My, How They've Grown!

I can't believe the difference in the baby hamsters in just one week! This time last week, they were just a ball of squiggly little piggies, and now they look like tiny little hamsters with ears and everything! To compare, here is what they looked like on day one:

And here they are on Day 7. Aren't they just the cutest?

Already, you can see their markings, obviously. Can you see the little one with three dots going down his back? His markings really amuse my son. :)  You can also see their ears and their little hands. It's been amazing watching them develop!

Here is a closeup photo of one of the babies so you can see the ears, hands and fur a bit better.

As you can see, they are still incredibly tiny. Boy are they active though! The little guy in my hand was very tough to get a photo of. He squirmed the entire time, all over my hand. I wasn't sure I was actually going to get a usable photo. :)

Today's Update

Today is the last of my quilting classes for this month. We'll be finishing up our mini log cabin quilt today, which is something I'm very excited about. I'll learn today how to actually finish and bind (I think that's the proper term) a quilt. After today, I'll be able to complete the 9 patch quilt I'm working on.

I have about 1/2 of the squares sewn for my quilt now. I'm working on getting hubby to make me a few templates for cutting. I've noticed that my strips are uneven from moving the ruler continually. I'm thinking that if I had something that was long enough, with the right measurements, I could definitely avoid that. Unless of course I can win that new toy from the previous post. I want that cutter so bad! LOL!

Supper tonight will be


Easy Lasagna

1 pound lean ground beef
1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
32 ounces cottage cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons dried parsley
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
9 lasagna noodles
1/2 cup water

 

In a large skillet over medium heat brown the ground beef. Drain the grease. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together the cottage cheese, 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, eggs, half of the grated Parmesan cheese, dried parsley, salt and ground black pepper.

To assemble, in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish evenly spread 3/4 cup of the sauce mixture. Cover with 3 uncooked lasagna noodles, 1 3/4 cup of the cheese mixture, and 1/4 cup sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with 3 noodles, remaining sauce, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Add 1/2 cup water to the edges of the pan. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree F(175 degrees C) oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. 

Recipe taken from Allrecipes.com 

I'll serve it with garlic bread. 

Have a fantastic day everyone!

 

A Chance To Win A New Toy!

Who could resist?

I found a giveaway on Sweet P Quilting and Creations blog. It's a chance to win an Accuquilt GO! Fabric Cutting Machine. Not only would it be amazing to have, as you can see from my previous posts, it's something I could definitely use! LOL!

All you have to do, is go to her blog and become a follower. Leave a comment letting her know you're a follower. If you blog about the giveaway, you get an additional entry. (as you can see, I would really, really love to have this! LOL!)

It's a very simple way to win a new amazing toy and you're going to find a new blog that you're going to love to boot. :)

Monday, Monday

Happy Monday everyone! I have to admit, I do love Mondays. We've been given a fresh start on the week, and the possibilities are endless!

I thought today I'd share a little something different with you. Since I didn't get any sewing done over the weekend (bad me!) other than cutting up more strips, I don't have any new photo's of the quilt to show you. So, I thought I'd share with you, the crocheted quilt I'm making for my daughter for Christmas.

It's made up of hundreds of 3 inch squares in different colours, some solid, some triangle. Right now I'm still working on the solid squares. I'm on the last batch of those, I need 84 and I have 38 right now, so I'm almost there. One I finish those, I'll start on the triangle squares, which is a new one for me. I've been crocheting since I was 5 (which equates to a loooong time. LOL!) and I've never attempted these before. So, I'll be learning something new which is always a good thing!

Here is what I have completed so far. Each pile has 10 squares in it, so I have 130 completed.

Once I finish the solid squares, I will need in triangle squares:

40 white and fuschia
32 white and green
108 yellow and fuschia
36 fuschia and green

So, as you can see, I still have a ways to go. Once the kids get back to school, I'll be able to find time during the day to sit down and work on it, though. Since this is only one of 4 afghans that I want to complete for Christmas presents, I really need to get a move on! LOL!

Today's Update

I'm heading off for a drive today to pick up some more fabric from a very generous soul. It will take about an hour, but honestly, that's still a lot less expensive for me than buying new fabric to practice on.

