Block of the Month

I'm a really informal kinda gal, and I like to avoid a lot of rules and formality if I can. If the situation requires it, I'll lay down the law, but in general I prefer to keep things fast & loose and let everyone have a good time and do their own thing.

Where am I going with all this? Well, I'm the leader of our local New Orleans Chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild, and we're a pretty small group - maybe 10 members or less, and usually only about 5-6 people are able to regularly attend. We're all about the same age and have similar personalities, so we get along great and usually our meetings consist of chatting/gossiping, showing off our projects, and then sewing the remainder of the meeting. We've been doing that for about 2 years now, and I felt bad because I was worried people weren't getting enough out of the group, and that doing the same thing month after month might get a little boring. Our meetings are about 3 hours long, so I thought it might be fun if we used the first hour or so of each meeting to learn a new block from C&T's 99 Modern Blocks (not gonna lie, I might have been inclined to choose that book because my quilty BFF (and former member) Angela makes up a tenth of it *wink*)

We kick-started the block-of-the month in February, and our first block was the Pogo Stick (on left). Our March meeting was last Saturday, and we learned the Wonky/Parisian Star (on right). Can you believe I'd never made a Wonky Star block before? I've always liked the pattern, just never had an occasion to make one before. I couldn't believe how incredibly easy the pattern was!

I'm color coordinating my blocks each month so that I'll have a sampler quilt by the end of the year. And surprise! I'm using my new favorite combo - pink and navy (see here and here) - for this quilt.

And RE my post yesterday, hot pink is the only color pink that I openly love and endorse....pastel & "regular" pinks...not so much. I'm a giant bundle of contradictions - what can I say? LOL

I used a Free Spirit solid (Hot Rose) for the background, and that piece of Japanese loveliness in the center is a Suzuko Koseki scrap that Ayumi sent me. I heart Ayumi :)

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Plugging Along

I managed to finish 2 more Tallahassee / Cherry Blossom blocks yesterday, which I should be happy about, but I can't help but be annoyed by my slow progress. I long for the days when I could marathon sew and finish this mini within a week! (*forlorn sigh*)

One thing I AM happy about is that pink Flea Market Fancy block. Even though that print wasn't included in the recent reprint, finally having my hands on a ton of new FMF has made me feel more free to use what's in my hoard.  It felt good to finally use my scrap of Pink Tiles for this project, because it looks so darn cute as a wee cherry blossom....much better than it did sitting folded on my shelf for years! Plus I like knowing that a good friend will eventually have this treasured fabric hanging on her wall :)

And I guess I can't be too crabby about my tortoise-like sewing, when I receive giant packages full of Orla Kiely goodness from dear college friends (you know, the one I have annual craft swaps with...here and here)! My friend Dana lives in NYC, and as she was strolling through town the other day, she stumbled across a shop with an ungodly amount of cheap Orla Kiely goods!!! Knowing I'm as obsessed with Orla as she is, she offered to be my personal shopper and pick up an extensive list of goodies for me :) 



I have to admit, a few hours after I clicked "send money" on Paypal, a little bit of buyer's remorse kicked in, because I went slightly crazy. But as soon as I felt the scarves for the first time yesterday, I knew I'd been right to get 5 of them! They have an amazing hand and feel like wrapping a cloud around your neck. And I mean, c'mon, they were only $12 each! Yes, you heard right - only TWELVE DOLLARS for Orla scarves that feel like heavenly clouds of fluff.  Ahhh.....





And the tank tops are pretty darn cute too. Can't beat $20 for a designer tank with a stick! I bought an extra of the bottom one so I can turn it into a pillow for my sewing room :)

And being the wise and all-knowing friend that she is, a tiny trio of chocolate bunnies from a fancy NYC chocolaterie was slipped into my package. Unfortunately, Mr. Dark Chocolate Bunny met an untimely demise before this photo was taken. RIP - you were delicious Mr. Bunny and a credit to your kind.

