LaVieEnRosie

Tick tock...

Yes, this used to be a watch.  A ladies bracelet watch.  My Mom's. 

And I think it is safe to say that Cesar Millan would tell you that it was all my fault. 

I left Rosie alone. 

For a couple of days. 

It wasn't a continuous couple of days, just long days where she was home alone.  It was last Spring ~ March of 2008, to be specific ~ and my cousin and his wife had come from Long Island to visit and see a few Arizona sights. 

They flew in late Friday morning and my Mom and I left the house around 10:00 am to pick them up at the airport, after which we took them to lunch, showed them around Phoenix and then took them to their hotel.  We went home, let Rosie out, fed her, played with her a few minutes, then left to go out to dinner, returning about 9:00 pm.

On Saturday, we left a little earlier in the morning, about 8:30 am.  Rosie had been out, fed, out again, walked and played with.  She was left in the kitchen with plenty of water, a huge basketful of toys and a comfy bed.  And I left the television playing so that she would have some company.  After spending the day in Sedona, we returned home about 8:00 pm to a very happy and very energetic Rosie.  She was let out, fed, walked, played with and let out again.  So far, so good.

Now for this to all make sense, I should note that while we were in Sedona, I noticed that the clasp on my Mom's watch ~ which she was wearing ~ was coming apart.  To keep the watch from getting lost, she put the watch in her purse, in a small plastic bag containing some Chinese coins I had bought at a bead shop at Tlaquepaque in Sedona.  Before leaving the house on Sunday, my Mom thought it best to take the watch/bag out of her purse to leave at home, just in case it should get lost somehow.  So I took the little plastic bag out of my Mom's purse and put in a basket on the kitchen counter that had always been a very "safe  place". 

On Sunday morning, we took Gary and Sue to the Farm at South Mountain for breakfast.  We left the house at about 9:00 am.  It is a beautiful place just south of downtown Phoenix that actually is an organic farm, but also has an art gallery and a couple of restaurants.  They do the most wonderful outdoor brunch on the weekends.

     

(The photo is from the Farm at South Mountain Website.)

I think my mistake was in not knowing that Rosie could have accompanied us to brunch ~ The Farm is very pet-friendly.  Oops.  I think Rosie knew that.

When we got home about 12:30 pm or so, everything was fine.  Rosie was very happy to see us and nothing seemed amiss.  I would be picking Sue and Gary up about 4:30 or so to  bring them to the house for dinner and a nice visit.  While in the kitchen preparing dinner, I noticed what looked like a small piece of glass on the floor by the kitchen table.  Because I didn't want Rosie to get into something like that, I picked it up to throw it away.  Even before I picked it up, it occurred to me that it looked like a watch crystal... uh oh.

As soon as I looked under and around the table, I began finding things.  Not watch parts... just the remainder of a small plastic bag and three Chinese coins.  No way... Rosie did NOT eat the watch.  It had to be here... only it wasn't.  Now you should know that Rosie thought this was all very exciting.  If she felt any guilt... remorse... upset stomach... she hid it very well.  Her tail was wagging and I know she was really hoping I would get down on the floor to keep looking... and of course, play with her!

Should I take her to the emergency vet?  I was still convinced that I would find the watch somewhere... especially since Rosie was bouncing around and having a grand time running around the patio, chasing rocks and playing with Gary and Sue.  She ate her regular meal with gusto ~ in fact, she ate it like she hadn't eaten a thing in weeks!

Now, here's the thing... this isn't the first "thing" Rosie's eaten.  She's kind of famous at the vet for her "eating habits".  Past experience is why I took the precaution of putting two cotton balls and some bread in with her kibble ~ it acts as a binding agent on any sharp things in their stomach.  (On a side note, many vets prefer not to do the cotton ball thing anymore, sticking just to bread.) 

On Monday morning, still completely unable to find anything resembling a watch or parts, I had to accept that she had actually eaten the watch.  A trip to the vet was in order, especially as we had planned to take Gary and Sue to the airport and I didn't want to leave Rosie home alone... just in case.  So when the vet opened the doors on Monday morning, there we were, Rosie and me. 

