Letters to Paris Quilt

Last year, I donated two quilts to Kaitlyn's Promise to help raise money for the Kaitlyn Vallery Memorial Scholarship. I was able to donate Charmed Star of Avignon and Twinkling Tesselations.

I finally finished one of the quilts that I will be donating this year. I did the majority of the quilt-top at our Idyllwild Quilt Retreat.

I decided to name the quilt "Letters to Paris," because I used a Moda fabric line called "Pom Pom de Paris" and the cream-colored fabric has tiny letters of the alphabet embedded in it.





(That's my cutie-pie husband holding the quilt for me. See his cycling socks! Thanks, my sweet.)

This is the first quilt that I have made that is set en point. Surprisingly, it wasn't difficult in the least.





The fabrics in this line are so pretty and feminine. They really went together nicely. I included a closer picture, albeit poor quality, in the hopes that you could see the colors better.





I am hoping to get one more quilt finished to donate, if our somewhat chaotic lives cooperates. *fingers crossed*
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Summer Yum!

If I haven't mentioned it previously, it should be stated that this blog is in no way, shape, or form a recipe blog. I do, however, enjoy cooking and love to share recipes that work for my family.

Like most families, we eat lots of salads during the summer months. I am pretty lucky that my kids enjoy most vegetables and will try almost anything that I put before them.

I happened upon this Lemony Orzo recipe the crew really loved.

It is unbelievably simple, tasty, and versatile. We have eaten it as a stand-alone pasta salad on a warm day, a side for chicken and steak, and even as a salad garnish (my favorite.)

Ready to whip some up for your family? Here's how!

You'll need:
3/4 cup uncooked orzo
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon honey
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup diced English cucumber
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper (I've also used yellow and orange.)
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (My family doesn't dig dill, so I used thyme.)

Preparation
1. Dice English cucumbers and bell peppers and set aside.



(Obviously, I used yellow and orange bell peppers, this time.)


2. Cook orzo according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain and place in a large bowl.
3. While orzo cooks, combine lemon rind and next 6 ingredients (through black pepper), stirring well with a whisk.



4. Drizzle juice mixture over orzo and veggies; toss to coat.



It should also be noted that the original recipe called for 1/2 cup of goat cheese, but my family isn't the biggest fan of cheese, so I omitted it.

Hope you enjoy as much as we do!


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You down with OPP? Yeah, you know me.

I apologize for the lame 90s reference, but it is relevant here. Only the OPP isn't for Other People's Property (or other choice nouns), it is for Other People's Pantries.

I am extremely honored that my pantry was featured this week on The Perfect Pantry's weekly feature "Other People's Pantries."

Our family is fortunate in that we have a pretty large, walk-in pantry that houses the massive quantities of food that this family seemingly requires.

Here is my kitchen:









(These are the only pics that I can grab from the interwebs, but I have made some changes since these were taken. I added a chalkboard to the pantry door and I took the doors off above the stove.)
The pantry is through the door just to the right of the fridge.



Keeping it organized makes it easy for me to take stock of what we need each week.

You can find more pictures at The Perfect Pantry.

Enjoy and thanks so much to Lydia for including me in her weekly feature. :)



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Mami's Day

After spending a fun-filled, busy day with my family, I can go to sleep counting my blessings.
Here are four of them:



(L to R) Cristina, Gabriela, Daniel, Jake (I can't believe how little they all were. I swear there are times that I can still feel them asleep in my arms.)

These little babies made my life absolutely complete, and continue to fill my days with happiness. *Love*
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(Spring) Cabin Fever Quilters Retreat

This past weekend, I was able to get away to Idyllwild with some of my favorite ladies-my Cabin Fever Quilters Friendship Group.

Donna (the Dynamo) and Mare (the Amazing) planned and organized an outstanding weekend for us all. It was fantastic and can't wait until we do it again.

We spread out over most of the living room/dining room. I'll admit that it did look a bit like a sweatshop. :) (That is my machine and table in the left foreground.)





We stayed up late each night and were up early each morning. (I swear that Donna and Mare didn't sleep, at all.)
I wasn't able to finish all of the projects that I prepped, but I did finish four quilt tops. Hopefully, I will find some time in the coming weeks actually quilt them.
Here are the things that I finished:





Our little group got sooooo much stuff finished!
These belong to Mare and Marie.





This picture shows Marie and Andrina's work.





Next, you can see Andrina and Donna's completed projects.





Here are Sue's completed projects (with mine.)





