Gardening

The past few days have been lovely -- warm, breezy, wonderful! The boys and I are itching to get out in the yard. Our backyard has NO landscaping. Zero! Zip! Nada!!! Just lots of dirt, some big rocks, and 3 peony bushes. Last year we tore down all the trees, as they were dying or already dead, misshapen, and just plain messy and ugly. Now we need to put a fence up, which I hope to do soon (I have to draw out where we want it and go get a permit to do it).

After the fence is up, it's on to landscaping! I'm so excited, but realistically, I'm not sure we'll get a lot of actual landscaping done. I figure we need to start with trees and bushes (the big stuff), and that's going to get expensive. Calvin is hot to have a garden, so we also need to figure where to put that, and how to prepare the soil. He already got his seeds, even! We'll be trying carrots, watermelons, green beans, tomatoes, and lettuce. If anyone has any advice, website, and/or book recommendations, please pass them on! Can I move peonies around now? Should I do anything special to the dirt for raspberries? watermelons? carrots? Is there a Dummies Guide to Compost? HELP!!!

Clifford Quilt Update

I didn't make my goal of having the blocks done by last weekend. I have six of them completely finished, and six of them in parts. So, my goal for this weekend is to finish the other six and put the top together. I'd like to have the top together by Monday or Tuesday so that I can layer the backing/batting/top and start quilting. I was considering using red thread to quilt, but I decided to go with blue, so that you can see the print better. It needs to be completely finished in two weeks.

Baby Shower Fun

Saturday David, Connor, and I went to Chicago for a couples baby shower for Peter and Julie. It was a lot of fun. I got my baby fix by holding Brady, who will be 3 months old in the beginning of April, and Egan, who is about 9 months old. Sometimes Connor didn't like me holding the babies, but usually he was ok, and he had lots of other grownups to play with. :)

We played some silly games. The men had to see who could drink out of baby bottles the fastest. I guess it's pretty hard to drink from a bottle. The girls had to take toilet paper and guess how much we needed to go around Julie's belly. I was off by only a little bit, but her friend Emily got it dead on.


Julie and our friend Jessica are due within a week of each other (Julie with her first baby, Jessica with her second). Peter and Julie received some nice presents: a Baby Bjorn, some darling blankets and clothes, diapers, and toys. (I gave them some books: The Read Aloud Handbook and Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child).

I had a lot of fun, and the food was fantastic (I must get the recipe for the chicken/orzo salad). Connor enjoyed the mango gelato, and David liked having sushi, which we never have as I don't like seafood. Dessert was cookies and some incredible gelato in 3 different flavors. The mango was divine. Only 3 more months to go and I'll have a new niece or nephew -- I can't wait!!

Hot Patterns

If you frequent Pattern Review, you already know about Hot Patterns. I'm sure they're mentioned on Sewing World as well. I've looked at them a few times, but never was really grabbed by anything. Really, they are all lovely patterns, just nothing right for me at the time. Well, yesterday I got the News from HotPatterns email, touting the new Classix Nouveau line. I fell in love with the Sportive Skirt-Suit. Still, $19.95 for the pattern! I wasn't sure I liked it that much.

I'm sure you can guess where I'm going with this. Yep, I just placed my order for the pattern. It says on the site it may take a month or so before I receive it, which is just fine with me. That will allow me some time to finish up these quilts, and then I can be ready to sew. I think the suit will be darling for springtime, and perfect for a SAHM like me, who doesn't like slobbing around. I like that the pattern is drafted with wovens in mind, and I'm sure I can find some piece (or pieces) in my stash that will work.

I'm also hoping the new pattern will give me a needed kick in the pants to start sewing up the clothes I really need.

Swing Bag

I finished this Amy Butler Swing Bag this weekend. It's a present for a friend who just had her third baby. I think it's a nice size for use as a diaper bag on quick trips when one is bopping around town running errands. I added an inside pocket a la the Nappy bag (photo is of a different bag), so while technically this bag is still reversible, if you do reverse it, you get a pocket on the outside. I've made quite a few of these bags, and have cutting and construction down to a science! :) I made the pattern into a full pattern (instead of cutting on a fold), so I can cut out both sides at once.

I fell in love with the brown/aqua print and bought 3 yds. (Yeah, I know, I have issues. I have a post all figured out in my head about talking fabric) The bag only took .75 yds, so I plan to make a little bias skirt from the rest, trimming the hem with the aqua stripe I used in the lining, or, if I can find it, aqua tulle.

Now all I have to do is get some goodies to fill it (some Weleda Baby Cream, some onesies, maybe a candle and some pretty notecards, some chocolate, etc.), wrap it, and send it.

Yeah, even more quilts...

