Cook Quilt Love

Note on Flickr

2012-03-07T08:28:00.001-08:00

So Andrew discovered that the links I put up are not showing my quilt blocks right now. We're guessing (an educated guess based on other peoples problems we found on google) since I just put things up and am new to flickr, I have to be reviewed before the public can see my photos. I will update you when everyone can see my blocks in the group. Thanks for your patience!

A Little Overboard

2012-03-06T13:28:00.001-08:00

So...one of the bloggers I read is having a block contest to win one of her fabric collections (she designs fabric). The winner will receive one yard of every fabric from her line...nearly 30 yards of fabric! So this week and last I've gone a little overboard designing blocks. I wish I could use my BWGRY blocks! They are too large though - about 19 inches, and the largest blocks accepted are 12.5 in.

So I posted two of the blocks I made last week...and now I have four more...

I think the purple one is my favorite. It is just...interesting and different. I may actually have to make a quilt that it fits in eventually...

Find them here on flickr.

BWGRY and MY Quilt

2012-03-02T00:37:00.001-08:00

So I've taken lots of pictures and I really have been meaning to put them up. So I'm going to do a quick post with these photos and very little explanation (maybe)...

Work in Progress on yet-to-be-named black/white/grey/red/yellow quilt :P

I couldn't tell whether my eyes were fuzzy or the picture or the screen...so I played with the coloring and fiddled around until it looked interesting. :P Those are my 7 whole blocks done. I need 6 half blocks and 4 quarter blocks for the design I'm planning.

These two are my favorite. I wish I had bought more of that Japanese looking red and white flower...

I would use it a lot, I think...

Sometimes Hubby works from home and takes over my sewing space...

Fabric I FELL IN LOVE with as soon as I saw it on the 50% off rack at Beverly's. I saw it over a week ago and kept thinking about it! I'm not usually like that...normally my purchases are more of an impulse. And this is not even my style...sure, the colors are, but I don't normally like themed fabric. But I just HAD to buy some. Now I'm seeing a quilt for ME.

Blocks I entered into a sewing contest on flickr...

And Peachy's poor Pinky sitting forlornly under my ironing board,

just waiting for me to purchase more fabric...

I don't have any time this weekend to quilt. :( Will be out of town, but it will be full of family,

so it will be good anyway! Have a great weekend!

Do Not Hump

2012-02-27T00:28:00.001-08:00

So I worked three over night shifts this week. One was included in a 24 hour stint. Whew! Total I worked 67 hours last week!

I've been trying to go to the gym in the morning, but I just couldn't do it thursday after my over night. So I asked my hubby to go on a walk with me!

We ended up walking 2.67 miles in a loop along the "trail by the tracks" and then up past our church and back to our place. We live in such a fun location! Luke told me at church that twice yesterday Josiah put on his shoes and said, "walk to ali's" (only in Josiah-ish it's pronounced ah-yee). :) this makes me happy because even though josiah has not himself waked over here, he knows it is possible because we've all told him! So he's just waiting for his chance. :P

Anyway. It's been a long week, and about to start another. But my hubby takes care of me. We thought this sign on the train was funny. So this long post is to remind you all...

Why?!?

2012-02-23T17:56:00.001-08:00

Does it always come down to buying more fabric?!

For my lovely sister in law, Peach's, quilt, I thought I had enough fabric! I thought I had 8 yards to start with. Then when I started cutting, I was worried I wouldn't have enough, so I bought another yard. Still not enough. Had to buy more white. So I bought another yard. Sigh.

This is what I've got plus a few more of the pink pieces, but that will only make about another row! I'm trying to make 6x7. I only have 6x3.66. Bleh.

So my good progress on this quilt will have to be put on hold yet again. I've already spent my quilt budget for the month...and while I nearly got up and went out just now anyway...I decided to hold off.

Now to get back to my diamond red/yellow/black...

Wednesday Happenings

2012-02-22T19:05:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! It's officially the middle of the week and it was a beautiful day!

It was about 75 degrees all day. Oh my. A great February day.

Brett came over and we had a quilting day and we both actually worked on quilts! She worked on her Snail Tail quilt, and I have gone back to working on my sil's pink double-wedding-ring! I have tripled my progress in the last three days.

I haven't really decided what to do about the "corners" of the rings. The instructions call for squares, but I don't follow directions very well and I don't really like that. I might applique some squares after I baste? Or circles? I don't know!!!

These things I did a while ago and I actually made four, but the others were harder to photograph because of the wall they were on. I didn't put them up in our old apt because we were trying not to put holes in the wall. But I just used spray mod podge on thick cork board and four different fabrics (as a quilter it was a little difficult to let go of some fabric for uses other than quilting, but I bit my tongue and did it, and I'm glad I did!). I have all the things from our fridge on these now, and am trying to keep the fridge cleaner...

I made this a couple weeks ago. Since I made a Shutterfly book for our wedding photos, I wasn't sure what to do with the wedding photos I had already ordered. So, picture collage!

Do you remember the quilt I made for Kelly? Well, introducing...

Kelly!

I work with her three days a week. Today we were stamping and stickering a card for her grandmother. Fun arts and crafts time! I'm actually working two overnights (my normal shift on Wed is 4-11, but I am also working the shift after - 11-9:30am!) this week, and 24 hours starting Sat 8am! Whoo! It's a good thing Kelly and I get along so well! :P Busy!

And here is where her quilt lives! She loves it. A great I SPY game.

Not Nothing

2012-02-17T22:57:00.000-08:00

So! I know it's been several days since I posted, but I haven't been doing nothing! I haven't been quilting, or really cooking much...

But I did make a bag! The one I was planning to make a few weeks ago. I bought this super cute fabric...

It's trees and panda bears. A little cutsey, but small print so not immediately tagged that way. :P I tried for about 5 min to turn the photo, sigh, but I can't so it. I know Andrew would tell me I should ask him, but he is currently...

Playing Halo with Nate. :) Nate is a great friend and helped Andrew out for several hours today with the business. I wish we could pay him so we could hire him! He's interested in the business, loves working with Andrew and volunteers his time, even though he's in school! He came over for dinner. :) I like to leave Andrew to his guy time when he gets it, because he gets it so rarely! I don't want to interrupt his relaxing, he needs it.

