Thursday, August 29, 2013

The Pink Scarf Project

A little bit of a knitting update.  A few weeks ago I learned about the Pink Scarf Project hosted by Vicki at 2 Bags Full.


This really tugged at my heart, and I wanted to participate.  Even though I am a beginner knitter, I wanted to send something I had made.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Chicken Fajita Pizza

Not much quilting going on around here, so I thought I would share a quick and easy recipe with you.  A great way to use up left over chicken.  My family has enjoyed this recipe many times. It's quick and easy to put together.

Chicken Fajita Pizza


2 whole chicken breasts, skinned, boned, cut into 2 x 1/2" strips (or 2 cups leftover chicken, cut up)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup thinly sliced onions
1 cup green or red bell pepper strips
1 (10 oz) can Pillsbury Refrigerated All Ready Pizza Crust
1/2 cup prepared mild salsa
8 oz (2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese

In large skillet over medium high heat, stir fry chicken in oil for about 5 minutes. Stir in chili powder, salt and garlic powder. Add onions and peppers; stir fry until veggies are tender crisp.

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease 13 x 9 inch pan. Unroll pizza dough and place in greased pan; starting at center press out with hands. Bake at 425 for 6 minutes or until very light golden. Remove from oven and spoon chicken mixture over partially baked crust. Spoon salsa over chicken; sprinkle with cheese. Bake an additional 14 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

6 to 8 servings.
Enjoy!!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Finally..................

I have gotten myself together to show you what I bought on my vacation.  It was so fun finding and exploring new quilt shops

I started out slow with these fat quarters.

I love fabric with words, and was delighted to find these in two color ways.

Patterns...........

I have been admiring Accentuate the Positive by It's So Emma.  When I found this at a JoAnn's I gave a little squeal, cause I could use my 40% off discount coupon!  I've not seen any of It's So Emma patterns in our area.

My friend took me to a fabulous quilt shop that was having a 30% off sale on all of their fabric. Including sale fabric!!  So of course I had to get a little bit to bring home with me :-)

And on the way home, we stopped at Hancock's in Paducah.

Discounted patterns and..........

do you recognize this fabric??  Paris Flea Market.............. all on sale!  I'm telling you, if I lived any where near Hancock's I would be broke all the time.

So my quilt shop/fabric adventure turned out pretty rewarding.

Now all I need to do is ............


Happy Quilting! 

Monday, August 19, 2013

Down for the count

Have you ever had a wrestling match with your vacuum cleaner?

I had one today.  

We had company staying with us for a couple of weeks, so this morning I decided to get things back in order and cleaned.  

It won!

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Sunday Morning


I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord more then watchmen wait for the morning.
Psalm 130:5-6

Friday, August 16, 2013

You would be proud

of me!!!

Can you see what is happening here?


YES!!!  I am knitting a pattern!!  Woo-hoo!!!!!

I've been looking online and checking out knitting videos from the library.  The first DVD was really the best for teaching the basics.

This was where I learned how to make the dish cloths.  Tracie Wunderlich does a fabulous job of going through each process slowly and understandably.  What I like about the DVD's is that I can stop them and re-watch anything I did not understand.

The second DVD really has helped me to learn about the different stitches and what some of the symbols mean.

There are some projects too, but I've used it mainly to understand a lot of terms that completely had me confused.

So I found this pattern at the Knitting Geek.  It's called The Simplest Shawl in Stockinette Stitch.  I really want to learn how to make shawls. I pulled out some left over yarn, and started working the pattern.  It was going pretty well, until I realized that I was not making the pattern on the Purl side.  I ripped it all out and started again.  This time when I did a yarn over I did another loop over the needle as when doing the Purl stitch the yarn needs to be in the front.  So far it's working.  Whether I am doing it right or not, I'm not sure, but for my sample pieces I'm happy that the pattern is working.  

Little steps :-)

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

The Model 20

I did a little investigating and discovered that my little Singer is a Model 20 Child's Sewing machine.  I found two really good resources with lots of information  -   ISMACS and Singer Toy Machines

The question was prompted by a comment asking if this was a Featherweight?  I brought out my sweet little Featherweight so you can see the difference.


And this is what the machines look like standing next to my Bernina Love :-)


Quite a difference.

If you go to this YOUTUBE you can see the little Toy Machine in action.

Happy Quilting!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Something special

As we were traveling home from our vacation, we stopped in a couple of Antique Malls along the way.  It is really amazing the things you find in some of these places.

But one thing is for sure, if your sweet Hubby decides that he wants to buy you an Anniversary present, be sure to say yes, yes, yes!

Happy Anniversary honey!


Happy Quilting!

Monday, August 12, 2013

The things you see when you travel

One of the fun things we do when we travel is visit different Antique Malls.  Most of them are out of my price range, but it's still fun to wander around and learn about the vintage thingies.

Of course I always spy a quilt now and then.



Being that we were so close, we just had to visit this place.......


Unbelievable!!! An amusement park in the middle of the mall!

Somehow I just don't think you could ever get me on one of those rides.  Not now, not ever!


Giant Skateboard!

 These were the screamers>.......
Wouldn't you like to ride on this right after lunch??


This guy was HUGE!!

If you would like to learn some interesting facts about Mall of America check out  THIS LINK.


Thursday, August 8, 2013

More Places - Day 4

Did you think I was finished with our little tour??  Not quite :-)

On our way home, we did make a couple of stops.

 This Quilt shop was pretty big.  Lots of pretty samples made up.



These last two quilts were gorgeous!!  

And............ our final Quilt stop was in Quilt City USA!

See those orange signs on the door?  Any fabric with the orange sticker was priced at $5.99 a yard.  Lots of current fabrics.

I had to take a picture of the store because the only other time I was there was during the week of the Quilt show and this place is usually mobbed.

Yes, yes, yes, I did bring home a few goodies.  But I will have to share those on another post.

Happy Quilting!


Wednesday, August 7, 2013

More Places - Day 3

When my friend picked me up, she and I did our own Shop Hop.  Three shops in two states :-)



Now it is my understanding that this shop was was Amanda Jean's (crazy mom quilts ) home base until she recently moved.
The shop had a cozy warm atmosphere, with lots of great fabric lines.

And then we made our way here ............


Great displays
Cute patterns
I really loved this quilt, but they were out of the pattern.
And how about Lori Holt's Scissor quilt pattern??

It was such an eye catching quilt as you walk in the front door.  This quilt shop was having a 25% off everything sale, including their sale fabric.  Yep, I had to have a little :-)

One more stop tomorrow.  Hope you aren't weary of seeing these great places.  I love to taking you along on these quilt shop tours.

Happy Quilting!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

The Places I've Been part 2

I am always amazed at how each Quilt Shop that I visit has it's own personality.  And they each have so much inspiration to offer.

This Quilt Shop was more like a fabric warehouse.  From the outside, it did not look very big, but when you stepped inside..........


It seemed to go on and on......... 

Lots of pretty quilts on display too.

A friend picked me up one day, and she took me to her favorite quilt shops.  This is one of them.

Don't you love the cute sign?  The shop was right in the middle of town.



Very neat, very clean, and a touch on the modern side.  But some very, very pretty quilts.

And that's not all........ I've got more pictures to sort through, so tomorrow I will continue with a tour of our travels.

Happy Quilting!