Bee Blocks

Yesterday I showed you several projects that I've been working on this week. Here's a couple more...

String block for Vicky using Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane.

String Me Along bee

This was my first string block. I've seen them before, but had never really been interested in making one. Now that I've had the opportunity to, I love them! It was so easy & seems to display a collection very nicely. :)

Confetti block for Sara

Fat Stash bee

She sent Denyse Schmidt's Fairgrounds Modern Texture in yellow for the frame & a bit of Anna Maria Horner's Loulouthi Summer Totem for some of the confetti. It was a fun block to make as well.

Blocks received so far from 3x6 & 4x5 bee. I requested coral & olive. Aren't they gorgeous?!

A few weeks ago I won a couple giveaways. And all the lovelies showed up on the same day last week. It was a great day to open the mailbox!

These cute charms came over from Australia. The lovely Kat sent them.

I love the turtle!

I also won some Tula Pink patterns from Jeanne's Charity Challenge. Be sure to stop by and enter her Aurifil thread giveaway which is going on now.

Also in the mailbox were these beautiful Veranda fat quarters by Amanda Murphy. I won them in a quiz show that Ryan Walsh was hosting on twitter earlier this summer.

I thought it was fate that the everything showed up on the same day. The fat quarters are going to be made into Tula Pink's Kiss Kiss pattern. I was lucky enough to find a coordinating teal blue at work for the background color. I still haven't decided what to do with the charms, but I'm considering modifying the Pancakes pattern for charm squares & making it a fun I Spy quilt. We'll see!

Thanks again for all the fabulous goodies!

WIP Wednesday

After living in the mountains for the past few years, and having a very short summer on the Montana prairie last year, I am no longer used to hot weather. July & August were miserably hot and humid (for Wyoming), and since the A/C in the house doesn't work well I was basically a puddle on the floor for most of the summer. Working in a sewing room with a hot iron was out of the question.

With the beginning of September it has cooled down considerably and the leaves are starting to turn yellow. Soon it will be hunting season, The Sewing Summit, our wedding anniversary, jeans & sweater weather...I LOVE autumn!

I know it will warm up again before winter, but I sure am enjoying the cooler nights & tolerable days. I was able to get quite a lot done on Saturday.

Here's what I've been working on:

I completed more work on the Heart & Home quilt that I'm making for our friend as a wedding gift. I'm using Sweetwater's Hometown. Such a great collection!

30 Misfit tree blocks. They still need to be trimmed down, but they will be heading to Kentucky this week where Amanda will be dispersing the trees to all the other Misfits.

Halloween quilt, I'm still working on the layout of the blocks.

Little Apples HSTs. I started with the 2.5" mini charms. Still trying to figure a layout for these as well. I was trying to organize them by color, but my plan is not working so far. I may go for a more random layout as far as color goes.

I also finished bee blocks for 2 bees & got my fabric out because September is my month for String Me Along.

Be sure to visit Lee @ Freshly Pieced and see what everyone else has been working on.

Sunday Brunch

The other day I was searching through the fridge looking for inspiration for a side dish to go with our hamburgers that Jake was grilling up. I found sliced zucchini, a baggie of mushrooms, & lots of cheese. I thought an Italian style veggie casserole would be good. So I started gathering ingredients & here's what I came up with.

Italian-style Veggie Bake

What you need:

*1-2 (depending on size) thinly sliced zucchini, spread out & dried on paper towels for at least 20 minutes.

*Approx. 1 pint of mushrooms, sliced; I had not dried these on a paper towel, but I would definitely recommend it. Drying the veggies helps them soak in the flavor of the sauce when it's cooking.

*Cheese; we use lots of cheese. Medium & sharp cheddar and parmesan are staples in our house. Other favorites are asiago, romano, blue, mozzarella & cotija. For this dish I used medium cheddar and parmesan

*1/3-1/2 of a large (16 oz?) jar of pasta sauce

*Casserole dish with cover

Pre-heat your oven to 425F.

Layer your ingredients. I put a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan. Add zucchini, mushrooms, and other veggies you may like to add, more sauce, cheese. Repeat.

Looking good.

Cover & cook until the cheese is melted. Remove the cover and continue baking until the cheese gets that lovely browned color.

For this dish I baked it at about 425F for approx. 25 minutes, then baked it for another 10-15 minutes or so without the cover. I just keep an eye on things & when it looks done, it's done!

As you probably noticed, unless I'm using someone else's recipe I don't measure things out or time things. I'm trying to get better about it, but often times I just don't think about it.