Rosie's vet, Dr. Heyn, decided that it would be best to leave Rosie there for a couple of hours so they could do some x-rays to see if the watch was there, and then do what was necessary.  She called within an hour to say that "yes, Rosie had swallowed the watch... the parts were all there", and that they were going to give her something to get her to "cough it back up".  Now here's something interesting ~ to induce vomiting, Dr. Heyn put a substance in the conjunctive part of Rosie's eye!  Bingo bango... here comes the watch... or the parts.  The vet kept Rosie for a couple more hours to make sure there weren't any after-effects or problems... the only problem was that Rosie got a little bored being in the operating room by herself and went looking for some entertainment.  The roll of paper towel on the wall proved a nice distraction.  Fortunately Rosie has a very nice, and very understanding of dog behavior, vet.

Now you should also know that I kind of "staged" the first picture to make it a little less easy to identify.  This is everything that was "retrieved" from stomachus Rosius.   

 

To those of you who suggested a "vintage watch", you're correct.  My mother had this watch for about 60 years.  And for the record, it was an 18k gold Omega watch. 

My Mom's a sweetie, she wasn't upset.  While she would rather not have lost the watch, her first comment was that she would have been more upset if Rosie had been hurt or needed surgery.  She'll tell you now that she doesn't miss it because she couldn't see the numbers anymore anyway, and she much prefers wearing my Dad's old watch anyway.  I gave it to her to wear after she lost this one.

Now, about the drawing... Mom pulled a couple of names from this bowl ~

 

Thank you to everyone who took a guess!  I really enjoyed reading your comments ~ especially those that refused to believe that Rosie could possibly be responsible for something like this.  . 

I have sent e-mails to Sharon/Homestead, Juul, and Kim/Kwilty requesting mailing addresses. 

For those of you that didn't win this time... it's a big room and I have a lot of stuff to clean out.    

A guessing game...

Sort of. 

For some of you, the second part of this little guessing game will probably be easy. 

Ever since I started this little endeavor, my Mom has been asking me if I've told you about " *** " yet.  No, Mom, not yet... but I will.  I promise.  After reading this a little while ago, I decided that the time is now. 

But instead of just telling you about it, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to do a little givewaway.  As some of you know, I've been cleaning out my workroom and I've run across a few things that need new homes.  This is going to be a total leap of faith for you because you won't have any idea what you might win ~ only that it will be in fat quarter form. 

Take a look at this...

 

To be eligible for my "Mystery Box" contest ~ just post a comment before midnight Wednesday, Mountain Standard Time and give me the correct answer to these two questions ~

• What was it?

• What happened to it?

I'll give you a hint... "she" had something to do with it.  Yeah, right... she looks sweet and innocent here...

 

Okay, so she is very sweet.  And very cute.  That's the arm of my desk chair at the bottom of the picture, and that's where Rosie was sleeping while I was writing a few notes at my desk last night. 

Toodles...

Buried alive...

Last night, I dreamed that I was buried under a huge mountain of tangerine jelly beans!

Thank goodness so many of you also love those Jelly Bellys, it only took an hour for you to eat your way to me!  And while you were kind enough not to actually say it, I could tell that you were hoping there might be some orange fabric under that “tangerine pile” and you were just a little bit disappointed to find me instead!

First, let me thank everyone for all the wonderful posts ~ I enjoyed reading every one of them and while I did get to answer quite a few of them, I know that I’m not going to be able to answer all of them.  So I hope you’ll forgive me.

And a huge thank you to Pat for inviting me to her Sew Along!  I got to sew, I got to spend the day in my jammies ~ not the "witchy ones" just yet and I got to hang out with quilters!  It was a great day!  

And since a few of you weren’t quite sure ~ the story about meeting Pat in Pittsburgh is sort of true.  It all depends on how you look at “the facts”.  As Joe Friday used to say, “just the facts, ma’am”… I did meet Pat in Pittsburgh.  I did walk back to my hotel from dinner one night.  There are nuns in Pittsburgh.  There are biker bars in Pittsburgh.  There are tattoo parlors in Pittsburgh.  And there is a police department in Pittsburgh and I will assume that they have handcuffs.  So all the pertinent details are there… I just re-arranged all the pieces and stitched them together in a way that I thought worked best for me. 

As befits a quilter, don’t you think? 

And to those of you who asked, I would gladly ship my basket anywhere in the world!  Canada, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia, anywhere!  Don’t tell anyone but I’m a little that I don’t get to go “international” this time around.  Next time… I promise!

