's very weird! I don't eat the goodies I bake (except when I make biscuits or scones - I can't resist those), but I have this ungodly urge to bake goodies! I give them to hubby and the kids and the neighbours and the guys my son works with, LOL. I imagine that once I get the mixer, I'll be baking even MORE ;)

Apologies to Kitchenaid for stealing their photograph - I promise to replace it with my own photo when I get my mixer, so please don't sue me! :)

Linkies:
Ginger Pear Cake
Orange Kiss Me Cake
Kitchenaid Mixer from HBC

My scones don't sparkle :p

Because I didn't add sparkle to the recipe :D

Sparkle Scones Recipe

HOW COOL - I just figured out how to change my clickable link to show a name instead of a url, hehe. It only took me 2 months to get it :p

Pincushion Threadcatcher - Finished :)

I started and finished this little guy today - he turned out cute! I changed the original instructions a little bit to hang the threadcatcher from a button instead of velcro, but the rest of it is as per instructions ;) Thank you to Karen for the freebie pattern, available at http://www.kquilts-studio.com/pincushionthread_catcher_tutori.htm :)

Utterly devoid of flaws

Tonight's menu comes completely from the Baking Beauties blog @ http://thebakingbeauties.blogspot.com/

"Utterly devoid of flaws" is how my 19 year old described this cake, LOL. Obviously he has my sense of humor ;)





Here's the chocaroon cake - I dusted the bundt pan with cocoa before pouring in the batter - thats why it has that cocoa-y look ;)
http://tinyurl.com/6yovv3


Taco soup - got 2 thumbs up from my 19 year old :) It smells as good as it looks! Available from http://tinyurl.com/6423f2




Then we have the Rice Pilaf - I forgot to toast the almonds, but it still tastes pretty good! Available at http://tinyurl.com/4ugcjf

Thanks Baking Beauties, for the great recipes!!

How's your spelling?

Your Spelling is Perfect

You got 10/10 correct. Your spelling is excellent. You also have a great memory and eye for detail.

How's Your Spelling?

Ginger Peach Cake :)

Hmmmm it sure looked good coming out of the oven!






OOPS, a bit messy to get onto the plate - brown sugar juice everywhere! ;)





Does this look delicious or WHAT!!! It smells great too - I can smell the ginger and the peaches, mmmmmmmmmm.




Chris gave this a 9/10 - it didn't get a 10/10 because I served it hot right out of the oven, so it was pretty hot, lol. Nick pronounced it scrum-diddly-icious - consider the comments as high praise from teenagers :)

The recipe came from the Mama's Fixins blog @ http://tinyurl.com/5fppqw - I made a few changes so I could make it with what I had on hand. I used a 28 oz. (796 ml.) can of sliced peaches, drained, instead of the pear. I creamed the butter, sugar, lemon extract and eggs together, but then I just dumped in the rest of the ingredients and beat it with the beater until it was well mixed ;) I didn't have a 10" round pan, so I used a 10" spring form pan - that worked very well! My version was a bit juicer than hers to unmold (because of the juice on the pears, I'm sure), but I'll do it exactly the same way next time as well :)

THANK YOU Tracy @ Mama's Fixins, for this wonderful recipe!! Simple enough to make for an after school snack, but also nice enough to serve to company - I'll try a pear version as well, but the peaches sure did work well!

A few finishes ...

These are the items I've made so far this year for C4C (a Canadian donation group) - 40 bibs altogether between Feb. and March, two burp cloths and the strip baby quilt. Currently I'm working on several simple 16 patch flannel quilts - I have 10 of the 16 fabrics bought, and try to pick up one or two new flannels each time I go to Fabricland :)