Sew and Tell Friday

I DID IT!!! not only do i have a finish for sew and tell today but this is also the quilt that is going to be auctioned at Chris work. This quilt was pieced and made long before i started blogging...so it has to have been sitting in my WIP pile for 2 plus years. It was my first try at a stack and wack quilt. When it was done i knew i loved it.

But it has been around for sometime so i am not as attached to it as i used to be. So i conceded and finished it for this auction. I sure hope that it goes for a decent amount otherwise i might be really disappointed. I know that i usually give them away and don't put a price on them, so this is strange to me. i think a little part of me hopes nobody wants it so that i can still keep it. It was hard to get good pictures of it because it was a very cloudy day. The border is brown with turquoise dots....there are greens, blues, purple,brown, oranges...nothing that i would ordinarily put together...but i was immediately drawn to it when i saw the fat quarter pack all together.

It is a large crib size or a small lap size..which ever way you want to look at it. I quilted it with straight lines and concentric rectangles. This is going to be hard to give up. If you were putting something like this in an auction what kind of starting bid do you think you would put on it? Now...that all that is said....go over to Amy's and check out what everyone else finished this week. I know there are lots of great things.

Recently Acquired

oh yes, i know...you are so shocked to see that i got some new fabric!!! Sometimes my power of resistance is very low. I found this fat quarter bundle of Ginger Blossom at the fat quarter shop...it is so pretty, fun and bright. Love it. glad i got it when i did because i don't see it there anymore.

I have been thinking about new kitchen towels...and right now i am loving old antique and vintage...so when i got a e-mail about vintage look toweling, on sale, i went for it. All i have to do is cut each yard in half, hem the ends and i have 6 brand new kitchen towels....hooray!! Plus as a bonus i got myself a little extra wee play yardage, because i love it!!! all from the same shop, the Calico Cottage Quilter.

This week i also got a surprise in the mail...i won a giveaway during Park City Girl's quilt festival. Ruth Anne dyes her own fabric and was giving away these two pieces. They are both very pretty and done with different techniques.

And then there is this....an acquired family heirloom of sorts. Every family has them but sometimes they are different than what you might think. Meet the much sought after chipmunk S&P shakers. My mom has had them forever and we love them...i tried stealing them recently but my very honest 5 year old ratted me out. But my mom let me borrow/have?? them this year because thanksgiving was going to be here. What if they are happier here mom? :o(

Flavors of the Season

Pumpkin seems to be the flavor du jour, if you will, in our house right now. This time of year when the weather cools down and changes...gets a little dark and damp... i want to bake. Something. Anything. This day it was Amish Pumpkin Bread. This was a recipe given to me as part of a wedding gift. Yet, it was not until about a year or two ago that i re-discovered it and how amazing it really is.

I love the part where i add the spices...all the different colors together looks so pretty to me.

This is a very moist and tasty...spicy bread. I think everyone should give this a try!!!

Amish Pumpkin Bread

3 C. Sugar
1 c. Veg Oil
4 Eggs, beaten
1 can Pumpkin, 15 oz.
3 1/2 c. Flour
2 t. Baking Soda
2 t. Salt(scant)
1/2 t. ground Cloves
1 t. each, Cinnamon, Allspice and Nutmeg
2/3 c. Water

Mix sugar, oil and eggs together. Add pumpkin. Then add dry ingredients, then water. Stirring just until mixed. Pour batter into 2 greased and sugared(that is the secret) loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour...be sure to test in the end it might need a little more time.

adapted from recipe by Cathy Meyer

Craigslist Rocks!!

Recently i was looking at craigslist with my mom and found this beautiful old sideboard!!! It was only 45. i almost fell off the couch and was instantly in love. Not only do i love old junk....but i love a deal and this goes in our house perfectly.

It has all sorts of beautiful old details that are just perfect. It is dinged, chipped and worn but those are the things i love about it!

I plan on using it in the dining room to hold my sewing stuff. Then i will be rid of the big ironing board and replace it with a table top board that i can put on it and use it when i need it or store it away. Next step is to hunt down a old table to replace the plastic folding table that i now sew on.