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The great American weekend

I did a little more paper piecing this weekend! I find it's the easiest type of sewing for me to tackle right now with my neck issues, because there's no rotary cutting involved. I just grab some scraps, piece, and then trim the seams down.

I stumbled across this pattern a couple weeks ago whenever I was looking for star blocks, and bookmarked it for future reference. I didn't really have a set plan for using it, but then I had a moment of inspiration a few weeks ago, and thought maybe if I used different fabrics for the center and background, it would look like a little cherry blossom!

I tried it out with some pink fabric this weekend, and I think it totally passes the test :) What you see is just 1/4 of a complete block, so each block will contain a total of 4 little "cherry blossoms". It's intended for a mini quilt for a friend, and I think I'm going to make it 2x2, so the final measurements will be 24" x 24" and there will be 16 blossoms total. I haven't decided yet if I want to use 16 different pink prints, or do 2 each of 8 prints - we shall see...

So. Right about now you're probably wondering why the heck I titled my post "the great American weekend". Well, I couldn't help but laugh yesterday because I did some of the most stereotypically American things possible all within the span of a day. Not only did I quilt, but we had some apples that were spoiling, so I made an apple pie yesterday morning - and what's more American than apple pie? I totally wore my favorite flouncy apron while I was doing it. And gazed out my kitchen window while I made the crust.

It's basically a deep-dish apple pie that you bake in a cake pan (I used a springform pan instead because I thought it would make removal easier, and I was totally right). The filling was so rich and fantastic - instead of slicing and seasoning the apples and calling it a day, you place them in a dutch oven and cook them down into a soft filling with some butter, cinnamon and lemon juice. For those of you from the south, it was very similar to making fried apples. So yeah, imagine fried apples stuffed inside a thick pastry crust - pure heaven!

My husband and brother-in-law are are such good sons and spent the past two weekends helping their dad put a new roof on the house he and my mother-in-law just purchased, so I took this over to their new home yesterday morning. I figured there would be some hungry men coming off the roof for breakfast, so the 5 of us ate it as a sort of breakfast pastry with coffee. It was delish. And it was gone within 2 hours ;)

The recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Nick Malgieri's Modern Baker. I haven't found a bad recipe in it yet!

Item #3 on the list of uber-American things to do on the weekend? Grilling burgers. We made buffalo burgers with fresh basil, avocado and goat cheese. YUM!

So between the quilting, apple pie, and burgers, I should probably borrow Rex Kwan Do's American Flag pants to round out the weekend. "Nobody wants a round-house kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys!"

So what did you all do this weekend? The weather has been beautiful in New Orleans the past two weeks, and it makes me excited for summer to arrive! Hope you all have been having similar luck with the weather where you are :)

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Back in the Saddle

Well I'm back in the saddle again (Aerosmith style, not Gene Autry style) and just completed my first post-neck-injury project! It took me about a week to finish, because I never allowed myself to sew for more than an hour at a time, and I promised my physical therapist I'd stop sewing any time I started to feel pain...so while I had to cut a few sessions short, overall my progress was pretty good!

I had my outpatient procedure last week and they gave me a steroid shot in my neck, so I've been feeling better since then (although the procedure itself was slightly traumatic...bad news is that I wasn't knocked unconscious with glorious drugs as promised, but was wide awake as a giant needle was plunged into my spine; good news is that since I wasn't drugged, I had my wits about me when I got home and was able to eat the last brownie before Ray walked in the door. You win some, you lose some.)

Anywho, I'm no longer wearing my neck brace except when I sew or sleep, which is awesome. But since I think the cone of shame was too hilarious not to share, here's a before and after photo for your viewing pleasure.

Sad Kaelin vs. World Domination Kaelin

But back to the block...

