Break the Cycle

This one was hard - I tried to figure out how to set in the center square - then decided to read the directions which called for it to be appliqued on !  Silly me.  It went together quicker than block #1, and it measured up correctly first try.  Might try one more block before this break is over.

Feels so good to have the sewing machine uncovered once again.  Took me 3 days to get this block done - a bit rusty with Paper Piecing - but I love this quilt BOM - can't wait to start with #2 !! A few more days left of school break - 1/2 of my free time for paperwork, 1/2 for sewing .... I'll clean and do laundry later - right?

No matter how good my intentions are to blog more often - somehow it never works out. These past 2 weeks I've been super busy.  Leenah has been swimming exceptionally well.  She competed @ TYR 2 weeks again (large meet in Lancaster, PA) and returned for finals every single night - an accomplishment at any age, but especially because she's at the bottom of her age bracket!  Can't wait to see what she can do there next year.  Last weekend she challenged herself to 2 of the hardest events, the 400 IM and the 200 Fly.  She amazed her coach, me, and I think even herself.  Her coach is confident she can make a sectional time at the upcoming Elite Meet.  Nadia also swam at the second meet - swimming best times in nearly all her events.  She has perfect form - just needs to have a quicker turnover.  I was very proud of both of my kids. This past week Adam has been home from school all week - with Pneumonia.  It's been fun having him home, an...

Where will I be shopping - First off - Shop Amazon - Cyber Monday Deals Week

I'm bookmarking all these recipes so I can find them later.  So far today I've made English Muffins - long story but I was supposed to make Eggs Benedict again this year - and I forgot to buy English Muffins - so I figured I'd make some.  They were so good - that the kids ate all but 3 which I demanded we save for daddy (who went to work)  I'll make another batch tomorrow - they were easy - and will make wonderful egg sandwiches ! I used the leftover dough, buttered it, sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar, rolled it up and let it rise in a cupcake pan.  Baked it with a little dab of butter and more cinnamon sugar on top - and wow - those are all gone too - except for 1 I saved for Daddy. Then comes the prep for dinner.  So far I've made these Mashed Potatoes - from Pioneer Woman - awesome ! Also will be making Baked Sweet Potatoes Turnip Gratin - Oyster Dressing - except I substituted Pepperidge Farm cornbread stuffing instead of homemade - not enou...

Hurricane Sandy blew through our neighborhood last weekend - and when I say blew, I'm talking wind speeds of up to 100 mph.  Whew.  Hold on to your hats.  Because we had that Nor'easter back in July that knocked down trees and took out our power for the better part of a week, there weren't too many dead/weak trees for Sandy to demolish.  Sure - she took out some street signs, and the flood waters left many a road impassable, but for the most part, our home remained unscathed.  We were without power again for 4 days, and this time, when I say I'm going to buy a generator, my hubster will NOT say .... I'll get around to it LOL Speaking of the hubster - he was supposed to return last Sunday from his 6 week stint in Egypt - but decided Friday nite to stay another couple of weeks.   I knew he was taking care of family difficulties, so I didn't mention to him the monstrous size of the impending storm.  He'd find out after the fact.  He's been o...

My daughter swims for a wonderful local swim team.  We got lucky - it was the first team we choose when we moved to the area.  There were 3 local teams - but the other 2 have slowly dwindled because of parental interference.  There best swimmers have moved to our team.  Our team is full to capacity - of the best swimmers in the area.  It amazes me what my daughter and her teammates achieve everyday at practice.  One of the things that their head coach has his Senior group doing is each week, 2 of the swimmers are assigned a letter of the alphabet, and they find a word for that letter that has something to do with swimming - and life in general.  The word from last week was Discipline.  While we all understand the discipline needed to attend practice 3 hours everyday, 6 days a week - in order to continue to get better.  We all understand the discipline needed to not go to a sleepover or a birthday party the night before a meet, to say no to ...