Now about that basket I was going to give away…

Wait… before I get to that, I have to do the oh-so-official recitation regarding the Academy voting process, how the ballots are tabulated and so on.  And in the end, my Mom picked two numbers between 1 and 186 ~ the total number of comments on the three posts.  After getting everything in order from first to last by the time the comment was posted, the winner is…

Oh, yikes!  I almost forgot to tell you…

The MOST amazing thing happened last night!  I left the basket of goodies on the table in my workroom and I turned off the lights when I went to bed.  Then when I came in this morning, look what I found!

 

It multiplied!  All by itself…

What?  You mean you’ve never tried to use that line with someone in your life to explain how your “historical collection” (definition ~ your quilting stash) manages to keep growing despite your having sworn off buying any more fabric? 

So the two winners are….

·         # 10 ~ Charlie in Kansas City ~ aka Qubeequilts

·         #101 ~ Vickie in Cleveland

 

If you’ll e-mail me with your mailing addresses, I’ll see about getting a Priority Mail box off to you this week!  If I don’t mail it soon, you might be missing a few jelly beans…

 

To everyone who gets to continue sewing along with Pat and her friends, have a most wonderful "Orange Day!"  I get to sew a little bit today on something pink and pastel... then it's off to work.  Hi Ho Hi Ho...

 

And that's all I know...

 

Ouch...

My pride... and my arm!

Carrie the cyber-tech-twit posted the same post twice ~ once via auto-publish and once after I had edited/corrected it.  Well, duh. 

But not to worry... if you have posted to either one of the duplicate posts ~ or to this one, you're entered in the drawing to win my little gift basket...

 

As for my arm... or more specifically, my shoulder, I think I hurt that a few minutes ago while trying to pat myself on the back. 

I finished my little OP quilt. 

And it is little, just nine blocks.  And the blocks are little too.  My blocks are less than half the size of Pat's.  While her pattern makes 12" finished blocks, mine finish at 4 1/2" x 4 1/2". 

For my little version:

• Cut one center square ~ 3" x 3"
• Cut two border strips ~ 1 1/2" x 3"
• Cut two border strips ~ 1 1/2" x 5"
• Cut four corner squares ~ 1 1/2" x 1 1/2"
• Cut four sashing strips ~ 1" x 2 1/2"
• Cut one square for block cornerstone ~ 1" x 1"

The sashing strips between the blocks were cut at 1 1/2" x 5" and the cornerstones were cut at 1 1/2" x 1 1/2".  I only had pieces measuring about 10" x 10" so I decided to use two fabrics for the sashing strips.  

The whole thing measures 17" x 17".  Don't look too closely, I was too busy having fun to stop and press some of the places where I should have.   

 

Okay, I'm off to do some real work now.  More sewing... I know, your heart is just breaking for me. 

And that's all I know for now...

Knock knock...

Who's there?

Orange?

Orange who?

Orange you glad it's Friday and we can sew along with Pat!

I'm sorry, I hope you'll forgive me.  I love "knock knock" jokes.  Always have, always will.

I doubt Pat knew that when she invited me to play along with her Sew-Along.  Then again, she probably wouldn't be surprised since she knows I have a rather odd sense of humor.  When Pat sent me an e-mail about when/what/etc., she suggested I tell you how we met.  I asked her if she was sure she wanted me to tell you that we met five years ago in Pittsburgh at Spring Market.  While I was walking a group of nuns back to their hotel after their church meeting, we passed a biker bar and Pat was being hauled out in handcuffs by the police! 

She wrote me back to remind me to not forget to tell you that we met up the next day at a tattoo shop so we could get inked up ~ they do awesome "Quilter's Rule" tats.  After that, we went for coffee and a chat.  Both of us were also making notes about quilt ideas we intended to borrow from some of the tattoo designs we saw in the shop.  

And that's my "how I met Pat Sloan" story and I'm sticking to it!   

(And, really, it's a much better story than the truth.  I met Pat after e-mailing back and forth before that Spring Market... something about a green Jinny Beyer fabric, I think.  Anyway, we've waved at each other at Markets ever since and we were neighbors in Portland last May.)

So here's to Pat and all things orange!

 

Jelly beans!  Tangerine Jelly Bellys, to be specific.  My favorites.

