The End, Or A New Beginning?

I never know which one the first day of school is. Is it the end of summer, or a the beginning of a new year? It's so hard for me. I adore having my kids home during the summer, and I miss them so much when they're gone. But at the same time, this is the start of a brand new adventure for them. New class, new friends, new subjects, who knows what the school year will bring!

So, regardless of how I feel, I always send them off with a big smile and a hug. Well, no hug for my teenage daughter. She doesn't "do" hugs anymore. LOL! But, my son loves his hugs so he gets a really big one this morning.

The upside for me, is that now I have a ton of time to work on getting my house back in order and conquer my mountain of laundry. And, even better than that, I have time, lots and lots of time, to quilt! I have almost all my 4 1/2 inch squares sewn together, soon I'll be able to start assembling the quilt top for the World's Ugliest Quilt. I also have the Log Cabin Pine Tree's wallhanging I need to get started on for the FNSI. And, I've finally decided on a quilt for my son using my dad's old dresshirts. I'm going to make him a Brick and Stepping Stones quilt. He's going to love it! And it's a nice easy pattern for me.

So, I have lot's to keep me busy.

Tonight for supper, we're going to be having

Inside Out Ravioli's

1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
Garlic salt to taste
10 oz package spinach
1 can spaghetti sauce
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups small pasta shells, cooked and drained
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 well beaten eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup oil

Brown beed, onion and garlic salt. Add salt and simmer. Cook spinach, drain. Add salt to sauce. Combine spinach, shells, cheeses, bread crumbs, eggs and oil.

Spread in a casserole dish. Top with sauce. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

We didn't get to have it last week, so I moved it to this week instead. It's such a yummy dinner!

Have a fantastic day everyone!

The World's Ugliest Quilt

I told you yesterday I was going to make a crazy quilt, and sure enough I got a good start on it already. My mom did purchase the Go! Cutter yesterday, so I was able to cut all my scraps up into 4 1/2" squares in about 2 hours. What a joy that was! It would have taken me a full day of cutting to get as many squares done as I did yesterday afternoon. I love that little toy tool!

After I came home and told the kids that they were going to have to fend for themselves for dinner (seriously, though, it was late and there was no time to cook anything, so we ate leftovers. I'm truly not that bad of a mother! LOL!) I sat down with my box of squares and started sewing. In a very short amount of time, I was able to get a good start on my ugly quilttop with 15 strips of 6 squares each.

It's really a bit of a guessing game for me right now, since I don't know how many strips to make or how many squares should go in each strip, but that's part of the fun for me. I laid out what I had on the floor last night and made a guesstimate as to what I needed and I'll work from that.

Now, are you ready to see the beginnings of the World's Ugliest Quilt? You may want to avert your eyes, or put on some protective eyewear. You will gasp, and possibly scream in horror, so be prepared to stifle it if anyone in your house is sleeping.

Are you ready?

Are you sure?

Ok, you asked for it. Don't say I didn't warn you.....

Now, is everyone ok? You're not all too traumatized?


Today's Update

I will be spending some time sewing today. I want to possibly finish the quilt top today so I can start hand quilting it tomorrow. That's what will take the longest, but I'm determined to hand quilt the whole thing. That's all part of the experience I'm looking for.

I'm working on getting my planner/control journal all worked up and ready for next week when the kids get back to school. My house needs a fair bit of work with deep cleaning and decluttering, but like I said yesterday, I just don't want to waste the last little bit of summer we have left working on that right now. One more week will not matter all that much.

Today is Anti Procrastination Day so I'm going to find something that I've been putting off doing. It will be small since I don't want to wrap myself into anything too big that will take time away from the kids, but I really should find something.

Tonight for supper we'll be having

Inside Out Ravioli's

1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
Garlic salt to taste
10 oz package spinach
1 can spaghetti sauce
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups small pasta shells, cooked and drained
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 well beaten eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup oil

Brown beed, onion and garlic salt. Add salt and simmer. Cook spinach, drain. Add salt to sauce. Combine spinach, shells, cheeses, bread crumbs, eggs and oil.

Spread in a casserole dish. Top with sauce. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Have an amazing day!!

It's Been So Long!!