Anyway, back to my little bag. I started it while I was at Brett's on Wednesday. We had...4+ hours of "quilting". She'd been up super early working (at Starbucks, opening shift is early!) so she puttered around with fabric and designs and I worked on this bag while we watched Sense and Sensibility. :) Oh Jane Austin!

I finished the bag today. After a few snaffoos (I sewed the interfacing to the wrong side and then couldn't figure out how to attach the lining to the outside...so I ended up hand sewing the top...haha. Oh following directions! I'm not great at it. :P

The bag is bigger than I was expecting. I guess I should have been able to tell by the dimensions, but for some reason I never can tell how wide 18 in will scale down to when I have it all sewed. It's good for carrying around all my stuff when I have food/book, etc. And yes, those are lemons in there. Different days find very strang things thrown into my purse!

Did I ever show you this little guy? He is my first attempt at cross-stitching. He's a truffle from the Dessert of the Month club in Jan. I received Feb's dessert on the first, but have not had much motivation to go buy embroidery floss. Sigh. Oh well. He IS cute, though!

Tonight I made baked bbq chicken, cheesy scalloped potatoes and sauteed zucchini/carrots/onion. One of the little girls from the Montessori gave me two chocolate cookies for Valentines Day today, and they were SUPER good. And of course I wanted to make more. So I tried this recipe for Flourless Chocolate Brownie Cookies. Great idea in theory...but they didn't come off the pan in the shape of cookies, and they were too sweet, even for me (oh you should see the size of my sweet tooth!). They taste like chocolate chips rolled in powdered sugar. Unfortunately they'll sit on the counter and I'll eat them anyway...

Also this week I spent about...12? 15? hours working on a New Zealand album on Shutterfly. I was inspired by the sale they were having (40% off! plus a promo for free shipping if you spend over $30, which I was going to!). Our wedding album turned out really great. I don't think I'd spend full price on them (this one was originally going to be $70, plus tax and shipping!), but with the sales that they have, it's totally worth it! And I can work on them any time and just order them when the sales come around. Anyway, we went to NZ over a year ago, and I haven't even worked on my physical album in about 4 months, so I didn't know how long it would take me to make a NZ one. So I got a little obsessed with finishing. And I ordered it last night! It is going to be so fun! And with all discounts, it cost $45! 12x12 album with 30 pages! Love it. (also, we had credit from a gift card, so I only had to spend $25 yesterday!)

My friend Alyssa is planning on doing one a year after doing her "First Year" albums for her two boys. I thought that was a really good idea. Especially on Shutterfly, when you can add photos and work on the book whenever you want and then just order when it is done. So I'm trying to take more photos. :) Especially of friends and family and every day things, not just the trips. We have a great life and I love looking back on everything we've done together! I just love being married.

Food!

2012-02-13T22:10:00.000-08:00

So! Here are some pictures of the Negamaki...they tasted as good as they look! Ingredients: 1lb flank steak (plus seasoning), carrots and asparagus! I'm feeling lazy and don't want to put in the recipe...how about this? IF anyone wants it, you can email me!

Here is my boring shot...

And Hubby's artistic one:

He makes it look so delicious! :D And I made it TASTE delicious. I guess you can't be good at everything. :D

We celebrated Valentine's today because I work tomorrow night. I asked him if I could plan it this year and he jumped on it. :P (Apparently after his epic picnic/learning a song on the guitar of two years ago, the creative juices have yet to replenish :P). So I decided right away that I would make his favorite...Indian Chicken Tikka Masala. He gets it every time we eat at an Indian place, and when Tandy (my lovely mil) is around, he requests Indian (because she will pay for it! :P). And I can't really argue with him...It is super tasty. He has brought culture to my life! I grew up with American and Mexican. Good, but he has added Thai and Indian, and it makes our dinner choices broader!

ANYWAY!

I ordered the main spice on Amazon because neither Vons nor Albertsons carried it and I figured if they didn't, none of the smaller stores would either. It was supposed to arrive last Tues. And Amazon said it did. Delivered to our front door. But while my other ordered package arrived that day, this did not show up (garam masala). Finally, when we were heading out of town Friday, I complained to Andrew (I didn't tell him what it was, he just knew I was missing something) and he suggested that they had delivered to the front office of our apartment complex. Since we were out of town all weekend, I finally got to check this morning...and they didn't have it either!

Panic is setting in. My plans! Andrew's dinner! :(

After babysitting Isaiah this morning, I went to Food 4 Less, Trader Joes and then was headed for a last ditch attempt at Ralphs (running out of time before I had to leave for work...ended up being 10 min late :/). When I passed World Market! Oh man, they saved me. And the price was about 1/4 what Amazon charged me. :P {side note: we love Amazon. If we could buy everything from there, we probably would. This is the first time we've ever had trouble}.

SO...

After all this and much more (but this post is already very wordy and I may have lost some of my few readers...), dinner was absolutely delicious! It genuinely tasted they way they serve it at some of the restaurants we went to! So: Chicken Tikka Masala, Basmati Rice (with lemon and cilantro), and homemade naan! Yummy!

Andrew was very impressed and highly pleased.

Success!

And he's currently doing the dishes. :D Wonderful Hubby! Or Wubby. :D

And we have Trader Joe's creme brulee in chocolate cups for dessert!

Weekend Wedding

2012-02-12T23:35:00.000-08:00

So I'm going to be backtracking a little in the next couple of posts. Thursday night I made a meal from Weight Watchers "This...Then This" cookbook: "Asian Style Grilled Flank Steak". Then Friday night (slash morning because I knew we'd want to eat and run) I made "Negamaki with Ginger Dipping Sauce". No photo of the first meal (tasted great, but not really picture worthy...), but my hubby took some really amazing photos of the amazing looking Negamaki (it actually looked like the picture in the book! THAT is impressive!)

Anyway, the photo is not showing up right now because it is on the other camera..

BUT! I have pictures from this weekend.

(I didn't end up getting any up close photos of the Hoffman Wedding Quilt...sigh)

The purple I picked for the quilt...PERFECT. Look!

You can't tell super well from these photos, but that purple is a near - if not exact - match. :D

Erikka was so adorable! Hopefully she likes her quilt!