I stumbled across a Stained Glass Whirling Star block on equiltpatterns.com, and once I looked past the hideous marbled fabric, realized it had pretty good bones. It was a really easy paper piecing pattern and I highly recommend it for beginners who are looking to dip their toe in paper piecing - I think it would make for a nice first paper piecing project for those of you who haven't tried it before. My only suggestion is that when you trim your eighths, leave 1/4" overhang on the outside edge. For some crazy reason the designer made the block 12" square, so the final block measures 11.5" instead of 12". Weird, I know. So if you add a 1/4" on the outside edge only (but not the inner ones), your unfinished block will be 12.5".

Unfortunately, I didn't realize this was an issue until I was half-way done, hence the sashing on the outside of my block. Boo.

For my block I used some light blue Monaluna Mingle, Allison Smith's Peacock Dot, and yellow Denyse Schmidt prints (from Hope Valley and Aunt Edna, respectively). Although the solid looks black in this photo, it's actually Kona Navy. It was dark outside by the time I finished, so unfortunately I had to take an indoor shot and the colors didn't turn out that great. I would have waited until tomorrow, but I have to mail this in the morning because it's going to a friend :)

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Martini Block Pattern

I designed this block specifically for the back of Amanda's Swanky Squares quilt (because what's a Mad Men themed quilt without a martini?), but I decided to go ahead and make a test block for another project I'm working on right now. The recipient of this mystery gift will probably take one look at this and know it's for her - but maybe not - so I'm still gonna attempt to keep it a secret for now :)

The finished block is 8.5" x 12.5", and I put together a little paper piecing template for you guys! There are three sections in the template (A, B & C) that you'll need to cut out. When piecing & cutting, make sure you leave room for 0.25" seam allowances on each side because the paper templates don't include seam allowances. Also, in addition to the three sections in the pdf, you'll need to cut two 3.5" x 8.5" pieces to sew to the top and bottom of the block. If you're new to paper piecing and need more detailed instructions, Christina at The Sometime's Crafter has a great tutorial with detailed photos.

And if you wanna make it extra fancy, you can quickly free motion applique a little olive & toothpick in the center with some fusible web!

Martini Block

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12 Days of Christmas

Morning everyone! Today is my designated day for the 12 Days of Christmas Sampler Quilt Along, and I designed a sweet little fireplace with festive stockings ready to be filled with goodies :)

I moved from Chicago to New Orleans a few years ago, and while I absolutely love New Orleans, I really start to miss Chicago at Christmas-time every year. I miss the cold, the lights, the ice skating at Grant Park, the Marshall Field's window displays, and eating roasted cinnamon almonds at the Christkindlmarket. I thought making a warm and toasty block would help satisfy my cold weather craving for the time being :)

The block itself is very simple, and most of the detail work is in the appliqueing. Here is a "naked" diagram of what the block looks like...

Here is a list of what you'll need to complete this block:

• Fusible Web (I use Heat n' Bond) 
• Background fabric
• (1) 5.5" x 12.5" piece
• (1) 2.5" x 12.5" piece
• (2) 3.5" x 4.5" pieces
• (2) 1.5" x 3.5" pieces
• Fireplace fabric
• (1) 1.5" x 8.5" piece
• (1) 2.5" x 6.5" piece
• (2) 1.5" x 2.5" pieces
• Fireplace interior
• (1) 2.5" x 4.5" piece
• Wreath
• (1) 4.5" x 4.5" green solid
• Red and mustard yellow scraps (for ornaments)
• Stockings
• (3) 2.5" x 2.5" scraps
• Fire
• (1) 2.5" x 3.5" mustard yellow solid

To help with placement, I labeled all the block pieces in the diagram so you'll know what goes where.

You will start by assembling pieces 1 thru 6 in numerical order. Start with piece 1, attach pieces 2 and 3 to the sides, and continue working in order until you've attached piece 6.

Grab pieces 7-9. Rather than attaching pieces 8 and 9 at the ends with a straight stitch, you will attach them to piece 7 by mitering the corners. If you need instructions on how to do this, you can find step-by-step instructions with photos on page 4 of this pattern.

