SQUIRREL!!!!!!

Good morning.  

    Today has already turned into a squirrel day.  I woke up (always a good thing) and got up and fed the cats by 7:1`5 a.m.  Mind you, that is around 5 minutes later than I normally do and boy, did the cats let me know it.  They were meowing at me, hissing at a couple of others who got too close to BC (Big Cat) who is loveable towards me and most of the cats unless they cross his line of vision and try to get to the feed bowl before he does.  Then I went inside and put Slow Cooker Barn Raising Soup in the crockpot to be ready for later.

   That led me down the rabbit hole of recipes.  I found a chicken drumstick BBQ recipe that will be making sometime soon.  I have all the ingredients already.  I don't know about anybody else, but once I start looking at recipes, I can't stop at one (dang, now I'm hungry for Pringles even though I don't like them that much any more).  So I pulled out my bread machine recipe book and thought about making some bread but squirreled in a totally opposite direction and found myself watching a quick little vid about Mexican Pizza.  Not too bad.  only takes two tortillas, enchilada sauce, refried beans, tomato, cheese and a green onion.  So off to the pantry to pull the ingredients.  Tortillas - check.  Refried beans -  check.  cheese - check.  Green Onion - already  cut up so check.  Oops red enchilada sauce?  Nowhere to be found but that's ok.  I have a delish recipe for it.  My kitchen squirrel led me to my recipes and quickly found it.  Hmmm.  The recipe only calls for 2 1/2 tablespoons of it.  Do I really want to make a whole batch for just 2 1/2 Tablespoons.  No worries my uncaffeinated brain informs me.  Just add some of the spices to some tomato sauce and you'll be fine.  After caffeine I realize that if I just add some spices to the tomato sauce...it is basically the same as me making up  the whole recipe.  So I will do that later and make the pizza tomorrow.  THEN I realized I didn't have fresh tomatoes but remembered I had opened up a can of diced tomatoes fore my salads and since I ate up all my lettuce the tomatoes are clear and free to be used elsewhere.  Whew!   Get me out of the kitchen before I do something sensible like dishes!!!!

  I sought the sanctuary of my living room where I proudly look on my FINISHED second block of Words to Live By.

  I shall indeed celebrate and print up the 3rd block which is entitled laughter. ....oh wait...there is another rabbit hole in my living room.  I wonder what is down it?   Isn't that...oh wait...again...Is that my shamrock pattern peeking out from underneath those patterns?  Why yes I squirreled yet another time and went down the road of shamrocks.   I pulled out my pattern and, obviously, THEN had to search for my fabric.  The March block for the exchange will be a shamrock on a white background.  I won't even get my partners name for probably 3 weeks yet so why am I down THIS rabbit hole?  I blame it on my  childhood.  We raised rabbits on the turkey farm (does that look as weird to you as it does to me when it is typed out?) and I know...I mean I KNOW what kind of escape artists they are.  Where was I?  Oh yes, down the rabbit hole.  I pulled out the pattern and some green fabric and decided I could wait to make the final decision on which fabric  to use.  Hmm.  I wonder what this little side tunnel is...Oh yes I am now back to the Words to Live By road.  Print out the pattern while I still have some ink in the printer.  Done!  Now I can sit down at my  computer and read emails.

   Oops.  More holes.  Before I knew it, I had signed up for Sew Much More's Churn Chain QAL which runs from March 7 - April 25th.  Has anybody else signed up for that?  You  can find info on it at:  

https://www.sewmuchmoore.com/join-the-churn-chain-qal/

   

Ding?  Yep, you guessed it...another squirrel just rang my doorbell.  This one said Missouri Star Quilt  Company sent an email.  Oh look they want me to order my rectangle template before it is no longer available.  Of course I know that is a marketing ploy...but what if it is true?  I'd better go and order it...so I did.  Then my brain decided I had better write down what elements I want to include in the quilt...so I did.  THEN my brain said why don't you start to look for some of those fabrics so you know what you will need to buy...so I..