All done up and matching with our polka dots! :) (Andrew's tie, in case you can't see it...)

Our good friends Rob and Allison. They got married in Sept, a few month after we did, and the boys were groomsmen for each other. :) Allison helped out a lot at our wedding, and theirs was beautiful!

We stayed the night at our friend Tyler's in Oakland, then the group (mostly Cal Poly grads, though with a few old friends and new San Jose ((lots of our old Cal Poly friends have moved to San Jose area)) friends) met up for lunch at The Counter at Santana Row, then we all walked and window-shopped/hung out from there. And that's when we all took a sneak peak at the yet-to-be-released Tesla. That is one spiffy car. Starting at $57K, or something like that. :P But really, the young guys working in there were super great.

I want a red one. :D

Tesla

2012-02-12T14:40:00.001-08:00

This is our future car!
The guys working here were super great with our big group of not rich people wanting to sit in it and hear about it. :) a good sales theory I think! Young people may not look like they have money, but they may, so be good to everyone who comes in!

Also!

2012-02-08T21:57:00.000-08:00

This is the first quilt I'm going to sell. It's going to be twin size (usually a little bigger, as my planning goes...), grey backing. Any thoughts? Suggestions? I'm giving my blog readers first choice...I'm thinking $70, including shipping. I'm also going to put it on my Etsy. :)

Fun!

2012-02-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

Yay! Pictures of my finished quilt!

On my screen they look a little fuzzy. And the camera battery died before I could take any detailed photos...hopefully everything looks ok, and I'll get more pics later.

And four quilt blocks...they kind of look like they belong to different quilts! More white and black in the right two, a little more color than I was planning in the left two. We'll see if they tie together ok...

I'm thinking I'm going to position them this way, with grey strips in between. I was considering putting a little something in that intersection, a dash of color...but it's already pretty busy...

Sneak Peak...

2012-02-05T21:27:00.000-08:00

I finished the wedding quilt! No pictures yet because I dove right into the next quilt...

Red, black and yellow! I wanted to do a strip pieced quilt, so I played around a little with a pattern I have until I came up with something different. :P The first block finished!:

Man, I really need to paint those toenails!

Fail

2012-02-04T22:39:00.001-08:00

Home made ice cream. It wins every time. :(

Our Differences

2012-02-02T20:59:00.001-08:00

So my hubby came home and said, "Smells good!" Then he walked into the kitchen and started serving himself. I came over and tipped the pan for him and he asked, "Oh, I'm supposed to take the broth?" And of course he didn't mean anything...

And I said, "Yes! The broth is the best part! I know you don't like it, but-"

"What? Who said I didn't like it?"

"Well, when you eat Cup Noodle, you pour off the broth..."

And he laughed and said, "How many times did you see me do that?"

"I don't know, several times?"

"Well, I pour off the broth because it's too hot to eat, not because I don't like it! I ate cup noodle today and drank all the broth!"

And he laughed and hugged me and said, "I like you." :D

And I like him. Oh our misunderstandings because I assume things after witnessing some of his eating habits...

Sauteed Veggie Soup

2012-02-02T20:15:00.001-08:00

So I made some soup today. :) Which may just kick start another soup making binge. Went through one a few years ago, before the hubby. So good!

Sauteed Veggie Soup

2 medium red potatoes
Two carrots
one large or two small zucchini
Half a yellow onion
(you can add a chicken breast, and I was planning too, but the chicken smelled bad)
One garlic clove
1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 c water
Beef or chicken bullion

I used my large, 14 inch pan, turned on to medium heat and melted the butter. I cut the potatoes to bite sized pieces (everything is cut to bite size pieces...) And tossed them in and stirred them a few times, then put the lid on.

I cooked the potatoes for about eight min, then put the carrots and onion in, stirred and put the lid on again. When the potatoes were almost soft, I the in the zucchini and turned up the heat. No more lid.

I sauteed everything very nicely and then pressed the garlic in, gave another min or so. I had discovered the chicken was bad before this, and was just going to eat the veggies, but hubby likes meat with every meal so I was trying to find SOMETHING to add...and he likes Cup Noodle, so I decided to put in some water and bullion. I used both beef and chicken, and that with the butter made this a pretty rich soup!

And the hubs just walked in (about an hour after I thought he'd be here :P) and said, "smells good," so at least it had nose approval so far. :P I are without him half an hour ago. I like my soup best fresh!

Do You Ever...

2012-01-31T12:43:00.001-08:00

Wake up and just know it's going to be a productive day?

I woke up and prepared hubby's lunch and dinner. Then quick doctor appt, then gym four and hour and a quarter. :)

Returned my late ncis dvds, showered, started some laundry and eating breakfast...yes, at one pm. :P

Three hours til work. We'll see how much of this I can get done!

Creative* Day!

2012-01-31T00:41:00.000-08:00

Saturday Brett, Megan, and I had a "craft" day. However, none of us did crafts, so I'm changing the name. Not sure what to change it to, so I'm going with Creative Day for now. Brett and I quilted and Megan worked on a super cute hexie crochet blanket! We invited four other girls, but two were out of town, one was working, and the other couldn't get away from her two year old. :/ Maybe another time...

We did have a great time just the three of us, however. My cute hubby was there in the morning and we teased him while he ignored us at his computer. :P He says he gets distracted easily...but lately he's been super focused and when we said his name he'd look up - a little dazed - and say, "huh?" :D He's working so hard to put this business together!

Anyway, some fun pictures of our projects!

Brett, you have met: Isn't her quilt amazing?!

Introducing, Megan! Isn't that little hexie adorable? She had a nice pile by the end of the day.

Bits and pieces of my work spot for the day...the wedding quilt continues to take form...

I also worked on some more owl pincushions! I didn't use the same template I used last time...I cut out something I thought would turn out similar to my original...but he is very skinny and has horns. :P He falls over a lot. Not great. So I tried widening the pattern...and apparently made him taller, and there is the pink one for you! Haha. Unibr-owl has some strange looking relatives. I gave the pink one to Brett. I'm thinking I'll fine-tune my pattern and host a little tutorial when I finish with this quilt...

After the girls left Sat night I decided to baste my quilt...and found that I had not done my math well. :( By quilt top was too wide for any of the batting I had! Blerg. The consequences of imperfectionism. I always estimate everything and Andrew keeps telling me I'm going to get in trouble...and I always do. :P So I ended up performing surgery and suturing on some extra batting to one of the sides...

