LaVieEnRosie

What's in a PIN?

In the past few months, nice ladies from Texas and Michigan have written on their blogs about "pinning" -- Pinterest.  I've decided to weigh in on the subject because I'm not sure they gave you the whole truth -- the plain, unvarnished, "can we talk" truth about this pinning-thing.  

If your New Year's Resolutions for 2012 have led you to take a Vow of Nicety, then I'll bid you good day and I'll hope to see you soon.  But if you're in a mood to release a tiny bit of your inner snarkiness, read on.  

Pinterest is a lot of fun.  As a quilter, you can be inspired and left speechless.

From the Quilts board of Rocky Colavito. 

From quilts to fabric, embroidery projects to crochet -- which, by the way, is hugely popular judging by the number of crochet-related pins and boards -- if somebody on the Internet makes [fill in the blank] and posts a picture of that [fill in the blank] somewhere/anywhere online, it's going to wind up on Pinterest. 

Quotes!  Everybody loves them and they're easily found and in many different forms.  

From the Words for Camp Sloanie board by Pat Sloan.  Artwork from The Wheatfield by Katie Daisy - on Etsy.

By the way, some of the best quotes aren't necessarily inspirational... though I might still deem this one motivational.

Searching for "sassy quotes" boards can be an enjoyable pasttime, especially if you've had one of "those" days.  

Do you like to cook and save recipes?  It's almost like Food Gawker -- a one-stop "shop" for recipes and food blogs.  

Toffee Crunch Cupcakes.  

Ironically, it seems as though some of the best food-related boards are done by people who also pin lots and lots of workout pictures. 

I also think that a lot of people pin pictures of food that looks good without ever reading the recipe.  I want to read the recipe before I pin something -- and on a couple of occasions, I've deleted pins for things I actually made that tasted awful.  Some things look fabulous but if you read that the cupcakes pictured above were made with rice flour, carob and tofu, would you save the recipe?  (Don't worry, they're made with the real stuff, the good stuff.)  

If you're looking for direction and inspiration for your home -- more importantly, for your maybe-someday dream studio, then sit down, get a cup of coffee and get ready to call a contractor.  

And maybe you should turn off the phone because "eye candy" is meant to be enjoyed.  Slowly.      

From Dream Studio by Melissa.  Photo of studio from/by Kelly Lautenbach.

The same is true if you like to shop for make-up / shoes / handbags / clothes / jewelry / accessories.  

That's the upside.  But has anyone mentioned that Pinterest can also be a giant, gaping black hole of time spent doing not a whole lot?  You think you're going to spend 15 minutes... okay, maybe 30.  It will be fun, you'll scout out some recipes... get a little inspiration... maybe even find something cool and wonderful.  Two hours later you've pinned nothing but you've bookmarked twenty-three craft projects, printed out sixteen recipes -- not one of which can you make because you're lacking important ingredients -- spent $150.00 on Etsy and checked flights to Prague, Santorini and Beijing on Kayak.  Or maybe that's just me.

At its best, Pinterest is a giant magazine that you can customize to contain just the things you like.  And the things your friends like.  And the things that total strangers like -- total strangers with really cool taste.  

It is the biggest, best, coolest bulletin board you never knew you always wanted.  And it's filled with great recipes, awesome blogs and more nifty ideas than you have time to process, let alone actually do.

At its worst... it is a business and people use it to advertise, sometimes to advertise themselves.  While most everybody gets into it to create "personal pin boards" of stuff they like, there is no question that it is also a growing part of social media -- the promotional part of it.  Many designers -- interior, lifestyle, personal style -- with blogs as their business, or part of their business are on Pinterest, and much of what they pin comes from their own blog and/or business.  If you click a picture to get more information about a product, you'll find yourself on their blog where you were just tallied as a hit for their traffic numbers, thereby increasing their advertising revenue and so on.  Some are good about linking the picture back to the specific post with the information you were trying to find but many just link back to the main blog address, meaning that you have to go hunting for whatever it was you wanted to find.

But again, if they show a product that you're looking for, you'll be able to find it.  And that's always a good thing.   

But be warned, it can get a little competitive.  I'm not saying that there's a contest to see who has the most pins, boards or followers, or to see who has the best board names -- though really, Monica wins that one in Secretariat-like fashion -- I mean something else entirely.  I think I could be involved in an altercation should I ever manage to find one of these... 

Pretty cool, huh?  I re-pinned this from someone/somewhere and added my own tag, and then when it was repinned by someone else, they wrote that I would have to fight them for it.  Yikes!  I'm a little worried because Rocky has a bat.  

Just so you know, vintage sewing machines are big on Pinterest... actually, vintage anything is big.  Huge.      

A nice lady in Florida pinned this picture of a vintage Rolex today and I can honestly say that I would fight her for it.  Then again, she does know someone whose got a bat...

So in the almost-a-year that I've been on Pinterest, I'm still not a very prolific pinner.  But I am being inspired by what I see though I do seem to keep getting side-tracked into reading recipes and the instructions for craft and do-it-yourself projects.  And I seem to wind up on Etsy a lot.  But its been fun and I'm really looking forward to my wool arriving.