STOP!!!!!!!!!

   I must turn off my brain so that I don't talk to any more squirrels today or nothing will get done.  Perhaps I need to watch Emperor's New Grove and take lessons from Kronk on how to talk to squirrels <chuckling>.  On that note of laughter, I have come full circle and will pull out the printed block three pattern for Words to Live By.  I think laughter is a good place to dwell for a bit.  :)

  I hope everybody has a great day and if you see any squirrels, tell them to shut up for the rest of the day, ok? 

Happy Valentine's Day

I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for all the support everybody has given me.  

Hugs!

What is on the Wall

      It is almost the mid month so I thought I would do an update on what I have on the wall.  It is a mix of quilting and cross stitch.  I have also added in a new recipe or two.  Let me start with an overall pix of my wall and then I'll show more close ups.

   Doesn't that look like a colorful mess?  Now let me break it down better for you.

   First up is hexies and my new templates.  You can see the hexies in the picture posted above.  These were made using the Missouri Star Quilt Company Quilt As You Go template.  I really like using it because when I attach them together.  I thought I was getting more when I ordered more of off Amazon.  I picked the wrong thing and this is what came.  

                              

   Don't get me wrong, they are useful templates but not what I as expecting.  I did find it, eventually, on MSQC's website.  This is what I wanted.

     And this is the pattern that I want to make with it.  Bu what do  I want all this for?  I am designing a hexie project.  Think of a garden.  There will be clusters of various thing.  For instance, one area for shrubs and trees, one for butterflies and flowers.  Maybe a fountain or statuary if I can find the right fabric.   I am debating on whether or not to put a wall around it.  If nothing else, I might use the rectangles for the border.  Who knows.  Who knows when I get to it or when it will be finished.

That's the plan anyway.  That's not the only thing I have been working on. 

   Here is this week's picture of my blackwork.   This is up to Week 6.  

   The other Blackwork I am working is to redo the Courage blackwork that I stitched on actual graph paper,  It currently looks funny because I didn't have any large sheets just 8 1/2 x 11 so it is a pieced graph.  This is what I have done so far.

 

   Of course I have to work on some redwork, especially in February, so here is my progress update on the second block of Words to Live By.

   I also did some new recipes.  This week I made snickerdoodles for 1.  It made around 6 cookies and I think I sill make it again.  It was a little weird to make a recipe with only 1 tablespoon of egg.  I used the rest of the egg in my breakfast scramble this morning.  LOL.

Snickerdoodles for 1

3 TBSP butter

1/4 cup sugar

6 TBSP Flour

1 TBSP egg

1/8 teas baking soda

1/4 teas salt

1/4 teas vanilla extract

Coating:

1 TBSP sugar

1/2 teas cinnamon

for Coating, mix all together and set aside

- Mix everything together except for coating.

- Form into one inch balls

-Roll in coating

-Place on parchment paper on baking sheet

-Bake 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown


   In closing, I'd like to leave you with some pix that I thought were particularly cute.  I hope you enjoy them too.

Broccoli Rice Casserole

As promised, I am posting the broccoli rice casserole that I mad. I found this easy to make especially with a couple of short cuts. I normally keep cooked rice in the freezer that I portion out into 1 cup servings. I normally make the rice in the broth when I boil chicken. Then it is seasoned also. I also usually portion out shredded cheese and some vegetables. It does speed up the cooking process. Now on to the recipe.

Broccoli Rice Casserole

Preheat oven to 350F

- 3 cups cooked rice

- 16 oz. frozen broccoli florets (I used fresh broccoli that I got from Pantry, I just cooked it before using it in the casserole)

- 1 small onion, finely chopped

- 1 can of cream of mushroom soup

- 1/2 cup milk

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 teaspoon pepper

- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

- 1/4 teaspoon paprika

- 2 cups shredded cheese, divided

Thaw broccoli and microwave for 5 minutes and drain very well.  Cut broccoli into small bite size pieces.