Man, that job is tedious. :P

I'm about halfway done with the quilting, I think. Will finish tomorrow. I'm kind of excited. We're having another...Creative Day this Saturday (my hubby is going to the bachelor party for this wedding and leaving sat early afternoon) and I may actually be able to make a bag! Or start my next quilt...and I actually already have all the fabric...

Unfortunately Tied

2012-01-26T22:16:00.000-08:00

So...

I have about a ba-zillion things I want to make. Current obsession: bags.

My friend Alyssa and I meet together on Thursday and pray for our husbands (each week going through a chapter in The Power of a Praying Wife). And of course we gab about other things (one being her highly energetic two and a half year old that I love babysitting!), and tonight we talked about scrapbooking...oh yah, I should probably finish mine at some point...

I also want to make at least two more of the little owl pincushion I created as gifts...

And I would really like to make myself some sort of clothes in the semi-near future...

But right now I really need to stick through and finish our friends quilt in time for the wedding! Time is ticking and every time she counts down on facebook I have a mini panic attack. :P

However, in my dreaming I have decided that this is the bag I am going to make when I have lovingly finished this beautiful quilt!:

Find her wonderful tutorial here. I'm not normally a total bright color freak (my mom tells me I look great in bright colors so I do try to, but I like black and grey and blue generally...), but I'm picturing this in orange! Orange of all colors. Not sure why. Probably because then I'd have to buy new fabric instead of take something from my stash...

Past/Current/Future

2012-01-26T12:49:00.000-08:00

A long post with pictures!

Last weekend Andrew and I watched an episode of Friends (The One in Barbados) where all the friends had these delicious looking tropical frozen drinks. It reminded me of our own time in the Caribbean and the YUMMY drinks we had. And guess what! I had stuff on hand and we had our very own tasty drinks before the end of the 20 min episode!

Ali's "Caribbean Memories" drinks:

1 c ice cubes
1 shot silver rum
1 shot banana liquor
1/2 c orange/peach/mango juice (Andrew likes the Dole juices, and they are tasty in sweet drinks!)
1/2 can sliced peaches (juice drained)
a couple small slices of fresh pineapple (pineapple is very strong and it also leaves strings, so you don't want too much, I think I used about an inch square)
1/2 c milk (makes it creamy! I used 1%)

Mix all together in a blender and garnish with some pineapple slices! Yum!

Lately have been working on a wedding quilt. Not only for a wedding, but a WEDDING quilt. :) White for the bride and dark purple for her wedding colors. :) I am kind of in a rush to finish, and I was a little at a loss as to how to design a white quilt and make it interesting. I'm hoping the little bit of ivory and light grey I threw in doesn't make it look dirty in the end, but at this point I am confident all my fears will drain when it is completely finished. :)

The bride said she loves lace, and I found a really fun way to highlight it. She also requested purple, but only a little. So it works well with the pattern. Also, I LOVE the white satin-y looking flowers that I used as the center of some of the white blocks. I just wish I had bought more! It was a little expensive so I was worried and didn't buy enough so I had to come up with something different for the other white. I think I'm going to like how it turns out anyway...glittery silver for the others. I think you'll approve when I get pictures up!

ALSO! I (sort of) have my "craft room" ("computer room") set up! A cute desk from my wonderful sister-in-law (with matching bedside tables, Andrew is very thankful since I stole his old one for the livingroom. :P), and lots of light. I was in the middle of starting an episode of NCIS on my computer when I decided to take this shot. Also, a nice replacement meal (it was a busy day with lots of snacking on crackers while I ran from place to place from 8:30am-2pm...) of tangerine slices with cottage cheese! Yum. I always thought it was a weird combination, but I've been super into it for a month now.

As you can see, it's not super neat. I don't claim to be neat, and also, we did just move a couple weeks ago... (that can only be my excuse for a little longer, but instead of using my free time to clean and organize, I use it to sew...hmm...).

My ironing/cutting space right next to the desk - and staying hydrated with my new water bottle!

There is the whole set up. Mostly organized, even if a little messy...and then - THIS:

Oh boy. Showing this just kind of makes me sad. How messy and unorganized! Slobs much?

But my friend Emily came over the other night and when I took her into this room to show her the quilt, she said, "oh good! I kept thinking - 'wow, they just moved and everything is so neat and unpacked already.' This makes me feel better!" Haha. No, I do not have it all together, even if our livingroom/kitchen gives that impression. We live there the most and THOSE places are more comfortable when they are neat (ish). :D

Anyway. I'm currently at work and Kelly and I are playing a match game. I'm going to try to post using my phone more so there are posts with pictures a little more often. I don't get out my camera very often, nor do I really get out my computer that much anymore (except for watching shows while I'm quilting), so getting them both out at the same time is a little...not going to happen very much I guess. :P

Saturday I am having a quilt/craft day with Brett and Megan (we invited Michelle, Ana, and Emily as well, but no one else could come, busy weekend!). I don't know whether I'm just going to work on this wedding quilt all day, or whether I want to work on a bag. I've been a little obsessed with making some sort of tote bag for my quilting stuff the last two days (since I keep things in a brown paper bag at this point...). We shall see.

Have a great day everyone, back to reality!

Better picture!

2012-01-25T23:25:00.001-08:00

Apparently turning the machine off takes a better picture...

It's 11:30pm...

2012-01-25T23:23:00.001-08:00

Do you know where your husband is?

Mine has been at a friend's house since about 6pm. :P Not that I blame him. Andrew and Luke could have been twins, they are so much alike.

And I got to hang out with Luke's family today (Alyssa and Josiah) at the beach, so I'm not really complaining...

Plus, I didn't get off of work until 10:30 and they fed him...

So this is what I'm doing while I'm waiting for him to get home. The room is actually a lot brighter than that but my phone camera isn't very good. :P

Usually I'd go to bed, but I have energy! I spent about three hours at the beach (I love california!) with two different moms and their sons today, then went on a run (slow jog...). So its been a productive day, I think. Oh, plus I worked 7 hours. :)

Still No Pictures

2012-01-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

Sorry about that. I'm currently at work! Very blessed to be able to hang out with Kelly for a job, and we were super busy last night, so tonight we're staying in. :)

Since my goal was to write at least once a week, I nearly missed it! Wednesday to Wednesday...

