Having Fun Now

                 

Tonight I made another pressure cooker recipe, and it has possibilities.  It's called

Mexican Chicken Tacos.

Here's the meat mixture after cooking it in the pressure cooker.  It would be great in Chicken Enchiladas too.

Here's the recipe.  You can click on the picture if you're interested.

I hope you can read my handwriting.

I didn't make the salsa, I just opened a jar of it.  I'm a cheater, I know, especially when it comes to cooking.

Now for the FUN!  I've started a new handwork project, because I'm not happy unless I'm doing some handwork.  I still have my quilt I need to work on, but this calls my name, and I can do it when I'm tired of the other.  I had to trace the pattern onto the tea towel after I ironed a ten inch square of freezer paper to the back to stabilize the towel while I was tracing it.  I have a light box, but it was sure nice out today--sunny and 65 degrees (can't beat that in January), and we had the doors and windows open, so I traced it on the patio door with it slightly open--Wonderful Clean Air.

I just used an ordinary pencil for this, and it worked fine.

Now, I'm having fun again. Woo-Hoo!

Still Blooming

I can't believe it,  they're still blooming a week later. 

Aren't they gorgeous?

The fish are a little blurry---they won't be still for the camera.

Beside the roses are a couple of gifts I received from my wonderful family--just love-er-ly.

And these--Woo-hoo--Spring is right around the corner, kind of.

 

When I finish my UFO of a Checkerberry Bliss tablecloth, this is my next project.

Tea towels--Yea!  Embroidery--Yea!

I  found this project when my hubby and I were out of town celebrating our 41st Anniversary.  Can't wait. 

Sailor's Delight

Lovely Sky tonight.

You know the saying--Red sky at night, sailor's delight; Red sky in the morning sailor's take warning.

I tried another pressure cooker recipe.  This time I picked an easy one that would not fail.

I have no desire for two flops in a row.  This one turned out great.

I didn't exactly go by the recipe---I used a cheaper cut of meat---rump roast.

I have to cut back on my carbs so this one is Hubby's.  He liked it real well.  I hope the sugar in the BBQ sauce doesn't send my pressure up.  It sure was good.

Cinnamon ?

We had an adventurous meal tonite--Southern Style Meatballs and Gravy.

It tasted a little strange.  The recipe, which I copied from a book I checked out at the Library, calls for cinnamon in the meat mixture.

This recipe needs to be worked over, big time.  Less milk in the meatball mixture, NO CINNAMON,  minced onion would be nice to add, and a little salt.  I'm not sure about the eggs either, I will probably leave them out next time.

The gravy was fine, except I used less butter, just 1 Tablespoon.  I didn't use any sugar in it, and it was fine without it.  I forgot to put the hot sauce in it, and I bet that would have been good, or use beef gravy.

I only used half of the meatballs in the gravy----so, guess what Hubby gets to take for lunch to work.  I will put turkey Gravy on them, I think that will help.  He didn't think they were too bad--that's good.

I'm trying out some new pressure cooker recipes, so----more adventures to come.

Design Wall Monday

I have made some progress on my borders, they're almost finished--Yeah!

I'm still working on the bottom one, I probably have an hour's worth of stitching left on it. 

 I'm excited to get to working on the center of the quilt that looks like this:

It's called Checkerberry Bliss in the book.  I may turn my borders the other way, I'm not sure, we'll see how it looks.

I linked to Judy's Blog.  Go check it out.

Winter Wonderland

We had another snow yesterday---I just love it.

This is snow # 4, since I seem to be counting.  I think it may be about 3 inches this time.

The kid in me wants to just go out there and run around in it, and build a snowman.

This leaf had just fallen.

Today is my birthday and I am being treated like a queen.  My hubby bought me roses and a card.  I have lunch today with my sisters at my favorite restaurant--Rib Crib--they make the best salads!  This seems to be a tradition for us.  And tonight my girls are having a dinner with them, their families, and Hubby and I.  What blessings to enjoy.

Borders Almost Done

The fourth border is glue basted down and ready to stitch.  Wa-hoo!

Very exciting--now I can put away the clutter that goes with this project and just enjoy the stitching.  This will probably take a couple of days.

No workout today,  Erin has a Lunch meeting, and I'm trying out a new med, so I'm here without much else going on.  Stitch, stitch, stitch.

Challenge Progress For January

I've been working on my borders.  So much applique here.

It's moving along rather slowly, but the technique I've chosen is very time consuming.  It's accurate though, and that's why I've chosen it: 

Freezer paper cutouts ironed to the back side of the fabric cutouts which have a quarter inch seam allowance added.

The edges are then folded over to the back side and glued with fabric stick glue to the paper side of the freezer paper. 

Next, the flowers leaves and berries are applique stitched in place.

Lastly, the backing is cut out with a quarter inch seam allowance and the paper is removed after prying loose the seam allowance from the paper.

