Black Friday!

I didnt brave the weather or the crowds today. I felt like just staying home and resting after such a busy Thanksgiving day. I worked on a quilt for the new baby that is on the way. His due date was moved up by 2 weeks. I was knee deep in Christmas projects, but decided to take a break and get this one cracked out!

This is the quilt pattern that I was going by. I really wasnt sure about the color palette. But my daughter wanted green and brown. I finally found this picture in a book called Simplify.

We chose these fabrics to use

I really love the lion and monkeys on the fabric. And who can resist the polka dots??

This is my youngest little man, Logan. Just look at his cute little grown up man tie! He will be sharing the spotlight is just a few weeks when his little brother makes his appearance. Bless his heart. I am curious how he will respond, since this will probably rock his little world! He is quite spoiled and very much a daddy's boy. Well, maybe with the new baby arriving, Nana and Papa will get to enjoy his comapany a little more!

Hope you had a great day and scored some really big deals!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have been very blessed this year and am so grateful for all the wonderful family I have. My husband is the best man, he is my best friend and just cant live without him in my life. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary this year! All of our children and grandchildren are such special gifts to us. We love them all and are thankful for each and everyone one of them. We are looking forward to adding another grandchild this year. He should arrive sometime right after Christmas. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Let The Baking Begin!

I am so excited this year about the holidays! Usually, I have to rush around and cook after I get home from work, spending all my extra time trying to pull off a great meal for the family. This year, I am taking my time and getting some of my baking done ahead of time. My grandson will be coming over tomorrow to help me. Caleb is 12 years old and is showing a great interest in cooking! I am secretly thrilled to death. I always dreamed of baking in my kitchen with my grandchildren, just like my grandmother did when I was little. Some of my fondest childhood memories are in her kitchen helping her "stir up a cake". I was the oldest of 4 grand daughters and we would all pile into the kitchen watching her mix up a cake. One of us would get the bowl, one would get the spoon and 2 would get the beaters to lick afterward. We had many good times in those days and I dreamed of having that same special memory with my kids. Since all of my grands are boys, they are more interested in following Papa around and doing 'guy stuff'. Caleb's mother does not cook, so he is very interested in the whole process. He helped me make a banana pudding a few weeks ago and offered to help me with the preparations for Thanksgiving.

My son in law, Bryan is a chef here in our city. He is busy baking and cooking for the holidays and my daughter Jennifer is a floral designer. They married earlier this year and have recently moved the florist to a larger building with an area for a cafe! They are opening on Monday morning, we are so excited for them. I have shared a few recipes with him that have been passed on to me over the years and he is planning on using those during the holidays.

I have been blessed with 7 children and all of them will be here next week for Thanksgiving lunch. The holidays can be very demanding due to the inlaws, outlaws and all of the other stops the kids have to make, so I feel very fortunate that they come to my home for lunch. My daughters always arrive early so they can help me with last minute preparations and each one will bring a side dish or a dessert.

After we all eat and clean up the kitchen we draw names for Christmas. We started this last year and it works very well. When you have this many children it is very hard for all of them to buy presents for each other. We decided that drawing names would take the pressure off and they could focus on their families instead. I am hoping that they will be pleased this year with my quilts that I am making for them. I have one more to sew and get off to the quilter's! It has been a job, but I have really enjoyed it. I haven't been able to do alot of sewing in the past few years due to school and work. I have decided, that I will continue to spend time making quilts, since it is something I really love to do! I have always put my hobbies on the back shelf, in order to accomplish other things and now it is time to stop and do something for myself! Do you think that is selfish??? I have discovered that I have to buy a better sewing machine after the first of the year. I really miss my old singer that I used for so many years! And, I have ideas of making the spare bedroom into a more organized space so I can find everything I need while I am working on a project.

Hope everyone has a great week! I have been blog hopping today and have discovered so many new and interesting blogs. It has been a wonderful treat.