Today I am feeling talkative! So let's get started!

I started off my day by hanging out with little Isaiah - he's about a year old. I'm his first babysitter and his mom was a little worried he wouldn't handle it well...but he was happy and we had fun the whole hour and a half - Mom got to run, shower and get dishes done! :)

From there I headed downtown to have lunch with Alyssa, then I helped her with Josiah (2 and a half) at the library. He is active and Mom can't pick out books while watching him. :P

From THERE, I headed over to Kate's and helped her with Jedidiah. :) He's three months old! So little! :) Helped put him down for nap and with dishes, then we caught up! :)

Then I came to work. It's been lazy since then.

However, my conclusion is this...moms need help, and I LOVE helping! :) I offer, and I am glad they take me up on that. I think this is part of my personality from the Lord, but it is also part of my beliefs. I believe as Christians, we need to help one another. But not in an obligatory, do-something-I-don't-want-to-do sort of way! We are all given gifts and time (whether it's a lot or a little, and right now, I'm blessed with a lot). If we use our gifts for people when we have the time, not only are they blessed, but so are we! I love kids, and I love moms. So why not use my gifts? :) Andrew gets to use his gifts for his job as well (I believe both my jobs fit well with my gifts, not just my extracurriculars). We're very blessed!

Well...I've also mentioned that I want to include more "cooking." :) So here is a recipe that Andrew LOVES and is easy! (Not my personal favorite, not sure why...)

Crescent Chicken
Serves 4 (two per person)
From the Holly table

2 containers of crescent rolls
8 oz cream cheese
2 c cooked chicken
1/4 c milk
4 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp green onions, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Mix cream cheese with mild and butter until smooth, then add chicken and green onions. Place crescent rolls on baking sheet. Do not separate completely. Each container has eight triangle crescents. Keep two together making a rectangle, press seam together (I find pinching it together and laying it flat to one side works best). I also stretch these a little so they're a little bigger. You will have eight crescents total. Evenly distribute chicken and cream mixture into the center of these. Pull up the corners so they meet in the middle and twist the top to make a pocket. Bake for 12-15 min. Let cool slightly (the insides are boiling lava for the first five min at least! Too many a burnt tongue from these babies...).
ENJOY! :D

Wild Olive

2012-01-11T09:41:00.000-08:00

I started reading a new blog yesterday. It's by a girl named Mollie and she mostly does embroidery and cute, simple crafts. She blogs A LOT! And she also seems like a strong Christian woman...she preaches her faith every once in a while, and lots of her crafts include Christian holiday decorations, etc. :) She has two biological siblings, and three adopted siblings! Quite a family!

And what I realized is...first, I could easily blog more often, I could share my faith, and it's ok to post about little things, even when I haven't finished a quilt.

So I have a couple goals for my blog this year:

1. Post at least once a week.

2. Have fun! :D Mollie is silly and writes funny things and tells embarrassing stories...to become a better writer, i just need to start practicing more!

3. I haven't written much about cooking, even though that is the beginning of my blog title! So, a few more recipes will be included, though those will not be the focus.

4. I have a very interesting point of view that others may share, and I should write about it! I am a crafter, full blown and proud of it. I like making my own things and sharing the ideas with friends. In a way, it is not "technical" at all, but guess what! I am married to a guy who is VERY technical! I love our differences, but boy, they can be a pain sometimes (like when I wanted to go to bed at 10:30 and he starts wandering around finding a million things to do...)! They can be interesting and fun to share! :P

5. I'm going to try to make this blog easier to read. I'm going to add more upbeat posts, saying positive things and making jokes (though it may be a while before I'm actually good at making jokes on this blog...I am just not that funny of a person :P).

So even though I told Facebookland that I didn't have any resolutions...I've changed my mind. This blog has resolutions. :)

Also! Big news! We have officially moved! The new place is wonderful and unpacking is going smoothly (so far, but I haven't even touched what I call the "craft room" and Andrew calls the "computer room" - we'll see who comes out on top!). Things are looking more settled and more like "our place." :D

Back in the Game!

2011-12-13T17:25:00.000-08:00

So I haven't posted in a while! I had about a two week period where I didn't get any sewing done, but it was over Thanksgiving, so there was great family time in there!

I finished Kelly's quilt - she loves it! It lives on the back of her couch and we pull it out about once a week to play I spy. :)

We got to witness a couple of young bucks practice fighting out our back window a few days ago! It was really cool. There were two you ones and an older male, and about 8 female deer! The young ones were just kind playing and prancing around, and whenever the older male would walk near, they would skitter away. It was pretty cool! And one thing I will miss about living in this particular apartment!

We are moving in January! I'm so excited! Back to SLO and being close to everything again! Two full bathrooms, and a washer and dryer in our house!

Brett came over Friday and Saturday and we quilted all day! My new machine is wonderful! (I'll have to take a picture of it later, I'm at work currently!) I finished my parent's quilt top - it looks amazing! I kinda wish I was keeping it! :P (I don't know what I did to this picture and it wont center anymore!)

This is the first piece of Peaches' double wedding ring quilt! Oh man! This is going to be a difficult project! All those round pieces! But it'll look great! It'll take a while to finish so I'm considering making her a pillow for Christmas as a preamble. :D

My mother requested a photo of our tiny Christmas tree. So here it is! :D The picture is a little fuzzy, but we have our cute little decorations and the only two holes we put in the wall right there for the stockings. :D

Merry Christmas! :D

Aaahhhhorganization!!

2011-11-17T15:42:00.001-08:00

So I cleaned my house, and did a little organizing on tuesday. My house looks pretty great!

But some of it is still very messy. We don't have a ton of storage space in our little place...but really its more than we need. So I spent some time (or like three hours) looking for ways to organize online. I found some really awesome - and cute! -ways to organize.

Now to have the time, energy and motivation to work on my plan! The goal: 20 min every day. I can usually carve that out, and in small portions, our house will look amazing and cute and crafty!

Wish me good luck!

Where

2011-11-09T18:38:00.001-08:00

Am I going?

