Under the Needle: May

Zip. Zip. Blink. Blink. And just like that, another month is behind us, but between daily life projects and activities, I snuck in a few stitches.

DH made a quick trip to visit his brother for a few days this last week and I thought I might get a lot done then, but I ran errands in town on Tuesday, the kids came for a visit on Wednesday (because they thought I might get lonely 😉), and then I got a call that the baby kittens we'd been waiting for were ready to be picked up so another trip to town took place on Thursday, and then DH came home on Friday so not a lot of sewing happened.

But earlier this month I cut out and pieced everything for the I Spy quilt I am making for our grandson.

I also started a new project that's been sitting in a bin for a long time. 

I cut up 10 shirts for a future quilt

And I made myself a new apron

 I finished 2 quilts this month - my Love You S'more camping quilt 

And my Criss-Cross Baskets 

So I feel like I made a bit of progress this month. I've tried to stay focused, but I was tempted by a few new ideas and projects and I enjoyed veering off course for a bit which means my sewing room is a huge mess so I need to take a bit of time to put things back in order before embarking on more projects.

Criss-Cross Baskets Quilt

 I started piecing this quilt in August 2022

It's from the book Scrap Basket Knockouts

There are a number of quilts in it that I hope to make, but I settled on Criss-Cross Baskets for a couple of reasons. I've never made a basket quilt and truth be told, I've never been drawn to them until I saw this mixed up version. 

I had also been needing to pair down my 30's bin in order for the top to close. The original quilt is 56 x 64 but, I made mine bigger - I had a nice variety of happy fabrics to include in the blocks

I also pulled lots of  low volume backgrounds

I cut from every print in my stash so it was quite the undertaking, This would have been SO much easier, if I had a pile of 2 1/2" strips. I do, but I wanted to use 30's prints and I didn't have many of those.

I used the paper plate method of keeping things organized as I paired fabrics and then I just sewed a block or two when I found a bit of time.

Jackie and Sandy quilted it with a pattern called Asian Fan

 and I used a wide gingham on the back and finished it off with a scrappy binding

This one finishes at 84"x 92" 

Scrappy quilts always tug at my heart

And this one will be a fun addition to the guest room until one of the kids walk off with it. 😉

Jumping Down a Rabbit Hole

 Our little local library is staffed entirely by volunteers and the income from the thrift store, next door, funds the library. I stopped in at the library the other day and then took the time to pop into the thrift store to ask them what sort of things they might be able to use. I took a few minutes to browse around and was drawn to some men's shirts. I've been thinking of making a quilt using them for some time. The clothing racks were quite sparse, but I found four 100% cotton shirts...and they were free! They were getting ready to put out spring and summer clothes and were giving away winter merchandise. I love our little library and want to do my part to support it so I left a donation and walked out with these 4 shirts.

There's an older house on our property - the old homestead - and the couple that we purchased this place from lived there for 2 years, when he retired from his practice, while they were building this home. Family and friends would stay there and the home was kept up; although it does need a new roof and septic.

It was still almost fully furnished including some furniture, kitchen items, books on the shelves, and clothes in the closets. I am planning on taking small loads to the thrift shop when we drive that way. 

Then it occurred to me to look through the shirts the doctor had left behind. Bingo! 6 100% cotton shirts, still on wooden hangers.

I'd never deboned a shirt, but I did a little research and started cutting. I knew the key was to get the shirts into usable fabric, but now I'm committed so I think this is only the beginning. 10 free shirts is a good start though.

I wonder if I can sneak some from DH. 😁

New Project: Land of Enchantment

 Last week I was searcbing through project totes when I came across the contents in this one and it said it was ready to become a quilt. And yes, if you're not a quilter, I know that you are making a call to have me evaluated. 😉 I printed the pattern out probably 10+ years ago and I paired it with this fabric from Michelle Watts, a local quilt designer. Someone will ask but, it was a free pattern and I don't remember where it came from. The bottom of the page says Quiltfox Design. I'm sorry I don't have more information.

I added the smokey black fabric and a Toasted Marshmellow Grunge for the background.

And then I stuck it in a bin. The pattern is made up of hsts...lots of them and it does give the option of cutting them from strips, but it doesn't give you the number of strips and the combination of hsts are incorrect and incomplete so I had to refigure what was needed.

Still, I was in the mood to just run a lot of fabric under my needle and this fit the bill...once I made the corrections and filled in the blanks.

I used the essential triangle ruler to cut the hsts, but I was able to decreased my strip width from what the pattern called for to end up with the required size.

I am still digging through my stash in search of a few coordinating fabrics because although I think I have enough fabric, I also think I'd like to make it a little scrappier, but hsts are piling up.

I'm calling this one Land of Enchantment since we live in NM and  we recently caught 2" of rain so it's green and pretty darn enchanting here today.

Favorite Meatloaf

 Some of you are no doubtedly groaning while others are feeling nostalgic, but I made this last Wednesday and I like to keep a record of family recipes here for future reference although the kids and I all have recipe books with handwritten recipe cards. Seems like the next generation keeps everything on their phones, but I know that our family recipe books bring back fond memories for the kids. I love it when they or their spouses call or text me, asking for something the kids requested or talked about from their childhood. 💓

20 years ago, we had a dear couple at our North Camp. When they left and moved back to Kansas, the husband told his wife that she had to get X, Y, Z recipes from me before they left. That memory still warms my heart. In return, this is one of the recipes she shared and it became my go-to Meatloaf recipe instantly. 