Finally, these are Linda's Civil War reproduction blocks (and Linda holding them.) She completed 25 of these beautiful blocks!





As much fun as we all had, it was nice to run along our merry way home--





--and spend Sunday with our families.



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Happy Easter!

From our family, to yours.


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Snow-Scrappy

Woot! I finished another block exchange quilt! A few months ago, I posted about the Snowman Block Exchange that one of my friendship groups hosted.
I am so excited that I finished the quilt top with all of the blocks.
I chose to border each block with some homespuns and some flannels that I had in my stash to even the blocks and to bring the whole thing together.
I also added a block to those exchanged to fill some empty space.





I don't think that I'll be quilting this one until next fall but I think that I'll back it with flannel to make it extra snuggly. :)
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Scrappy Bargello

When I went to Road to California Quilt Show in January, I purchased some supplies, fabrics, and a few kits.


Of all the things that I brought home, I was most excited about the bargello quilt. (You can see it in the top corner in the picture of my booty.) The pattern was created by a quilter at the Quilter's Coop in Temecula and it was just my style!

Other than the fact that it is almost exactly the colors that I use in my kitchen/great room, I loved the fabrics provided in this quilt for other reasons. They are all Civil War Reproductions and fairly exquisite, in my opinion.

This is the first Bargello quilt that I have made and I have to admit that it was pretty quick and easy. I can say, with a fair amount of certainty, that I will be using this pattern for other quilts. (Maybe I'll be able to make use of my moda stash using this pattern.)

So, without further hesitation, my scrappy bargello....



And, just so that you can love the fabrics as much as I do, here is a close-up:


Love it! It is about the right size that I could even use it as a table cover on the farm table that separates the kitchen from the Great Room. The possibilities!
We will probably just use it to snuggle which is the best use it could have.
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Friendship Spool Quilt

Back in May of 2010, one of my friendship groups decided to do a spool block exchange. I posted about our first exchange in the post titled Hangin' by a Thread.

For the next few months, every time that we met we would bring enough spools to exchange with other members of the group.

During Spring Break, I finally had a chance to piddle around with them and piece them together. When I put them up on my design-wall the block in the top, middle jumped out at me. It seemed a little too..."bright," compared to the others.


Here is a close-up of that block.


I decided that if I wanted to use it, I needed to try something different. I tea-dyed it. It was super-easy to do with such a small block.

After steeping a tea bag in boiling water, I pushed my fabric in and let the tea set. I think that I left it in for about 10 minutes.

Then, I took it out and rinsed it in cold water.

Such a difference! It matched the other blocks perfectly!


Below is the finished product with all of the spools represented. I love the eclectic look that this quilt has. I used a sage green border that brought out some of the colors in the spools.


The back is a blue floral that is from the same fabric line as the green fabric. (I can't remember the line.)


Now, I need to figure out how I am going to piece together our Snowman Block Exchange. Hmmmmmmm.
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A work of heart

also known as almost caught up!

At the end of March, I had to bid adieu to the Teacher Candidate (formerly known as Student Teacher) that had been with me since January.

Ms. Angelotti was such a joy to work beside and I know that one day she will make an amazing educator! I really wanted to make her something special that she might use in her own classroom one day.

So, my students each decorated a fabric square (5" muslin) with their name using crayola crayons. Then, I heat-set the crayon using a dry iron.

I used Giddy by Sandy Gervais for Moda Fabrics to create a heart and border around the students' squares.

Here is a picture of it on my design wall, after piecing before quilting:



She loved it and the students were so proud of their work!
Here is the final product, please excuse the blurry back picture:






These two sweet students gave up a few precious moments of recess to help me with the picture. :)
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(Not-so) Hidden Stars

also known as Catch Up Part 6 (I promise to get caught up during my spring break, especially now that the weather has turned icky.)

This little lap quilt is for my sister, Kindyl.








(Excuse our weeds, please.)
She picked the fabric line ( Summer's End by Kansas Troubles Quilters for Moda Fabrics) to match her living room, but I chose the pattern. I used a pattern called Hidden Stars; however, the muslin that I used make the stars jump out at you.

Of course, I stippled because that is within my comfort zone and actually counts as my moment of zen. :)

The one super fun (for me) thing about this quilt is that I got to use my brand new labels that I ordered from Miss Label.









Here is the back of the label:









Kindyl and her daughters have since received this quilt and love it as much as I had hoped.
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Brokenhearted

also known as Catch-Up Part 5
I have been avoiding thinking about this, but it is, unfortunately, a reality.
First, I have to introduce you to my ex-husband, Derek, (Jake's dad) and his lovely wife, Tina:






Earlier this year, they celebrated their 9th wedding anniversary.