Apparently I'm not the only newly wed wife who feels this way. Married life is wonderful, growing, challenging and fun! There are new experiences with your best friend every day. God knows what he is doing and he put us together and he has a wonderful plan for us!

But with that, for me at least, are a few feelings of uncertainty. I'm not really sure what I want to do. Going back to school and working to get my credential doesn't seem like something I'm that interested in anymore. And the things I'm actually interested in either don't pay well, or don't pay at all.

I'm loving both my jobs currently. But neither are careers, and even with two jobs I'm not working full time. They are not forever jobs, so while I love then...what is my plan? What do I want to do?

God knows. He'll guide me. All I need to do is be patient and trust.

Finished/Nearly Finished!

2011-11-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

The post I've been promising for about a week now...

I finished Brett's quilt!

I'm never really sure what to do with the back of quilts. Solid is great, but expensive, and piecing random pieces seems weird. I tried two fabrics with a few extra blocks from the front thrown in. I don't really like the crookedness of the two main fabrics - our three minds (Brett, Andrew and I) kept trying to think of good ways to keep the large quilt straight in the small living room, and we thought we had it, but apparently not. :P I do really like the look of the extra blocks thrown in. If it was just one other fabric pattern on the back, it would look like a modern quilt front. :D (this is the picture before it was bound.

Top bound!

Detail of my super fun new toy - my free motion quilting foot! Just loopty-loos the whole way through!

I did a somewhat scrappy border. I used the two fabrics from the back and did about 2 ft before switching colors.

The day after I finished Brett's quilt, she came over and we had a sewing day and I finished the curtains Alyssa was making for the infant room at our church. She did all the shopping, calculating (or not calculating- cause neither of us are perfectionists) and buying, but doesn't have a sewing machine, so I spent a couple hours helping her iron and pin, then just did the quick rectangle sew all the way around, and voila!

Rebecca suggested the super cute polka dot ribbon loops.

Brett decided her 1-4-16 quilt was too busy with four green/blue fabric patterns, so I suggested borders. It's gonna look so great! I love my borders. I think that might have helped her quilt(the one I just finished) take so long. :P Nothing mixed up the blocks! But good to get outside my comfort zone at least.

In the spirit of the owl curtains, and from a pattern on a blog I read, I created the little yellow and blue strawberry owl. They suggested filling him with beans or rice...so I did, but I didn't really like it. His bottom and his top pieces are the same and he is just too flat and doesn't sit up very well. So I tweaked the pattern a little and created an actual bottom piece, so he has an actual base to sit on. I also stuffed his ears with batting (because on yellow his years kept lying down cause the beans would sink into the body), then i did a layer of beans (actually, split peas), then some more batting, then a layer of beans. I really like the way he turned out! He sits up well because he is heavy, but he also holds his shape due to the batting! It is just a little sad to stick pins in his cute little face. :P (each of these little guys took only about 30 min each, and I hand stitched their faces and wings)

And since then I haven't had a ton of time, but I am getting closer to finishing the top of Kelly's quilt! It's looking so cute! A few little snaffoos with running out of red fabric, but I decided to change up the pattern a little, and I think I'm going to be very happy I did! Can't wait to finish!

Well, once again I am writing late and I think my hubby just fell asleep on the bed next to me. He was in here working and I was sewing, but I came in to keep him company...and then he rolls over and falls asleep!

Which I think I will do in about 5 min!

Button holes!

2011-11-04T23:13:00.001-07:00

While I haven't gotten to do any quilting since monday, I did sit down for a few min today for a simple project. And I think it was fitting that I made my first button holes for a little whipped-up button pouch! :D The sewing machine Tandy gave me, while coming without a manual, did have about six extra feet and I'm slowly trying to figure out what they are for! One, for button holes! Makes them super easy! The pouch itself is simple and not very exiting, but it gets the job done and the button holes look great!

I'll show a picture hopefully sometime tomorrow, along with the other projects I finished last week. Gotta hit the hay now as I work at 8!

Night everyone!

Halloween

2011-11-01T00:03:00.001-07:00

So I guess halloween with no kids around doesn't do much. :P We had some good friends over for dinner (a normal monday tradition for the past couple months-until I have to work mondays starting in dec!), ranch chicken, rice pilaf, zucchini. Yum! Then the five of us played our Settlers of Catan for the first time since we got it for our wedding, and part way though had mint brownies with ice cream. :) Not even a mention of halloween! Since our apartment is in the back: no kids came by. Still a great night though.

I actually have quite a few pictures and quilting to blog about, but I have to do that another time. :P should probably be turning out the light.

But I got a new job! Quit my 10 hour a week job just a few weeks ago because I wanted to work with kids-and starting friday I get to! I'm going to be working 10 hours a week to start, then possibly some full days! A cute little 6 child montessori in Templeton. I'm so excited! And I am already fingerprinted so I don't have to pay to do that again, and tomorrow I am going in for my tb test, and hopefully get to start monday! God is so great!

And our car is in the shop again, but the $4000 hybrid barry is under warranty! :)

Andrew and I started walking last week. We walked ten miles in the four days we walked. My goal for us is to build up every week. Today started this weeks-and its a good start, but probably a little too much. We dropped off the car and walked home. Thought it was only four miles, but turned out to be five and we had to hurry-my hips bothered me a lot. We did the five miles in exactly an hour and 23 seconds. I remember when it took me an hour to walk a 5k. haha. Tomorrow we'll probably only walk two miles. I should turn out the light so we have time to before work.

G'night y'all!

Sew Close!

2011-10-26T14:11:00.001-07:00

All I have to finish for Brett's quilt is the binding...and I have to go to work! It's a good thing I like my job. :D

Actually, before work I have a play date with Ana, so two pluses, and I'll finish the quilt tomorrow. :)

And then I get to start one of the two quilts I designed last night!

Of Quilting and Exercising

2011-10-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been working away on Brett's quilt. I have put all the pieces together, and been quilting the top! Free motion quilting is so much fun! I was a little worried that I would be terrible at it, and worried because I hadn't tried it at all...and I was just going to jump in on Brett's quilt. Finally I decided just to do a little practice...and it wasn't perfect, but I'm having so much fun and getting better! I'm almost done quilting the top! I'll show pictures soon. Hoping to finish it (binding and all!) on Friday.