Pinwheel Quilt

I just finished this little quilt top up this morning. My daughter has requested this one and wanted the bright green sashing with the plaid. I have made 4 tops with 4 more to go. Carried them over to a lady this morning to quilt them for me.

pattern

I finally found the name of this pattern. It is called "All Wrapped Up" You will find it in the free pattern section of Moda Fabrics. Not the Moda bakeshop site. Hope you enjoy sewing this as much as I did!

I Love This Quilt!

I got an early start this morning and decided to make another Christmas quilt. I just love this one, its easy and I was able to sew it together in an afternoon! My plan is to make one for all the kids for Christmas. I have to find someone to quilt them for me, since I am super slow at that. This pattern was a freebie at Moda's website. The pattern showed using scraps, but I didnt have enough to give it a good scrappy look.

I was so excited today to see the UPS man. He delivered an order from Fat Quarter shop that I have been so anxious to get. After I finish up with Christmas presents, I am going to make a quilt called Swoon. I ordered fabric called Ruby to complete it with. I want to make a few test blocks before I cut into the real stuff!

Well, hope you had a great day. I am starting another quilt top in the morning and have physical therapy tomorrow afternoon. Its going to be a very busy day!

Thanks to all who left comments about the sewing machines. I am still researching, but happy to have your imput to steer me in the right direction!

New Quilt Top

I thought I would show you the new quilt top that I just made. I still have to quilt and bind it. It is a little small, so I will just use it as a lap quilt. I have had some issues with this pattern from the start. First of all, I hate to cut out the pieces, it the worst part of any project for me. I was cutting with a dull rotary tool and I also was working on it when I really wasnt feeling well. My squares are off a little and although I ripped it out twice, I still didnt get it completely square. I am a novice at quilting although I have been sewing for 30 plus years. But, I will keep trying and I am determined to be a great quilter one day!

I really loved the colors in this one, they are very bright and colorful. It will cheer me up on a rainy day for sure! Have a great week!

What Are Your Thoughts?

Good evening, hope everyone is having a great Friday! I have been thinking about upgrading to a new sewing machine. My beloved Singer machine went out on me a couple of years ago, right in the middle of a project so , I ran out and bought another machine which has not been a great choice. The machine I have now is a small singer and is ok for hemming a pair of pants and mending. But, I have discovered that it is not great for bigger jobs. To be honest with you, I have not put in alot of sewing time in the past two years. So I really haven't used it much, but since my surgery, I have been working on several quilt projects. I have had trouble with the tension, I hate the bobbin system and it just does not perform the way I expected. I am formulating a plan in my mind and need your ideas and imput.

First, I would love to have this Bernina! It is way out of my budget and we do not have a local dealer. I have looked at a Janome sewing machine. I have found it is much more affordable and we do have a dealer in our location. I would love to hear from you, please give me your recomendations. If the Bernina is the best choice, I will just have to save my money to buy one. If a Janome is a good choice, I can go ahead and purchase a new one. My sewing projects will be primarily quilts and would love to be able to machine quilt. I am not interested in making clothes anymore, since my children are grown. However I do make items such as curtains, placemats etc.

I now have a dedicated sewing room to use and do not have to pack up the machine every evening. I am loving this! When my kids were small, I made everything they wore. I would wait until their bedtime, set up my machine,sew until bedtime then put everything up!

Please, let me know your thoughts! Have a great weekend!

Christmas Quilt

Good Afternoon! Hope you are enjoying this wonderful fall day. I have finished piecing my new Christmas quilt and hope to have it quilted pretty soon. I put it in the frames last night. Can't wait until after dinner so I can escape to my little sewing room and put in some stitches! This fabric was purchased at Hancocks, it has the cutest white snowflakes on it. This will be 60 x 60, so just right to snuggle up with on a cold afternoon. I have never made a pinwheel quilt, I know they are simple just never got around to using that design. It went together very fast and has inspired me to make another Christmas quilt soon.

Have a great day!

Pumpkin Patch

Is there anything in the world cuter than a little boy exploring outside?? Logan went to the pumpkin patch this weekend and had a blast. He sorted through big ones and little ones and made his selection to take home with him. It is so much fun to watch him enjoying the outdoors!