It feels like forever since I posted here! Did you miss me? :P School is starting back next week and things have been a bit hectic here getting things ready for that, and just spending time together as the summer winds down.

The kids and I went on a fantastic nature walk a few days ago. I'll be posting some photo's either later today or sometime in the next few days. I have a bunch of them that need to be taken off my camera card and reworked so I can post them. My computer isn't working all that great for some reason, it's very, very slow, so it's taking longer than usual to do anything at all.

I've set aside my 9 patch quilt for a little while. My cutting wasn't all that great apparently, and I have a lot, and I do mean a lot of strips that just don't match up. So, I set it aside and maybe later I'll either find uses for the strips or figure out a way to make them work the way I want to. Either way, it was a fantastic learning experience for me.

So, that moved me forward to a new project. Exciting, yes? LOL! I don't have a lot of matching fabrics, so I decided to just cut up my scraps into 3 1/2 inch squares and sew them together in a crazy quilt, which quite honestly is something I love. I don't know why, but mismatched colours sewn together into a quilt is gorgeous. To me it speaks of a different time where people quilted because they needed to, for warmth, rather than for pretty designs. It's very homey to me.

So, I've started cutting my fabric to get ready to sew. I have a long way to go yet, since I haven't had a chance to cut anything since Saturday. That's three days! I'm seriously going into withdrawl here. LOL!

But, and here's the really exciting part. My mom and I may be purchasing an Acuquilt GO! Cutter today!! We were going to go buy it yesterday, but the quilt store is closed Sunday's and Monday's. I'm pretty sure if the cutter is still there, we'll be going to get it this afternoon. Which means that I will be setting aside the squares I've already cut and using the 4 1/2 inch die that comes with the cutter for my crazy quilt. Either way, I'm going to love this one.

Today's Update

I haven't been doing anything at all with cleaning and decluttering. I decided that the kids go back to school next Tuesday, everything can wait until then. I'll be home all day, by myself, I'll have plenty of time to get right into cleaning, why spend the precious time I have left with the kids, up to my elbows in decluttering? I'd much rather enjoy the small amount of time we have left of summer together as a family. :)

Today's Supper

Tonight, if I get home in time to prepare everything, we will be having

Farmhouse Chicken Dinner

1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp pepper
4 small chicken breasts, bone in, skin removed (I'll be using boneless)
1/4 cup italian dressing
2 cups carrots
1 medium onion, wedged
1 can chicken broth
1 1/2 cups minute rice, uncooked
1/4 cup cream cheese

Mix flour and pepper in a shallow dish. Add chicken, toss lightly to evenly coat both sides. Shake off excess flour. Heat dressing in a large, nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add chicken, meat side down and cook 5-6 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn chicken, add carrots, onions and 1 cup of the broth. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until carrots are tender and chicken is cooked through.

Prepare rice as directed. Spoon onto serving platter. Use slotted spoon to remove chicken and vegetables from stew. Place over rice. Cover to keep warm.

Add cream cheese spread and remaining broth to skillet. Increase heat to high, cook until cheese is melted and sauce is well blended, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to med-low. Simmer 3-5 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Spoon over chicken and vegetables. Serve.

This recipe doesn't take long to prepare, really only the 20 minutes to simmer the chicken as you can prepare the sauce at the same time, so we should be eating this tonight. If not, I have a ton of leftovers that need to be used up.

Have a fantastic day!

Printers Can Be So Frustrating!!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I'm having printer frustrations right now. I don't know why, but it's not working. It keeps telling me that I have no colour ink, but I've just put in a new cartridge, so there's no reason for it. I'm wondering if something isn't clogged up inside, but I have idea how to fix that. I guess it will be hubby to the rescue again later today.:)

Quilting class was a lot of fun yesterday. It was quieter and more laid back this time, as we were all working on hand quilting our log cabin quilt tops we put together last week. A bit frustrating for me at first, since I've never done embroidery work, ever, but I got the hang of it fairly quickly. We go back in two weeks to finish putting it together and then I'll finally have a photo to share with all of you!