I make lots of banana bread. When I'm in the mood - I can easily make/freeze a dozen loaves. But sometimes I have a craving for just one loaf of hot, fresh banana bread. I didn't want to heat up my entire kitchen, so I tried some different online recipes - and this one worked perfectly. This is for a 2 lb breadmaker - 3 large eggs, beaten 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 cup ripe and mashed banana 2 cups all purpose flour 3 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 tsp. salt When beeps sound, add: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1 Add the ingredients to the baking pan in the order listed, except for the walnuts. 2 Select the CAKE course, set the crust setting to LIGHT, and press START. 3 When the add beeps sound, open the lid and carefully scrape off any flour that may be left on the side of the pan with a rubber spatula. Please be careful if the kneading blades are moving. 4 Add the walnuts, cl...

Wow - sounds simple - plan to eat.  If I eat what I plan, then I succeed.  This is a pretty neat website - you can plan out your menu's - it'll figure out your grocery list, you can take advantage of what you already have in your pantry, and copy menus - by the week or by the month.  Try it now for 30 days - FREE !  Just click on this ling - PLAN TO EAT I'll be putting a permanent link on my blog for this site. I really think it'll be helpful. Combine this with a calorie tracking site such as WW or Spark people,

    Last weekend I hosted a McCormick Grill Mates Party.  The Spices were sent to me by Crowd Tap   Everyone enjoyed the food.  We had dry rubs, bbq sauce and marinades going.  One of the favorites was the Spiced Brandy & Herb marinade with chicken which is pictured above.  The bbq sauce we brushed on a different batch of chicken during the last 10 minutes as well as using some as a dipping sauce – that was the kids’ favorite.  They said it was good sticky chicken.  We weren’t having steak, but we did use the McCormick Montreal Steak seasonings on some lamb – and wow – that was awesome.  It was nice that it already contained a lot of the spices that I normally use.  I will be buying more McCormick spices in the future.  I do have one bottle that we didn’t try – Molasses Bacon.  If anyone would like the bottle – it’s free – just come by and pick it up.  Just email after and let me know how you liked it !  ...

Although New Years Day usually is the start of all the new Resolutions, new challenges, new ideas - I think the beginning of a new school year is a great time to challenge ourselves to be better. As summer is slowly drawing to a close, I can sit and take time to reflect on what I wanted to do but didn't, and why didn't I? #1 Beach --- I went exactly once. VERY BIG SIGH Once? I have 4 children ! Once? VBS again. #2 Fishing --- We did go out often with Christopher Robin - maybe even try tomorrow for one last day - although not sure the boat will be going out. $$$ - going to the beach would have been cheaper ! #3 Lose Weight --- Well, that didn't happen. I think the end of summer found me heavier than I was at the beginning of summer ! #4 Spend more time with Family --- this happened in a way - not the way I planned, with everyone gathered around the pool, sharing good times and laughs - but we all flew to Michigan together and shared my father's ...

Home from a fun filled week in Michigan. What a great time we had flying my Dad out so he and his twin brother could celebrate their 82nd birthday in the cottage where they grew up - yep, you read that right - both of them, 82. Do you know how many times they each told the same story to the same people? But - it really was fun - and to see my Dad having so much fun was worth every single penny I spent to get my own family of 6 as well as all extended family gathered together for a weekend of partying. Pictures will soon follow - but I wanted to share this recipe that my cousin Carol made up for the party. Quick, simple, somewhat healthy - ideal for a quick dessert type salad - 1 container of Cottage Cheese 1 package of FF jello (this time she used lemon) some blueberries 1 container of Cool Whip That was it. It was good. She mixes it up and uses different jello flavors and different fruits - but it was surprisingly good - and that was the first time my kids EVER ate cottage ...

