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!

Another GO! Cutter Giveaway!

I am entering as many of these as I can in the hopes that I can win one of these amazing little tools.

I just entered a giveaway over at Freckled Whimsy. The contest closes Friday, August 27, so be sure get over there and put your name in!

Guess what? I finished hand quilting my very first quilt! I'm so excited!! Mind you, it's a miniature quilt, but I'm ok with that, really. I'm so proud of myself right now. This is something I've always wanted to do and never had the time or I guess the gumption to attempt. But, now it's done and I couldn't be happier with the results.

Here is a closeup of my stitching

Now, I know, the stitching isn't great and the sewing is even worse. But, in my defense, this was the very first time I had ever sewn a quilt top. Ever. So, regardless of how uneven everything is, I'm extremely proud. :)


Today's Update

I think we're going to go on a nature walk today. It's supposed to be a nice day, not too hot, but sunshiney and warm. Hubby needs to sleep too, since he worked nights last night, so that makes today a perfect day to get out and enjoy nature in all it's glory.

Of course, I'm taking my camera with me so I'll be sure to have some fantastic photo's to share with all of you tomorrow.

Tonight for supper we're having (and please, don't let the name of this dinner turn you off, this is just what we call it. I'm sure it has an actual "name" but I don't know what it is)

Boiled Chicken (gross, I know, but it tastes amazing!)

4 pieces of chicken thighs (I use the cheapest chicken I can buy)
1 onion, chopped
1 can tomatoes
1 tsp worchestershire sauce

Saute onion until tender. Add remaining  ingredients and simmer until chicken is fully cooked.

Simple, delicious and frugal too!

Have a fantastic day!

We're Eating Fish Tonight!

The men in the family decided to go fishing this morning. Since this is a fairly regular occurance and they usually come home empty handed, I felt very safe in taking a chicken out of the freezer.

But, of course, this time they come home with fish. Actually, this time, my son came home with his very first bass. He's so proud!

Which he immediately proceeded to play with.

I caught this touching moment between a father and son.

Which turned out to be not so touching when I realized hubby was convincing him to do this

Boys. Sigh...

Then it was on to teaching him how to scale. I actually really like this photo. My husband really loved teaching the boy how to clean his own fish, so this shot is really rather touching.

And hubby was so proud when the boy picked it all up quickly and was able to do it himself.

Ok, so I know dead fish isn't exactly the most appealing thing to blog about, but this is a morning that my husband and my son both are going to remember for the rest of their lives. If you could have heard the laughter coming from outside my craft room window, you'd be smiling just as much as I am right now. It was so wonderful, I just had to share it with all of you.

Now, I still have a chicken to cook. :)

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!

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. :)