Let me be honest here, I'm not really an orange kind of girl.  I have a canteloupe-colored sweater that I love and should wear more often.  When it comes to quilts, I love rust, pumpkin, bronze, copper, canteloupe, peach... all the shades of orange.  But "orange crush-orange?"  Hmmm... not exactly.  It isn't that it isn't wonderful, it just isn't me. 

Don't get me wrong, I do have some orange fabric...

 

... most of which I bought for a Halloween quilt that I still hope to get to someday. 

This is my favorite ~ isn't it wonderful?

 

Even if I never make the quilt, I am not parting with this fabric.  You know... if I combine it with one of the companion pieces from the collection ~ I think it was called Witchy-something ~ I bet I have enough to make some pajama pants!  What do you think? 

Huh?

What?

Pat says to stop babbling and get to the part about the giveaway so you can start sewing!  Thanks to my jabbering away, you're already behind schedule. 

If you leave a comment by Midnight tonight ~ 12:00 pm, Friday, February 20, 2009, Mountain Standard Time ~ you will be in the running to win this...

 

A few of my favorite things ~ many of them are orange.  Chocolate orange sticks, tangerine jelly beans, one of my favorite teas ~ in an orange box, a Schnibbles quilt kit... and, yes, the wire basket is included.  It's the perfect size for fat quarters, charm packs... all those good fabric things.

The fabric in the kit is Sandy Gervais' Fresh Squeezed.  The kit includes two charm packs, .25 yard for an inner border, .5 yard for binding and 1.125 yards for the backing.  It is everything you'll need to make the Gazebo Schnibbles pattern included in the kit. 

 

And that's all I know for now... have fun sewing!

This, that and other stuff...

It's Thursday and tomorrow is Orange Pile Day!

Are you ready to be orange?  I'll let you know the level of my "orange-ness" tomorrow... I'm not really an "orange" sort of girl. 

Except for orange leaves in the fall... I love those.

 

Oh yeah... like we have alot of these in Phoenix. 

There were a few questions about Darwin that I thought I should answer.  Yes, Rosie would have barked and given how strange Darwin was, I'm not sure she would have warmed up to him even if he had thrown her a steak or two from the freezer.  And, yes, Rosie is definitely the "defender of her domain".  She's barked at hot air balloons flying over the house, workmen on the roof of the house across the street, and anything that looks mildly threatening.  Of course, as soon as they come in the house and say "how's my pretty girl?"... she's a whirling dervish of wagging tail, shaking bodies and sloppy kisses. 

Yes, the insurance covered the loss of the stuff in the freezer and all the damage to the walls.  Truth be told, when our insurance company heard the whole story, they thought the whole thing was pretty funny too.  Although it probably goes without saying that the only reason we've been able to laugh about all of this is that Darwin was caught and sent to jail.  On a side note, the little twit served a little less than 9 months. 

And yes, there is no question that an observant neighbor makes all the difference. 

As for my knives, I kept them.  They worked perfectly well ~ not so much as a scratch or nick.  I had also gotten an extra one to use while the Sheriff's Department was hanging onto my two for evidence.  It took almost 10 months to get them back. 

And that's all I know for now...

Housekeeping...

Not the brooms and mops kind... this is the "I need to take care of a few things" kind.

To Becky S. ~ THANK YOU!  I have been trying to find your e-mail to thank you for the wonderful gifts!  Rosie loves you and so do I!  All of my favorite things ~ wonderful-smelling candles, chocolate and Rosie-treats!  Thank you. 

Starting this Friday ~ February 20th ~ Pat Sloan has invited me to participate in a Sew-Along.  It's a "virtual retreat" with a blog hop, prizes and lots of orange fabric.  I will post on Friday about that ~ but the important thing to remember is that I will be doing a giveaway of something orange.  (Lisa ~ the Stashmaster ~ do you think I can borrow your fabulous Orange Berry Blast quilt?)    

 

It seems that in going on about my wonderful macaroni and cheese, I forgot to include the recipe.  Sorry about that... here it is, the Barefoot Contessa's Mac 'n Cheese recipe from GQ Magazine... The recipe was adapted from a recipe in Barefoot Contessa Family Style.

Ina's Mac and Cheese

Serves 6 to 8.