Since I saw this on Tara's Wool board, do you think I can send her the bill?

P.S.  I didn't buy this exact bundle of wool.  It sold back in December.  I bought something else... but I think I'm still going to blame it on Tara.  

 

I spent the weekend cleaning?

It wasn't supposed to be that way but a very nice but somewhat wicked person asked for a couple of "organizational tips" for a project she's got coming up next month, and the end result is that I had to clean and dust and straighten up a bit because her project meant I was going to have to take some pictures.  

Does that make sense?

When I have a little more information about the whens, whats, whos and whys, I'll let you know.

This was supposed to be the weekend I finished up the last of the Christmas presents I've been making and finished stitching the Primitive Gatherings pincushion for 2011.

Pretty cute, huh?  

This is the perle cotton kit I bought to go with the "free" kit.  Yes, I see the irony of this... I spent $35.00 for the thread kit to make a free pincushion kit.  But I'm making extra pincushions and I did share some perle cotton with a couple of friends who also got the kits.  So that sort of amortizes the cost a bit.  Come on... stretch with me here.  

By the way, while getting my pictures together for this project, I noticed a recurring theme.  Do you see how compulsive organized I am?  I have little trays or baskets for each project I work on.  Even though the balls of perle cotton look like they've been casually tossed into the tray, looks can be deceiving.  The balls are usually in neat little rows with the label facing up so that the color number is visible.  And the O-numbers are not allowed to mingle with the M-numbers.  To make it worse, when the project is done, the balls go back into the storage box, the pins go back into the box with the pins and the pattern gets put in a pattern bag and filed away.  I don't know how I got this way but I'm hoping there is a 12-step program of some kind.    

I was also supposed to be working on a couple of other things but since I can't show them to you, I won't tell you about them.  Do you remember the days when being a "tease" was a bad thing?  Now it seems to be de rigueur.  It's annoying, isn't it?

Though it also means that I won't have much to show for a little while.  Except this.  This has been hanging out in a basket, waiting to be cut up into pieces:

Sandi Henderson ~ Secret Garden.  Isn't it gorgeous?  I've had it for a little while but just haven't been able to get to it.  I know exactly what I want to make with it, though I do need to make a decision about background.  I'm considering two options - one is obvious, the other will almost certainly elicit a "that doesn't look like you" comment from someone.  Yes, I do hear that.  I heard it a lot with Fresh Palette and Nine Dots.    

And yes, it was one of the things that I was referring to last week when I expressed some frustration about what direction I want to go with the quilts I'm making.  

I appreciate all the kind comments from last week about direction and risk, and about my quote box.  Though I did have to laugh when I got an e-mail from someone who suggested I had been raised in a monastery and taught handwriting by monks... like I could ever live someplace where folks take a vow of silence?!?  As if!  Can you imagine?

What I was trying to express was this -- I love the quilts I've made because each one has presented a different challenge or fulfilled some kind of whim.  When I first started quilting, I tried almost every style of fabric and color palette, everything was an exploration.  Part of that was because everything was new and different, and I was still trying to figure out what I liked.  But it is also my nature in that I like variety - which might explain why I have Le Creuset pieces in four different colors.  When I started teaching at a local quilt shop, I was given pretty free rein over what I taught so I continued to experiment with different things.  But lately, I feel like I've done less of that, especially with bigger quilts.

So that's where I am right now.  

The scariest part about actually making some of the quilts I have had living in my head the past few years is that I haven't got a clue how I would write the pattern.  

But I'll worry about that later.  I have to go finish that {thing} I'm working on.

 

 

 

 

Friday silliness...

Happy Friday the 13th!

I've mentioned before that I get the funniest e-mails from Ramona.  

I will confess to you that when she first put me on her e-mail list a few years ago and started forward me e-mails, I was just a tad bit annoyed.  There isn't a one of us who doesn't get way too much e-mail... half of it junk.  That is especially true if you've ever had an AOL e-mail account.  

But then I started opening the e-mails... and moved Ramona to "preferred mail" status.  I also made it a point to thank Ramona for adding me to her e-mail list.      

Ramona sent me this yesterday.  She had sent me something like this last year, and after receiving that one, the name and reference on the picture lead me to the blog/website of the man genius behind these creations. Terry Broder of Bent Objects.  He's a funny guy... a little twisted... but in a really, really good way.    

This is what you get when you give someone who is very creative some wire and a few household objects.  

You say tomato, I say tomato. You say potatoes, I say zombies.

Fruit with life experience.

Zombies are nuts about brains.

Modest pear.  

Literary interpretations.

Paper training our little dog, Frank.

These are two of my recent favorites from the website.  

Grim Brulee.  Will you ever look at another creme brulee without thinking about this?

And because it is Friday the 13th...

Children of the Candy Corn.  

Have a terrific weekend.  

 

Gathered thoughts...

Did I say Friday?  I meant today.  Thursday.  

Oy vey.  While I seem to have misplaced a day somewhere, I do remember what I wanted to show you.  

