'insert clever line here' . . .

I've run out of different ways to say "Design Wall" so never mind. Instead, perhaps this morning I'll just say . . .

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

Now. On to the design wall (or table or ironing board or whatever).

Saturday I headed over to join our stitcher's group for a Stitch-In Saturday. My goal was to put together my two blocks of the month, which are due Friday. So here are the latest additions to my orange and purple quilt . . .

Block one.


And block two.

And here's how I've decided to set these two . . .

This one definitely looked best in the orange.


And this one is going in the purple.

I need to start thinking of a name for this quilt. It's orange and purple and has batiks mixed in and the purple leafy fabric is Moda's "October," which makes me very happy since I'm definitely an October kind of girl.

Here's my little stitch-in station . . .

Let me introduce you to Kari, our wonderful coordinator!

She was working on getting a quilt pin basted -- it's one she's entering into our fall quilt show!

There was lots of gabbing and sewing and eating. Lots of eating. ;)

Charmaine finished up the block she was working on for a different BOM.

Isn't that pretty?? I love the colors in there with the black and white!

And my friend Kathy is shipping this one off as a gift.

Lucky recipient!

And if you've hung out with me this long, be sure to head on over to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times to see what else is going on in design wall land!

Cheers!

:)

cleaning up . . .

Since I'm not working anymore and I've got a *little* more time to think of food prep and meals, I've been trying to test and add some healthier recipes to our meal planning. When I was going through my magazines last week (I go through them, cut out the pages that have recipes, ideas, or projects that appeal to me and scan them to my hard drive), I came across a recipe for Flank Steak Roll (or Meat Rollups, as my husband has dubbed it) out of Clean Eating magazine (which is very fun and full of great recipes).

I was a little nervous about trying it. I've had a tough time with rolling foods to be cooked before, and not only was this rolled, but I had to slice the flank steak in half lengthwise, first, and then stuff it! The stuffing was a wonderful mixture of toasted pine nuts, panko (which I'd never used before this recipe), garlic and vinegar, topped off with fresh spinach. The process was actually very, very easy.

So I got it all ready, then rolled it up and got to use kitchen twine!

All pretty and ready to go into the pan and then into the oven. Forty minutes later . . .

Voila! She is done!

It held its rolled up shape very nicely when cut. I did have to affirm that the pink the middle was the panko mixture (because of the red vinegar) and not the color of the meat! He likes his meat DONE! Once we were cool on that, he was ready for dinner to be served!

And a good dinner it was. Todd said we could add this to our list! The only trouble I had was that it makes so much. I didn't enjoy it as much reheated for lunch today, but Todd really did. Ah well, next time I make it, I'll invite someone over to join us!

Happy Friday, y'all -- I'm off to clean out some of the junk in our RV basement, now. And tomorrow, joy of all joys, I'm off to our Stitcher's group stitch-in!

:)

something in the air . . .

Tuesday night's Stitcher's Group meeting was . . . interesting . . . to say the least! Oh, it all started out innocently enough. Fifteen or so ladies gathered together in the church conference room, chatting and passing around quilt blocks and working on hand work. All of a sudden, a few of the women in the back of the room started coughing violently! Next thing you know, more women are violently coughing -- near choking-sounding! People are fleeing the room! I was sitting up near the entrance, furthest away from the original coughers, and so I thought I was safe . . . and then I felt a slight tickle in my throat, followed by a bit of a burn . . . BAM! I was overcome, too!

You've never seen a room of quilters drop what they're doing and flee so fast in your life! One of the women (who will remain nameless) was showing another her "pepper spray" and accidentally set it off. That tiny little mist of pepper spray was powerful! It even followed us out of the room into the hallway. A lot of the ladies fled to the outdoors. Needless to say, it meant an early evening for most of the group. But a couple of us hardcore quilters blew our noses (which really helped clear the irritation), and stayed put. Including the perpetrator (although partly because we brow-beat her into staying and partly because her ride wasn't ready to leave)! It was a fun, funny night and I laughed a lot.

I actually even managed to get some things done! For example, I learned how to "pop" the seams of my four-patches, so that the center lays flat.

It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but if you look closely, you can see that at the center, the four seams lay in a square, so there's not a huge bulk of fabric at the center. There's some significance to this method, but I'm not ready to share on that yet -- another post.

I also managed to finish quilting my first block of the BOM!

It's nearly impossible to see the quilting in the small photo, which is a shame, because I really love the design! I used a fairly curvy, lot-of-movement design in the center of the block, and then in the sashing, I quilted a simple 2-1/2" square in each corner. I've decided to switch up the quilting in the centers, but stay consistent on the squares in the sashing.