(Julie and Jessica -- don't read this if you want to be surprised with the baby quilt)

I'm a garment sewist at heart. Really, I am! So far this year though, I've really been into the quilts. With all the babies coming, plus with 2 classes I'm taking (1 done, 1 in May), the quilts have taken over. I laugh to myself, because if you would've told me 7 years ago that I'd be a quilter, I'd have laughed in your face. David used to tell me that I should start quilting, that I'd like it and should give it a try. I would tell him, "Why would I want to take fabric, cut it up into little pieces, and sew it back together again? What a waste of time!". HA HA HA! Guess what I do now?

It all started so innocently -- I took a double-nine patch class when Calvin was 5 weeks old, and it was so fun! I hardly had to think! I could sew while the baby napped next to me, heck, I could even piece while nursing! Cotton doesn't wiggle like silk or stretch like knits. I really had fun picking fabrics to go together too!

So, here are three (yes THREE) more quilts to do. I picked this fabric up on Tuesday, for the baby quilt for my brother and his wife. I'll be doing the Delectable Inspirations quilt pattern from the June 2005 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting. The quilt in the magazine is made from a variety of Amy Butler Ginger Bliss fabrics, and is just darling. I couldn't find enough of the AB fabrics, and I like these 5 just as well. The background fabric will be cream.

Remember Baby Quilt #2? I changed my mind on the fabrics. I fell in love with this koi print during one of my quilt classes in February, and bought 8 yards. This baby quilt is for the second child of some good friends. For their first child I made this quilt, also from a koi print. I thought it would be fun for the siblings to have similar quilts. I still plan the same pattern (double-nine patch, on point), so now I just need to decide what color the little squares will be. As I only need about 2.5-3 yds for the quilt, the rest will be for a quilt for our guest bed.

Right now, though, this is the quilt I need to finish. I cut it out last weekend, and I need to have it done by Easter. This Clifford quilt will be that same double-nine patch pattern (a quick one to make, plus looks really nice), and is for our church raffle. My goal for this weekend is to have the blocks all done.

Another Quilt Top Finished

I actually finished this quilt top 2 weeks ago. You can see how I figured out the block layout in my Design Wall entry. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.

Here you can see how the design wall helps with the block construction. First I was able to make sure the 'stripe' in my setting triangles went in the same direction for the whole quilt. When I took this picture, I had 4 rows stitched together, and the other blocks are waiting. As I was putting this together, I would take a row of blocks down, stitch them together along with the setting triangles, and then put the completed row back on the wall. After a few rows were stitched, I then would stitch the rows together, press, and put that completed section back up on the wall. It was really nice, I didn't get mixed up on what block went to what, and the blocks stayed flat.

The finished quilt top, with borders. It turned out pretty big, I'm hoping it will fit on one of the bunk beds. I haven't even given a thought as to what I want to back it with, or what color to bind it in.

Frijoles a la Charra

This will smell so good while cooking! Total time is about 3 hours, so plan accordingly.

1-1.5 c dry pinto beans
garlic (or onion)
salt (I use seasoned salt)
pepper
fresh tomato
cilantro (this is important)
oil
bacon, if desired

Rinse pinto beans, picking out any stones, etc. Put in pot and cover with 2-3 inches of water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce to a simmer and simmer for about 2 hours.

Heat up a bit of oil in a small skillet. Chop tomato and cilantro and saute. Add a ladle-ful or 2 of the beans and water, simmer for a few minutes, mashing them up with a potato masher. Dump contents back into pot, with garlic and seasonings. Add bacon if desired.


Cover and simmer for another 30 minutes or so. Add more seasonings to taste, if desired. Excellent with mexican rice and tortillas (and fajitas). Also great for bean and rice quesadillas.

To make refried beans, heat up some oil in a large skillet, then add the beans, mashing them with a potato masher.

What Color Are You?

WHITES are motivated by PEACE, seek independence and require kindness. They resist confrontation at all costs. (Feeling good is more important than being good.) They are typically quiet by nature, they process things very deeply and objectively, and they are by far the best listeners of all the colors. They respect people who are kind, but recoil from perceived hostility or verbal battle.

WHITES need their quiet independence and refuse to be controlled by others. WHITES want to do things their own way, in their own time. They ask little of others, and resent others demanding much of them. WHITES are much stronger than people think because they don't reveal their feelings. WHITES are kind, non-discriminate, patient and can be indecisive, timid, and silently stubborn. When you deal with a WHITE, be kind, accept (and support) their individuality, and look for nonverbal clues to their feelings.


What Color Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Dad

Today would have been my father's 65th birthday. There are many times during the year that I think of him a lot more than others, and his birthday is one of those times. I miss him a lot sometimes. When Connor was born, and I made phone calls to tell everyone, I felt I left the job unfinished, because I couldn't call him.