It isn't any secret that I love quotations.  Whether they are from poetry, someone's personal writings or a speech, I have been saving little bits of paper onto which I've scribbled some "words of wisdom" for as long as I can remember.  My Dad used to do the same thing and one of the things I miss were the quotes he would run across and send me.      

Quotations are even part of my quilts.  When I started putting labels on my quilts about fifteen years ago, I included a quotation... just because.  In a few instances, the quotation I used inspired the name of the finished quilt.  

When it comes to saving those "words of wisdom", I'm not alone.  It seems like everybody who is on Pinterest has a board for "words" of some sort or another.  

So when I saw these boxes in a catalog a couple of years ago, it was love at first sight.    

Gathered Truths by Sugarboo Designs.    

On a side note, if you love quotations and words, I hope you know about Sugarboo Designs.  They have created beautiful artwork, frames, pillows, postcards and notebooks using quotations.  

Sundance Catalog had one in red.  One word -- lust.    

The boxes are painted wood and they're filled with 365 cards made from handmade paper, and printed with quotations.  But as much as I really wanted one, the price was a little steep for a box of quotations.  

But fate intervened one fine day last year... a friend had given me cash/money for I don't-remember-what-reason.  A few hours later, with a few extra minutes and dollars, I impulsively stopped into a favorite local shop to find that they had the boxes.  Make that "box", singular.  The last one -- in black.  

Do you know what the best part of it all was?  That last lonely little box was marked down -- by fifty percent.  I think I heard angels singing... or maybe it was just Maria... I must have done something really good that day because things like that never happen to me.  Or almost never.

That's my box.  (Don't touch.)    

As much as I enjoy reading the quotes ~ and yes, I've read them all ~ some of my favorite quotes aren't in there.  So I thought about making my own box of "gathered thoughts".  But I'm not much of a carpenter and I wasn't having much luck finding substitutes.  I have some vintage cheeseboxes that I considered using but I wanted something a little different.  And that's when I found this Farmer's Market Basket at Anthropologie.

I thought about trying to use my computer to print my favorite quotations onto cardstock but in the end, I decided it would take me longer to do that than just to write them out by hand.  So I bought a pad of 140 lb. watercolor paper at Michael's and cut it into cards measuring about 3 1/2" x 4".  Since I love the look of really black ink on the heavy paper, I used my regular Extra-Fine and Ultra-Fine Sharpie pens.  

Even though writing each card by hand takes extra time, I love the look of them.  I know my Dad would have approved as he often asked me to hand-write quotes for him to keep on his desk.  

Just to change up the look of the cards a bit, I'm varying the spacing, the margin alignment, the lines, etc.  

The card is my divider ~ everything in front has one of my quotes and the cards behind it are waiting to be filled.  

So there you have it.  One of the things that kept me occupied over the holidays.  

And with that, I'll leave you with another one of my favorite quotes:

Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow is but a vision.  But today well-lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.  Look well, therefore to this day.  Sanskrit proverb

Toodles.  

Clean slate...

Rosie.  Like you didn't already know that.    

She's a little rough with her toys, especially with the new ones, and she takes "durability testing" very seriously.  It's a good thing I have a sewing machine, isn't it?

I know it's January 10th and I'm a little late with the New Year's wishes but I do have them!  Happy New Year!  Here's hoping that 2012 brings you the best that life has to offer.  Or enough to keep you happy and sane.  

Life here is going well though I'm still trying to figure out some kind of routine or schedule.  Isn't it odd how you don't miss continuity and routine until you don't have it?  And like a lot of folks, I'm thinking about the year past and the year ahead.  

This past year was a bit of a challenge and I felt like I dropped more balls than [insert name of your favorite sports' teams most famous goat].  I became a real-life version of snail mail, and I fell behind with things that really mattered to me like saying "thank you" to folks for their kindnesses.  Diversions I enjoyed fell by the wayside because of time demands, and I found myself being less than patient when it shouldn't have mattered.  But when I think about my whole year - my "balance sheet" for the year -- I'm not complaining.  I promise.  (It's just a little whine.)  I'm still well in the black because I learned that I had friends I could truly count on, and my belief in the wonderfulness of my brother was confirmed when he re-arranged his schedule to come stay with my Mom more than once.  And because of that, I enjoyed a few adventures.    

So life is still good.

And this year... it's time to make some changes.  I've thought a lot this past year about "what's next?"  Direction.  

That's my word for this year.  Or one of them.  As with anything like that, I have a really hard time picking just one.

Another one is "risk".  No, I'm not taking up sky-diving... though I would like to do that at least once.  I think actually stepping out of a working airplane would be the hardest part... but I could be wrong.

One of the biggest challenges I've had is finding the balance between creative decisions and business decisions.  The questions are simple, and the answers aren't easily answered.  At least I haven't found that to be the case.  Am I making the quilts I want to make, or am I making the quilts I think other people want?  Am I challenging myself, or am I just trying to remake something I've already done?  

To keep myself on track -- and to give you an idea of the conclusions I came to -- I wrote a quote on the chalkboard in my workroom.  