In a large bowl combine:

   rice

   onion

   mushroom soup

   milk

   salt

   pepper

   paprika

   1 cup of shredded cheese

Stir all together to mix well and then fold in the broccoli.

Spray with non-stick cooking spray a 9 x 13 pan.  This is a bulky casserole so a pan with high sides works best.

Put broccoli and veggie mix into the pan and then top it with the remaining 1 cup of cheese (more or less depending on your preference).

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cheese is melted and browned on top.

NOTE:  I decided to add some left-over chicken to the casserole also so it could be used up.  It worked well.  I almost added some sausage to it instead of the chicken, but I might wait for that until next time.

If you make this, left me know how you liked it.

English Paper Piecing

Today’s topic: English Paper Piecing (EPP)

Today's topic was inspired by the Our Time To Quilt video from Sunday. I didn't catch all of it but I did manage to come in towards the end ands Deb was talking about English Paper Piecing. Then I remembered that I had started to work on an EPP project but never finished. That makes it an UFO so it qualified to be able to work on it this month.

Do you know how to do EPP? If not, then this link might help you out.

https://mypoppet.com.au/makes/how-to-paper-pieced-hexies-template/

There are many ways to do your templates. One way is to trace your shape on cardboard, heavy paper, or posterboard. You can make multiple images on one page and cut out when you need them. A simple Google search will give you plenty to choose from.

Another option is to buy a template. I have done all of those options but finally settled on the quilt as you go template as my favorite. I got mine from Missouri Star Quilt Company and it is a quilt as you go template.  This one is for 2 1/2" hexagons.  When you try to buy a template like this, the 2 1/2" measure is the sides of the inner template.  In the picture, that would be the sides of the inside piece which has the writing on it.  I chose that size for a couple of reasons.  First is was a quilt as you go; second was the fact that the inner template fits a 5" square so I could use a charm pack.

Here are some of my hexies that I have made.

I do my hexies by hand but you can do yours by machine if you want.  My batch has both machine sewn and hand sewn hexies.  That reason is because I have been working on them for a bit. s I no longer have a sewing machine that makes decorative stitches.  I like to do hand stitching so it doesn't both me.  I cut out my hexies and have them layered and then hand baste them until I  am ready to do the final stitching.

How do I store them?  In my hexie box of course.  

I picked up this box from Hobby Lobby before I moved.   I don't know if they still have that particular design but the box works out very well.  It is called a spring box and the dimensions are 9.49 in x 7.0 in  by 4.02 inches.  The spring boxes come in various sizes.  Of course almost anything  can be used but these were made for archiving things so I thought that would be good.

What will I eventually make with them?  Believe it or not, I do have plans.  Basically  I need to search for some specialty fabric.  The fabric will be cotton of course.  I just need to find some with water, tiny stones or rocks, trees or shrubs , etc.  The hardest part will be with fountains or statuaries.  First of all I will search my stash.  The rough idea is in my brain and I just have to figure it out more.  IF the large garden project doesn't pan out, I can go back to one of the other versions which would have flowers and butterflies in it.  I never know until the end how it will work out or if I can keep my enthusiasm throughout the whole thing.  Wish me luck!

What else do I have to report on?  Ahhh, my blackwork and my applique swap.

I finished my applique block and it was sent to Garnet.  I also finished up my small blackwork project.

 

My block from 
Garnet

        My block to Garnet and a small blackwork piece

The writing on the blackwork is  "Have the  courage to follow your heart and intuition."

Current free Blackwork Project - first 5 weeks

The last thing to talk about is food.  As you know it is always on my mind.  LOL.  I made a broccoli and rice casseroled which turned out yummy.  I also added in some chicken that I had leftover.  

 I also saw a picture of a yummy casserole which I think I will make for Easter.  I'm sure I won't mind any leftovers.  What do you think?

That is it for this report.  Everybody have a great day.