My dad was a pretty cool guy. He was born in Mexico, and came to this country after graduating from medical school, in 1965 or so. He and his best friend came to do their residencies, not knowing english, and in winter! He would tell my brother and me stories about how they would sit in the car with socks on their hands because they didn't have mittens. If we went out to a restaurant that wasn't mexican food, he would always order a hamburger because when he first came here, that was one of the few words he knew in english, and by ordering it, he'd know what he was getting.

My dad was a very outgoing and generous man. He was the type of person that would talk to anyone and everyone. I found it quite embarassing growing up! He was always telling people to better themselves, go back to school, learn spanish. He loved his mother country, and never became a US Citizen. He always supported me in whatever I chose to do, and was always there when I needed him.

He adored my two older boys: they were the light of his life, especially after he retired. They loved their 'Bo', and still talk about him a lot. Sometimes I think Calvin is afraid he is going to forget, because he was just 3 when my dad died. Towards the end, things got difficult with my dad, but I have no regrets. Holidays used to be really stressful, and now they aren't. The first year after he was gone I thought the holidays would be really hard, but they weren't. It's days like today, his birthday, or when I take my kids for photos, or my own birthday that are harder.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Dad. I miss you, and wish you could see all three of your grandchildren now, plus Peter's new baby coming in June.

Purple!

I got my hair done last Saturday -- it's purple again! I love purple, it's my favorite color. My bedroom is purple. I have purple shoes. My sunglasses are purple with purple lenses. I'm thinking to paint my front door purple. Purple is a great color. :) We put more purple in my hair this time, no more subtlety for me! Eventually this will fade to pink, but it'll still look cool.

I'm thinking about getting some new glasses. I only have the one regular pair, and I really should have a second pair. I keep gravitating towards these in the shop. Aren't they fabulous? I love the purple, but it's the rhinestones that really do it for me. I know I'll end up buying them, it's just a matter of time.

Baby Talk

Connor is 18 months old now, and I swear the nighttime needs of 18 month olds are as intense as newborns (we've had a few rough nights lately). Different, but just as demanding. I remember both of my other two sons being quite needy around 18 months, and I think it's because a big developmental jump happens. Connor is starting to talk, and has a pretty good repetoire of words:

mama -- me, obviously. I was meema for a while.
daddo -- David (daddo started with Caleb. I don't know how it happened, because we always said papa, but then one day Caleb called him daddo, and it stuck)
mao-mao -- any stuffed animal, usually his blue dog Max.
ki-ki -- the cat
ojo (pronounced as if in spanish) -- dogs, usually our dog Sonja
ma-moh -- I think this means he wants to nurse, but I'm not sure yet.
ba-ba -- ball
mine! -- self-explanatory
nana -- banana
ah-po -- apple or any other fruit that isn't a banana
hoT! (always whispered, emphasis on the T) - hot
ay-yigh -- light
na-nigh -- good night

It's hard to spell some of these phonetically. He says more words that I thought! There are other things he says, but we haven't figured them out yet.

Blood

The other day, Calvin was goofing around with something he shouldn't have been, and ended up cutting his thumb. It was a pretty good cut, and bled quite a bit. We cleaned it up, put a cloth on to stop the bleeding, and then I got a bandaid. All of a sudden we remembered Caleb's forensic kit with the blood typing paraphanalia, and ran down to the basement to figure out Calvin's blood type. Looks like he is type O. I don't know what David's blood type is, but I am B+, so I guess Calvin didn't get my blood. This is something that we'll have to research now. :)

So, be forewarned: If you are ever visiting us and cut yourself, we'll be heading down to the basement to figure out your blood type.

Design Wall

I finished my quilt blocks (needed 39 total), and here I'm laying them out on my makeshift design wall. Have you ever read about creating a design wall? Most of the time it involves wood or foamcore, covered in flannel. Well, this one is much cheaper and more portable. It consists of a vinyl tablecloth pinned to my wall with thumbtacks, fuzzy side out. The tablecloth cost about $2, and is easy to put up and take down. If I didn't want to put holes in the paneling (eventually I plan to tear it down, so that's why I don't care about holes), I could make a sleeve in the top for a rod to go through, and hang it that way.

The quilt blocks stick nicely to the fuzzy surface, I can rearrange and step back and see the whole quilt easily, and when the time comes for stitching the blocks together, I'll just take a row down, stitch it together, and then stick it back up. I won't have to think too much about which block is getting stitched to which. Also, a design wall is in no way limited to only quilting. If I was making a garment, I might use a design wall to try out trims, combine fabrics, test different techniques, anything new I wanted to try and let mull about for a while before committing.