After a long weekend in the great state of Virginia - I am happy to be home, with about 3 weeks off from swim practice. Not 3 weeks of entirely - because of course, we get home on a Saturday night, and Tennis practice starts Monday morning .... but the Tennis coach is not such an early morning person as the swim coach - I can deal with 7:45 a.m. start times ! Leenah had an outstanding year this year in swimming. 2 weeks before the Junior Olympics she aged up. If you are not familiar with swim terms, that means she jumped from swimming against 11/12 yo's to swimming against 13/14 yo's. She had already made most of the qualifying times for the older age group, so she still had lots of events to excel at during the Junior Olympics - and excel she did. She brought home some very fast times, as well as some medals, but the one event that stood out was a swim off in the 100 Breast Stroke. Breast Stroke is NOT Leenah's best stroke. Freestyle mid-distance is. She's...

Here's another that looks simple enough - and uses stuff I already have on hand - love that. I didn't claim it to be the World's Best Chicken - but I will post my families reviews after we try it - BEWARE - they are picky, picky eaters ! Lots of recipes on Rachel Schultz's blog that I'll be trying ! The World’s Best Chicken Serves 4 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1/2 cup Dijon mustard 1/4 cup maple syrup 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar Salt & Pepper Rosemary Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together mustard, syrup, and vinegar. Place chicken breasts into 9×13 baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Pour mustard mixture over chicken. No need to marinate. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. Season with rosemary.

AND EASY? Will be giving this one a shot as soon as we get home from Michigan ! Summer Veggies Prep time: 15 min. Cook time: 45 min. Total: 1 hr. INGREDIENTS COST 1 Tbsp olive oil $0.11 1 medium yellow onion $0.70 1 tsp minced garlic $0.08 1 medium zucchini $0.71 1 medium yellow squash $0.85 1 medium potato $0.91 1 medium tomato $1.65 1 tsp dried thyme $0.05 to taste salt & pepper $0.05 1 cup shredded Italian cheese $1.49 TOTAL $6.60 STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Saute both in a skillet with olive oil until softened (about five minutes). STEP 2: While the onion and garlic are sauteing, thinly slice the rest of the vegetables. STEP 3: Spray the inside of an 8x8 square or round baking dish with non-stick spray. Spread the softened onion and garlic in the bottom of the dish. Place the thinly sliced vegetables in the baking dish vertically, in an alternating pattern. Sprinkle gen...

I usually print out recipes that I come across online that I want to try one day, but not necessarily TOday - course, then when ONE day comes, I can't find the recipe, and no matter how much I Google, I can't find it again - so figured I'd just start linking them in posts on my own blog - should be easy enough to find later. Anyway - these look amazing - and with all the Jersey corn around right now - should be easy as pie to make ! I just love Sugarcrafter blog 3 cups fresh sweet corn, roughly chopped 1/4 cup shredded summer squash (I used a tiger squash) 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup flour 3/4 cup cornmeal 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp basil 1/2 tsp salt 2 eggs 2 Tbsp milk 1 1/2 Tbsp butter, melted Olive oil, for frying

Made the Moroccan Chicken last night - IT WAS A WINNER ! Everyone, and I mean everyone - liked it. No one picked out the onions. No one complained about too many tomatoes, or "I don't like red sauce" - no complaints, nothing. For the next time - I'll probably add garlic when I do the onions - but that is the ONLY change I'll be making. Wonderful, easy and quick - this one is certainly going on my monthly rotation !

First day of Ramadan. I was awake at 3:30 - afraid I would miss it I suppose. Of course, I wasn't hungry (who would be at 3:30 in the morning?) but had my cup of coffee anyway - because without - it wouldn't be a very pleasant day. Will try and stay pretty much on a normal schedule except I will be trying to fit in a nap in the afternoons, so I don't get run down. One of the things I love about Ramadan is that since I have a set time for dinner (tonight will be at 8:21 p.m., unless we go to the mosque to eat) - either way, I'll be cooking so that we'll have food to either break our fast with, or to eat when we get home (usually around midnight) - to allow us to fast the next day. I'll be linking some of the recipes I plan to make here - and then posting reviews and pictures as I make them. One of the first that I'm sure the kids and dh will love - Moroccan Chicken from the same web site will also be trying the Middle Eastern Chicken Burger as we...