Once you've finished sewing together pieces 7-9 in a long, skinny strip, attach it to the top of pieces 1-6. The bottom of your mantle will line up perfectly with the rest of the fireplace, but I stretched mine a hair to give it a little bit of overhang. I thought it would look a little more realistic that way, but it really doesn't matter either way - it's totally a preference thing.

Attach your top 5.5" x 12.5" piece, and then trim up your block on the sides (I had you cut pieces 8 and 9 a little longer than necessary to give you extra fabric to play with when mitering the corners, so once you've sewn together the first three sections, you'll probably have a bit of excess fabric hanging out at the middle section).

Before you attach the final 2.5" x 12.5" bottom piece of the block, you'll need to applique on the fire. Below is a pdf you can print out, and you'll need to cut out the three applique templates to finish the block. For this step, trace Template A onto your 2.5" x 3.5" piece of orange/yellow solid, iron onto fusible web, and then iron onto the correct spot on your block. Find some coordinating thread, and free motion around the edges of the fire to secure in place.

Christmas Block Templates

Once you're finished stitching, sew the remaining 2.5" x 12.5" block piece to the bottom.

Trace the remaining templates (B and C) onto their respective fabrics and iron to your fusible web.

To position the wreath, fold your block in half across the width and finger press the center crease along the top half of your block.

Center the wreath using the crease you just made as a guide. Iron in place, and free motion around the inside and outside edge to secure in place.

To make the ornaments, I ironed my red and mustard scraps to the fusible web, and then cut small circles of different sizes out of them with a fine pair of scissors. Once you've got your ornaments cut out, arrange them how you'd like, iron in place, and stitch to secure.

Repeat the same process to applique your three stockings. Cut, fuse, arrange on your block, iron, and stitch in place.

I plan to try my hand at using free motion to make letters on the stockings later. I didn't want to attempt it before posting this block because I was afraid I'd mess up and mangle it before I had a chance to take pictures, lol!

My goal is to write our family's initials on the three stockings ( a "K", "R", and "W") when I have some free time this weekend :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY SEWING!

(I'm going to see if I can talk the hubs into watching Elf tonight!)

[scribd id=71149721 key=key-ijhi0skpeu9qtnu8pt6 mode=slideshow]

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Christmas Sampler Quilt-Along

I love Christmas. Almost TOO much. I'm so desperate for it to be here, that I started listening to my Nat King Cole Christmas CD earlier while I was sewing. And every year, come November 1st, I want to start watching Elf. We watch a movie before bed almost every night, so here's a little bit about how that conversation with the hubs goes every single year...

Nov 1st:
Ray - "What movie do you wanna watch?"
Me - "I wanna watch Elf."
Ray - "No babe! It's only November 1st, and we're gonna get burnt out on Christmas movies if we start this early."
Me - "Fine." *sulks*

Nov 16th:
Ray - "What movie do you wanna watch?"
Me - "It's my birthday, and I demand to watch Elf."
Ray - *Sighs and rolls eyes* "Okay...go put it in."
Me - *does victory dance all the way to the DVD player*

Sooooo...to help me pass the time this year, I'm participating in Sara's awesome 12 Days of Christmas Sampler Quilt Along! Twelve bloggers will be creating a unique 12.5" Christmas-themed block and preparing a tutorial to go along with it. The block instructions, available on each designers' blog, will be spread over a 6-week period, giving you plenty of time to join in! If you decide to quilt along with us, at the end of the 6 weeks, you will have a completed Christmas quilt top!

If you are planning on joining, the quilt top will require 12 fat quarters, or 1 layer cake. In addition to that, you will need approximately 1-1/2 yard of solid fabric for the sashing.

Here is the schedule for each of the 12 blocks; on the respective date, you will be able to find the block/tutorial on the specified blog.

