A Friday Finish - FINALLY!

Hello, all!  I am so glad to finally have a Friday Finish.  I actually have a couple for this week and one I don't think I posted about from a couple of weeks ago.  Also....I am having a giveaway because yesterday I made my 100th post.  More about that in a bit.

Getting business out of the way first, I plan to link with

Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts - Welcome back and thank you for hostessing!
Karen at Sew Many Ways - I am always looking for new friends and followers can win my giveaway
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict - I may have let out a Whoop or two for today's finishes!
Richard and Tanya at Richard and Tanya Quilts - I am squeaking in on your giveaway.  Thank you!


So, my finishes.....I just peaked at Sarah's blog and I stink compared to that woman.  All I have done right now are tops - flimsies, some people call them - but I am celebrating after the "troubles I've known!"

First finish is an old one that I finally got a picture of.  We have had rain for several days and I am NOT complaining!  But it made pictures difficult in my house.  And, I do this alone.  So, my clothes line is a great help.

This is my Tetris top from Melissa's quilt along.  It is longer than my clotheslines are tall and I wanted the entire quilt.  I apologize if the picture gives you vertigo - it did me!

I think I am going to add the word "TETRIS" down one side and embroider on the other side. I thought I could put "High Score" and my name and date and put the recipient's name and her birthday as the score for the current player.

My next finish was earlier this week.  I had this one done a week ago but it would not lay flat.  So, I took all four borders back off and tried again.  The result is I lost four inches on each dimension.  Now it only measure 94"x110".  It is for my DIL and as I crawled all over the floor muttering, measuring and cursing my son asked me if it was for his wife.  When I told him yes he said, "Mom, it is good enough for who it is for.  We will love it.  Stop killing yourself over a half inch."  So, not perfect but....

There are two more rows of blocks I couldn't show.  I don't know why that blue photographs like that but it looks fine in person.

Photography does odd things.  The star and the first light fabric have the same design in them the "odd" blue does.  I am so glad to finish this.  I keep calling it "The Albatross" but it will be called Sarah's star when it is labeled.

My finish today is my Dr. Seuss quilt I mentioned yesterday.  This morning it was NOT going well.

I had it pieced but now hated the green.  So.....I cut off all I could.  Then I started adding borders.

MUCH better.  I was worried I was going to have to trash it for a while.  I am sick to death of borders right now.  I was so worried after the Albatross that I measured everyone of them about 14 times.

As I mentioned yesterday, these are the fabrics in my giveaway.  You will get a minimum of a fat eighth of all (including the two fabrics I didn't use in the quilt) except the Lorax fabric.  I had a cutting error and I don't have a full fat eighth remaining.  You need to be a follower and leave a comment.  I won't be drawing until after the baby shower on Oct 20.  Good luck!

This was my photographer's assistant today.

Doesn't she look pitiful?  Her name is Bonnie.  She is an English Shepherd.  We went to the vet yesterday because she has a hot spot on her neck and chest.  Hopefully the steroid shot will help.  Hasn't slowed her down any.  She is 56 pounds of mole catching, tennis ball chasing energy.  That mole catching is great but the holes not so much!

Thanks for wading through my monstrous post!

Keep Stitchin'!

Mary

Taco Soup, Cabbage Soup and 100th post Give Away

I have delayed this post because I wanted it to be something special.  I finally had to give up.  I had suggested to Karen over at Sew Many Ways she have a soup linking party and she did but I had not posted my Taco Soup recipe.    So, this is a two fold post.  I am posting two recipes and linking up to Karen but I am also announcing a giveaway.  Recipes first.

Taco Soup

Souper easy recipe that is quick and hits the spot on a cool evening.

1 lb ground beef browned
1 small chopped onion (I sometimes use dried onions)
1 package taco seasoning
1 14 oz can of corn
1 14 oz can of red beans
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 14 oz can of tomato sauce

Brown hamburger with onion.  Drain. Stir in taco seasoning.  Dump in all cans UNDRAINED.  Heat to a gentle boil and simmer 15 minutes.  Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, and whatever other fresh items you like.  I always want green peppers and often use olives, too.

This can be "heated up" a bit by using tomatoes and green chilies in place of the diced tomatoes.  

I made a huge pot last month and canned it.

The jar on the left is ham and beans I also canned.  I have a son in college that really appreciates canned meals.

The other recipe I want to share is for Cabbage Soup.  I don't like cooked cabbage but I really like this soup.

Cabbage Soup

1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1/2 head of cabbage, chopped
1 14 oz can kidney beans, undrained
2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes,
2 cans water
4 beef bouillon cubes

Mix all ingredients.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer 1 hour.

Okay, enough with the food already.  I am having a give away.  I mentioned a couple months ago I am going to be a grandmother.  In preparation for that I bought Dr. Seuss fabric.  Way too much.  So....guess what my give away is!