I don't know how it will all turn out but no matter what happens, I will survive the process.  As my friend Ginger is fond of saying -- Cinderella had to go to the ball to meet the Prince.  

 (Related to that sky-diving thing... here's another favorite quote -- If at first you don't succeed... sky-diving is not for you.)  

Just so you know... yes, I wrote the little card.  But more on that Friday.  

I dropped that ball last year too.  But it's a new year, I've got a clean slate this year and I can only get better, right? 

Merry Merry! Happy Happy!

If I had managed to get any Christmas cards sent, this is what I was sending this year.  

I have the dog.  And I have a Volkswagen.  As for the tree, I did have to bring a rather large tree home a few weeks ago and cords were involved.  Bungee cords - they were to keep the trunk from bouncing up and down onto the approximately two-feet of box still sticking out the trunk.  But it worked and I got the tree home, and that's all that matters, right?

Are you all ready for Christmas?  Stockings hung?  Packages wrapped?  Christmas cards sent?  (Show off.)  

I'm as ready as I'm going to be, which sort of makes me think that Christmas is a lot like Quilt Market.  Even though I've had months to plan, get organized and get  busy... I'm still rushing last minute to finish twenty-seven things I could easily have had done weeks ago.  It seems like I'm spending a fair amount of time waiting for UPS and FedEx, and if you've been to a mall or shopping in the past few days, then you've essentially been to Sample Spree.  And after all the preparation, build-up and running around, it's all over in a flash.  Until next time.  

So what's been going on here?

This seems to be what I've done the most of this past week or so.  Doing the dishes after making a batch of [fill in the blank].   I've been baking and that always seems to mean that I've got a sink full of dishes either waiting to be washed or drying.  When you're baking one batch of cookies right after another, doing the dishes by hand is definitely the fastest and the easiest way to go.  And even though I have an extra bowl for the mixer, I'm going to have to wash it anyway so I always seem to wind up using just the one.  

With my brother coming for Christmas and my not "working" elsewhere this year, my Mom decided that I should be able to get some cookies and quick breads made.  So I baked Chocolate Chip Cookies using the recipe on the bag and Oatmeal Cookies using the recipe from the cannister.  They're not fancy but they always seem to wind up being the recipes I like best.  I made Hermits using the recipe from Sandi in Florida, and I baked Orange Date Nut Bread using a recipe my Mom got from my grandmother years ago.  It's my brother's favorite.  I also made Cranberry Banana Bread.  I also baked some terrific cookies using a recipe from Midwest Living magazine -- Double Chocolate Cherry Cookies.  

This is Midwest Living's picture -- my cookies are in the freezer right now.   

I've also been experimenting with a Meyer Lemon recipe... with much better results than some folks.  

I made Limoncello using Giada's recipe.  And instead of throwing away the rinds, I did what one reviewer suggested and I tossed them with sugar to make candied lemon peel.  I'll let you know how that turned when they're dry. 

With the baking and fermenting out of the way, I've hung Christmas lights outside -- two strings of icicle lights on the brick wall.  The neighbors were a little shocked too.  Of course, it also meant a trip to the hardware store when the outdoor extension cord didn't work, and everything else I had that worked was too short.  The upside is that I got this funny pen with a light bulb at the end that lights up and flickers when you bounce it on the table.  I also managed to get the tree up this year.  Poinsettias?  Check.  Real and faux.  Wreaths?  Check.

My Mom's bathroom is all finished except for the decorating -- she thinks she wants some black & white photographs for the walls.  I think that will have to wait until after Christmas.  The work went really well though just about the point where I was ready to pack my Mom and Rosie in the car and go someplace -- anyplace! -- because I couldn't stand the noise of the jackhammer any longer... it stopped.  And it was over.  The same goes for the craziness of having just one bathroom.  As you can probably guess, the work took a week longer than expected.  Seriously, we're going to have to talk about what "two weeks" means in contractor-speak.  And of course, the cost was a skosh more than anticipated.  But my Mom is happy so that's all that matters.    

As for stitching time... I haven't gotten any.  But lucky me, somebody else did it for me.  I've been enjoying a sweet redwork stitchery this year -- Christmas Treasures designed by Rosalie Quinlan.

If you're wondering if I stitched this... the answer is "no".  Not because I didn't want to.  And not because I couldn't do it... though actually, I couldn't do it because when I showed the pre-printed linen to a dear, sweet friend for her approval, she ripped it from my hands and volunteered to stitch it for me.  And she wouldn't give it back no matter how many times I asked, and no matter how many tears I shed.  

(Yes, that's my story.  And yes, I'm sticking to it.)

Okay.  Because I want to stay on "the big guy from the North's" good side, I'll concede that subconsciously, it is within the realm of possibility that I showed it to her in the hope that she might offer to stitch it for me.  I didn't think about it at the time... but I have to admit that there is no doubt whatsoever that her stitching it means that I get to enjoy this lovely redwork this Christmas instead of Christmas 2017.  And really, she did a much nicer job on it than I probably would have.  That's a given.  