Oct 25 - Julianna @ Projektownia Jednoiglec
Oct 27 - Sara @ Sew Sweetness
Nov 1 - Kaelin @ The Plaid Scottie
Nov 3 - Jennie @ Clover and Violet
Nov 8 - Elizabeth @ Don't Call Me Betsy
Nov 10 - Riel @ The Q and the U
Nov 15 - Jennifer @ Ellison Lane Quilts
Nov 17 - Lindsay @ Lindsay Sews
Nov 22 - Jessica @ SewCraftyJess 
Nov 23 - Sarah @ Fairy Face Designs
Nov 29 - Heather & Megan @ Quilt Story
Dec 1 - Kim @ My Go Go Life

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This is why I quilt

Remember this block from a few months ago?

At the time all I could tell you is that it was for a top secret project - Project Special Delivery, to be exact. What I can tell you now, is that Faith had organized a group to make baby presents for Heather Ross' first child. Heather has blessed all of us with her lovely and whimsical designs for so many years, and we wanted to do something special to thank her. Some people made appliqued onesies for each month of the year, others did toys, and a portion of the Project Special Delivery group decided to make a rainbow quilt "virtual bee style". We each signed up for a specific color, and tried to incorporate some of HR's fabrics into the block.

We mailed our blocks off to Mama Spark a few months ago, and she assembled the entire quilt and added the most GORGEOUS quilting. I can't imagine that anyone could have done a better job - I just love the motion and whimsy her quilting pattern added to the design!

Here's a glimpse of the back...

...with a close up of one block in particular. It's a message from our little group, and includes one of Heather's favorite quotes.

Just today I found out that Heather received her quilt, and she wrote us the most beautiful note in return. I have no shame in admitting I have an extremely tender heart (just ask Angela about the day she moved), and I cried a little bit when I read it. And this is why I quilt. I quilt because it allows me to give part of my time and my heart to other people through fabric. I quilt because it allows me to be a part of memorable events in other's lives; it gives me the unique opportunity to share a lasting gift with someone that will remind them of that moment, and hopefully, make them smile and bring them warmth.

To quote my dearly departed grandmother "My cup runneth over, I drink from the saucer." I am so blessed to know you all, and to be a part of the online quilting movement :)

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Gator Belts & Patty Melts

Sorry, that's an Outkast lyric. I couldn't get it out of my head while I was sewing these. When you see the second block, you'll understand why. These were for Christine's month in Bee (A Little Bit) Japanese. She's making a quilt for her nephew's birthday, and requested a Cheaters 8 Point Star block...

As well as a second block that represented any mode of transportation we chose...

Since I rarely get to make anything New Orleans-related, I thought this would be a fun opportunity! I decided to make a fan boat, an extremely common mode of transportation down in the bayou, and name it the "nola" (New Orleans, LA). And of course, what would a bayou fan boat block be without an alligator and sweltering hot sun? Also, her nephew lives in Australia where crocs abound, so I thought he'd enjoy having one of it's cousins appliqued on a block ;)

I had to sneak and make these Friday night after the hubby went to bed, because he enacted a sewing moratorium last week. I mentioned this before, but I have a pinched nerve in my shoulder that I'd successfully ignored for weeks...well...actually 2 months. I finally did myself in when I had a marathon rotary cutting and sewing session last weekend, because I ended up in excruciating pain Sunday night, and could barely move my arm the next day because I'd get sharp stabbing pains, and then my whole arm would go numb for minutes at a time.

I had to break the rules though, because these blocks were for May, and I was already way behind on them. They didn't arrive until the last week of May, and then it took me 3 weeks to find the time. Christine desperately needed them by the end of June so she could assemble the top, send it off to be quilted, and then mail the finished present to Australia to arrive in time for August. So you see, I had to break the rules a little bit in order to meet the deadline...

But the events of last week got me thinking. My hubby is the sweetest man alive, and truthfully my best friend. He takes such good care of me, and all last week he massaged my shoulder, brought me bags of ice, and fetched ibuprofen and glasses of water for me when I was hurting. He's so proud of my sewing and knows how much it means to me, so he did his best to help me get back on my feet again because he knew I was going stir-crazy. All of this culminated in a crazy idea...