Vegetable oil

1 pound fusilli, cavatappi, or elbow macaroni

1 quart milk

8 Tbsp.  (1 stick) unsalted butter

½ c. all-purpose flour

12 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated

8 oz. extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, grated

1 Tbsp. salt

½ tsp. freshly ground pepper

½ tsp. nutmeg

¾ lb. fresh tomatoes, sliced

1 ½ c. fresh white breadcrumbs ~ made from 5 slices white bread, pulsed in a food processor

 

1.        Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Drizzle the oil into the boiling water, add the pasta, and cook according to the package instructions.  Drain well.

2.       Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan but do not allow it to boil.  Melt 6 Tbsp. of the butter in a large ~ 4 qt. ~ pot and add the flour all at once.  Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk.  Whisk in the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth.  Remove from heat and stir in the cheeses, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Add the cooked pasta and stir well.  Pour into a 9” x 13” baking dish.

3.       Arrange the tomato slices on top.  Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter; toss with the breadcrumbs to coat evenly, and sprinkle all over the top of the casserole.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the pasta is browned on top.  Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

If you love the flavor of Gruyere, I think you'll like this.  For me, Gruyere isn't my favorite, and after making it once, I think I will use less Gruyere or even substitute something else, probably something with a sharper flavor like the Cheddar.  The tomatoes on top are terrific ~ that's probably my favorite part of the whole dish. 

As for sewing... after having the day off on Friday, I had to work Saturday and Sunday ~ and man, were we busy!  By the way, all those rumors about Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn closing are not true.  I don't know who started them or who keeps perpetuating them, but the company is going to be just fine.

And that's my "housekeeping" for now.

About that Darwin fellow...

Not Charles... this isn't about evolution. 

This is about "Darwin", the dim-witted bungler who broke into my home while I was at Fall Market in Houston a year ago.  All of the cleaning, sorting, clearing out and moving around of the "stuff" in my workroom brought Darwin to mind.  His real name isn't Darwin, it's something else that starts with a "D", but Darwin seems to fit as he is the kind of person who is very likely to someday be considered for a Darwin Award. 

Let me preface this by saying that no one was home, everyone ~ including Rosie ~ was in Houston.  We had packed up and loaded the car, set timers for lights and radios, alerted the neighbors, stopped the mail and newspapers, and locked up the house on the way out the door.  Mom was going to visit her favorite child and Rosie... well, she just likes road trips. 

While in Houston, my Mom, brother and I went to a friend's house for dinner on Sunday evening, conveniently leaving our cell phones at my brother's home.  We returned to find all sorts of frantic messages from one of my neighbors asking if a man claiming to be "a boyfriend" had authority to be in the house. 

Huh... boyfriend?  Whose?  Mine?  Mom's?  Uh... no.

It wasn't until we got home from Houston on Wednesday that we finally had the whole story...  Late Sunday afternoon, one of the neighbors was in her garage doing some clean-up with a friend helping her.  The back gate to her patio was open and she was out in the driveway when she was approached by a man walking down the driveway.  He was wearing shoes and shorts, but no shirt.  It was a pretty hot afternoon ~ still in the 90s ~ and he was sweating.  He asked for a bottle of water and said his truck had broken down a few blocks away, and he was going to a friend's house to call for assistance.  My neighbor said she got an odd feeling from Darwin, partly because he kept looking past her in to the patio as though he were trying to see if anyone else was around.  He seemed to be making a move toward her when the young man helping her stepped out of the garage onto the patio, at which point my neighbor said it was time for Darwin to leave.  He thanked her for the water and continued walking down the driveway.

The young man helping my neighbor decided to check on his car parked in the driveway and when he looked out, Darwin wasn't there.  It's a long driveway ~ about 200 feet long ~ and he couldn't have gotten to the other end that quickly so he stepped out to see where Darwin might have gone when he saw him going over the wall of one of the patios that backs up the driveway.  The young man ran down the driveway to see which house it was, then ran back so my neighbor could call the Sheriff's Department. 

The Sheriff arrived within 5 minutes and climbed up onto the electrical transformer box next to the patio wall ~ Darwin's way in too ~ to see what was going on.  She couldn't figure out how he had gotten in the house because there wasn't any broken glass from the sliding doors or the door to the garage.  She wasn't even sure he was in the house until she saw him running back and forth past the sliding door in the kitchen.  She called for additional back-up and started checking with neighbors about keys, our whereabouts, and so on.  That's when my neighbor started calling me in Houston.  

