Mystery Quilt Update Week 2

The mystery quilt I am working on had it's first set of clues this past Saturday, but unfortunately I was unable to sew along on that day but today I had some time to sew. I was able to get through all 5 clues too! Here is what I have so far...

Remember this is what I started with.

This is a sample of Clue 1

This is a sample of Clue 2

This is a sample of Clue 3

This is a sample of Clue 4

   This is a sample of Clue 5

I can't wait until Saturday to see what the next set of clues will be. One thing I have already figured out is that the blocks will be 12 1/2" unfinished and that I am really liking this mystery and how it's turning out so far! Oh and remember the quilt is supose to be 80X80 when finished based on the mystery. I might add another border to make it a queen size quilt.

Inspiration From a Blog

With the up comming move and a new quilt studio to decorate I have gone to cyber space to get some ideas on how to decorate and organize it to get the most out of the space I will have. My favorite place for ideas/inspiration was (well actually there are 2 places) the first is Sew Many Ways  check it out if you want to get inspired "tool time Tuesdays" are when she shows some crafty ideas using everyday stuff. My 2nd is Ikea. Chris & I decided to do some errands without the kids on Saturday and one of the places we went to was Ikea, it was our first trip to this super store. If I had to describe it, it would be Costco (or Sams Club) on steroids! Wow, was that place awesome. There will be several things from Ikea that will find there way into our new house and in the quilt studio. It's deffinately the way to go if you are on a budget. Oh and for my storage/organization in my studio I am planing on using some of the ideas from sew many ways using my left over moving boxes.     

New Pics!

New pics of the house, as promissed :0)



Finally got the exterior painted, it's a rusty brown/terra cotta color.

Pic of the house facing forward.

Railing almost done, just need the last piece of wrought iron and the stain!

Looking from the loft towards the terrot. 

And then from the terrot to the loft.

Cabinets are being installed, they are maple cabinets with a toffee finish. 

Another view of them.

A walk in pantry, never had one of those before.

And the mud room which is off the kitchen. Just think of all the fabric that could be stored here, if my DH would let me that is.

Didn't have time to take pics of the other rooms, not much going on in there right now anyways...will post pics of those rooms when we get moved in and after we decorate them the way everyone wants them. Here's a hint for one of them...my 14 year old Chicago Blackhawks (hockey) fan will have the room of her dreams.  



39 Days & Counting!

I can't believe how fast time is flying by, it has been 3 weeks since I last posted pics of the new house in progress. Alot has been done and I will be posting pics this weekend after I take them. In the mean time I can tell you what has been done. The exterior has been painted, the interior has been tapped, textured and painted in a flat white paint (as soon as we close, get the keys our painter will be painting the interior the colors we want in a more durable finish before we move in). All the doors inside and out have been hung. Baseboards have been added, and the railing is being installed. 

When we were there yesterday we noticed that all of the cabinets have been delivered and will be installed over the next few days. Then the tile will be installed next week. Followed by carpet, light fixtures, granite counter tops, blinds, front yard landscaping and appliences. All to be completed within the next 30-35 days so we can have our final walk through 3-4 days prior to our closing. 

Hmmm, I think I need to get some boxes so I can start the packing process soon :0) We are planning on moving some of the stuff ourselves then hiring a professional mover to move the bigger stuff like furniture, washer/dryer, upright freezer patio furniture etc...I wonder if I could convince the movers to accept longarm quilting services instead of money for moving us?, LOL!  My DH (who fixes computers on the side) was offered frozen chicken for his computer services. And once I was asked if I would accept maid service instead of payment for quilting.    

Fabric Revision for High Desert Mystery Quilt Week 1

Got good news and I got bad news...good news is my fabrics came today for my High Desert Mystery quilt I am doing. Bad news is my contrast fabric is on backorder for 3 weeks! :0(

So what's a girl to do? Check out her stash to see if she could come up with an alternative. This is what I came up with.....

I found a suitable replacement for my contrast and then decided my background fabric was no longer working so I found a cream moda crackle fabric in my stash that would.

 Now to get busy cutting and working on the first clue!

High Desert Mystery Quilt Week 1

Are you looking for a new quilt project? Do you like a good mystery? My friend Kristina is hosting a "High Desert Mystery" at her blog. If you are interested in playing along just click on the link (above in quotes) and you will get all of the info. All of the clues should be up by the end of Oct. and it only uses 3 fabrics.

I am going to do it and I even bought my fabrics already! Take a look...

From left to right, 1st fabric is my focus fabric, the 2nd is my contrast fabric and the 3rd is my background fabric. I wanted to stay with a desert theme so I chose some southwest fabrics that I have had my eye on for some time now. 

This should be alot of fun, Thanks Kristina for hosting this!