Just so you know, I saw this on Rosalie's blog in August and ordered it from Under the Mulberry Tree.  The design is printed on white linen and it comes with a skein of Lecien Cosmo embroidery floss.  

It goes without saying that I hope you and yours have a very safe, happy, joyous holiday -- a very Merry Christmas.  

 

Next week?  I'm really looking forward to a long winter's nap.  

Merry Christmas to all!

 

 

 

 

Jackhammers and other things...

It seems the only "free time" I've had the past few weeks has been in the middle of the night.  

Life here is fine but its been a bit jumbled.  And this week doesn't look to be much better since a jackhammer will be coming into my life.  Don't worry!  I don't have to operate it.  I am going to have to hear it though as it will be in the house... tearing up a bathroom floor.  

I meant to be back last weekend -- the one right after Thanksgiving -- as I wanted to tell you about my turkey experiment.  Tyler Florence, the very cute chef who is now a regular contributor to House Beautiful magazine, had a recipe for a split-breast turkey in the November issue.  It looked interesting and since we were making a small-ish, 12.6 lb. turkey, I decided to give it a whirl.  Since I hadn't boned a whole chicken in... okay, forever, I wasn't exactly sure how difficult it would be to remove the backbone and split the breastbone.  With a good pair of kitchen shears and a big chef's knife, it was actually very easy.  

The rest is just as simple -- whole heads of garlic, bunches of fresh sage, thyme and rosemary, butter and/or olive oil, salt and pepper.  And a turkey, of course.  

Here is the recipe -- Tyler Florence's Split-Roast Turkey Buried in Herbs 

I had already started removing herbs when it occurred to me to take a picture.  Several things about making the turkey this way surprised me.  First - my turkey was roasted and at the proper temperature in less than the 1 hour, 15 minutes recommended cooking time.  And like Martha's Perfect Roast Chicken, it smelled amazing within 5 minutes of being in the oven.  Yes, I'm sure it was the garlic.  Second - the flavor was terrific, even better than expected or hoped for.  And the turkey was very moist.  I had wondered if it might dry out a bit more roasting it this way but it didn't, and the leftovers were still moist the next day.  Third - I loved the extra space in the oven!  Since the turkey didn't rise above the top edge of the roasting pan, I was able to put other dishes on the oven rack above the turkey with space to spare.  That meant only having to use one oven.  Fourth - I wondered whether all the garlic would overpower the pan drippings but that wasn't a problem either.  The flavor was very subtle, to the point that I didn't really notice it when the drippings were added to the gravy.  

Just so you know, I didn't make Tyler's gravy recipe.  Williams-Sonoma Turkey Gravy is the house gravy here.  It's easy.  It's fast.  And it's really, really good.  It just needs a bit of pan drippings.  

The one challenge was carving the two halves.  I wasn't sure where to start but then decided to remove the wing and thigh, then the drumstick.  I removed the entire breast as one piece and then cut it crosswise ala Ina/Barefoot Contessa to make thick slices instead of long thin ones.  It was so good, I'm going to make this again at Christmas.  

In true Thanksgiving weekend tradition, I did some shopping.  Online, of course.  While out shopping a few weeks ago, I bought a beautiful candle by Simpatico-Home and KHall Designs.  The candles have amazingly good scents and come in old-fashioned hobnail glasses that can be re-used and re-cycled.  Being a curious sort of girl, I wanted to see what other scents might be availble so I went online and found the company website.  The candles are also available at Anthropologie.

This is the Christmas scent -- No. 29 Reindeer.  The red of the real glass is so much prettier up close and in person.  And it smells really, really good.  When the candle is gone, I think that glass is going to wind up in my sewing room...  

And, yes, the other thing I got to do over the Thanksgiving was some sewing.  I made this -- Lori Smith - From My Heart to Your Hands -- Quaint Quilts #1. 

Some sweet and generous friends gifted me with a beautiful kit for this quilt -- titled Beth's Medallion -- last year and it has been sitting on my sewing table taunting me ever since.  I was in the mood to make something small, and something different, so I prepped my fabrics and started cutting.  Then I started rooting through my fat quarter and scraps because well... I just had to make a few tiny changes to the kit.  Less rust, more red.  And some green.  And more black.  And really... two background fabrics?  That just isn't "me", not when I have so many beautiful background fabrics that I could add.  I also changed the direction of a couple of the rows of half-triangle squares.  

I'm thinking making all the changes says more about me than anything else.  I'm hoping my friends won't mind.  I really did love the kit and all the leftover pieces are going to be part of the back.    

I also made some progress on the stars for the Scrappy Stars Block of the Week I was "supposed" to be making this past summer.

Is it just me, or do those neat little stacks of trimmed half-triangle squares look a little scary?  These pieces are now in finished stars, meaning that I only need 12 more stars and I can finish my quilt top.  

Once the quilt kit was out of the way, the next thing on the "to do" stack were some Primitive Gatherings' wool pincushion kits.  

As with the quilt, each little pincushion has some little thing that I decided to do differently.  Seriously.  I think it's a psychological issue.  

