Saturday, October 30, 2010

Greeeeeeeeen!

Tonight, Bug and I did a mini home pedicure.  Meaning, we sat down in the middle of the kitchen floor and I painted our toenails.  Green.  Because it's Bug's favorite color. :)

Bug and I paint our toenails

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Farmer's Market Day

Purple Pepper

I didn't even know that peppers came in purple before today, but I found this little guy at the farmer's market in downtown Phoenix.  Or at the urban market next door, rather.

The farmer's market was AWESOME.  So much yummy food and beautiful artisan items.

I really intended to only go and look around today.  Kind of get a feel for the market.  But then we ran across a woman who was selling, among other things, hand-knit socks for kids.  Wool socks.  For five dollars.  And they were cute.

Bug didn't pick the pair I'd have bought had he not been there, but I'm glad that he was able to choose the ones he liked.

Bug's Wool Socks

He'll have some (cute!) toasty toes in those this winter!

We're also enjoying some yummy tomato candy (as Bug calls them) today.

Tomato Candy

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Egg Bread

Oh yes, the bread machine and I will become VERY good friends.  Two loaves in one day!

Egg bread!  SO soft and yummy!

Egg Bread

3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place all ingredients in bread pan as directed by manufacturer. Select
Light Crust setting.

This recipe yields 1 loaf.

Recipe here, again.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Honey Oatmeal Bread

Today, I took on the bread machine.  And won.

Honey Oatmeal Bread

1 cup warm water
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups bread flour
1/2 cup oatmeal -- not quick-cook
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Combine ingredients in bread maker per your manufacturer's instructions.
Select "Basic/White" bread setting; crust color as desired.

This recipe yields 1 loaf.

Recipe found here.

It's really yummy (we've already devoured almost the entire loaf and it's been out of the bread maker for about twenty minutes!) and I want to make more right this instant.  The house smells SO good.

An Awesome Gift

The ladies from the Live Laugh Bee completely surprised me this past week.  They made a quilt for Boo!

Boo's Quilt Front

It was such a sweet gift, and such a surprise.  Knocked my socks off.  And made me cry.

Boo's Quilt Back

Love that polka dot binding!

We ALL love the quilt, and it's getting plenty of use.  Boo has napped on it.  Bug has slept under it and periodically steals it.  I curl up on the couch with it.  (Well, with it over my legs, anyway.)  My sister even got to use it at her most recent chemo treatment.

This quilt is loved.

Boo Napping

Two Months of Sew Bee Wonky

Sew Bee Wonky - Another bee that I'm not behind in!  If you don't consider that I haven't done my October blocks yet.  (But I just got the fabric?)

For August, Kellie requested wonky houses.

Kellie's Block

I can not describe how much fun this little block was to put together.  I stressed over it for way too long, so worried that I was going to completely mess up her little bits of fabric and then have to figure out how to fix it and make it work.  No need to worry.  Pretty much anything goes with wonky houses, and they're so stinkin' cute.

For September, Paige requested wonky log cabin blocks.  (Yay!)  She sent some of the most delicious fabrics.

Paige's Block #1 - Partial

Yep, that's Mendocino in there.  I heart Mendocino.  And check out those awesome little bicycles!

Paige's Block #2 - Partial

The only thing I had trouble with was making the blocks big enough.  Even though I was careful not to cut into the long strips before I had to, I still ended up a bit shy.  The first blocks needed one more strip.  The second was considerably smaller.

Next up...more wonky stars. :)

Live Laugh Bee - Catching Up

Aside from two blocks this week, I haven't actually done any sewing for Live Laugh Bee in a little bit.  All caught up, if you can believe it!  (Well, sort of.  More on that in a moment.)  I just never got around to posting pictures.

Here's what's been going on:

Kelly requested confetti blocks.  I LOVE the blue fabrics that she picked out.  Blue, black and teensy little bits of gold in some of the prints.  Very pretty.  And she's planning to quilt with sashiko stitching, which should be gorgeous.