Comfort Foods

When I'm stressed the first thing I reach for (food wise) is comfort food, you know what I mean the food that brings back a moment in time that puts a smile on your face.

Well, ever since we decided to jump into this new house thing with both feet, I have been reaching more and more for comfort foods....today this is what I made.

     A Pineapple Upside Down Cake, all from scratch too!

My mom use to make these alot when I was a kid although she used a yellow cake mix for hers. Even though she owned the 1950's/1960's Betty Crocker cookbook which is where I found the recipe for the above cake. I loved that cookbook when I was young learning how to cook, so much that when I got married I begged my mom to let me have it, which she did. It was in such bad shape that the binder was falling apart and the pages were falling out of it. So I put it in a new binder, put each page in a sheet protector and it is as good as new. 

The cake was awesome came out perfect and was a big hit! so I thought that I would share the recipe with all of you.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

1/3 C butter, melted

1/2 C brown sugar

20 oz can of sliced pineapple, drained

marischino cherries, stems removed and drained

1 1/2 C sifted softsilk cake flour

1 C  regular sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 C crisco shortening

2/3 C milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour the melted butter in a 9" round cake pan (making sure that it coats the whole bottom of the pan). Sprinkle the brown sugar over the melted butter and then place the pineapple rings over the brown sugar. Finally put a cherry in the center of each pineapple ring then set aside.

In a mixing bowl sift together flour, regular sugar, baking powder and salt. Add crisco, milk, vanilla, and beat for 2 minutes. 

Then add the egg and beat for another 2 minutes. Pour over the pineapple slices. Bake in oven for 40-50 minutes or untill toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately turn cake upside down on the cake plate leaving the pan over the cake a few minutes while cooling. Brown sugar mixture will run down over the cake. Serve warm with cool whip or vanilla ice cream  

Old UFO Finally Done!

It is finally finished! after several years/ Christmas' I finally finished this tree skirt.....

It's a Thimbleberries quilt pattern and the fabrics that I used was Santas Comming from Benartex. I didn't do anythif fancy quilting wise, just a simple loop meander...I think that is why it took so long to finish, originally my intent was to do custom on it, such as feather swags in the red part and a swirl meander in the white part around the holly leaves. The thought of doing the custom was very intimidating for me, because I have never did free form feather swags before and I was in fear of messing it up. But once I decided to do the loop meander there was no more fear...I know some day I do need to face my feather fears but I was/am under alot of stress right now because of the new house and the pending move so this was not the time to be adding to my stress.

Now I just need to finish the 8 Christmas stockings that match the tree skirt...

  

Once these are pieced I think that I will just use my Circle Lord and do a basic crosshatch in the red areas...just to keep it simple. The plan is to have these done before the move in November, so that they can be used in the new house.

60 Days & Counting

Until closing!

This morning we got a call from our lender telling us that we got our final approval from the underwriters :0) and that in 30 days we will here from them about our closing date (Nov 2 is the tenative date, hoping for a week earlier).

The time is going quickly, I do have to say though. It has been 11 weeks since we stumbled into this. Here are some pics from this week....

  This is the front of the house now with the 1st stucco app on it, next week they will put the 2nd app on it that will have the final texture of the house. 

This is the 1 car garage that will be the new home for my APQS Liberty.

This is the view looking into the house from the foyer

This is one view from the 2 story living room, there is a curve staircase...yes a very good thing to have since we have 4 girls and lots of proms and weddings in our future.

Another view of the room looking towards the front door.

Here's one looking into the kitchen area from the family room... 

And another, there will be 2 islands in the kitchen and lots of counter space.

This is the hallway off the kitchen that leads to the MIL suite.

This is the 14 ft mud room that leads to the 2 1/2 car garage, there will be floor to ceiling shelveing on one wall.

This is a pic of the ceiling of the foyer.

This is the large loft...

and on the other side of the 2 story living room is the small loft/alcove.  

Master suite...

heading into the master bath...

and Chris (DH) in part of the master bath.

The kids wing.

The back of the house...

the side of the house...

Stan (must have been the guy who did the stucco) left his siggy on the side of the house.

And then the other side of the house.

That's all of the pics for this week, they got alot done. Next week, even though it's a holiday week they should be able to get all of the drywall taping and texturing done as well as the 2nd and final stucco coat on the outside of the house. So stay tuned.  

Miracles

I am a big believer that miracles happen everyday, all around us. But you need to open your heart to be able to recongnize them for what they are and not be so quick to brush things off as luck or coinsedences. I also believe that God (if you let him into your life) will also help guide you along your path to get you to where you need to go to ful-fill your destiny. The door way to your soul is your heart, so open your heart and let God in your life and see what happens...you just might recognize a miracle or two yourself.


Over time I will share some of my own miracles with you...there are many.