I'm very excited to get to the piecing of the inner quilt, although I do enjoy the applique part. I hope to be to that part next week--Yea!

Two Down, Two To Go

There are two borders done now, and the third is in the works.

I had to stand on the foot board of our bed to get this picture.  They are pretty long; I guess I could put them on the floor, but I like to put them where my MIL quilt is, although not much of it shows. 

I have to do laundry today--Wa-hoo!  I actually enjoy laundry when I don't have a lot else going on.  Hand work goes great with this.  I also need to go to the gym.  Erin and I have been doing this for a week now---I need it.  It helps my BP to not get so high... somewhat that is.  I hope to see improvement  after a little time at this--I'm hoping in a month to six weeks, maybe.  Diet is also something I'm working on.  I gotta tell you, it's hard!  Saying no to myself is work.  It used to be easier, but it ain't now!



Our Third Snow

We've received our third snow this winter.

It's not as much as many received, but I still love it.  The rabbits have been busy here as you can see.

This is the best part of winter for me.  I have always loved snow.  When I was a teenager, I would talk my sister Paula into helping me build a snowman.  I was always into making it something to look at, too.  I have always enjoyed shoveling snow too.  I'm weird, I know.

Our youngest daughter gave me an amaryllis kit for Christmas.  Here's how it's doing so far.  It's going to be red.  Yea!

I've been plant sitting for my sister, and here's her Poinsettia.  Isn't it lovely?



UFO #6 Progress

I didn't get as much done this weekend as I planned, but I've got the rest of the month to work on it.

Here's what I have so far...

It's slow work compared to machine work, but I enjoy it.  The quilt on the bed is one my MIL gave me that she made back in the 40's.  I just love looking at all the old fabrics.  She was quite a quilter in her day.  She's not able to do much these days, she's in her late 80's now.  Some day I will post all the quilts she gave me.

I'm using a calendar on my computer to help me with getting my sewing project done--just like Judy, and so far I'm enjoying it.  I think it helps keep me on track.  The every day assignments are very doable and if I get behind I can double up here and there.  Weekends are not reliable for me to get things done on my projects, but I schedule them anyway.  I might need to schedule them with less work.  Hubby likes to do things on the weekend, and so do I.



Checkerberry Bliss

I've picked up working on my #6 UFO for January.  It's all handwork so far, so it's moving rather slowly.

The next things I applique are flowers, leaves, and berries.  First I have to iron freezer paper cut outs to the back of them then glue the edges over to prepare them for appliqueing down.  I have four borders to hand stitch, then the rest will go fast with machine piecing, and then machine quilting.  This quilt I will be using for a table cloth--cant wait.

Last night here was our dinner.  Yummo!

Grilled chicken from KFC, then I made fauxtatoes (with steamed cauliflower and cream cheese--very satisfying for someone who can't have many carbs--me), gravy, and pepper strips.  Hubby also had some lo-fat Braum's frozen yogurt--I'm jealous.  I recently bought this gravy boat for $4.99---I have always wanted one, and now I have one.

2010 Handwork

I made some collages of my handwork for 2010.

 First, my beloved quilts:

The two unfinished quilts are mine, and I do not have a good reputation for completion of my own quilts, just those I give away.  Also, my two quilts are all handwork.

Next, my crafts:

Erin worked on the gingerbread house as well, and modeled my apron for me.  I'm not sure, but I think some of these were make in 2009.

Now my bags:

And lastly, but not least, is my beloved embroidery:

Some of my projects I did not get a picture of--Boo-hoo.

I hope to do more quilting this year, and time will tell. 



Patriotic Sampler

Here's the Patriotic sampler's two unquilted blocks I need to quilt.

The block in the frame is Turkey Tracks, I think.  The last one will be Storm At Sea.

Since it is a lot of handwork I may get to working on it as well as #6 on my list.  I need the challenge and enjoy it as well--FUN.

2011 UFO Challenge

Here's my list of unfinished projects:

1. Hexagon Quilt

2. Baby Star Quilt

3.Green Rail Fence Quilt

4. Heart Quilt

5. Farmer' Daughter Quilt

6. Checkerboard Table Quilt

7. High School Nine-patch Quilt

8. Sister's Quilt-(Not even cut-out yet) 

9. MIL's unfinished Quilt

10. Pink Pinwheel Quilt
11.Patriotic Sampler Quilt
12. Friendship Bag/White Blouse

I have entered Judy's Challenge to finish these projects.  She's already drawn the number 6 to work on that's why I put the Table Quilt on #6.  I want to finish it first.  Little Bit of cheating- I know.
It's a new year, 2011, and I hope to finish these, or at least make some progress on them. 

Number 11 is a biggie--hand pieced and hand quilted.  The individual blocks are already pieced, but not joined together.  I have two more block's to quilt before joining them together.  I think I started this project back in the 1980's.  It will be a king sized quilt with 16-20" blocks with  sashing strips.