In other news...since I quit my second job, I have been looking for something working with kids. I have applied to many, and a few positive responses! Hoping for an interview with a montessori in the next week - it's looking very promising! Hopefully it pays more than $8. :P

Andrew and I are trying to get more exercise. We walked three miles this morning. And this is the fourth morning (not in a row, but in the last week and a half), and the first that we've added some jogging! I love being married to that boy! He is so encouraging and willing to do so much for me! I like my jobs of personal chef, personal shopper, housecleaner...and now adding personal trainer! :D If only I could find a way to quilt while exercising...now that would be great!

Brett and I have started an Etsy shop. Not much on there now, but a few things from the wedding. The prices are a little high, but I'm a little worried about how much the shipping will cost and I put the shipping kind of low for what I'm estimating it'll be. There will eventually be lots of cute and comfy things from me, Brett and Megan! If you want to just take a look, here is the link!

Lots O' Pictures!

2011-10-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't updated in a while, but I brought you a lot of pictures!

My new quilting buddy!

Last week when I helped Brett cut out her blocks, I also finished the top of her quilt! Isn't it great! So full of color and very unique! I love it much more than I thought I would!

When I was at the conference in SF, Danny and I walked around and visited two fabric stores. Fabric Outlet and Discount Fabric. Fabric Outlet was having a 40% off entire store sale...and so I bought the green and brown trees in 3 yards for the back of my parents future quilt. :) Wanted to, and didn't buy anything from Discount Fabric! Proud of myself, thankful for Danny's help. :) But then when driving home, stopped at Joann's for the first time and bought these other five! The dark red and blue in jewel tones for the yo yo quilt, the bright red for Kelly's future I Spy quilt...and the others just for fun. :P

This past weekend in Auburn...I visited two quilt stores while Andrew and the boys were busy getting ready for Rob and Allison's wedding...

The first one I visited was called Runs with Scissors. Very cute, pretty new. A little ridiculous in their many signs for not allowing anyone to use their five parking spaces, but the shop was a Moda lovers heaven! For all the quilters who love Moda, it had many, many of the lines and designers I've heard about. Not seen that in a quilt store before, and it was pretty exciting (read a lot about those designers in my other quilt blogs...). :) They had a class going on. There were four older, overweight women sitting around and sewing...didn't seem super open to younger people. However, the woman was very friendly! I generally liked the vibe. Bought three fat quarters. I haven't ever used words before, but I've seen these prints and envied them a little, and the green one...just loved the little hummers!

I also visited The Tin Thimble. It was a wonderful little vintage place. Didn't have as much fabric as others, but had vintage and previously used patterns, as well as new and old fabrics and other crafty things. :) They had a class going on as well, and a nice big room set up on the side with wide tables, and there were about 8 women making these fun new scarves. It had both a modern and a vintage feel, and very friendly. Bought a couple fat quarters as well. Spent less than $10 in the two stores!

Oh man! I need to start dinner! But one more picture! My wonderful mother in law visited a quilt store for me while she was visiting Seattle! Brought me lots of things!

Upcoming Reviews

2011-10-14T16:10:00.001-07:00

I have visited several quilt shops recently, and plan to review them here, as well as a couple that I plan on visiting tomorrow! But I haven't had a ton of time this week.

Brett is back and spent the day with me yesterday! I got her into quilting and we cut out her twin sized top, as well as finished the quilt top I've been working on for her! It was a good day. I have a quilt buddy!

I am currently in Roseville with Andrew and Jason for our friends wedding! We are heading to the rehearsal in a few minutes. The boys are groomsmen, and I going to try to spend some of tomorrow morning driving myself around looking at the quilt shops!

Tomorrow for the wedding, then sunday with Andrews parents!

A Week of Colds

2011-10-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

Andrew came home from the bachelor party with sore shoulders and a terrible cold. So I didn't get much done at the beginning of the week with taking care of my boy...and thought by Thursday morning I was safe...but then Thursday night hit and I was just down for the count. Still worked Friday...

Anyway. I finished little Layman's quilt! :) I'm quite proud and Kate was happy. She loves polka dots, so it was perfect.

Saturday Andrew and I went on a date to Santa Barbara! It was a wonderful day. We were both sort of sick, but Andrew was getting over it and I was hopped up on daytime cold medicine...We went kayaking in the harbor (no pictures), had a nice lunch, sadly didn't make it to the zoo, but walked around State Street and got ice cream at Ben and Jerry's. :D

Sunday Jeff came to visit! Arrived 10 min after Andrew and I got back from SB. Went to church, then lunch with friends, then to the beach...then relaxed at home.

And I have gotten a little quilting done. Mostly my yo-yo quilt, but also have been cutting some pieces for Brett's quilt! (She is moving back to town! Whoot!) I've made about 300 yo-yos, only 2700 to go. :P

And another week has started...

Grown Up

2011-09-29T19:15:00.001-07:00

I feel like an adult now. My husband is going on a business trip where he is presenting to a large audience where people have to pay $1000 to get in (he got in free as a developer)! The business is going places! Whoot. And he might also have another business trip to Austin in a couple weeks as well. I have to stay home and work both times. I really am grown up now.

He also just ordered business cards and I get to start reading a "how to" business guide for him (joy). :P

Done!

2011-09-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

Finished the baby quilt in one week! :D

I was a little disappointed as I was finishing because it wasn't perfect. I was expecting to do better so I was upset. There are so many wonderful quilters out there and they are so much better than I am!

I was going to take pictures and show you all the horribleness of it all...

And then I realized this was the first time I have quilted a quilt as well as the first time I tried a binding...and for that, I am proud of my work! :D It looks great! I really like the binding. It is a nice finishing touch. And I really hope it gets a lot of use when the little baby comes...

No pictures. :-/ Maybe tomorrow

I Don't Like Quilting!

2011-09-25T00:54:00.000-07:00

Andrew left yesterday morning quilt I was at work for Rob's bachelor party with Jason. Leaving me all alone! :( But I got off work at 3, picked up Ana, and we hung out with Josiah til about 5:15. :D So adorable! Then Ana and I picked up Kelsey and we all (including Chance!) came up to my place and I made dinner and failed (for the 4th time!) to make ice cream. I don't know why sometimes I do well with ice cream and sometimes I don't. I've used this recipe before, even made sure I saved it because I knew how to do it...and it still didn't work! :( But we had fun catching up and watched a girly movie.