We, obviously, have a very comfortable relationship and I consider the four of us (Derek, Tina, Rene, and myself) as co-parents in Jake's life.

In fact, there have been times, due to Derek's deployments, that we have attended Back to School nights and Orchestra concerts as Tiffany, Rene, and Tina. There have also been times when Rene is chasing the young ones around to keep them occupied, that we attend as Tiffany, Derek, and Tina.

I've taken them to the airport for vacations and we have house-sat for one another. Needless to say, our lives are fairly intertwined.

We share joint custody and have never worried with anything like child support. We just split the costs for everything and have never run into an issue.

Which brings me to why I am brokenhearted. Derek found out in February that he is being transferred to another duty station. Not just any other duty station, but to one in Beaufort, South Carolina. He and Tina will be moving there in August. :(

We have lived through 4 deployments to Iraq and 2 to Afghanistan, but those were temporary.

This is a permanent duty station. I am so brokenhearted for my Jakey. I am so sad that he will be separated from his dad by a country. Ugh.

I am also brokenhearted for Derek and Tina. Not only will they be so far away from Jake and what they consider home, but they also have to sell their house for about a $180,000 loss (if it sells for what they have it listed for currently-they may have to drop the price again.)

I am at a loss for words for their situation, as well as the loss that my Jakey will feel come August.
Here is another sweet picture from 2006 (and another one of Derek's deployments):






If you have any positive thoughts to spare, they will all be able to use them.

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I'm a mom to a teenager!!??!!??

also known as catch-up post 4

So, yep.  It is true.  My little Jakey Smoothface is a teenager.  *sigh*  It is still so hard to believe that this little sweetness...

...has grown into a teenager.  When I look at him, I still see this little guy. 

In those days it was all about:  his shirt sleeves being pushed up, his boardbooks, his Bear in the Big Blue House, his binky, his hot wheels, and running while laughing uncontrollably. 

These days, it is all about:  girls, AXE (ugh), schoolwork, music, more chapter books than I can keep available, games, and hanging out with friends.  (One thing that he isn't about is photos.  I tried to take one for this post and he was less than thrilled.  I pick my battles and that wasn't one.)  :)

But, I'll tell you what is really cool. 
The conversations. 
He is such a smart kid and I love that he has some strong opinions, loves to play devil's advocate, has an uncanny sense of fairness, enjoys stirring the intellectual pot, and owns a generous and kind heart.  *love*

Idyllwild 2011

Also known as, Catch-upis Interruptis.

As soon as Rene heard that a big storm was making its way toward Southern California, he texted me and asked if I wanted to take the family up to Idyllwild. Winning! (Ok, forgive me. I am fascinated by the whole Charlie Sheen demise before our very eyes and Howard Stern keeps playing this stupid exclamation that has become ubiquitous in Charlie's conversation.)

So, we quickly called and made plans. Our favorite cabin was no longer up for rental. Boo! (However, it is for sale. Hmmmm?) We ended up booking another cabin, that was pretty fabulous, as well. If you are ever in the market for a cabin rental in Idyllwild, I highly recommend Idyllwild Cabin Rentals (We stayed in the cabin called Alpine Chalet, this time.) Robert and the crew really go out of their way to be as helpful as possible!

So, we drove up Saturday and just before Anza (we prefer going this route because we despise driving through Hemet...ick), the snow started, without hesitation.





We hadn't put the chains on yet, but were fortunate enough to follow some four wheel drive trucks. It was unbelievable how quickly the snow was accumulating!

By the time we were climbing the mountain, we were really wishing that the chains were already on.






We finally reached Idyllwild and stopped to put on the chains. Woot!






So, the cabin was gorgeous! Not our favorite...but still very nice.
The kiddos spent many hours out in the snow and we discovered that our little Daisy dog is a total snow bunny. :)






Rallying the troops for a snowball fight





The deck





Jake's snow-angel












The kids finally wore themselves out and settled in for some movies and warmth!




I moved the kitchen table and set up a little quilting station in the kitchen using my SewEzi table. (Thanks to Andrina and Donna for buying these tables and helping me to decide to splurge on one, too!) It felt like a little slice of heaven!




Then, I started to feel a little spoiled!





The next morning was clear and sunny! A perfect day for more snow play.





It was a great weekend for everyone and I loved every minute of it!
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