Kelly's Block #1

My second block came out a tad small.  I ran out of white fabric and couldn't find any in the right weight to sub in.  She requested that we just send small blocks if that happened.

Photobucket

Then Sarah requested wonky log cabin blocks.  I think wonky log cabins are my all time favorite.  Super easy to put together, lots of fun to put together, and I always love the way they look. Sarah sent a TON of fun batiks to choose from, too.

Sarah's block #1 - Sept 2010

Sarah's block #2 - Sept 2010

Of course, as soon as I finished Sarah's blocks I realized that I had done them wrong.

*headdesk*

She wanted then wonky, but with traditional styling.  You'll note that I intermixed the blues and greens instead of putting blues together on one side and greens together on the other.  Gah.  Lucky for me, these will be simple enough to rip apart and put back together properly.  Also lucky that she sent so much fabric in case I need to add a little more.  She also said that we could add some of our own fabrics if we have any that tie in, and I know I have some blue and green batik.

Ursula's blocks, for October, have been so much fun.  She sent out the same fabrics that I have waiting to turn into my nephew's quilt.  She requested flying geese blocks for a little boy's quilt.  It was so much fun getting to play with these fabrics and seeing how they look with the various solid colors (which I still have to choose for my project) before I've cut into my fabric.

quilt,quilt block,flying geese,polka dots,gears

flying geese,quilt,quilt block,polka dots,gears

The other blocks turning up in the flickr group look great.  I can't wait to see how she puts them all together!

Modern 12 Bee Block

Ohmygosh.  I can't believe that it's taken me so long to post a blog update.  SO much has been going on and I keep taking pictures and writing mental notes on posts and then I never seem to have my hands free when I'm awake enough to actually do anything with all of that information.  Or, at least not when there's nothing else that seems to need my immediate attention.

So, here's a tidbit.  And I'll try to get the rest of the goodies posted in a more timely manner.

Today, I did a bit of catching up.

Back in June, I foolishly (considering that I was supposed to have a baby in August) joined the {Modern 12} Bee.  It just sounded like too much fun to pass up.  We started in July, which was when I actually had the baby..and I've been behind ever sense.  Unfortunately, this isn't the only bee I got involved in this summer and I've been a little bit better with catching up in other areas.

Sooooo....I'm four months behind.  And, I can barely believe it, but the {Modern 12} ladies have been more than nice and beyond patient with me and haven't kicked me out. 

I HAVE actually been working on the blocks.  Just not making much headway.  So today I dove into September's block and, working in fits and starts throughout the day, managed to get it done this afternoon.

quilt,quilt block,swap,wonky,star

Kristy requested a multi-colored wonky star on a field of gray.

I've been seeing more and more of these stars (and have another to put together for another bee), and haven't really been able to decide how I feel about them.  I think I like them.  It was certainly fun to put together.  Wonky, but it didn't take too much extra figuring to make sure that it worked out properly.  And Richard liked it so much that I'm contemplating requesting wonky stars from the bees that will go towards making his quilt.  Maybe alternating with log cabins?  Would that look cool, or just be entirely too busy?  Hmm...

Anyway.

I quite enjoyed putting this star together and I hope that Kristy likes it.  If I had just a tad more of the gray fabric, I'd send her a second block.  I liked it that much. :)

Now to finish with the hexagons and get a second backlogged block completed...

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

KCWC: Days Four through Seven

You'll note the obvious lack of photos in this post.  There's a reason for that.

I had almost ZERO time to sew over the remainder of the week.

Hrm...  Perhaps the week that my sister started chemo (so I was worried), that my husband had some big work things (so I was juggling two babies) and while (still...) looking for a house (so I was otherwise swamped) wasn't actually the best time to take on something else.  Who knew?

On the plus side, while there are still no finishes to photograph, I DID get a new dress for Boo almost completed, and got a little bit of hand sewing done on my hexagons.

Still have a big "look at the pretties!" post and a new "whoa...that was wild" post to put up when I can find a few minutes to sort out the photos...but right now it's bedtime.