I am giving away at least a fat eighth of each of these fabrics.  Well, except for the Lorax.  I had a cutting error and I don't have a full fat eighth.  This give away may increase but that is where it is starting.  The baby shower is October 20th and I will ship it on Oct 27 (have to work the regular job to pay for this habit!).  So, sign up by leaving a comment on this post.  There will be more opportunities to sign up between now and the shower.


I want to thank those of you that read (stalk the stats to see if someone actually does!) and particularly those that comment.  I am a talker - it is genetic - but sometimes find it difficult to commit the time to make these posts.  Hopefully I am back on an upswing with them.  I was really down about not progressing on my projects but will have some pictures tomorrow - if it doesn't rain!!!  I have a lot of problems getting decent pictures in here and I never remember until after dark.

Thanks again for all your support.

Keep stitchin' or stirrin'!

Mary

The Soup Kitchen

Hello, all!  Sorry for the disappearing act.  I had such great plans and then my husband struck.  He brought home some creeping crud and infected me!  Never one to do things half way, I had to develop this crud in both upper and lower respiratory with a fever he never had.

On my road to recovery but not a lot of cooking.  I wanted to make several soups for Karen's Souper Saturday.  I made one - Loaded Potato Soup.

I took this one pitiful picture.

I know, I know.  Everyone else used such beautiful bowls and nice settings.  This was my lunch at work on Thursday.  Snapped with a cell phone at the last minute.  It is really SOOOOO much better than the picture.

 Loaded Potato Soup

(As my sister says, “This ain’t Mom’s potato cubes floating in milk and butter.”)

2 cans evaporated milk
2 cans chicken broth
1 cup or so diced or shredded chicken
¼ cup finely chopped onion
¼ cup finely chopped celery
¼ cup butter/margarine
4 to 5 potatoes diced into bite size pieces
Instant mashed potatoes

Parsley

Bacon and shredded cheese

Melt butter in pan. Cook onions and celery until tender.  Chicken can be added and cooked at this point or precooked is fine.   Add chicken broth and potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender. Add evaporated milk and a half cup or so of instant potatoes. Salt and  white pepper. Add more instant if not thick enough. I also like to add parsley before the potatoes but it isn’t necessary. You may have to adjust amounts to suit your needs. 


I serve with bacon bits and shredded cheddar.  My DIL tells me that the she has discovered I make the best bacon bits and there is one simple reason.  I cut the bacon up before I fry it.  I cut across the strips about ¼ to 3/8” apart and fry the pieces.   Drain well.

This obviously isn't a diet food.  Well, it is.  It is a Hungry Man Diet food.  It is very hardy and we love it.  Hope you do, too.  Hope on over to Karen's and check out all the other soups today.  I plan on trying several this winter!

Keep Stirrin'! 

Mary

Make a Run for the Border

Remember those Taco Bell commercials?  Today I had a run ON borders.  I took this vacation to sew and this is the first day I did.  Stay-cations just don't work for me.  I get too easily distracted by other tasks.  Why I think I should clean out the fridge and scrub the tub instead of sewing is beyond me.  I am blaming a lack of sleep.  So, here it is 11:30 p.m. and I am making a blog post about today.  Hopefully I will sleep after this.

When I finally began to sew I started with this baby quilt.

It is a disappearing 9-patch.  I used fabrics I had on hand.  It finishes at 40"x40".  The mother is using hot pink, pink and brown in the nursery.  I am afraid this might be a little bit "old lady" looking but it is as good as I had.  I think some rickrack would be nice.  I am going to see about some tomorrow or Monday.  Hopefully I will still get it quilted this week.

Next I put together the blocks for Sarah's Star.

It is made for a queen size bed and that is a full. It called for three borders but Sarah decided it needed four in order to add all the colors she wanted.  It takes a while to press and cut four different borders on a queen size quilt but they are ready for tomorrow.

It has a 2", 3", 4" and 8" border.  It will be bound in a small print burgundy.  That is definitely on tomorrow's list.  I really didn't want to put the green in but she thinks it needs it.  I did in the beginning (which is why I bought it) but I am not so sure now.

I also started adding borders to my Tetris Quilt.

Here is the next border, a true WIP.

 I think I am going to embroider some stuff on the border.  Maybe "Tetris", Score, next block, etc.

I still haven't found the right cabinet for my sewing room.  I have a card table set up for extra surface area.  All of my books are stacked in the loft outside my sewing room.

Obviously there is no room on that book shelf.

All of these pics were taken in the past 30 minutes. I apologize for their quality.

This should be post number 98.  Two more posts and I am having a give away.  Also want to mention that Karen at Sew Many Ways took my suggestion (more like begging on my part) to heart and is hosting a Souper Saturday linking party on September 24.  So, get your soup recipes posted and link up to her.  I will post a couple, myself,  and I am looking forward to a bunch of new ideas.  I have my Pin It button at the ready!

It is off to bed with me but I am going to link up with Freshly Pieced for

 Scoot on over and see what everyone is doing!

Keep stitchin'!

Mary

Family is like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts!

Remember Friday?  I had a plan.  Well...I don't think I followed through on that.  I do have 14 jars of ham and beans canned.