Exciting news, possibly! I've been telling hubby all about the Accuquilt Go! Cutter the last couple of days. Yesterday when I was in my new favourite quilting store, I noticed that she had one in stock. She even let me play with hers so I could see just how completely amazing this little toy actually is! I came home and gushed to hubby about it and he mentioned that maybe we'll be able to buy one as a combination Christmas/birthday present for me!! Wouldn't that be amazing??

Today's Update

I've been feeling really blech about keeping up with housecleaning and organzing lately. I don't really know why, but I'm not motivated at all to do anything. I think it's because the kids are going back to school very, very soon and I really don't want to waste what little time I have left. So, all I've been doing is staying on top of the messes we make and not really worrying too much about deep cleaning. I've decided that I'm going to continue doing that, so I can spend as much time with the family as I can. The deep cleaning will still be here waiting for me in September when I have the house to myself.

Supper tonight will be a whole chicken, so there's no recipe to share. Come back tomorrow, though, for a family favourite!

Have a fantastic day everyone!

Friday Night Sew In

I participated in my very first Friday Night Sew In last night. Ok, well, I cheated just a little bit and sewed in the late afternoon, not the night, but I think that still counts. :) It was a mommy and son night since daddy was working and sis was at a sleepover. I just couldn't bring myself to spend the entire evening in the sewing room.

I did manage to get quite a bit done, though. I cut 1/2 of the strips into their 1 1/2 inch strips and got 21 squares all put together. I used a technique I learned at my quilting class called chaining, I believe so I was able to do more than one square at a time. I'm not sure if I can explain it correctly, but basically what you do, is start with a scap piece of fabric that you sew through and then a bit beyond that, making a chain of thread. You then slip your next piece of what you're working on under the foot, and sew that together. Again, you sew beyond the end of the piece, creating another chain between the pieces. This technique joins all the pieces together in one long strip which you can make as long as you like. I stopped at 6 each time, so I didn't get too far ahead of myself if/when I made a mistake.

After you're done chaining together the pieces, you cut the thread and press it open. Then back to the sewing machine to add the next strip. Once all the strips are added, you have a completed square!

As you can see, I'm still working on getting everything straight. My edges don't always meet. But that's what practice is for, right? This quilt is really challenging my measuring preciseness (is that even a word?) and my 1/4 inch seam, which is what I was looking to do.


Today's Update

We're going shopping today! Hubby is working, so the kids and I are going to the mall to get a first day of school outfit for both of them. We don't spend a ton of money on back to school clothes. It's still warm straight through September, so going out and buying them a bunch of sweaters and jeans just doesn't make any sense to me. We'll buy those when we need to. They each get a new outfit for the first day and then whatever supplies they actually need; paper, pencils, binders, that sort of thing.

Tonight, if we're home in time, we're having

Stove Top One Dish Chicken Bake With Vegetables

1 cup hot water
1 pkg Stuffing Mix
1 chicken breast, cut into squares
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 cups frozen mixed veggies, thawed and drained

Preheat oven to 400. Add hot water to stuffing mix, stir until moistened. Set aside. Place chicken in baking dish. Mix soup, sour cream, cheese and vegetables. Spoon over chicken. Top with prepared stuffing. Bake 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

I'll prepare everything this morning before we go. If we're back in time to cook this, which I'm sure we will be, I'll finish it up when we get home. If not, there are lots of leftovers and we can have this for tomorrow's supper.

I'd love to get the rest of the strips cut today, but I'm not sure if I will or not. But, there's always tomorrow, right? :)

Have a fantastic day!

My First Attempt At Quilting - 9 Patch Quilt

I decided that I would share my progress as I work my way through my very first quilting project. It's a bit scary, but I think I've chosen a simple enough pattern that I should be able to do this fairly successfully. :)

Here is an idea of what my quilt will look like when it's done. This is a photo I found on the web, so of course, my colours and design will be different, but it gives you a general idea if you're not familiar with a 9 patch quilt.

The instructions I'm following said to cut 1 1/5 inch strips of fabric, 42 inches long. Then sew the strips together to form 3 strips, one design has two patterned strips and one plain, the other has two plain and one patterned. There is a total of 20 strips, which I was able to finish yesterday. Big feeling of accomplishment here! :)

Today I will be cutting each strip into smaller 1 1/2 inch strips. There will be a total of 486 smaller strips that are then sewn together to create 3 inch blocks.