Join the lose weight team at LIVE STRONG .COM Doing another round of HCG. Using Daily Plate to track my calories and water. Makes life simple knowing what I can and can't have. Today's first challenge - Ice Cream party for my son's third grade class. Will find something to keep me busy so I don't snag a cookie !

  Finally got a chance to start working on my color palette challenge.  This was our inspiration for the challenge - And this is what I came up with on EQ6 - the borders will be a different color than the orange shown ...I couldn't figure out how to import fabric, and I have a nice piece of stripes that will work - I started on the green/yellow blocks first - color is horrible in the photo - IRL is much better.  It's making up very quickly with this ruler I have - pretty darn neat - might have to try a more complicated look with my stash of batiks one day.  Doubtful I get this done by the end of May - but I did get a good start on it today - and we still have another weekend left in the month ! To see what others are working on this week - check out Judy's Blog at Patchwork Times

Marci is my personal trainer.  She's due any day - and she's still working.  Except for her belly - you'd never know she was preggo.  Amazing.  Anyway - this is her baby quilt ... just needs a label .... I'm wondering if I should put it on now and just fill in the date (already have the name) or wait and gift it after the baby is born.

Had a wonderful whirlwind weekend at the beach in Florida - spent Mothers Day with my mom, and my son's 9th birthday flying back home to NJ.  No sewing done - but this is whats on my Design Wall - my daughters Monster.  She has her own sewing machine, so don't ask why I have to make monster - but she rarely asks for anything - so I'll put my color challenge on hold and work on this next - To see what others are working on - check out Judy's blog at Patchwork Times.

I only post the yardage of projects I actually complete - easier to keep track of what I have and have not completed.  Since last time I updated, I finished another baby quilt, so 3.5 yards out for that.  I also have to add fabric in - I decided to participate in the color palette challenge (see previous posts) so got in another 9 yards for that.  Used this Week: 3.5 yards Used year to Date: 43 yards Added this Week: 9 yards Added Year to Date: 13 yards Net Used for 2012: --30  yards Finished Projects for 2012 - Jan. Table Runner Feb. Table Runner Mom's Birthday quilt  March Table Runner  April Table Runner Pink/Brown & Blue/Brown Armondo's Baby Quilt  Marci's Baby Quilt To see how others are doing - check out Judy's Blog at Patchwork Times

Got my fabrics !  I had to buy fabrics .... this is what I got   This is my inspiration Pretty close - yep ! To see what others are working on - click on the button over on the right hand side of my blog, or else check out Judy's blog at Patchwork Times

TO inspire myself to design another quilt with my EQ software - I decided to take part in May's Color Challenge.  Bright colors - just what I need.  If you'd like more information about the color challenge - click on the link on the right hand side of my blog.  I just ordered some fabrics from Connecting Threads - will work on a design later this evening.

My son was recently diagnoses with Autism.  Not sure if I agree, or if I agree in my head and not my heart, or if I knew what was wrong all along, just didn't want to say it out loud.  To me - it's just a label.  I could simply continue to say "He's just a boy."  or "He's bad." - but at least now I know, and we'll get him some help, and hopefully one day he'll just be Adam ... with no additional label.