Update:

For over 3 years, I have needed to have a knee replacement. I have put it off for many reasons.

1) I'm not old enough to have a knee replacement

2) I really hated the thought of a mile long scar down the front of my beautiful leg! (Y'all, its the only part of my body that looks good)

3) I have been in surgery and know what they really do to you while you are asleep.

4) I just cant take the time off to have this done.

Well, in the past 6 weeks, my joint has deteriorated to the point that I could no longer walk and lived in constant pain. I finally had to make the decision to have this done. I have had to accept the fact that I am old enough and I can always look at pictures to remind my grandchildren that I did have great legs once upon a time. And of course, now that I can't walk due to pain, there were no more conservative options.

This past Monday, we drove to Dallas and had it done. I am now at home, going to therapy 3 times a week. The pain is awful, I really thought I was tougher than this! I mean, I have had natural childbirth more than once! Everyone kept telling me its not the same kind of pain. Well hello!!! They got that part right. Its far worse than I could have imagined. I kept thinking prior to surgery, that I would have all this extra time to cook, work on recipes, sew and do some things I haven't enjoyed in a while. So far, I have been able to hobble from room to room on a walker, ya know one of those metal things with the glow in the dark tennis balls! I have this lovely pair of ted hose that I have to wear for 6 weeks, day and night. And a massive incision down the front of my leg. Fortunately, my surgeon did use sutures instead of staples, to preserve my vanity and explained that vitamin E oil would help to diminish the scarring. Then, he told me the exciting news that since I am so young, I will require another one before my lifespan is over. Sitting here, I am wondering why did this happen? Is it because of my chosen field of work? Is it because I always walked so fast? My mother, has never had this problem. In fact, I am the first person in our family to have this done. My sister works on her feet all day, of course she stands and never walks. Whatever the reason for it, it is now done and am in therapy to try and regain as much use as possible. I am seeing a picture of Maxine, the crabby old woman on a walker with glow in the dark tennis balls in a housecoat. Yep, that is me right now. Off to therapy I go, the youngest one sitting in the waiting room wearing thick white hose!


Lorri

Random Thoughts!

Our only grandaughter is homecoming queen for 2011!

Our youngest grandson enjoying the fall parade in our local town. This shot was taken when the antique cars rolled by. He loved them.

Doing a little fall decorating in my spare time.

Baking chocolate pies for my hubby.

Making my favorite pound cake with a cool new pan from Williams-Sonoma!

I'm loving the really cool mornings!
I'm so happy that fall is really here!

Old Fashioned Bread Pudding

Is there anything in the world more homey or satisfying than warm bread pudding? It is so versatile and easy to make, that you can have it ready to serve within an hour. Here is my basic recipe:


Bread Pudding

8 slices of stale bread ( I love to use wheat or french bread in mine)
2 cups of sugar
2 sticks of butter
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
approximately 4 cups of milk
1 tsp cinnamon

Cut the bread into 1 inch chunks and place into large mixing bowl. Pour milk in the bowl to allow it to soak into the bread. In separate bowl beat 3 eggs well, add the sugar,cinnamon and vanilla, beat well. Melt two sticks of butter and pour into bread and milk mixture ,stir until well incorporated. Add the egg/sugar mixture and mix gently together. Pour into a lightly greased dish( I use my corningware). Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 45 minutes until the center is set. Insert a knife to check and make sure it is done.

Variations:
French bread gives it a different yeasty taste which is very rich and yummy. I have also used hot dog buns, hamburger buns and white bread.
You can use evaporated milk, heavy cream,or half and half to substitute for some of the milk.
I have used raisins, apples, pears or any fall fruit to bump up the flavor.
Rum extract can be used instead of vanilla.

There are many recipes for sauce that can be poured on top, but I seldom use them. The pudding is very rich and with 2 sticks of butter it is already a heart stopper.

When you have leftover bread, just put the sack in the freezer and add to it. Soon you will have enough for a good size dessert to serve your family. I think it is a great way to use up stale bread or buns!

Hope you have a peaceful and restful day! My prayers are with the survivors and families of 9/11.