So this is what the house looks like after the girls come over! I spent a little time cleaning up today...but going to dedicate more time tomorrow before Andrew gets home. :P

I took the girls back to slo at 10:30 and then stayed up til 2...quilting! :P I just love this sewing machine. My wonderful mother-in-law gave it to me and I had it cleaned this week, and now it is running WONDERFULLY! :D I got my free-motion foot and Andrew and I were trying to figure out how to put it on the other night.

The patterned flannel didn't quite fit the quilt top I made, so I added a strip of blue...which turned out perfectly because I was considering adding a bible verse and couldn't figure out where to put it...usually when I add writing, I find a style I like on my computer, print it, and then copy it in pencil.

Trying to make a "real" quilt...like I mentioned before, with batting and actually quilting the quilt instead of just tying like I usually do. I watched a whole season of The Mentalist while working on this quilt...

I bought 50 curved safety pins to put the three pieces together...and they still weren't enough! Had to use almost as many straight pins. And still things didn't go as I had planned! Ugh. I went through many emotions today while working on this quilt! Lots of floor time and my knee was hurting and cracking...my back was hurting, I was excited to piece it and it looked so good with the hand-sewn verse on the back...so cute! And pinning it went well...but then I started quilting.

In the three hours it took me to quilt this thing (I decided on a sort of grid pattern with green and blue thread), I went from being excited to hating quilting! Usually I get on Andrew's case for being a perfectionist, but today I realized I don't like quilting because it makes things look bad! Geez. Everything looked so great, but once I started quilting, everything bunched up and turned crooked...ugh. It was not cool. Still not...but now that it is done, it looks...OK.

This is me attempting to roll the quilt so I can quilt it...

Here is the front and back...they clash a little I guess...but they're fun!

And here is the finished bible verse strip on the back...

I thought I would include a picture of my "stash" of fabrics. :) For future quilts...

And a picture of some squares of a quilt a friend is making for me and Andrew...friends and family signed it at our wedding and she's going to put it together for us! It's so great!

Quilting is Expensive!

2011-09-21T19:01:00.001-07:00

Sigh. I need to start selling them to make back what I spend. Who knew a baby quilt was going to be so expensive! Simply because I chose to finish it the "traditional" way with batting! :-/

But...this is what I get to do on my job. Go to starbucks and read Boxcar Children! Kelly and I enjoy our warm drinks after shopping at Beverly's. I love my job. I may not make very much, but there are at least two of us very glad that I have the job that I do!

Baby Quilt!

2011-09-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

I decided to use some fabric I had bought about 6 months ago for the baby quilt. It's super cute green, blue and yellow. Perfect for an adorable little boy! I spent about an hour designing this quilt, then got to cutting it out Monday afternoon.

Yesterday started sewing the blocks together and ironing open the seams (have never done this, usually I think it takes too much time, but I want this to be the most perfect quilt ever!)...

And today I have the whole top pieced! This is the quickest I have ever put together a quilt. Granted, it is smaller than my normal attempts, and the blocks are rather large, but it still came together really quickly! I'm proud of it.

Now I just have to decide what to use as a backing. Soft flannel or the super soft fuzzy fabric. I don't want it to be too thick and stiff, so if I use the super soft and fuzzy fabric, I don't think I'm going to use any batting. Jury is still out on whether I'm going to tie it or quilt it. And now that I'm looking at it, it looks rather large for a baby quilt...but I guess maybe that's a good thing and Jed can use it for more than just his first year.

I've also started working on a yo-yo quilt. No pictures yet, but I have 21 yo-yos sewn. Of course, it takes about 3000 for a good, queen-sized blanket. But it's a fun, on-the-go project!

Andrew worked 60 hours last week. And that's not even counting the time he spends at home working on stuff, that's just at the office. :-/ He does get a break this weekend though, going to Rob's bachelor party with Jason. :) They're leaving Friday morning. I'm having a girls night with Kelsey and Ana Friday, and not telling anyone I'm free Saturday cause I want to spend the whole day quilting! :) Just feeding my addiction I guess...

Sunday Working

2011-09-18T15:15:00.000-07:00

After church this morning we celebrated our friend Alyssa's birthday by going out to lunch. :) She and her husband are starting the adoption process again, so soon I will have two little ones to take to Avila Valley Barn! This time around I get to be a reference! Probably because I hang out with Josiah so much. :)

In church this morning our pastor encouraged us to use our gifts to bless other church members. Our new nursery director is due in october, and I am now going to make her a baby quilt! The first small one I've attempted. I'm excited! I'm going to use green and yellow (it's going to be a boy), and I ordered a free motion quilting foot, so I'm going to actually quilt this one rather than simply tying it! Trying lots if new things. I am also committing to praying for little Jed as I work on his quilt. :)

Tonight is the Hot House final dinner, and Andrew has to present his work, so we are busy in SLO working. No quilting for me today. :(

Getting into Blogging!

2011-09-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

I decided I wanted to have a more "public" blog in case I ever do anything with it. I have been inspired by the blogs I have recently been reading (my favorite at crazymomquilts) to add more flare and color to my blogs about life and add more fun things instead of boring facts. Since I am very active in my quilting recently, that is going to inspire a lot of my posts!

My last post on my other blog showed a picture of my recently finished black and white quilt that I gave to my sister, which - in her honor - I am titling New York Buildings. I'm posting it again for anyone new to the blog. :)

The two quilts I am working on now:

One for Brett, who requested a crazy quilt

and one with some dark red/maroon fabrics that I bought over two years ago that I think I will keep for our bed. I just love these colors!

Today we got up at 7am because I had to be at work at 8. Kelly and I had a great day (aside for me leaving the headlights on and needing a jump from wonderful Ana), and I got off at 4. Joined Andrew (I dropped him off at work before I went to work) and he was being super productive so i hung out til 6, when we headed home. I worked on some other blocks for the maroon quilt from about 8-11. :)

Tomorrow we have church, lunch with friends, a three hour break and then a HotHouse dinner for Andrew's summer work/business starting. Busy, busy weekend, and the week starts all over again!