skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I finished quilting the summer quilt this weekend. I really wanted to do some fancy free-motion quilting (like this), but after much practice and playing around with settings and a bit of swearing, I've come to the conclusion that my cheapo machine just can't handle it. Oh well. So I did a simple diagonal grid instead. Good enough for a beach blanket right? I made the binding last night (when I should have been studying), and I sewed it on today. Now it's on to my most favorite part of the entire quilt-making process: hand stitching the back of the binding on. Oh I love it! My mom thinks I'm nuts. :) Maybe I'll have this thing finished before the end of summer after all.
One explains my absence here during the past couple of weeks, the other explains how I've kept my sanity.
We have a decently sized strawberry patch that has, until recently, been keeping us in good supply of fresh strawberries. Every other day for weeks now I've gone out there and picked. It's been my peaceful, quiet time. My chance for a bit of a break.
There was enough on some days to bake something, but they were just too good. We've been binging on them. Oh, have they been good.
But... there has been no strawberry shortcake, no strawberry-rhubarb squares, no strawberry jam, no strawberry ice cream, no strawberry pie, and no strawberry smoothies. Sad, don't you think?
So yesterday we decided that that had to be fixed. We took a ride out to the country to a pick-your-own strawberry patch. It was a gorgeous day.
And we picked some gorgeous berries..
Oh yes! I can already taste the strawberry pie... and the shortcake... and the ice cream.. and..
I haven't had a whole lot of time to bake lately (sorry rhubarb!), but I just found this photo of black-and-white cheesecake squares that I made a few weeks ago for a family get-together. They were quite popular (some people went back for thirds and at least one person took a couple home. hehe)... they were really, really good. It was like a brownie cheesecake.. how perfect is that?
It's Martha's recipe of course.. I think it was in the April issue on the last page, or you can find it here.
My mom owns a lot of books. She has so many that I almost never buy a novel or a memoir for myself, I just borrow hers to read. She has pretty good taste so it works out well. :) Last week I asked her to collect five or so of her favorites so that I can work on reading them over the summer. She came back with 10, unable to pick just 5. So now this stack is sitting on my dresser, waiting for me and I'm loving it there. Every time I pass by I think of reading them during lazy weekends in the backyard, sunny days on the beach, chilly mornings in the woods, and late nights with the crickets chirping. What would summer be without a good book (or 10)?
I already sped through Water for Elephants this week, staying up far too late and being a bit groggy during the day because of it, but it was worth it, I thought it was very good.Anyway, I don't exactly know what most of these books are about, or whether I'll like them or not, but I figured I'd share the list here in case some of you were looking for something new to read this summer:- For One More Day, Mitch Albom- Durable Goods, Elizabeth Berg- Revenge of the Paste Eaters, Cheryl Peck- A Million Little Pieces, James Frey (I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about this book, and that it is really mostly fiction. I'll probably give it a try though, but it may be last on the list!)- The Good Good Pig, Sy Montgomery- A Three Dog Life, Abigail Thomas- Jim the Boy, Tony Earley- With a Hammer for my Heart, George Ella Lyon- She Got up off the Couch, Haven Kimmel- Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
Last week I unraveled an old sweater for the first time, using these directions. It was rather easy (just a little time consuming) and I ended up with a ton of pretty, light blue cotton yarn. I haven't figured out what I'll make with it yet.
I'm really excited about this. I already bought two wool sweaters at the thrift store to unravel to make dryer balls (which has been on my to-do list forever!!). One tip: don't do this right before bed. I had dreams all night of untying knots and clipping seams!Here's the sweater before:
I haven't had much to share here lately. A couple weeks ago I was really busy in the garden getting it ready and planting. That's almost all finished... all that's left is potatoes and some flowers that I'm going to try to dye yarn with (hopefully!).I'm taking a couple classes this summer, which started last week. That's pretty much all I've had time for since then. My head is getting crammed with scores and scores of medical terms. May I complain a bit more? I don't remember the last time I touched my sewing machine. It's been dark and cold here for days now. I injured my knee running so I haven't been able to do that in a while. It's very frustrating and I miss it. I have no idea when I'll have the time to prep the soil for the potatoes and get them in the ground. And between my and Brian's schedules, I'm afraid we won't have any chance at all of enjoying summer, even though I know that we still will..
How do you guys juggle busy schedules and stay sane?
Ahh.. rhubarb pie. It's one of my favorites, maybe because rhubarb is the first fruit-like thing that's ripe in the spring? I really, really love anything with strawberries and rhubarb together, but there won't be any strawberries for about a week or so, so the humble pie plant was able to shine in this pie that I made for the party last weekend.I really want to learn how to make a perfect crust, even though I'm still a bit freaked out about it. For this pie, I used this recipe from Martha for the bottom crust and I made a crumb topping by mixing 1/4 cup each of brown sugar, flour, and oats with 2 tablespoons of cold butter. The rhubarb pie recipe I got from here.. really simple and delicious. Overall the pie was fantastic (I ate a leftover piece warmed up for lunch yesterday. With ice cream. Shhh..), but I don't know about the crust. It was good, just a litte hard. Maybe I'll substitute some shortening for the butter next time to get it more flaky? Anyone have a great recipe to share?
Thankfully I have an entire season of pie-making before me to practice...
I love this little spot on my shelf in the craft room. I got the globe at the flea market for $2 and I found the plastic lion buried in the garden. I love it when I find bits of my childhood out in the dirt (usually it's old Matchbox cars!).
I was weeding away and minding my own business and I looked up to see this little fella hiding in the daffodils. He kinda scared me! What a cutie pie. Mama rabbit made her nest in the middle of the yard, so this guy must be out exploring. 
He reminded me of all the years working at the nature center. We would get calls all the time from worried people that found a bunny nest that they thought was abandoned, or a tiny little bunny all alone. One day, a woman came in with a terrified bunny in a box. She said something like, "I had to chase this all over the yard to catch it, it's mother was no where in sight." Oye.
The mother only feeds them once or twice a day, usually at dusk and very early in the morning, so chances are you aren't going to actually see a mother rabbit care for her babies. She stays away to keep them safe from predators - she has a scent, but the babies don't yet! Isn't that neat? Lucy, our beagle, didn't have a clue the nest was there until she saw the mother feeding them and she chased her away. She's already forgotten all about it (but we put a little fence up around the nest in case she remembers!)I found a nice web site with a bunch of FAQ's about baby bunnies that I thought I'd share. I know people mean well and don't want the babies to die or suffer, but sadly that's usually exactly what happens when people take the babies away from where they were found and try to care for them themselves (or even if they take them to a rehabber). I'll also find one about baby birds soon and share it here.
Fabrics for a beach/picnic/backyard quilt. Inspired by the fantastic vintage sheet at the bottom. I love it!
I made this key lime pie for a party we had last weekend.. It was delicious. This was the last piece, as you can probably tell. I got the recipe right here, but I used regular limes because I made something like this with the lime peels. I used watermelon jello and added vodka instead of the 1c. of cold water! They looked awesome. And they were very strong. :)Have a great weekend!
I finished quilting the summer quilt this weekend. I really wanted to do some fancy free-motion quilting (like this), but after much practice and playing around with settings and a bit of swearing, I've come to the conclusion that my cheapo machine just can't handle it. Oh well. So I did a simple diagonal grid instead. Good enough for a beach blanket right? 