It may be a bit easier to see the quilting from the back. I didn't condense this picture, so if you click on it, it'll give you a bigger photo, and the quilting is a lot more visible. My thinking is that the squares will form their own pattern and really accentuate the more detailed quilting of the centers.

I'm really very pleased with how this turned out, and now I'm anxious to get the sashing on all my completed blocks, so I have some handwork to do when I have my surgery. Hopefully we'll get that scheduled for the first of June -- and I'll want plenty to keep me occupied!

So, to recap: pepper spray and quilters really do NOT mix, although it does make for a lot of laughter and hilarity. I probably would have finished a lot more stitching Tuesday night without the pepper spray -- but this entry wouldn't have been near as fun to share!

Happy Thursday!

:)

i *love* mondays . . .

And how could you blame me for loving Mondays, when I get to spend them in such wonderful company?!

I had a fun day with my Sawyer Graham yesterday. Even though he is going through some growing pains . . . specifically, he's teething again. Poor thing! One thing that helped and tasted good, too? Strawberry pops! Kim had frozen strawberries for him, and told me to plop them into the "banana" holder, and he'd have a nice treat that felt good to his poor little mouth

I decided that the best place for him to enjoy this particular treat was definitely in his high chair.

He's trying to give me the scrunchy-face smile around his pop!

After cleaning up from lunch, we were ready for some adventure! I decided we didn't need to have an adventure on my laptop.

Instead, we headed for Sawyer's favorite place . . .

OUTSIDE!!

We explored the backyard in our fire truck.

Hey! What's this stuff??

This needs further exploration.

Hmmm. Where's a fire a can put out?

My shoe! Let me put out my shoe!

I'm ready for my closeup, Neesey!!

Bring that camera HERE! (Sawyer, I don't think you're were ready as you thought you were!)

Always a joy, always a joy. Tonight I head out to meet with my Stitcher's Group. I've finished the interior quilting on my first block -- now I'll get the sashing quilted, and move on to the next block. I forget how much I enjoy hand quilting! Should be a fun night. Yay!

:)

party all the time . . .

Yesterday was a day of partying! First, the Madison Baptist Association had their seasonal open house. All different churches linked to the association brought finger foods, and then the doors were open at ten o'clock for folks to come by and do a little meet, greet, and eat!

The office was all decked out with a tree and a beautiful nativity.

Before the party started, all the staff -- both paid and volunteer -- got together for a group picture:

I hung out for a bit, but then I had to head back to work. Todd stayed for a little longer. I was so impressed with all the people he knew (and that knew him)! He's really been 'working the crowd over the past six months!

After work, I headed to our Stitcher's Group Christmas party. Our hostess, Karen, has the most beautiful home, and it was really decked out for Christmas!

When I got there, most everyone who was going to be there had already arrived and were chatting it up.

The party was a potluck, and the table was filled with lots of yummy dinner dishes . . .

And a whole 'nother table filled with sweets!

Luckily, I hit this table behind a 'portion conscious' lady, and she cut everything she took in half, and left the other half. Which I promptly picked up!!

After dinner, we did a Christmas show & tell. I showed off my almost-complete table topper. All of the projects that were shown off were simply gorgeous!! From show & tell, we did an ornament exchange. We were to each bring an ornament wrapped in a fat quarter.

I think most of us chose which package we were going to pick based on the fat quarter!! Such quilters we all are!

Our guild's Christmas meeting is tomorrow night, and then on Friday night, Todd and I are headed to our choir Christmas party. Tonight, though, we're tucked in safe and cozy. And considering the icy conditions, I think that plan worked out perfectly!!

:)

stitcher's group . . .

I had such a fun time last night, hooking up with our Stitcher's Group and just hanging out. I couldn't remember what time they met (I've only been to the Tuesday night meeting once before), but I figured it was either six or six-thirty, so I got there at six-fifteen. I was the first one there!

Folks were slow coming in (it started at six-thirty), but we eventually had a group of eight or nine sitting around the tables. I think there was only one of us actually working on a quilt, and several of us weren't working on anything, they just came for the chat and the company! Most of us were working on Christmas-related projects. One was working a fleece blanket for her father-in-law's gift, two were working on ornaments, and I was working on hostess gifts for the Christmas party season!

I really like the holly tea towel; the buttons were fun!

And I finished sewing most of my yo-yo's for the tea towel snowmen!

With all the happy chatter and laughter, the evening passed by too quickly. Next thing I know it's already nine o'clock and time to head out! Our group Christmas party is on the 14th, and I'm looking forward to it already!

It's December -- can you believe it? Let the countdown begin, but in the middle of all the hustle and bustle, don't forget:

Jesus is the reason for this season!

:)