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!!