We always have a deep freeze full of beef and sometimes it's a challenge to figure out how to use it all now that we are empty nesters. I no longer cook for a crew of cowboys although I do still have extras on occasion.  I still cook all the time, but not in the quantities I once did. And I cooked a lot of casserole-type things when the kids were home because it made a lot and it was cost effective.

The only changes I've made here is to add some Worchestershire and horseradish.

Bohnen Meatloaf

2# ground beef

1 egg

1/2 C milk

1/2 C quick oats

1 C shredded cheese

1/2 C diced or grated onion

Seasoned Salt - Pepper - Granulated Garlic

2 Tbsp Worchestershire

1 Tbsp Horseradish

Topping:

 2/3 C Ketchup

 1/2 C brown sugar

  1 1/2 tsp mustard

*Mix all ingredients together. Spread topping on meatloaf. Bake at 350° for 75 minutes.

*DH likes meatloaf sandwiches so this recipe gets extra points for that. 😉

*I love it with fresh Pico (hold the cilantro please)

And meatloaf is not very photogenic, but it sure did taste good! This time I just served it with perogies, and Broccoli Salad.

Love You S'more Quilt

 I'm popping in to share my latest quilt finish today

The grandbabies are still pretty little, but it won't be long before we'll want to take them camping. When you're little, that's such an adventure! So when this Love You S'more line appeared I was very tempted. I held out until an email arrived one morning advertising S'mores Layer Cakes for $15.00. I hit that order button so fast! The same day, I saw a fat quarter bundle at a 50% discount and I ordered that as well. This was quite a while before we knew we were moving.

Last month, I made this Animal Crackers Quilt  and I thought that pattern (Deep Dive from Moonkin Stitchery) was a great fit for a Love You S'more camping quilt. I thought the triangles looked like little tents.

I made this one bigger at 64" x 72". I used the Layer Cake and cut additional fabric from the fat quarter bundle. I also added a few extra fabrics from my stash

I found this critter tracks print and really like how it looked so I added it. You can also see the fun quilting pattern Jackie and Sandy used. I love that they used a variegated thread too.

The backing is a print I've had in my stash for years. It's one of the bargain fabrics I bought when a quilt shop was closing. I bought the whole bolt for $22.

I will need 2 camping quilts so I'm narrowing down a pattern for the 2nd one. In the meantime, I'm tickled with how this one turned out.

While they're this little, we'll take our maiden camping trip down below the house, and S'mores will definitely be on the menu!

Lord Love a Duck!

 DH has been banned from going to town unsupervised. 😉

He came home with 3 baby ducks on Wednesday. 🥰

We just moved the 7 baby Red Jungle Fowl into the coop on Monday, cleaned out the brooder and put the heat lamp away.

They're getting big

The first batch of chicks are enjoying their freedom

Just yesterday I heard the little rooster let out his first wobbly crow

Welcome to the funny farm, babies

Granny's Corn Casserole

 My MIL shared this recipe with me probably 30 years ago so it's stood the test of time. I wanted to serve some of her old favorites on Mother's Day because if I'm a good cook, she's a big part of that. She's shared so many favorite recipes through the years.

Granny's Corn Casserole

1 can whole kernal corn, undrained

1 can creamed corn

1/4 C chopped onion

1 C uncooked, broken spaghetti

1 C cubed Velveeta

Fresh ground pepper

*Mix everything in a baking dish. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour. I usually bake it covered for 30 minutes or so, then stir and complete baking uncovered.

Super easy and always a  crowd favorite! 

Mother's Day Weekend

The weekend wore me out, but it was such a good one.

On Friday I headed to town at 7 a.m. to tackle a long grocery list that included 2 grocery stores and Sam's. I was back at home by 1 and schlepped everything into the house.

Then I started to work on a Mother's Day dinner.

I told my in-laws I'd fix dinner and they were invited, but my MIL didn't want to come so I planned to fix everything and haul it to their house.

I was trying to get a head start because Saturday was already spoken for. Our son and dil were planning a day trip and I offered to stay with E.

They are renting a place until they either build or buy a place and they've been having heck with the old hot water heater so the landlord drove from Texas to replace it. It's been an ordeal, but he chose Saturday to do so and since the kids were going to be gone, DH came over to keep an eye on things while E and I explored outside

We took a detour for some lunch at the Oso Grill where E entertained us with her abracadaba skills until our food arrived

 Then I found myself back in the kitchen that evening making more progress on Sunday's meal. I laughed when I got this text from my DIL that evening

I'm glad I still have the energy to wear out a 4 yr. old. Then we all met at Granny and Grandpa's on Sunday and and memories were made. Daddy asked E of she knew what the contraption on the wall was and she answered without thinking...a telephone! We were all surprised that she knew since these are no longer common

Granny got flowers and a supply of sugar for her hummingbirds. 😆

DH showed grandpa how to spatch-cock a chicken and they smoked 3 so that everyone could take home leftovers. I made Granny's potato salad, Texas Caviar, Corn Casserole, Okra, and Jalapeno Poppers to go with it.

And Strawberry Shortcake Dessert to end everything on a sweet note. 😉

Bubbles on the deck included applause and bowing

Hide and seek with Granny gave Granny the giggles

'Who has the rock' gave EVERYONE the giggles

It was such a pretty day and I'm glad we were able to celebrate with them

My heart is full, but I am officially claiming today as Mother's Day Off Day. 😂