Dish review: This is definitely a recipe to keep and make again & again. Even "Where's the Meat" Jake loved it! :)

I used 1/2 of the large can of pasta sauce. Next time I will probably only use about 1/3 because it was a little too "saucy" for my taste. I liked this because you can make it as complex or simple as you want. You can add olives, onions, peppers, basil, spices, artichokes, whatever your tastebuds are asking for.

If you happen to try this or any of my other Sunday Brunch recipes I'd love to hear how they work out for you. I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday, we're off to the Devils Tower for a cowboy poetry/music gathering. :D

Fave 5 Friday

Sewing Fun!

I don't think I've shared this with you yet. I made this picture holder wall hanging for my friend Bree who just had a handsome little boy last month. The beads in the lower left say "Goose" which is what they called him while she was pregnant.

I also made her this really cool Obi Wrap (from the One Yard Wonders book) with a scented rice bag. I used lavender & rosemary essential oils to scent the rice.

Another amazing quilt from the Neversweat Needler's Quilt Show in Dubois, Wy.

An awesome pillowcase I made with Heather Ross' Far Far Away III.

Close up of the band.

And for you foodies... homemade walnut pesto. YUM!

Fave 5 Friday link party:

Post your 5 favorite pictures from the last week (or so) & link up here. Easy peasy!

I still haven't figured out the button completely, but if you would like you may use the Fave 5 Friday picture I have at the top of the post. Just be sure to link the picture to this post.

String Me Along Bee Block

It's September?!? Are you sure? Ack!

Well, it's my month for the String Me Along Bee. It took me ages to decide what block to make & which fabric to use, but I finally decided.

As many of you know, Sew Mama Sew hosts Giveaway Days twice a year. In May I won some fat eighths of Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms from Don't Call Me Betsy (who happens to be in the String Me Along Bee too). I thought these fabrics would be perfect to send out to my fellow hive members.

The next decision was what type of block to do. Since Bree just had her baby a few weeks ago I wanted to choose a block that would be easy to make, but still utilize the creativity of the group. That's when I decided on HST's (half square triangle). The basic pieces are simple, but you can create all sorts of fun patterns with them.

Here's a quick little tutorial for my block:

Gather your fabric. For this tute I'm using a 2.5" collection for Aneela Hoey's Little Apples & some solid white for the coordinating fabric. My fellow hive members will be receiving 4.25" blocks.

Cut your coordinating fabric to the same size as the other squares. Draw a diagonal line (corner to corner) along the wrong side of your patterned fabric.

Match up 1 patterned square & 1 coordinating square, right sides together. Stitch 2 - 1/4" seams parallel to the line.

Cut along the drawn line.

Press your seams open. You can cut the tails if you like. I don't because I'm lazy. :P

Play with the pattern of your 16 blocks until you find a design that you like.

Once you've chosen the layout you'd like to use sew your pieces into rows & sew the rows together. That's it! :)

Our Dubois Adventure

A couple weeks ago, on a Thursday, we found out that Jake was getting the upcoming weekend off. Saturday & Sunday! Well, we immediately planned a trip to visit friends & family in Dubois, Wyoming, where we used to live. The luckiest part of this trip was that there were tons of events going on up there that weekend. Friday Night Rodeo, chariot races, buffalo BBQ, & an awesome quilt show!

We were really lucky because Jake got done early Friday & my awesome boss let me go home early so that we could get on the road.

So we made it in time for the rodeo. :)

Saturday started with the chariot races.

Our friend, Jed, prepping his chariot.

Here's a short clip of the race, although it seems much faster in person.

The quilt show ran all weekend. See the fishing flies in the quilting?!

And this beautiful quilt...

...With a beautiful clothesline detail.

This one was made by Jake's very talented Aunt Leigh, who taught me how to quilt.

I love this quilt!

And all the details!!!

The Fire Department's annual Buffalo BBQ was next, but we were so busy visiting with everyone that we forgot to take pictures!

Sunday before we left we stopped by Bert & Leigh's home and Lotte went for a little swim.

Fave 5 Friday

French Knots!

Evening tea on the patio.

Striped binding.

Whimsical quilts. Seen at the Neversweat Needlers Quilt Show in Dubois, Wy.

Smoky sunsets.

I'm am trying out my first linky party. Hopefully this works. If it does, post your 5 favorites from the week & link up here. :)

*It looks like it worked! Hooray! Hopefully next week I'll have a button. Looking forward to seeing everyone else's faves*