Lemonade Stand Quilt Swap

Nothing like pushing things to the wire, eh? I got the quilt top done for my quilt swap, I just need to quilt it, which will probably happen tomorrow night.

I have the borders cut for Gramma Todd's Quilt, I just need to sew them on. I'll be renting time on a long arm machine to quilt that - sometime the first week of June.

I'm still not any further on Ainsley's Quilt and they just got back into town last night! YIKES! Gotta get a move on that!

I'm updating my UFO Marathon stats on my sidebar. Overall, I'm doing very well.

I had a request on a tutorial for the 3-D pinwheels. I'm going to try to get to that this weekend. I got the pattern out of P.S. I Love You Two, but I added my own spin to it. Stay Tuned for that!

I'll also be working on some Red White & Blue blocks this weekend as a Heartstings project we're doing in honor of Memorial Day.

Busy Busy Busy!
~Jessica

Back on the sewing wagon!

I finished squaring up the strips for Ainsley's Quilt yesterday. I'm making the String X pattern from Bonnie's website.

I also changed my mind on the pattern to use for my Lemonade Stand Quilt Swap. One rule for the swap was to try something new. So I tried 3-D pinwheels. They're so much fun!!

A little more progress

I've made some progress the last few days. I cut the borders for Gramma Todd's Quilt. And I got the fabric for the Lemonade Stand Quilt Swap I'm in. I went with brights and I think the quilt is going to be fabulous! (I may have to make another one for myself!). These squares are all cut at 3.5" anyone wanna take as guess as to what I'm making with them....?

(Blogger has been turning my pictures sideways...does anyone know why?)

OH NO!!! Correction, correction, Correction!!!!

DO NOT USE EVAPORATED MILK IN YOUR CARMEL SAUCE!!!!! You need to use Sweetened Condensed Milk - I must have had a sugar high already when I typed that!!! So sorry!

Happy Mother's Day!!

I want to wish every Mommy out there a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! Whether you are a Mommy by birth or by chance. Whether your baby grew in your heart or in your belly - this is a day to celebrate all of the amazing women out there that give so much of themselves everyday to the children they love. Its also a day to celebrate the women that have made the agonizing choice to allow someone else to raise the children they birthed. There is a woman somewhere, on the other side of the Earth, that I know is making that heartwrenching choice right now - I know that no other Mother's Day will ever pass without my heart breaking for her. I will forever be indebited to her, yet I'll likely never meet her. But because of chance and circumstance, we'll forever be connected. My next child will have two Mommies and I'll always make sure she knows that and we'll celebrate the woman that so couragously allowed her baby girl to come into our life.....now, if only our house would sell so we could GO TO CHINA and get her!!!! I'm comin' Baby Girl, just be patient, Mommy's on her way. I Love You!

What do YOU have planned on this special day? We are going to do some house work and then the boys and I are probably going to go run some errands. I opened my gifts this morning with the boys beside me on the couch and Jason on the phone. Carter got me an iced tea maker (I've been asking for one - I really need to kick my Diet Pepsi habit!) and Ben got me a gift certificate to Skunk Bay Quilters!!!! I'll be taking their Long Arm Machine class so I can get signed off and then rent time on their machine!! I'm so excited!!! This way I'll already know my way around a Long Arm before I ever get mine!! WOOHOO!!!!
Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Homemade Carmel Sauce....mmmmm

Some friends and I were talking about how to make homemade carmel sauce the other day and I decided to make some tonight and blog about it (yes, I cooked instead of sewed...just can't seem to get back on that horse this weekend...hhhmm)

So, you start with a can of Evaporated Milk Sweetened Condensed Milk.




(I used fat free so I could pretend this might be healthy!)

Take the paper off of the can and put it in a sauce pan and cover the can completely with water. Do not open the can or puncture it in anyway.

Heat it over moderately high heat until it begins to boil. Reduce heat and allow to bubble for 3-4 hours (depending on how thick you want your carmel). Make sure to keep the can completely covered, add additional water if necessary.

Remove the can from the water (I suggest using tongs!) Put the can (don't open it yet) into the refrigerator to cool.

After several hours you can open the can.....

and you have a sweet yummy carmelly gooey delicious sauce!!

And now for the best part.......mmmm

Mine came out a little thicker than I intended. This would've been a good one to pour in a pie shell and make carmel pie - but I want to dip apples in it. So, I'll just spoon some out and microwave it for a few seconds and it'll thin out a bit! Now - go make some carmel!!!

~Jessica

Borders for Gramma Todd's Quilt

I got to go shopping earlier this week and this is what I found for the borders on Gramma Todd's Quilt. Its not exactly what I had pictured, but I like it and I think it will look beautiful in her living room.

I received my quilt from the swap

You may remember that I'm particpating in the Lemonade Stand Quilt Swap. Well, I got my quilt this week! Its so fun and bright! I absolutely love it!

Back to my UFO's

I really need to get back on the sewing horse! I've sat around and moped the last few days (a ritual I often go through after Jason has been home for a long period of time) and now I'm ready. I have to finish up the housework today (yea, I haven't kept up as much as I should....never did have that showing, though!). But tonight I'm having a Saturday Sew In. Jason is usually gone on the weekends, so I'm thinking about dedicating every Saturday evening to sewing. I think that would help a lot. I'll make sure I get the kids to bed by 7 pm and then I can have several hours of uninterupted sewing time. On the agenda for tonight:

• Cut borders for Gramma Todd's quilt
• Cut fabric for Lemonade Quilt Swap
• Square up Ainsley's blocks and cut up alternate squares
• Take pictures of some great new fabric to share with my blog friends! :)

Phew...I feel better now that I have a plan (did you notice that nothing in that plan actually requires me to turn my machine on?! HA!! Oh well, at least I get to play with the fabrics). I'll be sure to post pictures of my progress.

Tootles!

I'm "Single" Again!

I'm what I like to refer to as a "Sometimes Single Parent". My husband is a commercial airline pilot and I'm often left alone with the kids for several days at a time. It can be tough (especially when he misses holidays), but its all we've ever known and we make it work for us. On the up side, when Jason's home he's 100% ours - there are no meetings, conference calls, client emails, etc.....So, its a compromise. Occasionally, about 2-3 times per year, he can time his schedule so that he gets a long span of days at home - without using his vacation. We just ended one of those times. He was gone for 12 days at the beginning of April (a longer stretch than I'm used to), but when he got home, he was here for 17 DAYS!!! It was fabulous. We bid him farewell this morning.

Our routine is to stand on teh porch and wave goodbye until we can't see his truck anymore.

While having Jason home so long was fantastic, the last several days I did neglect my household chores as well as my UFO Marathon - so I'll miss him very much (he's only gone 5 days this time), but I'm looking forward to having some nice quiet sewing time in the evenings. I would love to say I'm spending all day today at my sewing machine, but I have to clean before I can play. Our house is on the market (notice the For Sale sign at the top of the driveway?) and we have a very strong prospect seeing the house this weekend.

I'm off to clean, but I have lots of fabric finds to share with you on a later post! Stay Tuned!!

I'm alive...just terribly busy!

I haven't posted in a while - and I don't know if anyone's noticed - but I just wanted to check in and let you all know that I'm alive. My local MOMS Club had our annual consignment sale this weekend and I've been busy getting all of the kids' old stuff ready to sell. Then I had to work the sale for most of Saturday. Things should be getting back to normal this week and I have some fantastic fabric finds to share with you guys....stay tuned!