 This really isn't on my design wall now - since I finished it last night - but since I didn't have any pictures of the WIP - and since it only took me 1 week - I wanted to get a photo up on my wall of the completed quilt.  This is for one of my husband's friends who is expecting a baby early next month.  He asked me to make him a baby quilt last week - lots of notice, eh?  They are Mexican - and love bright colors, and they didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, so I dug through my stash and this is what I came up with.  I really love this pattern, and will use it more often to make baby quilts.  I did have to buy backing, I like to use flannel for backing baby quilts - and I was all out.  TO see what others are working on - check out Judy's blog at Patchwork Times

I only post the yardage of projects I actually complete - easier to keep track of what I have and have not completed.  Since last time I updated, I finished one baby quilt, so 3.5 yards out for that.  This is the first week I actually have to add fabric in - I needed backing for both baby quilts .... so 4 yards in. The other baby quilt will be done by next week..... so I'm doing good so far this year.   Used this Week: 3.5 yards Used year to Date: 39.5 yards Added this Week: 4 yards Added Year to Date: 4 yards Net Used for 2012: -35.5 yards Finished Projects for 2012 - Jan. Table Runner Feb. Table Runner Mom's Birthday quilt  March Table Runner  April Table Runner Pink/Brown & Blue/Brown Armondo's Baby Quilt To see how others are doing - check out Judy's Blog at Patchwork Times

I have 2 baby quilts to whip up - I made 16 of these blocks in 3 hours - and it was fun.  Will use this pattern again. To see what others are working on - check out Judy's blog at Patchwork Times

I only post the yardage of projects I actually complete - easier to keep track of what I have and have not completed.  Since last time I updated, I finished another wallhanging that I'll call April Table Runner, as well as the pink/brown - blue/brown quilt.    The pink/brown/blue/brown is a nice twin size quilt - so a good 7 yards?  Then another 3 for the wall-hanging, so 10 yards out, and still nothing in ... although I've been watching some online sales .... Used this Week: 10 yards Used year to Date: 36 yards Added this Week: 0 yards Added Year to Date: 0 yards Net Used for 2012: -36 yards Finished Projects for 2012 -   Jan. Table Runner Feb. Table Runner Mom's Birthday quilt  March Table Runner  April Table Runner Pink/Brown & Blue/Brown To see how others are doing - check out Judy's Blog at Patchwork Times

This was originally a swap block - glad it's together - I've gotten lots of compliments on this one - I'm surprised !

This was on the table as it was supposed to be on April 1, 2012.  But, since I haven't photographed it yet, figured I'd share it on my DWM.  This was a kit that I picked up in Texas years and years ago - and as part of my vow to use what I have - I finished it, quilted it, and bound it - and it'll make an awesome wall-hanging ! To see what others are working on - check out Judy's blog at Patchwork Times

I only post the yardage of projects I actually complete - easier to keep track of what I have and have not completed - finished March's Table Rnner - hard to figure out exactly how many yards of fabric it used -  I figure at least 1.5 yards for the front and back and binding - probably more, but since it's all stash - underestimating won't hurt ! Still nothing in ... although I've been watching some online sales .... Used this Week: 3 yards Used year to Date: 26 yards Added this Week: 0 yards Added Year to Date: 0 yards Net Used for 2012: -26 yards Finished Projects for 2012 -   Jan. Table Runner Feb. Table Runner Mom's Birthday quilt  March Table Runner To see how others are doing - check out Judy's Blog at Patchwork Times

Yep - I know today is only Friday - but this weekend will be spent with organizing the household, cleaning, laundry, and I have to whip up 4 t-shirts for my daughter's relay team - so won't be making anything else!  So - this was ready by March 2nd - only 1 day late ~! March Table Runner I don't really like green, and since I'm working from stash only this year - I had to do some fixing here and there.   I wasn't sure if I wanted the spool blocks to look like spools or bowties for St. Paddy's day - either way - it's finished - I'm happy with it - although the border didn't turn out the way I wanted.  Now on to design April's and figure out how much fabric I used in this one so I can deduct it from this years total ! Deb

Did get some time to work on my March table runner this weekend - looks like it might be done by the first weekend after all.  After I laid it out the way I wanted - I realized I was 2 border blocks short - but after making so many - 2 more shouldn't take long. To see what others are working on this week - gets some inspiration at Judy's blog at Patchwork Times

