No Finishes Friday

I didn't finish up anything this week.  I did get started on cutting out my next quilt though, so that has me a little excited.  

See progress. :o)

I totally forgot to get me a 28mm rotary cutter when I was at the store yesterday, so I have been tracing all of those curves on with a pen and cutting them with my trusty scissors.  It isn't too bad, they aren't super tiny pieces so I just take my time.   I hope to maybe sew a few pieces later today to keep my motivation going and to see just how many more pieces I have to cut out.

I hope everyone has had a great week and I hope you have a good weekend.

Debbe

Working Wednesday

I am starting to think I have taken on too many projects to get done by the end of the year and am starting to stress out.

First up to be finished is my son's Halloween costume.  He wants to be Mario from Super Mario Brothers.  I   winged the overall's for his costume last week while he was home sick from school.

 I still need to put the buttons on the straps and hem the pants but beyond that they are done. Just need to make a hat now...

I've finished my secret santa swap gift, I just need to package it up and get it in the mail.  I love how they turned out and I hope that my swapee likes them too, if she doesn't I know someone who does.

I hope everyone has a great day and please forgive me if I don't make it back the rest of the week, I am trying to crank out some projects.  I will be sure to take pictures to share with you all when they are done.

Blessings,
Debbe

Test Kitchen Tuesday

My father in law visited over the weekend so I took the opportunity to try a new recipe for a Slow-Roasted boneless pork loin, it turned out amazing!

Slow-Roasted Boneless Pork Loin

1 2-3 pound boneless pork loin roast or pork sirloin roast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon dried Thyme, sage oregano and rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 clove of garlic crushed

Combine all ingredients in a large ziploc bag and let marinate in the fridge for at least an hour, can be longer.

Preheat oven to 450 F.  Place roast in a baking dish or roasting pan (can use a meat rack if desired).  

Bake at 450 for 12 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 275 and cook for 60-80 minutes.  (my roast was about 2.5 lbs and took about 70 min to cook).

Let rest for 15 minutes before cutting.

I'm sure this could be adapted to be cooked in the crock pot.  This was very tender and juicy.

I took pictures, but for some reason they are not showing up on my phone. 

WIP Wednesday

Wow! This week is flying by for me.  If you are visiting from Freshly Pieced, welcome, and please take a look around. Yesterday was my first time doing anything sewing related since Thursday last week when I literally threw together a quick purse since I was still carrying my spring purse.

Today, I'm working on finishing up the quilting on my Secret Santa swap gift.  I have had fun making it and have one more decision to make on it before I call it good and ship it off to its new home.

My son wants to be Mario from Mario Bro's. for Halloween, so I figured I would make the overall's portion of his costume.  I have the fabric, all I need to do is find a pattern or a good picture to follow to whip them up.

The Sew Intertwined quilt and my Christmas quilt are still awaiting quilting.

I also need template plastic or something and make my templates for the Circle of hope quilt I hope to get done in time to give my mother for Christmas.  If I don't get it done, then I have to figure out what in the world to get her and I will then keep the Circle of hope quilt for myself.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day.  I had to pick up my son from school because he is ill, so I'm guessing I won't get much of anything done today. 

Through my window

This is what I see through my sewing room/office window today and it reminds me to be thankful for the little things.

I hope everyone had a good weekend, and has a great Monday.  I'm waiting on hubby to come home for lunch and then we have to go buy a new battery for my car so we have no issues this winter with it.  The current battery is 5 years old and is original to the car.   I've already impressed the hubby by removing the old one.    I hope that I get in some sewing this afternoon, but that isn't looking too promising since there is a mountain of laundry in the hamper calling out to me.

WIP Wednesday

Hello everyone!  I'm a little slow in getting here today, but I have been busying working on a Christmas swap gift.  I can't let you see too much or let you know just what it is since it is a 'secret'.

When I have finished and my secret person receives their gift, I will share the whole thing with you.  Hope you are all having a great day!

I'm Linking up with Lee's WIP over at Freshly pieced this week so be sure to stop over there and look at all the great projects!

Test Kitchen Tuesday

With the holidays coming up, I think I am going to post a few of my favorite holiday recipes. Of course they can be made year round, but we save them for special occasions most of the time because they can be a lot of work. This week I am sharing my favorite aunt's recipe for Cranberry Salad.

Cranberry Salad

2--3 ounce boxes of jello (your choice 1 lemon and one cherry or 2 cranberry work best, I have used strawberry with no issues)
1 cup chopped cranberries (about 1/2 of a bag)
1 medium apple chopped (does not have to be peeled)
1 orange chopped or 1(15 ounce) can of mandarin oranges (save the juice)
1 (15 or 20 ounce) can pineapple, crushed or tidbits work best. (save the juice)
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped pecans

Combine the chopped cranberries, apple, oranges, and pineapple in a bowl and mix with 1 cup of sugar. Let stand for one hour (the fruit and sugar mixture should yield about 1 cup of juice). Combine the reserved juice and either water or more juice to make 1 cup if needed. (you should have about 2 cups of juice total from what you saved from the cans and what the fruit sugar mixture yielded)

In a separate bowl, combine jello and 2 cups boiling water.  Let set/chill for about an hour until cool, but not set firm.

After the hour, combine the fruit mixture, juice and jello. Stir in the chopped celery and pecans, then chill until set (5-6 hours) or overnight.



I apologize for not having any pictures of this weeks dish.

Frosted Stars Quilt: Top finish

I hope you all had a great weekend.  I finished up my Frosted Stars Christmas Quilt top and am in awe of it.  I can't believe I made it.  Do you ever do that?  I have stepped out of my comfort zone this year with quilting and get excited every time I conquer the what I thought to be impossible.

I went with a green sashing instead of the very bright blue that the original pattern showed.  I also plan to bind it with the same green to frame it up.

I have another new pattern I can't wait to dive into to make a wall hanging/throw for my mother for Christmas, but first I have a Christmas themed item to make for a Secret Santa swap.  I can't wait.

I hope you all have a great week and don't forget to come back tomorrow for Test Kitchen Tuesday.  (I've already scheduled my post so I don't get busy and forget again.)

Welcome October!

October is my favorite month, I'm pretty sure.  Not because I have a birthday this month, but because of all the changing colors.   My daughter started last year calling the colorful fall trees 'Rainbow Trees',  I love it, of course when all the leaves are on the ground she says they are 'naked'.  

I got one block done for my Christmas quilt over the weekend.  We had a very busy weekend and I so far this week it looks like Friday will be my day of rest.  I started to think Thursday would be a good day to rest, but alas I volunteered to go and chaperon my son's field trip that day.

Here is my first block, I only have 14 more to go.

Happy sewing everyone.