RAY! STOP READING HERE!

Our spouses, boyfriends/girlfriends, partners, etc. put up with so much of our quilting crap. They might grumble occasionally, but for the most part they let us get away with crazed fabric sprees, giant stashes & sewing spaces that take up entire rooms, and marathon sewing sessions that take us away from our families for hours at a time. Why? Because they love us, and know that we love quilting. And while I thank my husband for his support of my crazy hobby all the time, I rarely use my skills to make anything for him. I think a lot of us are like that - we're so busy making things for everyone else, that we forget to make things for ourselves or our families.

SO. Here's my idea. Let's have an official Quilting Widow(er) Appreciation Day! I'm calling it that, because it's kinda true...lol! Our significant others are sometimes quilting widows/widowers because we guy & gal quilters spend a lot of time away from them for the "sake of our art"...hehe! Seriously! I'll be leaving poor Ray in the dust for 4 days while I jet off to Salt Lake City for the Sewing Summit in October. And God love his little heart, he's outside mowing the yard right now to kill time, because he knows I'll be holed up in my sewing room blogging for a while longer! :(

Here's what we're gonna do. I picked a random date a few months off so that we all have time to prepare and create, and we're going to make presents for our Quilting Widows/Widowers as a big fat thank you for their loving support! (Plus it's kind of a win-win, because not only do we get to do something special for them, but it will help perpetuate our hobby because they'll be less inclined to grumble if we make them uber cool things with the thousands of dollars we've sunken into supplies, LOL!) I kid. 99% of the reason we're doing this is to say thank you, and only 1% is for our selfish ulterior motives ;)

The Quilting Widow(er) Appreciation Day will officially take place on Saturday, September 24th! I picked a random, insignificant day so your loved one will be surprised! And I even made a button and added it to the sidebar for those of you that want to join me :)

SO WHO'S WITH ME?!

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Last Hurrah

My friend Angela and her family officially moved back to Indiana this past weekend. *sniff* I told her she was more than welcome to leave Favorite Baby down here with me, but she wasn't too keen on that idea ;)

I'm incredibly sad I won't be able to swing by her house on my lunch breaks any more :(  She was only a few blocks from my office, so I would occasionally show up on her doorstep to swap fabric or play with Favorite Baby when I was having a crappy day. But at least the Three Sewateers (what I secretly call me, Karen, and Angela) were able to squeeze in one last sewing/Chick-fil-A party before she moved.  Karen was awesome enough to make the long trip across the lake after work on Thursday so we could having a sewing party, watch a few million Glee episodes, and munch on Spicy Chicken Deluxes from Chick-fil-A. That's the life, I tell you!

Angela and I worked on our Bottled Rainbows quilt together, and I have about 20 projects that probably should have taken priority over this purely recreational quilt, but I thought it would be fun for us to work on the same thing together. It also came in pretty handy, because whenever one person was a little short on scraps for a particular color, someone else was sure to have it :) 

I now have all four of my blue blocks done! Behold...

Kona Bahama

Kona Cyan

Free Spirit Solids Pacific

Free Spirit Solids Admiral

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More Retreat Fun

The project I worked on for the majority of the retreat were these two bee blocks for Kristy in Bee (A Little Bit) Japanese. She sent each person two different adorable Japanese fairy tale prints and some quilter's linen, and asked that we make two blocks roughly 12.5" in size using Oh Fransson's Mod Mosaic pattern. Mine came out around 13" so she'd have some room to play with when she trims. I really like the final look of the pattern because it's got a cool stained-glass window effect, but I'm not sure if I'd enjoy using it again. Cutting, sewing, and ironing all those little pieces was really time consuming...it took me about 4-5 hours to finish both blocks...yikes! It made me feel a little bit better about being 2 weeks late with my blocks, because even if I'd desperately tried to squeeze them in during the move last month, I never would've finished in time.

Block #1

(sorry about the blurriness in the bottom corner...dang humidity on my lens!)