I have my work cut out for me today! My goal for today is to make myself a 1 1/2 inch guide to use for cutting the strips, rather than measuring out each individual spot. I want to get all the strips cut and at least 5 blocks sewn today.

I'll pop by later to show you what the pile of strips looks like. I have a feeling it's going to be large! LOL!

Today's Update

Summer is really starting to wind down, and I don't like that feeling. I really miss my kids when they're not here with us all the time. Today I want to/plan to spend some time with them, playing games, watching movies and just having some great family time.

I'm still working on the crocheted patchwork quilt for my daughter's Christmas present. It's coming along nicely, but slowly. I need to complete at least 10 squares a day to ensure I'll have it done in time.

Today is my day to clean out the van and my purse. Neither one should be an overly large job, since I'm making a habit of doing it every week. I've managed to really downsize my purse, which not only makes it easier to find things, but it's a lot easier on my shoulder too! :)

Tonight's supper will be Scalloped Potatoes and Cheesy Garlic Biscuits. I don't have an actual recipe for the scalloped potatoes, since it's such a general thing that most people already know how to make. One thing I do differently than anyone I know other than my mom, is add cut up hotdogs to it. I know, I know, it sounds digusting, but it's really not. It's a great way to get the kids to eat them, and it actually tastes really good too. :)

Quilting Class Was Fun!

Yesterday's quilting class was so much fun! We worked on a mini log cabin quillt which is something I've never done before. Not surprising, really since I'm just learning. LOL!

We did get the entire quilt top done, 12 squares. Next week we'll be putting it together and hand quilting the top. I'll post photo's when the whole quilt is completed. I had so much fun though. I did have some trouble at the beginning of class, which put me behind everyone else by about 20 minutes. My thread kept fraying and breaking. I couldn't figure it out and neither could the instructor. After about 15 minutes of this, she suggested switching out thread and that worked perfectly! I purchased their thread and I had no issues from that point on.

I'm not sure if the instructor liked me  or thought I really needed the practice, but she sent home a bunch of extra strips for log cabin squares. I don't think there's enough matching colours to make another mini quilt, but I can use them up to work on my 1/4 inch seam.

I also found a pattern online for a full size log cabin square that I might work on today. Either that, or  I'm going to start on the Sunbonnet Sue pattern for Christmas gifts. I'll make one up for myself to get a feel for the design, then I can make them up for everyone else.

The baby hamsters are doing so well. I can't get over just how incredibly cute they are or how fast they're growing! I swear you can almost see the growth. They're getting really chubby too, which makes them all that much cuter. I got a sweet picture yesterday for the Day 2 page of my son's album with one of the babies yawning. So sweet!

Today's Update:

There is really nothing exciting going on today at all. It's my desk day which means that I'll be writing up thank you notes and letters. Of course, there are the regular routines that need to be done. And it's Anti-Procrastination day today, so that means I need to pick one job that I've been putting off. Maybe I'll tackle my bookshelves in the den. They're a disaster!

I messed up the recipe for yesterday (sorry!) I had my days mixed up. Yesterday's dinner was actuallly taco's and tonight is Pork Chops in Soup. So, that means, no recipe for today. :(

Have a fantastic day and don't forget to smile!

As Promised....

Well, as promised yesterday, here are the photo's of the quilted hearts I've made so far. Keep in mind that I'm still learning, ok? :P

Here is the one I did in class

Obviously, it's a little lopsided. I didn't get the ribbon on quite right. :)

And here is the one I made up yesterday

I much prefer the colour combination in this one and I'm really happy with the contrast of the stitching over the first one. I did mess up the hand sewing along the side a bit, but other than that, I'm very pleased with the results of this one. I just need a bit of ribbon and it will be all done.

I'm planning on making up a bunch of these for throw in Christmas gifts. I'm going to fill them with potpourri, I think. I like the idea of having little things like that that I can add to gifts, or have on hand for a last minute Oh my goodness I forgot someone! gifts. :)

Right now, I have a new banana muffin recipe in the oven. I'm not sure how it will turn out, it was very thick. If nothing else, it should have a fantastic banana flavouring. If it works, I'll share the recipe tomorrow. If not, I'll try a different one and let you know how it turns out.