Here is the final quilt layout. My setting triangles aren't cut yet, but will be purple. DH doesn't think that's going to look so great, but I like it, so there! :)

(as always, click on any picture to see it full size)

(Calvin has recently discovered how to use the video camera, so now he 'videos' everything all the time. It's quite fun to watch his movies, but the commentary is even better!)

Four

I'm still working on my quilt (hopefully will have some pictures for you this weekend). In the meantime, I'm nicking this idea from Beki.

Four Jobs I've Had
- swim instructor
- medical secretary
- salesclerk at Victoria's Secret
- dressmaker

Four Movies I'd Watch Again (and again)
- The Thomas Crown Affair
- Amadeus
- any James Bond movie
- Big Fish

Four Places I Have Lived
- Long Beach, California
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- Des Moines, Iowa
- Chicago, Illinois

Four Places I Have Vacationed
- Estes Park, Colorado
- Lucern, Switzerland
- Salzburg and Vienna, Austria
- all over Mexico

Four of My Favorite Dishes
- Caesar Salad
- machacado con huevo, arroz, frijoles y tortillas de maiz
- steak, baked potato and green beans
- broccoli cheese soup

Four TV Shows I Love
- Alias
- LOST
- Millenium
- NFL Football (ok, it's not really a show, but I like watching)

Four Albums I Can't Live Without
- Soundtrack to Tomb Raider
- Soundtrack to The Saint
- Soundtrack to Hackers
- Message in a Box, The Police (cheating here as this is a 4 CD set)
This was really hard to narrow down. Everything and more are on my iPod, so I always have any genre I'm in the mood for at my fingertips!

Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now
- someplace warm and sunny.
- at the spa having some decadent body treatment
- at my sewing machine
- having a cozy dinner with David

Quilt Class

I'm taking a quilt class this February, called Stack and Cut. Here are my 15 fabrics I'm using. I love Asian prints, as well as red and black. Most of these are from my stash, I only had to buy 4 additional fabrics (the 2 greens, the second red from the left, and the last cream on the right) to round out the quilt.

It's been really fun. Basically, we are stacking 5 different fabrics, cutting them randomly 4 times, then moving the top center fabric to the bottom. Then you sew the pieces back together. True the square, but make it crooked, then add a 3rd fabric all around. True the square again (also crooked), and you have finished 1 block.

My homework last week was to finish all my blocks (at least 25). Of course, I want to my my quilt larger than the class one, so I need to make more blocks. I'd like at least 36. So far, I've got 18 done, and class is tonight! The blocks will be set on point in the quilt, so I also still need to pick out my setting triangle fabric.

(I started this post on the 15th, didn't publish it until the 20th. Class is tonight, and I need to get those blocks done!)

Alternate uses

I won this pressing pad a few years ago, and have never used it.

However, it does make a good bed. :)

Nappy Bag #2

I finished Nappy Bag #2 on Thursday night. This one is an overdue Christmas present for my mom. Two down, two more to go! Miss Belinda does a nice job modeling, doesn't she? She's such a good-natured model too -- no fussing or wiggling. :)

In other news, I went running with the girls today and ran about 4 miles. Go me!!

Arroz Mexicana

(this is especially for Susan)
Click on any picture to see the full size

1 C rice, uncooked
oil
chopped garlic
2 C chicken stock or 2 C water and 2 chicken boullion cubes
4 oz tomato sauce
pepper
1 small diced tomato, if desired
frozen peas or corn, if desired


1. In a medium skillet, heat oil. Add uncooked rice, and saute until rice is golden. Be patient, but pay attention -- it takes a while for the rice to cook, but once it starts to brown, it can burn pretty quickly. Add the garlic just at the end.



2. Add the stock or water/boullion, tomato sauce, pepper, and diced tomato (if desired). Stir, bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer until all liquid is absorbed.



3. If adding frozen peas or corn, add them when almost all the liquid is absorbed, so they don't get so mushy. Once the liquid is gone, give the rice a stir and serve. This is really good served with fajitas and frijoles a la charra (I'll post that recipe another time), or in bean and rice quesadillas.



Some very satisfied customers. :)

Baby Quilt #2

Here are my fabrics for baby quilt #2. This past weekend, a local shop had a SuperBowl sale, where everything in the store was 25% off, so I ran out there and picked up the blue batik. The orange batik is leftovers from Nappy Bag #1. I've always liked complementary color combinations (purple and yellow being my absolute favorite). My plan is to make a double nine patch, set on point, from the book Two Color Quilts. I'm pretty sure I have enough of the orange for this (the orange will be the little squares). This will be my third time making this pattern -- it was the first one I ever made, plus I just made it again this past November for another new baby. It's a pretty quick quilt to put together. No idea what I'll use on the back, but I'm sure I'll have no problem finding something.