Quilt Tops & Screen Doors

My parents just left today after a long weekend visiting. It was a very nice visit & we had a lot of fun going to the rodeo (more on that later this week), driving around the area, and just hanging out at home.

My mom is an amazing sewist and taught me garment making last year. This year she wanted to learn how to quilt so she was my first quilting student.

Mom's first quilt top. Made with an Etchings charm pack & using the Bennington pattern in Schnibbles Times Two by Carrie Nelson.

I finally finished my A Morris Tapestry quilt. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but it had ended up in my "on hold" pile. After cutting the border twice (short both times) and running out of fabric I had to rethink it a bit. I think it turned out better than my original plan. :)

Since we have moved so much my parents have never gotten us a house warming present. (It wasn't something I had ever thought of, but something my mom brought up recently.) So while they were here we headed over to Menard's in Scottsbluff and got screen doors & a weed whacker! So awesome! Now I only have to fight with the bugs when I'm outside.

My dad played on the riding lawn mower most of the day yesterday and the "yard" looks amazing! :)

They also brought this with them. When my grandfather passed away recently we received a flag for his service in the Army Air Corps during WWII. We also received a flag for grandma, who was in the Marine Corps Women's Reserve and served in New York during WWII. They never received a flag when she passed away, but now that everything's computerized they discovered the mistake. My brother has the other one so this flag is in honor of both grandparents' service for our country.

And see that painting in the upper left hand corner? One of several paintings that I own that grandpa did. :)

Thanks for visiting!

Sunday Brunch

Sunday's in the Tuckey home are set aside for Sunday Brunch. Sundays are usually the only day that Jake has off. We either end up staying home, watching movies, & working on projects or we'll go out for a drive and explore the area.

Since today is a cold, windy, rainy day we decided to stay home, have a delicious breakfast, & watch Firefly.

Here's what we made:

Fried eggs. I don't like runny yolks so I break my yolk, but I do have the skill (usually) to not break the yolk for Jake's over-medium eggs. :)

Last night we had BBQ. We had so many fabulous appetizers that by the time we got to the steaks I was too full. Jake cut up the steak into bite sizes pieces for a delicious hash.

Next he got the potatoes ready. Peel the potatoes and "pre-bake" them in the microwave for a few minutes. (If you've never cooked potatoes in the microwave before be sure to stab the potatoes a few times with a fork before heating them, otherwise they'll explode.)

Throw the potatoes on the skillet, which has been preheated with plenty of olive oil. Brown the potatoes for several minutes.

Add the steak & continue to brown. We like our hash on the crispy side. Don't forget to add your favorite seasoning. I think he added garlic powder & pepper, and most likely some Lawry's season salt too.

While we were making the hash & eggs we also had some bacon baking in the oven. Serve up, drizzle with some Tapatio for a little kick, add some fruit, & enjoy!

Isn't teamwork great? :)

Jake's mom is visiting from California right now and yesterday we took her to Ft. Laramie, which was a military post and also a stopping point along the Oregon/Mormon/California Trail in the mid-1800s. It's a pretty amazing & historic national park that most don't know about. If you're ever in Eastern Wyoming it's definitely worth the $3 entrance fee!

I'll share more pictures later this week, but I thought you might like to see a picture of the decor of the bar. It has been restored, but this is an exact replica of how the bar looked in its day.

Isn't the wallpaper beautiful? The wife of the barkeep wanted the men to have a little culture.

Books

I love books! Novels, journals, sketchbooks, old books, new books, you name it. I read every night before I fall asleep, I used to write my own picture books when I was younger, I'm addicted to used book stores (sadly, there are none within 100+ miles of where we live). I love books!

When I saw this picture on Quilt Dad's blog I decided that I wanted a graph paper sketchbook. As I said, I love sketchbooks, but the blank pages scare me. When I see all that white my mind goes blank. I like the lined books, but the lines often draw my eyes, and mind, off the page. Graph paper is great! It keeps me on the page and I can see shapes form within those little squares. And I can keep everything in its proper proportion, which is important to me.

After checking out the few stores in the area that might carry a graph paper sketchbook/composition book I realized that I was probably going to have to make my own.

So that's what I did. I picked up a couple of packs of graph paper and got started. I should have taken pictures of the process, but I didn't. What started as a 20 sheet booklet of 8.5" x 11" graph paper turned into this...

The Opal Owl one is mine and the bandanna one is Jake's.

Lays flat when open, which is nice.

I've never bound a book before, but I had a lot of fun designing and making these. I think I will be picking up more graph paper packs the next time I'm in town.