But lest you think every one of my little projects has gone well... I wish.  I get these visions of Martha-like invincibility, only to come crashing back to earth.  For example... while on a recent trip to The Container Store ~ one of the most fun places to shop at Christmas ~ I found these interesting little "candy wrappers".

They are made of thick wool felt and measure about 5" wide x 6" long.  The little diamond cut-outs are what let the ends be gathered tightly.  Pretty cute, right?

This shouldn't be too hard to reproduce... right?  Wrong.  At least it wasn't that easy for me.  Regular felt from Michael's or JoAnn's was too thin.  Not a problem, I can fuse two layers together!  That should work... and it did.  But cutting those diamonds was a little trickier than I would have thought, especially for someone who didn't have a super-sharp Exacto-like blade.  After about a dozen prototypes that looked like they had been on the wrong end of a weed-whacker, I decided that there was a reason why Twinkle Brands could sell three of these for $13.00.  They were worth it.  And the felt was thicker.  

But they still needed a little "something".

Before I forget, I wish I could take credit for the genius "overnight oatmeal" recipe but it isn't mine.  I first read about it here -- Overnight Oatmeal by The Bitten Word.  I think I was looking for the recipe for the Barefoot Contessa's crock pot oatmeal -- good, but not what I want to have for breakfast on a daily basis.  A few months ago, while trying to double-check the amounts, I looked online for the recipe and found this variation -- Overnight Steel Cut Oats by Eggs on Sunday.  

In fact, I should put out the can of oatmeal so I remember to make it tonight.  Tomorrow morning will be busy and with that jackhammer in the house, I'm pretty sure that we'll be getting breakfast on-the-fly this week.  

What?  You're wondering what the jackhammer is for?  My Mom's bathroom is getting a remodel.  Because she's not quite as spry as she used to be, getting into the bathtub has become increasingly difficult so I've wanted to have it torn out and replaced with a walk-in shower.  But trying to find the time to call a contractor, make plans, and then schedule the work has been a challenge.  That's when the Gods decided to put it on the schedule for me.  The Sunday after Thanksgiving, my Mom woke to find water on the floor of her bathroom, the result of a leaky seal in the pipe going into the toilet.  Since the toilet is an old wall-mounted model, I knew that if it needed to be replaced, I would have it replaced with a floor-mounted model.  That means digging up the floor - the foundation - to run a new drain line.  So as long as we were tearing up the floor anyway... it was time to do everything else.  So this past week has meant coordinating with the contractor and his people, then making trips to go choose paint colors, fixtures and lights.

And did I mention that my Mom was in the hospital all week getting a video EEG?  It's a strange world when you're actually hoping someone will have a seizure.  Lucky Mom.  She spent the whole week with 21 electrodes/whatevers stuck to her head and a video-camera trained on her 24/7.  There was also a sleep-deprivation component to the test so starting at Noon on Wednesday, my Mom wasn't allowed to sleep until 4:00 am on Thursday morning.  Because I'm trying to be a good daughter -- and maybe finesse my way onto that "Nice" list somebody is keeping -- I hung out at the hospital until after 1:00 am.  Did my Mom cooperate with a seizure?  Not until Friday afternoon.  A small one, but it was enough to make the doctors happy.  

As for Rosie, she's been a sweetheart through all the disruptions.  She's enjoying the attention from the contractors and she's ecstatic that my Mom came home today.  

I'm hoping this week will be better -- more quiet and a little less hectic -- but I doubt that is going to happen.  My Mom's got appointments and then there is that jackhammer.  

It's going to be a noisy week.    

Turkey and other stuffing...

Let me get that out of the way... just in case I forget.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours ~ here's hoping you have - or had - a wonderful day with family and friends.    

It's ironic that this is "turkey" week because there have been a few times when I've felt a bit like one... to the point where I should have been roasted and sliced to pieces.  From "duh" moments to "oops... shouldn't have done that" moments, I'll be glad when this week is over.  And no, I don't have to worry about Black Friday, shopping and huge crowds at the mall.  I'm planning on being a hermit this weekend.  That's the plan anyway.

The truth is that I've already gotten some Christmas shopping done... and it was sort of the start of my "turkey-ness".

After getting the catalog, I had to race go to Crate and Barrel.  How adorable are these?  Gingham Ramekins.  

Turkey Moment No. 1.  Wouldn't these make really cute pincushions?  I could fill it with a felted wool ball or a fabric-covered stuffed ball!   

And then there were these fabulous Norwegian Chalet Latte Mugs!  

While I love lattes, I am more of a cafe au creme sort of girl -- coffee and a generous amount of steamed milk or fat-free half-and-half.  

Turkey Moment No. 2.  I bought two cups without really looking at them, and then when I got them home and turned them over to take off the price tag -- nope, hadn't even looked at that before -- I liked the cups that much.  Well, duh.  Designed by Kate Spain!  No wonder I loved them.  After using them, I had to order a couple more, they're that terrific.  I would have bought them even if I didn't like her so much -- and her fabric.  Meeting her was one of the highlights of my trip to New York City for the Infinite Variety quilt show.  