While we were there i asked her if she had any other old pieces that she was selling that she might want to show me. That is when i was shown this old dresser. I was excited. It is about time that Avery got a new piece of furniture to hold her clothes instead of her old baby dresser. I plan on refinishing this to make it look like this sideboard at A familiar path blog. I have been dying to do a piece of furniture in turquoise!

Sew and Tell Friday

Phew...i made it in under the wire!!! When i was flea marketing a few weeks ago with my mom i found this sweet little tea cup without a saucer....perfect for a pincushion!!! It has been patiently waiting on its transformation and today i wanted to be sure to get it done so that i could share it. Not hard...not complicated....but still a finish. I went hunting for fabric to use with it and found this Flea Market Fancy fabric by Denyse Schmidt and knew they were going to be a perfect pair!

Head on over to Amy's blog and see what everyone else has finished this week. There is lots of wonderful stuff....oddly Amy and i both did pincushions this week. What a funny coincidence.

A Smile for Today

Fun Food

Yesterday my kitchen helper and i made some tasty treats for some of the students Chris sponsors. She was thrilled with how yummy the melted marshmallow looked.
She stirred like a champ...if you have made these before you know that is not easy to do without making a huge mess or wrestling with it.
And yes, theya re as yummy as they look. Thank you little kitchen helper.
Just melt a bag of marshmallows with half a stick of butter, then stir it into about 8 cups of cereal. Then there you have it...a sticky, yummy way to use up the cereal that nobody in your house is eating!!!

Day out with Daddy

This past week we got to spend a day out at the Bronx Zoo since Chris had the day off. Now, granted there are no pictures of Daddy on this post...but you understand, he was behind the camera the whole time getting great shots of the babies. Dee, do you remember these ears? I know we have a picture of us doing the same thing somewhere.


My cuties wanted to be butterflies!!! this day this was as close as they were going to get.

I don't think i have been to a zoo with a gorilla exhibit that i did not love...but the one here at the Bronx zoo is so fun. and the gorilla's are so interactive. This one came and sat right "next" to Mitchell....kept sticking his tongue out at everyone, as long as we did it back and then he put his finger up here and looked right at Mitch. I think the two of them had a moment.


Here is my bird girl, doing what she loves to do...checking out her birds. I was getting a little nervous considering how close she was and how big a bird a peacock really is. But all was well. This peacock seemed just as fascinated with her as she was with him.

What are you looking at?

Flea Market Fantastic!!!

This was my flea market/antiquing treasure for the weekend(among others). And honestly, even if i never sew with it it was absolutely worth the 25 i paid for it. Isn't she beautiful? She is definitely going to need a name. Any suggestions? Also if anyone has used one of these before and has tips that you know i need, let me know. i am all ears!
I can not get over how amazing this sewing machine is. Take a moment of silence with me to just gaze at her!.........


I picked up a few small things. This tea cup is destined to be a pin cushion for my sewing table. It is such a perfect shade of green/blue. The fridge dish was a steal. It is so cute and adorable and tiny....i have been slowly accumulating these to replace the plastic that is cluttering up my cabinets.

I was so excited to find this quilt...i can not say exactly how old it is or what the story behind it is but at 20 i knew it was coming home with me. I have washed it and am working on some stains but i think there is hope. I don't think that you can see this in the picture but every fan is trimmed with ric-rac. How cute?? And the back looks to be a sheet. It is hand quilted and just bright and fun. How can a girl pass that up?

This was my other quilt find. I saw it on a rack and asked the lady in the booth how much and she said 10. I said, "excuse me?"i did not think i had heard her right. When she repeated the same i told her right awway i would take it. i don't think i even looked at it closely. This one is older and definitely is going to need a little more love and care. I think it is a true scrap quilt, by necessity. There is such a huge and amazing variety of fabric styles and weights. I did not see the red "stripes" in it until i looked at the pictures. Love it!

Thanks for indulging me...sorry to any of you die hard Flea Market Fancy fabric lovers... hope i did not mislead you. But this week these were my true flea market fancy treasures!!!