I also finally caught up on all the laundry.  Can anyone explain to me why I have seven sets of dirty sheets and only four beds in this house?  I had washed the sheets a week ago last Thursday (don't tell Oprah!).  My kids have a nasty habit of changing the sheets on the beds when they come to visit and leaving the dirty ones on the floor in the room.  Until I go to clean the room again, I don't find them!!  They are all clean now but only my bed is made.  I might get to the others this week.

My husband says not to make them and let them do it themselves since they have been known to remove clean sheets when they arrived. It is a funny thing.  I have one son and DIL that obsess about if someone else  has slept on the sheets.  The others - including the doctor - shrug and say, "A night or two from them isn't going to hurt me."  I have to find another double bed.  That is the issue.  EVERYONE wants the double bed.  So, that is what whoever gets home first sleeps in.

Okay, enough ranting.....I went to my family reunion yesterday.   That is such a comforting experience.  It makes me realize no matter how weird I am, I fit in somewhere.  I am having a little problem sleeping right now.  Yesterday I was up at 0430.  I took a ham, cheesy ranch potatoes, 7-layer salad, Buttermilk Maple Praline cake and cereal bars. My dad asked if I thought we might starve.

It was a fun day and this is my favorite picture from it.

In this picture are my two sisters, three of my cousins and two of my second cousins.  Don't we look like a fun bunch?  I am the second from the right.  The one wearing dark glasses

I will leave you with advice from a blind man.  I have a cousin that was blinded when we were in our early 30s.  He says the meanest thing you can do to a blind man is leave a plunger in the toilet......He might be one of the nuts!

Mary

Shhhh.....Don't tell anyone....

In five hours my vacation starts!  I have no plans to go anywhere but I do have a list of things to catch up on.

Do you know what this is?

This is my practice with an ink pen for quilting patterns.  I ain't very good!  I have terrible hand writing and I think they are similar skills.  If I am this bad with an ink pen how can I expect to be any better with a quilting machine?  I may have to stick with my Groovy Boards for quilting but I am still trying to improve.

I am making a list for this week and will try to be honest on here.    It will be a big list.

Today:  

Pick green beans.

Can the ham and beans I have ready.

Go to the post office.

Do laundry - especially all the bedding.  My kids have been home the past few weekends.  I found piles of dirty sheets in one of the bedrooms.  They change them but tend not to get them in the hamper.
Practice quilting while doing laundry and canning in the basement.
Maybe....run to Terre Haute and get something to wear tomorrow.  Would love to get a pedi but just too much to do!
So...paint nails and toe nails.

Tomorrow:

Food for Family reunion - ham balls, ranch potatoes, buttermilk praline cake, apple tarts.
Go to reunion - remember camera and to NOT hug my dad.  He has a shattered sternum.  I saw him on Tuesday and hugged him like I always do.  Not a good idea.  I told my husband, "Yeah, I am gonna feel super special when they tell me I punctured his heart with the bone fragments of his shattered sternum!"  Daddy, of course, said it was alright and didn't hurt "that bad."  The old fool is a liar!!
Can green beans after reunion.

Sunday:
Reality is setting in.  I will be doing all the things I have planned for today because I am TIRED. But, if that isn't the case I  hope I am putting my sewing room back together.  Number 3 is living in an apartment this year.  He wouldn't commit to needing any furniture but now every time he comes home he takes something else.  So far I have lost a chest of drawers I kept yarn and fabric in and a desk that had an attached bookshelf.

As a result my sewing room looks like tornado went through.  I am still considering painting it while it is in turmoil.  I also need to come up with some sort of shelf to replace the missing storage.  My husband quietly suggested I could get rid of some things.  I ignored that and let him live.

Seriously, while I am off I hope to finish Sarah's quilt - including quilting, quilt Mike's quilt I made at retreat, finish the girl baby quilt I am making and make major headway on two boy baby quilts.  I also need to do my BOM.  If I get all that and my canning done I will be in good shape to work on Christmas presents the two weeks after that.

I am going to be busy next weekend, too.  We girls (me and the DILs) are going to see Wicked.  Pretty excited about that.

But right now, my major plan is a nap.

So...back to the list:

Embroider baby bibs
Make more buntings
Burp cloths
Receiving blankets
Rag quilt sewn - my husband can clip it.  He LIKES doing them.  Why would I mess with that?


Maybe I will add to this later today.  I am disappointed I don't have a finish for today.

I also have another thought for this week.  I am approaching 100 posts and I now have 40 followers.  I think I will have a giveaway for my 100th post.  If I reach 50 followers, I will have another give away.  I hopped all over for the Quilting Gallery blog hop.  Didn't win a thing but now I am following an inordinate number of blogs.  I would have had a giveaway myself but didn't join until after.

This post is TERRIBLY long.  Time to shut up, Mary!

Down to 4 hours and 20 minutes until I am on vacation!

Have a great weekend, all. Check back because I think I am going to have lots to say this week!

Mary