Please forgive the shameless copying of a certain someone's coffee picture, especially because her pictures always have more style.  Which reminds me, can I have a show of hands on how many of us covet this Keep Calm and Carry On coffee cup?  Not just one with that saying on it but that one... one exactly like it.  If you know where to find one, please let me know.  

Stuffing -- do you make your own from scratch?  Or do you use a boxed stuffing mix?  I've been entertained reading some of the food-blogger posts about stuffing -- homemade vs. Pepperidge Farms.  While we don't use it ~ my Mom has made her own for as long as I can remember ~ I've always liked the PF.  In recent years, I've bought and used the Foccacia stuffing mix from Williams-Sonoma and its terrific.  Though I have to tell you, we don't make it the way it says on the box.  It's very good but it's much better if you "Paula Deen" the recipe, substituting a stick or two of butter for the olive oil.

Just so you know, the taste-testing shows that even among serious foodies, blind taste-testing have Pepperidge Farms winning out by a landslide.  Even the Editor-in-Chief of Bon Appetit magazine, Adam Rapoport, prefers his Mom's stuffing recipe over all others.  What is her secret?  Pepperidge Farm Stuffing Mix with a few extras.

Turkey Moment No. 3.  I had to go to the grocery store three times -- yes, three times -- because I kept forgetting to get bread for the stuffing.  Seriously.  One of the trips was even specifically for the bread!  And I still forgot it.  I get sidetracked easily.  

Turkey Moment No. 4 doesn't come with a picture because that would mean taking a picture of a package that came back in the mail yesterday after having the wrong address on it.  Oy vey.   

But I think my worst "turkey moment" was the other night when I left a comment on a blog before thinking about it.  Dumb.  I should know better.  Like a few others, I didn't have all the facts and I jumped to a conclusion.  The wrong one.  Seriously.  I really should have known better.  

So before I have another one of my "moments", I'm going to leave you with this...

Happy Thanksgiving!  

I hope you have a very safe and happy one... and that all your "turkey moments" are tasty ones.  

 

Mice and men...

This isn't about mice or men.  And no, I'm not having any problems with either one because I don't have any of either one around to cause me problems.  

This is about that "best laid plan" thing -- what I was planning to do, what I wanted to do, and what I actually did.  

I know, I'm preaching to the choir here because we've all been there.  The good news is that it has been a very nice week even though it whizzed by at light speed.  I have been out a little and had a bit of fun, which always seems to get me in a little bit of trouble, monetarily speaking.  

Have you seen the new issue of Where Women Create?  

The woman on the cover is Kristin Alber of Found in Mesa, Arizona.  I used to shop regularly at Domestic Bliss, the first of Kristin's shops.  When it first opened, it was a bit like Found but with more gifts.  Then it changed into more of a gift shop and I didn't get over quite as much.  Kristin moved on to open a a couple of design businesses, and Found is part of that.  While Domestic Bliss is open daily, Found is only open by Appointment or once a month for an event.  Starting this past Friday, they will be open Friday and Saturday through the holidays.  If you are in the area, its worth the trip.

 

That gorgeous chest of 30 drawers in both pictures... I really wanted it but I couldn't fit it into the trunk of my car.  And I didn't have a clue where I would put it.  Oh... and there was the price issue.  But they were having a special and I could have gotten 20% off.  Of $1895.00.  

On a side note, have you ever noticed that a woman who would emphatically state that she was terrible at math can figure out the discounted price of something in her head?

As I am currently in the midst of a pillow-fetish, I used my discount to get one of those candy cane pillows on the couch.  It's very cute.  

It's a beautiful shop.  

Lest you think it was all fun and shopping, I also got a little bit of sewing done.  Okay, there was a little more shopping because I bought two quilt magazines.

What caught my attention in this issue was the article about the Infinite Variety -- Red & White -- Quilt Exhibit from this past March in New York City.  Three of the quilts in the exhibit are included in the magazine as patterns.    

I also had to get the latest issue of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks -- this one is Volume 4.

There are at least a dozen blocks I love, including Monique's -- Open Gate Quilts -- applique block.  It's terrific.  But the only one I've made so far is Jo Morton's block, Times Nine.  Or Nine Times.  It's one of those.  

Yesterday afternoon, I made this.  It's 1 1/3 blocks... you know how I feel about changing things.  

Since it isn't quilted and I don't know when I'll get around to that, I decided to frame it for the time being.  It's already on the wall.  

This came on the heels of making two other little Jo quilts this past week.  This is from Jo's Little Women's Club No. 10 -- Courthouse Steps.  

Can you believe I made this in an afternoon?  Or that I quilted it that night?  And stitched on the binding before I went to bed?

Neither can I.  But I did.  The only thing that really slowed me down was trying to remember how to do a single-fold binding as it had been a few years -- okay, decades -- since I'd done that.  And how wide was I supposed to cut those strips?  After playing around with some leftover pieces on the cutting table, I decided to cut the strips at 1 1/8" wide and that worked perfectly.  

After making that and getting really inspired, I decided to make another one -- but different.

