And the winner is ... !

I don't know about where you life, but here in the way Northeast NY I can see Canada from my house, it has been bone chilly! We went from spring is just around the corner weather to ... Brrrr! What a shock it was! Mother nature is such a tease! Anyway, I've been concentrating more on keeping warm than anything else!

Yesterday, Sunday, I decided that I needed to fully complete a quilt top that has been hanging off my design wall for the past couple of weeks. I had been working on it a bit at a time and brought it to ... pieced center.

The pattern is called Stardust by Sandy Klop of American Jane Patterns. I used a layer cake from her fabric line Bread 'n Butter.

The goal was ... completely finish the quilt top by putting on the last three borders. Voila!

Today, my plan is to piece the backing and schedule a date with Penelope (my longarm) so I can bring this UFO to a done deal!

As for the winner, congratulations goes to Swooze of Swooze's Quilts and Tall Tales. Kindly send me an e-mail with you snail mail address and I'll get the kit out to you.

Thank you everyone for participating in my 11 years of blogging celebrations.

Catch you all later! Cheers!

Rewarding myself ... !

A girl can only work so long on quilting UFOs without going through some form of withdrawal! Seriously, I've been so good at completing projects, even those I started in 2018. To reward myself, I went shopping on the Primitive Gatherings website.

If you love wool, Primitive Gatherings website is a dangerous place to browse. I fell in love with quite a few wool kits but had to limit myself. I decided on a table topper from Lisa Bongean's latest book Christmas Gatherings.

There are lots of lovely projects in that book. Although I do have a small wool stash, I don't have a lot of interesting backgrounds and besides, the kit was perfect!

The kit I chose is for the pattern called Holiday Table Mat

I just love how it turned out! Another wonderful addition to my holiday decor!

If you haven't heard, I am doing a give away in honour of eleven (11) years of blogging. You can check out the post here. You have until March 13 to put your name in for the draw.

Catch you all later! Cheers!

Blog land and we have a finish ....!

The other day I was going through some old blogging posts, looking at comments and clicking on the individual's profile, wanting to see what they have been up to! Many were individuals I "used to follow," who inspired me to create. I was shocked to see how many had abandoned blogging. That explains why my feed has so little post for me to read!

I like blogging, it's a great way to catch up with friends on a sleepless night, find some inspiration for that new project. 

I'm sure Instagram has something to do with it. It's a lot quicker to take a photo with your smart phone, write a little blurb and post it on a social media site than to write a lengthy post! Oh well, I like blogging!

By the way, Donna at chookyblue reminded me that I have been blogging for over 11 years. We both started around the same time. Wow! Hard to believe that it's been that long already. So, time for a give away! Read on!

On the quilting front, I finished another UFO that was just sitting there, on the back of a chair with other UFOS, patiently waiting ....

This little hand embroidery quilt comes from the back of that chair! lol 

The pattern is called Cold Nose, Warm Heart by Buttermilk Basin, started in 2010. I stitched one of these for a swap I participated back in 2010. I liked it so much that I wanted one for myself. Unlike most of my hand embroidery UFOs whereby the squares are stitched, this one was layered and ready to be machine quilted!

Onward to the give away. Leave me a comment by March 13, 2018 and you will be eligible to win the following kit!

The kit includes all the fabric and wool to make this cute wall hanging.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy quilting! Cheers!

Spent the afternoon in the kitchen ... groovin' and cookin' ... !

It was one of those days where I wanted to make something in the kitchen. Soup would be good given that it is snowing this afternoon.

I decided to cook up a recipe I have been meaning to try from the Kripula center called Harvest Stew.

After my morning ritual at our local coffee shop, I went grocery shopping for ingredients.

Came home, put on some music ... Mellow Maurice play list in honor of my late Uncle Maurice ... and began prepping.

Gosh it smells soooo good!

OMG, what a delicious soup! I actually had to open a bottle of wine, pour myself a glad and take sips in order to get that wonderful taste out of my mouth. Otherwise, I would have eaten the whole pot!!!! ROFLOL

See, look how much is gone already!

I am not kidding you, what a great tasting vegetable soup.

Okay, it wasn't all me, I did bring a large canning jar to a friend of mind who is battling influenza. I just had to include it in her care package!

Harvest Stew

2 tablespoons butter

1 small onion – medium diced

1 large carrot – roll cut

2 small parsnips – roll cut

1 potato – medium diced

1 zucchini – medium diced

2 cups butternut squash – large diced

2 cups green cabbage – large diced

4 cups vegetable stock

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons fresh Rosemary

2 teaspoons fresh Thyme

2 tablespoons dry white wine (Optional)

Roux – added at the end

2 tablespoons butter (use less butter if desired)

1/4-cup flour

In a large Dutch oven, heat the butter and begin sautéing the onions. When the onions start to sweat, add a pinch of sea salt and add the carrots.

Add each additional vegetable one by one in the order they appear in the recipe, and a pinch of salt, allowing the ones before it to heat and sweat.

After all the vegetables have been added, continue to sauté until until done.

Add the fresh herbs, stir, and deglaze with the wine (optional) or use stock or water.

Add the remaining sea salt and the stock.

Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and simmer (low heat) for a half hour (30 minutes).

Once cooked, add the roux

Serves 6 – 8 - Hum ... more like two unless you open a bottle of wine! lol

If you're interested you can find the recipe online here.

Enjoy! Oh, don't forget to pour yourself a glass of wine so you don't eat the whole pot! ... giggling ...

Bon appetit!

May cause one to reminiscent ... !

There's nothing like looking at your parent's photo albums to bring back lots of memories. Unlike me who has stacks of pictures of my little Pumpkin sitting in a box, un-organized, my mum was great at keeping her photo album up to date.

I came across this picture of me and wondered what happened to that fun loving, crazy girl!

I do know what happened, life. Strange how the years can cause one to mellow, and not always in a good and fun way.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the masks we acquire throughout life. Mainly thinking about the ones I have acquired from the years of life experiences. We all have masks, some are healthy and others, well ... let's just say, may have been acquired as a survival mechanism.

Regardless of how these masks were acquired, it's good to sit back and do a bit of introspection, reflect on our life; pictures are a great tool to help you with that.

That evening, on my drive home from mum's, I contemplated who I was before the masks began to define me. I thought of a picture that would best represent an unmasked me. I knew exactly which picture.  Here she is ...

I just love that picture ... I know this little girl well, confident, fearless and full of joie de vivre.

So, I've been working on this new self ... more particularly the joie the vivre aspect. Time to get a little crazy and just have fun! Hum ... like posting that crazy shock picture! lol

So, who were you before the masks? What's holding you back? I do hope you will take the time to get to know the real you and enjoy the moment. Life sure is short, so why not enjoy it to its fullest!

Thanks for stopping by my little corner in cyberspace. Catch you all later! Oh, don't forget to hang loose and have fun ... I am! lol