More Pillowcases

6 more pillowcases today for a weekend total of 10. All of these will go to Alycia for her QOV project. Thanks Mary for the most needed nudge. It was just what I needed to do some stash busting for a good cause.

Pillowcase Party

I'm participating in the HeartStrings Pillowcase Party this weekend. Here are my first four! I'm hoping to get at least that many completed tomorrow. I will be sending these off to Alycia with the two completed quilts for her QOV project. If you've got some free time, I urge you to please help out this worthwile cause. And, if you're really feeling motivated, make a quilt, or two to send along. Alycia's goal is 400 quilts by May.

Holiday Wrap Up

One holiday down, one more to go. I'm not a big fan of holidays. I admit it, I'm a grinch. I hate the crowds, I hate the hustle and bustle. I hate the fact that Christmas stuff is displayed in the stores in October! What happened to the times when you'd not see Christmas decorations until Thanksgiving? Ok, I'll stop grosing now.



Meanwhile, we had the requisite turkey and all the trimmings. My lovely 16 year old niece did most of the meal herself with a little help from Uncle David, mom & yours truly. She's quite a cook. Here's her turkey. She brined it so it came out nice and moist.





Here's Grandpa trying to get every last piece off that carcass. Arlo really, really wanted to help but for some reason nobody would let him. Poor guy. That's ok, when he wasn't busy begging food, he was on window duty. Somebody had to guard us from all those strangers walking around the lake!


This morning, before the rain became seriious, The Bearded one and David decided they should help Dad put up the Christmas lights. This involves tramping around on the roof installing angle iron stands to hold the lighted wreath over the carport and a star at the end of the house. For some reason Dad still thinks that climbing around on ladders and roofs is ok for an almost 79 year old man. I really wish he wouldn't.



Once we came home this afternoon, I went downstairs to finish quilting that last bottom border on the Disappearing 9-Patch and the inner black borders. That done, binding sewn on, I came upstairs to make dinner. Silly me, I put the quilt down on the couch and my Official Quilt Tester promptly settled in to test it out. The Bearded One then covered the rest of him with yet another quilt since this is the dog that must be covered by a quilt. The floral under Arlo's chin is the D9P. Once I get the binding sewn down, I'll get some pictures of the actual quilt. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.


I'm hoping to spend some time this weekend making pillowcases for Alycia's QOV project. I'm hoping that lots of other quilters take up the challenge. For more information, see Heartstrings Pillowcase Party.

Orange...

...truly is my least favorite color. I dislike it intensely enough to say that I "hate it". I know hate is a strong word, but then, so is my dislike of the color. So, I found it almost amusing today to realize, as I was preparing the dishes I said I would do for tomorrow's feast, that they were both ORANGE! Aacckkkkk! I'm sure if any of the QB's are reading this now, they're laughing with delight.




First up was this sweet potato casserole, still needing it's topping of brown sugar and pecans.









Then cam the Roasted Carrot dip. This gets served with these great, crunchy pita chips. If you're ever looking for a great potluck offering, this is it. And, to top it off, it's not filled with all the yummy things that are bad for you. Well, ok, it does have some mayo & sour cream, but I always use the light or no-fat versions.

Roasted Carrot Dip
Recipe By : Adapted from: August/September "Taste of Home" magazine



Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:15
10 medium carrots
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic -- sliced
6 Tablespoons water, or more
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper




Pita wedges:

4 - 6 pita bread rounds, 6"
2 Tablespoons butter, melted -- or more



Cut carrots in half widthwise; cut lengthwise into 1/2" thick slices. In a bowl combine the carrots, garlic and oil; toss to coat. Transfer to a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. (I just used my 13"x9" pyrex pan.) Bake, uncovered, at 425º fpr 20 minutes. Stir; bake 15-20 minutes longer or until carrots are tender. Cool slightly.

In a blender, combine 6 tablespoons water, vinegar, mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar, salt, pepper
and carrot mixture; cover and process until smooth. Add additional water if needed to achieve
desired consistency. Transfer to a bowl; refrigerate until serving.


