Really good oatmeal

I friend of mine turned me on to steel cut oats. She is under the care of a nutritionist and has done awesome in her weight loss journey. They are supposed to be better for you than regular oats. I found an easy way to cook them.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a sauce pan, add 1 cup of oats and stir around for three minutes. Add 3 cups of water, a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Turn off heat, slide off the eye, put the lid on and go to bed. In the morning spoon some out and microwave them, and add all the goodies to make it taste wonderful. My favorite additions are bananas, dried blueberries, almonds, and a little brown sugar. They will keep a week in the fridge and makes at least four pretty hearty servings.

 

Homemade pizza

I love homemade pizza. I am always trying to improve it. My recipe is on the recipe page to the left. This time I tried a couple of different things.....

I microwaved the pepperoni to get rid of some of the fat.

I pre-baked the crust about 2 minutes at 475 degrees. Then added the toppings minus the cheese and baked it another 8-9 minutes. We like onions, peppers, mushrooms, Roma tomatoes, and pepperoni. Added the cheese last and baked another 3-5 minutes.

 

Yum, with a glass of cold tea.

The crust was definitely better than the last time.....but I think I needed more sauce. Still pretty yummy!

 

Make ahead and freeze

I won't be using all of this for Thanksgiving, but I was out of my favorite bread, so I decided to make two runs. It is nice to have several loaves in the freezer.

Great day......ran six miles with a friend today. Personal best in distance. No sewing, but I'll get back to it later this weekend. I have a remembrance quilt to start.

 

Fairgrounds quilted and bound

Quilted it with the popcorn pantograph.

Love this backing fabric. Along with the front fabric, it too, is by Lori Holt for Riley Blake fabrics.

 

Quilt number 2 for little miss Emma Grace....by the way, here is a new picture of her.....

So sweet, sucking her little thumb......

 

Baby Star Quilt

Another one made with my favorite, quick and easy, star pattern.....

 

Made with a few fat quarters of the Here Fishy Fishy fabric line by Heather Mulder Peterson. Quilted with Ebb and Flow pantograph by Lorien Quilting. Love this pattern. It finishes out at about 40" x 40". Great size for a baby. A gift for the new grandson of a friend.

You can find this free pattern here. http://wyattlab.com/NQDay/2008/nqd2008pattern.pdf

 

Fairground Quilt Top Finished

Free pattern on the Moda bake shop website.  Fairgrounds.

Love this fabric line.  It is called Daisy Cottage by Lori Holt.  Her blog is Bee In My Bonnet.

Hope to have it quilted by next weekend.  I think the size is appropriate for a twin bed.  Quilt #2 for my granddaughter.  I've linked this up with Crazy Mom Quilts

Moda free Pattern

This is called Fairgrounds...it will be another quilt for my baby Granddaughter, Emma...

I love the rows of banners. I hope to get it put together this weekend. I've got LOTS of sewing to do.

 

5k Race Results

Before.....

At the finish line....

And after....

First place in my age group, yay! of course it helps that there were only two of us in my age group! Not my best time, but not too bad for a newbie at 54 years old. 35:56 minutes, I'll take it and be happy I can run!

 

 

Favorite Meal

 

Homemade chicken pot pie, baby Lima beans, sweet tea, and strawberry cheesecake for dessert. I usually try to cook for my husband on Friday nights. Both of us would rather eat at home than eat at a restaurant. Fridays are busy after a week of ten hour days, so after all the normal errands, I like to cook. Then after supper is cleaned up I allow myself to sew. Up to the sewing room I go!

 

The Chase

Tomorrow morning I will participate in "The Chase."  It is a 5k in memory of a sweet little boy, Chase Austin Ruffner, who passed away from SIDS.  Money raised will go to an organization called First Candle.  A bit about them:

HELPING BABIES SURVIVE AND THRIVE

First Candle is a leading national nonprofit organization dedicated to safe pregnancies and the survival of babies through the first years of life. Current priorities are to eliminate Stillbirth, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and other Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID) with programs of research, education and advocacy. We also provide compassionate grief support to all those affected by the death of a baby through a dedicated crisis hotline at 800.221.7437.

I made this quilt for Chase's Momma in 2012 out of his little clothes.

Chevron Owl Quilt Label

Got the label attached right before the kids came home.....

 

I used a new paper backed fabric and I really like it. It is by June Tailor and I purchased it at Joann's. I believe it was cheaper than the Printed Treasures I normally use. The paper came off easier and it didn't lose some of the color when rinsed.

 

Chevron Owl Quilt

Baby Emma's first quilt from Grandmama is finished!

I used minkee for the backing. First time I've tried it. It is so very soft and not too bad to quilt. I quilted it using the Halcyon pantograph.

I used the half square triangle technique for the chevrons and free handed the owl appliqué.

 

How to quilt a chevron quilt?

Can anyone out in blog land give me suggestions on how to quilt this? I am using minkee for the backing so I am a bit afraid to do very dense quilting. I've never quilted minkee. Maybe a ribbon through every other color and some free hand swirl center flowers in the others..... Or some straight lines.....and circles....or spirals.....

 

 

Owl appliqué

I am not convinced this is going to turn out as cute as I hoped. I've still got to do the zig zag edges around all the appliqué.

I am using the green minkee fabric on the back so I thought it would be nice for the owl on the front. It is so soft and touchable, but not exactly the same shade of green as in the quilt.

 

I drew the owl freehand based on one of the owls in the print. Added the flower to make it look more like a girl much like Heather Peterson did on one of her owl appliqué patterns.

Funny, the "modern" colors and even the owl is a throw back to the seventies. I guess it is true that everything eventually comes back in style as new or modern. My mom said this to me in the seventies regarding some "new" type of sandals that were popular, the same style she wore in the forties.

 

This ever happened to you?

You see a picture on Pinterest or Facebook with a recipe and you think...yum, I think I'll try that.

These were supposed to be mozzarella sticks. They sure aren't pretty. They did taste good however. I made some of my no-cook pizza sauce for dippin'.

Here is something else I worked on this afternoon...

Baby Emma's first quilt from Grandmama. My DIL loves chevrons and owls and isn't too fond of traditional girly colors -pink. My plan is to appliqué an owl on the lower corner. I hope it turns out pretty.