I only post the yardage of projects I actually complete - easier to keep track of what I have and have not completed - finished my mom's birthday quilt - hard to figure out exactly how many yards of fabric it used - it's roughly 80 by 80, so I'm saying about 18 yards of fabric - counting the binding and backing.  Still nothing in ... although I've been watching some online sales .... Used this Week: 18 yards Used year to Date: 23 yards Added this Week: 0 yards Added Year to Date: 0 yards Net Used for 2012: -23 yards Finished Projects for 2012 -   Jan. Table Runner Feb. Table Runner Mom's Birthday quilt

Finally got pictures of it - I really liked how it turned out - and it'll be good to add the #'s to my fabric out next week ! This will be off in the hands of the UPS man tomorrow - hope you enjoy it mom !

Actually had a few moments to sew over the weekend - so I got the corner blocks of my border finished - I really liked how they turned out.  Since this is only a table runner, I made a 4" sash - so some of those corner block pieces were much smaller than I'm used to working with - but it worked.  I designed this myself using EQ - so a bit harder trying to figure out the correct measurements and angles - but fun ! To see what others are working on - check out Judy's blog at Patchwork Times

I've gotten a bit of sewing in this week - it began with a rush to get dd #3 a Valentines Bag ready for school the next day - turned out pretty neat I think -  Then this morning wanted to get a label on my mom's birthday quilt so I could get it in the mail - really liked how this first one turned out - so much better than those fabric pens that eventually fade.

Still working on the binding on my mom's b-day quilt, but I did get something done this weekend - well - almost done - My daughter's party is tomorrow - and she needed a bag or a decorated shoebox.  Since we were at swim meets all weekend - there was no time to do either - so I quickly embroidered her a red bag I had on hand.  Of course - somehow (can you say user error) the straps of the bag got all caught up in the embroidery on the back side, so I had to cut those off and will make new straps using the heart fabric on the bottom.  It'll be done in time - her valentines are all ready to be given out - and I'm sure she'll be happy ! To see what others are working on this week - check out Judy's blog at Patchwork Times

I only post the yardage of projects I actually complete - easier to keep track of what I have and have not completed - although my mom's birthday quilt (her birthday was yesterday, so this really isn't going to be too late) is down to the last 2 sides of binding, it's not done, so I'm not counting it - so same figures as last week.  Used this Week: 3 yards Used year to Date: 5 yards Added this Week: 0 yards Added Year to Date: 0 yards Net Used for 2012: -5 yards Finished Projects for 2012 -

Felt good to sew over the weekend again.  I've gotten February's table runner on the table (see earlier post) and now am working on March's.  Got a great idea in my head, played with EQ6 over the weekend, and this is part of what I came up with - Of course, the center bit of color will be rearranged to make a diamond - but since I'm still working on boarders - I just left it as is for now. To see what others are working on - Check out Judy's Blog at Patchwork Times

I really like how this turned out - so much that I even took down the living room curtains to give them a wash so everything in the room looks "special".  Designing something much simpler for St. Pats - green is not my thing, and I need to get working on my mom's b-day gift - all done except the binding !

Stash Report – Week 5, 2012 January 16, 2012 Did a little sewing this week – still using scraps and whatever stash I have on hand.   I’m only counting fabric after the project is finished, easier to keep track of that way.  My Feb. table runner is finished - ended up steam cleaning the kitchen floor this weekend so I could get it sandwiched, then it was beautiful outside so I sent the kids out to play and had enough time to get the entire thing quilted and bound.  Won't post a picture until Feb. 1st - but it is finished, so I get to count the yardage.   Used this Week: 3 yards Used year to Date: 5 yards Added this Week: 0 yards Added Year to Date: 0 yards Net Used for 2012: -5 yards Finished Projects for 2012 - Jan Table Runner   To see what others are working on check out Patchwork Times by Judy !