Pita Wedges: Brush both sides of pita breads with butter. Cut in half; cut each half into six wedges. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350º for 4 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Serve with carrot dip.



Note: I don't bother making the pita wedges since my local Costco sells the pita chips pictured here.



Just so you don't think I've been a total slackard in the quilting/sewing department, here are a couple finished projects. The little santa wallhanging on the left and one of two completed pillowcases on the right. The pillowcases are the presentation cases for the two QOV's still awaiting labels before I can send the out to Alycia.

Here's hoping you and yours have a happy, safe Thanksgiving.

Spotted Weirdness

So, what does the spotted angel on the left have to do with the common, kitchen appliance on the right? The object of the picture on the right is afraid of the object on the right! To the point that he KNOWS what it means when you hold a loaf of bread. He turns into a shaking, quivering dog and slinks downstairs to his "safe" place, the guest bedroom.

Slow bi-peds that we are, it took us awhile to figure out why Arlo was always disappearing when we made breakfast or when we put anything in the toaster. The reason he's afraid of the toaster, on occasion the crumbs in the bottom will set off the smoke detector. He's so paranoid that all you have to do is hold a loaf of bread up, nowhere near the toaster, and he's gone.

"Mr. I'll do anything for cheese" won't stick around for it when you're holding that loaf of bread in the other hand. And yet, this is the same dog that literally swiped a piece of bread from my hand last Christmas down at Dad's house. Silly boy and his crazy paranoia. It's a darn good thing we love him so much!

Making Progress

Progess at last! This weekend I quilted the jellyroll QOV. Since the back is a lovely red I got bold and quilted it with red thread in an all over stars and loops. Not very imaginative or creative quilting. But, it's done. Once I get this one bound I'll send it off to Alycia with the Disappearing 9-patch from a couple months ago.

Yes indeed folks, that last picture is the often mentioned Blooming 9-Patch. Unfortunately, it turned out so big with the additional rows that I don't need to put on the last, dark blue border. I also don't have a spot big enough to lay it out to get a good picture.

Next up to be quilted is the Disappearing 9-Patch for the guest bedroom. That and the B9P are both UFO's for Finn's UFO challenge. But, just getting the piecing completed is a HUGE step in my book!

Autumn Like No Others

It's not often that we get such glorious colors here in the Pacific Northwest. Usually our rainy, overcast weather keeps the nights too warm. But, October was dry and clear allowing the nights to get nice and cold -- just what the leaves needed. In the 20 years that I've lived here, this is the most colorful Autumn. It has definitely been equal to those of my youth spent living in the Hudson Valley.

Alas, rain and wind are expected for the next few days so the leaves will all be gone soon. Naturally, we were thinking about doing another VW campout. I guess it's not a WetWestie campout without rain!

Check out the jumbo mushroom growing in the backyard! I'll have to go get a ruler to really show just how big it is! But seriously, it is at least 6" or more across! Thank goodness Arlo doesn't like mushrooms. At least I don't have to walk the lawn smooshing all the little, brown ones that Miss Sneakers used to eat!

On a quilty note, the Blooming 9-Patch is FINALLY completed! That's 2 UFO's down, one to go. I'm counting flimsies as completed at this point. I am going to try to make a concerted effort to get them quilted before 12/31 but, we'll see.....pictures to come....it's just so darn BIG!

Note to Self...

....next time you're missing one row, look on the floor, under the ironing board. Explanation, I diligently worked on my Blooming 9-Patch this weekend only to find a row missing on Sunday afternoon. This after spending a good portion of Friday completing the other "missing" rows, sigh.

Thankfully, when I went down to work on the quilt this evening I found the missing row when I plugged in the iron! Oh Happy Day!

And now, as of 10:00 pm this evening, I can happily report that the top is complete. I'll lay it out on the bed tomorrow to determine if it needs a small, outer border of the last, dark blue fabric.

Oh yeah, the picture shows the only 3 leftover pieces I had. I was so not looking forward to having to make the rest of those blocks for that row!

Happy quilting!