Monday's are my weekly Home Blessing Hour courtesy of the Flylady. I'll be taking an hour today to go through my house, wipe down windows, mop the middle of my floors, dust, change the sheets on the beds, etc. It's a fantastic way of keeping on top of things and giving my home a fresh new look to start the week.

Tonight for supper, we are having

Autumn Soup

1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
4 cups water
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup potatoes, cubed
2 tsp salt
1 tsp brown bouquet sauce (optional)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 bay leaft
1/8 tsp basil (if no bay leaf, use 1 tsp basil)
6 tomatoes (4 cups)

Cook meat till brown. Cook and stir onions with meat until tender. Stir in rest of ingredients except tomatoes. Heat to boil. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Add tomatoes. Cover and simmer until veggies are tender.

This is an amazing fall soup. It's hearty and filled with so many deicious flavours. It's perfect for stormy, rainy days like today. I'll be serving it with homemade bread, still warm from the breadmaker.

Have a fantastic day!

Happy Sunday!

Yesterday was so much fun! The kids and I trekked off the the mall, and I do mean trekked. We live so far out in the middle of nowhere now, the nearest mall is about an hour away, following back roads until we hit the city. It's such a nice drive, too. The leaves are starting to turn just slightly and the dirt roads are becoming absolutely stunning! I can't wait until they are fully turned.

I didn't get a chance to do any sewing yesterday, being out all day. I was very glad I had supper all prepared, so when we got home, all I had to do was put it in the oven and make rice. I came home to a nice, clean house, floors all swept, dishes, done, everything in it's place and supper ready to go. Wow, did I feel accomplished! LOL!

The kids both got exactly what they wanted for their first day of school and with a relatively small amount of bickering. We even managed to get some great deals, too! My daughter got two pairs of jeans, one that was $40, the other pair $35, they were on sale 2/$45. We also found leggings for her priced one pair for $12.99 or two for $12. But the absolute best deal we got was my son's favourite jeans at Old Navy for $5. I was so shocked by the sale price, I had to ask an associate if it was right!

But, my most exciting purchase yesterday was for me. I stopped by Fabric Land, just to see what was there and to tease myself with fabrics I can't buy. But, tucked away in a corner, I found a quilting stencil which is going to help me immensely. I don't do embroidery or stitching so I really wasn't sure how I was going to actually quilt my quilt top. Now, I have a stencil! I'm so excited!!

No recipe to share today. :( We have a big lunch at my mom's every Sunday, so we all either don't eat any supper or just finish up leftovers. I have a delicious soup to post tomorrow though.

Have a fantastic day!

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. :)

Wow!

As you know, if you've been reading this blog, I recently started learning how to quilt. I've taken a couple of classes and am working on things myself here at home.

Yesterday I decided, just for fun to put an ad on Kijiji.ca for free fabric, if anyone had any they wanted to get rid of. I really didn't expect anyone to respond, so I was very excited when I got an email about an hour after posting. Another hour after  that I got another email from another lady with fabric to spare.

I emailed back and forth with the second lady a bit last night and called her this morning to set up a time to swing by to pick up the fabric.

I came home with two garbage bags filled with scraps as well as at least 5 or 6 yards of uncut fabric! I couldn't believe it when I got to her house and saw the first bag filled and ready to go. When she said, here hold this bag and started filling it with even more, I darn near fell over!
Not all of it is usable, but that's ok, the vast majority of it is and I am over the moon excited and thankful! This 10 minute trip I took today will keep me in scraps  for patchwork quilts for a very, very long time!

Right now, I'm working on a 9 patch quilt pattern that I found in a book I bought years ago the first time I thought I'd try this quilting thing. I have 4 strips to finish sewing together, then those strips will be cut into about 500 smaller strips which will then be sewn together into 3 inch squares to make the quilt. It's a great way to practice my 1/4 inch stitch and use up some fabric I had here. The nice thing about this sort of quilt is that nothing has to match if you don't want it to. I have a feeling I'll be using this pattern again for more practice and to use up the scraps I got today!