Block #2

And here's a little something extra from the retreat for you! I made tacos with guacamole & chips for lunch on Saturday, and Kelly & Angela asked me to share the recipes on here. Hope you like avocados, because they run rampant in this meal :)

Kaelin's Taco Spice Blend

(I make this in bulk and keep it in an airtight container in my pantry.)

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne

1 tsp basil

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger

Combine in a small bowl and blend with a fork. Store in a small container or shaker jar.

Tacos & Salsa

I use ground chuck for my tacos because it's a 'splurge' dish for us, and we like the extra flavor and moisture the fat gives. But feel free to use ground round or ground sirloin for a leaner, healthier dish. The salsa is spooned over the beef inside your taco - yum!

for Tacos

1 lb ground beef

1-2 tbsp Spice Blend (see recipe above)

Fresh or store-bought tortillas

Olive oil

Place ground beef in a skillet (I always use cast iron) and sprinkle seasoning evenly over beef. Cook on medium-high until no longer pink. Drain excess fat and set aside.

Drizzle olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and heat to medium-high. Once pan is heated and the oil easily runs around the pan, place 1 tortilla in the oil. Fry for 20-30 seconds on each side. Fold in half and place on paper-towl lined plate. (Note: if you dont' fold it immediately after frying, it will harden and crack when you try to bend it later).

for Salsa

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 avocado, diced

2 plum tomatos, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

1 Lime

1/2 tsp cayenne

Combine black beans, avocado, plum tomatos, and red onion in a bowl. Grab your lime and before cutting, firmly roll it back and forth against your counter a few times (this makes it easier to juice). Slice in half and juice the lime over the bowl. Gently toss. Sprinkle cayenne pepper over ingredients and gently toss again. (Note: if you get too violent with your stirring, the avocado will start to get mushy...and no one wants that!)

Guacamole

I eat the guacamole with chips as a side, but my husband likes to slather it on his taco along with the salsa. To each their own :)

from "Bride & Groom: First & Forever" cookbook

6 large avocados, roughly chopped (save 1 of your pits!)

4 plum tomatos (or 1 large heirloom), diced

2-3 garlic cloves, minced (depends on size)

1/4 of a jalapeno pepper, minced (I usually cut two 1/4" slices from below the stem)

1/4 cup cilantro, tightly packed

Juice of 1 lime

1-2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp cumin

Place your avocados in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher or fork. Once the consistency is fairly smooth, stir in remaining ingredients. Place the pit you saved from one of the avocados in the guacamole, because it will help keep it from browning so quickly. Serve with tortilla chips.

Happy Eating!

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Catching Up

I don't think I ever posted photos of these blocks for you! They were part of the giant pile of things I had to frantically sew the past two weeks. Gotta love deadlines :)

The first one is my block for Project Special Delivery. I signed up for a green block and it had to go out by Apr. 7th....so naturally, I finished at 11 pm on the 6th...good times, noodle salad :)

I used up some 2" scrap blocks I had lying around my sewing room, and the sashing fabric was from one of my Solids of the Month bundles - how fun is that?

And this was my final (and wretchedly late) block for the Quilting Divas Mini Bee. This is the first time I've ever been late for one of my bees/swaps :( ...it was due to a combination of factors really. When I signed up, I assumed it ran like the 3x6 Bee and I'd have 3 months to complete them. Wrong-o. After committing to hexie blocks, I realized I only had 2-3 weeks - yikes! I didn't want to back out because I rounded out the group and they'd have to find another person at the last minute, so I convinced myself I'd be able to finish my blocks within a few weeks if I hustled. Well...needless to say, I grossly underestimated how long it would take me to hand sew 6 blocks. So yeah...that's why I was 2 months late with my final block. Sorry 'bout that Jamie :(

Block for Mariposafabrics (she requested a black solid paired with jewel tones)

And here's a lil' mosaic of all my finished blocks for the Quilting Divas bee..

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