After about 45 minutes of additional deputies arriving, getting the house surrounded, etc., Darwin spied the Sheriff watching him over the wall ~ at which point, she yelled "FREEZE!  Sheriff's Department!  Come out with your hands up!"... or something like that.  He ran to the front door and tried to leave ~ never mind that there were a dozen deputies waiting out there ~ but that didn't work as I had locked it on my way out and taken the key with me.  Darwin couldn't unlock the deadbolt... oops.    

 

When he couldn't get out, Darwin told the police he was armed and that he wouldn't surrender until he could talk to his girlfriend ~ who, by the way, had a restraining order out against him.  But Darwin wasn't finished trying to find a way out of the house...

First, he thought he might be able to get to the patio home/condo next door by cutting his way through the wall.  So he picked a wall in the master bedroom and cut out an area about 18" x 24".  Everything was going well until he hit brick... seems Darwin picked an exterior wall instead of a common wall.  That's probably a good thing because there were a couple of deputies, a K-9 unit and a SWAT guy right on the other side of the wall. 

Okay, Plan B.  Darwin decided to cut a hole in the ceiling and climb through the attic space to the neighbor on the other side!  After cutting a 12-14" hole in the ceiling of the laundry room, Darwin finally noticed that this is a flat-roof house and there is no crawl-space in the ceiling!  Oops...  On a side note, can you believe that Darwin used my beautiful W-S knives to try and cut through sheetrock?  I'll hand it to Wusthof, they make really great knives, they weren't even damaged!  And good for W-S, my manager told me that I should exchange them for new knives anyway... I think she just couldn't wait to fill out the reason for the return on the form. 

After being in the house for about 3 hours, Darwin finally spoke to his girlfriend and then surrendered to the police.  Because he couldn't open the front door or the back gate ~ it is also on a key lock ~ he had to go out through the garage door.  But he couldn't  bet that to work either... it was unplugged and he hadn't noticed.  I gather the Sheriff's were in the driveway yelling at him to "PLUG IT IN!".  When the garage door opened, Darwin was standing on a step ladder between the cars holding the plug into the ceiling socket.  (I unplug it as a pre-caution when I'm gone.)

Now, here's what I'm a little grumped about... The MOST exciting thing to happen in the neighborhood in FOREVER, and I missed it.  We were at the center of it... and we missed it.  Eighteen Sheriff's Department cars, two SWAT units, a couple of K-9 units and a helicopter... and we missed it!  It even made the local news!  AND I MISSED IT! 

Okay, it wouldn't have been nearly as funny as if we had been here... or if even if just my Mom and Rosie had  been here.  

And I have to confess that both my Mom and I do think of the whole thing as rather funny.  I'm sure it's because we know how lucky we were ~ nothing was damaged, nothing was taken, nobody was hurt, and the whole thing amounted to an inconvenience and not much more.  It took me less than 1 hour to put everything back in order.  And the only thing that was truly damaged were the cordless telephone and my computer speakers, both of which had the cords cut a couple of inches from the power converter thing on the electrical cord.  (And no, I still haven't figured out why on that one.) 

Why funny?  The sheriff didn't know that Darwin was in the house because he was busy in the garage stacking up the 12-packs of toilet paper so he could take those with him when he left!  He had also cleared out the freezer of chickens, a prime rib roast, some steaks and other things.  Please note ~ he took the Baskin Robbins ice cream and left the Skinny Cow.  All of that was lost because the Sheriff's didn't realize what was in the plastic bags and it was thawed when the neighbor went through the next day to secure the house until we got back.

The Sheriff's Department was amazing ~ they told us that we had done everything right as far as deterrents, timers, etc.  But that's what happens when someone really wants to get in, they will find a way ~ it turns out that Darwin was able to "pop" the locks on the door from the patio to the garage, and then do the same on the locks on the door from the garage to the house.  The Sheriff also took pictures of the "crime scene"... and yes, my workroom was part of that.  Their comment... "gosh... you have a lot of quilts and fabric."

That's part of why I think about Darwin while I'm cleaning out my workroom... well, that and the "evidence" I found a couple of months after the break-in.  I should add one thing before I tell you about that though... there was this smudge on the carpet that I kept wondering about, mostly because I couldn't explain it and it didn't make any sense.  It looked like a soot smudge.  I knew Darwin had been on the floor by the table ~ his wallet and one of the power cords were found there after he surrendered ~ but I didn't think he had been lighting my scented candles for a little aromatherapy before his incarceration.  