This measures 20 1/2" x 20 1/2" -- 16 blocks that finish at 5" x 5".  The logs are 1/2" wide.  

And I do apologize for the funky pictures.  I also took those late at night.  With my phone.  I know that millions of people can take world-class pictures with their iPhones but I'm different... I can't don't do what other people do.

The last thing I'll bother you with today is this -- have you ever made "Overnight Oatmeal"?  I love it, mostly because it means I can have my favorite steel-cut Irish oats every morning without having to do instant or wait for an hour.  I can store it in the refrigerator and heat it up on the stove or microwave, and I can add whatever extras I like on a day-to-day basis.  If you've not heard of it, here's how simple it is:

At 9:00 or 10:00 pm, bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan.  When the water comes to a full rolling boil, add 1 cup of oatmeal -- rolled oats or steel-cut oats.  Not quick-cooking oats.  Bring back to a boil and stir for 1 minute.  Seriously -- stir it and keep it boiling.  You will have to watch it and maybe even reduce the heat a little bit as it will want to foam up and boil over.  But keep stirring and boiling for 1 minute.  Turn off heat.  Put lid on saucepan.  Remove saucepan from stove and place on hotpad or trivet -- a pretty one.

By 6:00 or 7:00 the next morning, you've got oatmeal that is ready to heat and -- this is the best part -- ready to eat.  It's fully "cooked".  I store it in a sealed container in the refrigerator and each morning, I spoon out what I want into a bowl and zap it in the microwave.  I then add whatever strikes my fancy that day -- dried fruit, nuts, a little bit of pumpkin puree (it's terrific, by the way), bananas, fresh fruit, etc.  And a very light sprinkling of Turbinado sugar -- it's the law.      

The recipe/instructions are easily found online, the only change I made was to reduce the amounts of water and oatmeal.  The original recipe called for 6 cups of water and 1 1/2 cups of oatmeal and that was a lot, more than I was using in a couple of days.  The 4:1 water to oatmeal ratio I use makes enough for three to five portions.  

Which reminds me... I need to put oatmeal on the shopping list.  

Ugh.  The grocery store.  Tomorrow.  Right before Thanksgiving.  

I'm guessing the "fun" part of being out is over for a few days.     

 

Building Permit...

I've always liked quilts made with house blocks.  It didn't matter if the quilt was made with just house blocks, or if those houses were mixed with something else, I don't know that I've ever seen a house quilt that I didn't love.

And it is becoming a problem. 

As much as I love house quilts, I love house pillows even more.  Yes, that's right... house pillows.  

This will be on my sofa next month -- five of the "large" Full House houses, a pieced border on the top and bottom and a lumbar pillow.  

 

Countdown to Christmas by Sweetwater.  I love this fabric -- a lot.  

When I finished this one, my Mom asked for something a little more fall-ish that we could use right now so I made this.

Little Gatherings by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings.

To make a pillow, this is what you'll need... Full House Pillow.

That was the easy part.  This was just 10 houses.  How much time does it take to make 10 houses?  My problems really started while I was piecing these pillows... because I had time to think.  

I couldn't stop thinking about something Simone made...

Photo shamelessly swiped from Simone de Klerk's blog.  

She blogged about it in September.  I loved this little quilt as soon as I saw it.  Simone wrote me that she had always liked Cracked Pots but had never gotten around to making it, so when she saw Full House, she decided to combine parts of each for a small quilt.  I love the colors and fabrics she chose, but her use of the "in the round" design got me thinking... and thinking smaller...

So I made this.  Around the Pink 'Hood.  

 I used a charm pack I got from Corrie at Quilt Taffy.  And I added a little bit of stash... just because.   

My Mom loves this pillow but she asked about a darker version... sooooo... this one isn't quite finished.  But since that could take weeks and weeks and weeks... here it is.

Jo's Neighborhood.  I decided to see what it would look like with a different border on it so I just used some of the leftover strips for a piano-key border.  While I will finish this as a pillow, I also think it would make a nice little table-topper or wall quilt.  

If you're so inclined -- Around the Neighborhood.

And so you don't have to go looking -- Tiny Town.

That makes 106 houses.  

I'm 16 houses short.  Count two more Nine Dots "big" houses -- those were made but not used and they were quilted up for pincushions that I haven't finished yet.  The other fourteen houses?

They're small.  

You see... I still had some Countdown to Christmas pieces left over and it was just too yummy to put away...

As Duke said... [they've] got friends!  Eleven friends, to be precise.  They still need filling and closing, and then all of them will get one more step.  I promise to show you the lot of them when they're all done.

As to the size, these are the little Tiny Town houses with one little tweak -- I trimmed 1/4" from the top edge of the house before attaching the roof, squishing the house down just a bit.  The houses then got a 1 1/4" border.  After the houses were machine-quilted and washed to make them quilt-y, I squared them up and finished them as little pincushions.  But if you added a little ribbon at the top, wouldn't these be cute as tie-ons to Christmas packages?  Or as quilt-y ornaments on a tree?  

I suppose I could put off working on my Blueberry Crumb Cake quilt for another week...