While looking for a piece of fabric in one of the bins behind the table, I opened one to find what looked like a Christmas ornament... which didn't make any sense at all.  Why would I have put that there?  And when I picked it up to look at it, I thought it looked like it was broken.  So why would I save a broken Christmas... uh, this isn't an ornament.  This is a pipe... a meth pipe...  all the pieces fit.  That explained the smudge and I did hear that Darwin was "under the influence" when he was arrested. 

I called the Sheriff to tell her what I found and to ask her if they needed it for evidence ~ Darwin was already in jail after pleading guilty.  She said yes and that she would be by to pick it up later.  She also asked me if I had found anything else.  Let me just say, that's an interesting conversation to have with a law enforcement official.  Do you convey that you would know exactly what it was if you found it?  Or do you feign complete ignorance?  Just how much knowledge to you admit to having?  Personal, professional, anecdotal, from television/movies, whatever... would you tell a deputy sheriff that you'd know a drug stash if you saw it? 

I'm happy to say that Darwin used up what he had while he was here ~ a last hurrah before the big house, so to speak. 

So that's my break-in story.  And the reason I call my workroom a "crime scene".  It's a official designation!  I didn't just make it up because the description "fit" for other reasons. 

On call...

I'm "on call" to work today... meaning that I have to call in about an hour or so to find out if I'm needed this afternoon.  Cross your fingers for me... if I don't have to work, I have the whole day to sew. 

And since I haven't gotten to really do some sewing/quilting work all week, even Rosie would be happy about it ~ especially since me not having to go to work means me not having to leave the house which means me being here for her to follow around the house...

 

That's my girl... can you believe that the only way I can get her to sit still long enough for me to take a picture is to hold her rock over my head?  Don't you think Rosie and Stump would make a cute couple?  They're about the same age.

So what have I been doing ~ aside from catching a little bit of Westminster?  Organizing! 

My favorite store 2nd favorite store, the Container Store, had their big Elfa sale this past month and I had been waiting to get some of the 10-runner drawer units for my workroom.  This past week, I've been setting up drawers and sorting through bins in an attempt to finally get some order in there.  Although, not too much order... I can't think when everything is too neat.  (One of my favorite books is A Perfect Mess ~ The Hidden Benefits of Disorder.)

I'm making progress and when it is a little more presentable, I'll show you a little more. 

I will say that in sorting through a couple of the stacks of bins, I was very thankful not to find any more "evidence" for the Sheriff's Department... evidence of Darwin. 

Who's Darwin?  Some of you know that we had a break-in while I was in Houston for Fall Market in 2007.  I promise to write all about that tomorrow ~ I promise!  Let it suffice to say, they caught him, nothing was taken, the damage was minor and it was more of an inconvenience than anything.  And "Darwin", that's what I am going to have to call our burglar since I can't/won't use his real name.  And Darwin seems rather fitting since our little burglar would certainly be a candidate for the Darwin Awards.

While I haven't been getting much sewing done, I did get to try a new recipe this week.  I was reading GQ while at the hair salon and it had a recipe for Macaroni and Cheese from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa.

 

I love the tomato slices under the bread crumbs on the top.  It is just a pretty regular old-fashioned mac and cheese ~ you make your white sauce, add shredded cheese ~ gruyere and extra sharp cheddar ~ add that to cooked pasta, top with tomato slices and fresh bread crumbs and bake. 

And who knew GQ had recipes!  And I initially picked it up to read the article about LeBron James.

Whoohooooo!  Guess who gets to stay home and sew?  

It's going to be a good day... 

Flip a coin...

There are those who believe that insanity and genius are two sides of the same coin…

I knew I could make some of you laugh – and confuse the stuffing out of the rest of you.  I’ll tell you in a minute why I do the binding clips the way I do.  But first my cheesecake!

Last December I was searching around on the web for a good, filling appetizer recipe that wasn’t made with shrimp since I can’t eat that anymore.  (Boo hoo… many of my favorite recipes have shrimp!)  While on the Midwest Living website, I stumbled across a recipe for this...

 

 

Red Velvet Cheesecake ~ this is the Midwest Living picture that caught my attention. 

I admit it… it’s the color that completely captivates me.  Red… what a surprise!

Since I wanted to try it and needed an “occasion” with a few foodie-types willing to offer gastronomical opinions, bringing it to Inventory day at Williams-Sonoma seemed the perfect opportunity.  I increased the recipe enough to also make a little 6” version for my Mom… which you see here.  I didn’t have a cute snowflake or heart cutout for the decoration on the top.

The taste is very good but the primary appeal is definitely the color.  The crust ~ chocolate wafer cookies, semi-sweet chocolate pieces, etc. ~ give this a dark-chocolate flavor, and the sour cream and buttermilk provide a nice tang which balances the milk chocolate in the filling, keeping the whole thing from being too sweet or bland.  So while the cheesecake is very good, this is the kind of recipe you would make for a special occasion where you wanted something that looked fabulous ~ like a buffet table at a big holiday party.  If your object is awesome flavor, there are other, better chocolate cheesecakes. 

(And I completely disagree with the Reviews that accompany the recipe ~ substituting chocolate graham crackers for the chocolate wafers would make the crust too sweet and a little bland, nor can you substitute Oreos with the filling as that would also be too sweet.  And adding more sugar would not improve the flavor of this cake.  You either like it or you don't.)

Are you hungry yet?  I have one more recipe to share.  This is what I made for dinner last night. 

This is Giada DeLaurentis’ Chicken and Orzo Frittata.  I’ve made this dish a dozen times before and it is one of my favorites.  She made this dish on her show, Everyday Italian, a few years ago and it is now in her newest book, Giada’s Kitchen.  It's a terrific book.

Now about that binding and all those clips… Yes, I’ve tried the fusible thread and while I think the method is terrific, the quirks of the way I do bindings meant that my results weren’t as good as when I use the clips.  Before the binding clips came along, I pinned the bindings down, and yes, I used to pin at least two whole sides of the quilt before I would start stitching.

The way I do my bindings comes down to two things, the first is personal preference.   I like a very tight binding.  Snug… as in completely filled with batting.  I also like narrow bindings, a ¼” wide or less.  My strips are cut at 2” wide, and sometimes at 1 ¾” wide, it depends on the batting I’ve used.  Over the years, I found that if I tried to hold the binding in place while I stitched, I was holding it too tightly and my hands would get very sore and stiff, especially when I was trying to finish the binding on a couple of quilts right before Market.  Pinning and/or clips saved me from that. 

But I also have this problem with patience… as in, I don’t have much of it.  I don’t like having to stop and clip/pin more of the quilt while I’m in the middle of stitching.  I want to just keep stitching until I run out of thread… and I use a really long thread… 24” long… at least.  With the clips, I just keep stitching along, pulling the clips out and dropping them into my lap ~ or onto my little magnetic tool dish ~ without stopping. 

 

(The metal dish measures 6" in diameter and has a really strong magnet on the bottom.  It is called a Magnetic Parts Tray and is usually found in the automotive department of large hardware stores and WalMart.)

The second aspect of why I do things the way I do comes from what I’ve learned from books and quilt show judges about the “ideal” binding.  I’ve seen them… and no, they weren’t on my quilts.  From the judges’ comments, my bindings are better than average but there is still room for improvement to make it Paducah-perfect.  Some of the “rules” they apply are:    

·         The binding should be straight and even all the way around the quilt. 

·         It should be the same width of the front of the quilt as it is on the back.  If you’re making a specific design statement by varying the width, that’s fine so long as it is readily apparent that that is what you’re doing. 

·         The fold of fabric on the back of the quilt should just cover the line of stitching attaching the binding to the quilt.  If you had x-ray vision and could see through all the layers, the folded edge of the binding should not cover the stitching by more than 1/16^th of an inch. 

·         The binding should be completely filled with batting ~ and no lumps! 

·         Miters should be stitched down ~ front and back!

So to save my hands from clutching the binding while I stitch… to keep stitching without stopping… to try and keep an eye on how even everything is while I stitch… and to make sure the binding is filled with batting before I get there with my stitching… I use 12,000,000 binding clips.

So what if the quilt weighs 20 pounds more than it would without the clips… it isn’t like I have to carry it anywhere. 

And really… it isn’t as though I’ve never exhibited any quirky, odd or even a little eccentric habits before now…