Work-In-Progress #2: Cowboy Quilt

Here's the beginning of my other WIP.

My brother and sister-in-law are having their second baby in August. They also happen to be having the first grandson! I had seen some amazing retro little kid cowboy fabric by Alexander Henry a few months ago and bookmarked it for some future project.

When they told us they were expecting, I sent an email saying, "If you have a boy, this is the quilt you're getting." So, when they found out that he's a he, I went to plannin'.

I ordered both the red and the white version of the cowboys and cowgirls.

How cute is that?! There are even these little groundhogs that I hadn't seen until it came in the mail.

Oh, it kills me! I love it.

Anyhow, I was browsing some other kiddo fabric and found these horseshoes by Michael Miller. So I ordered it too, and wouldn't you know, the colors match perfectly! (Phew, thank goodness...)

All three together.

My mom & I made a date of fabric shopping (we were pretty busy for those four days!). We were looking for the rest of the fabric to make this quilt. I'm going to base the design off this quilt by Amy at ACommonPlaceLife. I knew I wanted a blue with white stars, something green, and something yellow.

Perfect, no? We kind of went back & forth on the green one, because it's floral and maybe not super-masculine. But then we thought Rob would probably jump at a chance to wear a shirt made from that fabric, and he's very manly. So we went for it. Hope the baby doesn't mind... ; )

What do you think?

The final touch is this red & white stripe for the border. I'm hoping to find a great gingham or bandana print for the binding, but I'm not there yet, so I'm not going to worry.

All Photos © Me

We got a little bit nauseous as the lady cut the stripe for us. It was pretty intense coming off the bolt. But it'll be perfect in small doses.

Peace,

Garden Update

When my parents came to visit a few weeks ago, my mom helped me plant some vegetables, loosely interpreted as a vegetable garden. I watered faithfully each day, but they didn't seem to be taking to the Colorado heat & dryness. Then I thought "maybe I should water them in the morning before I go to work, rather than in the evening when I get home..." So I made the switch & all of a sudden my plants went from looking all wilty

...to perking up, just as Mom had promised! These are my Roma tomatoes.

And these are my Big Boy, or Better Boy, or something, tomatoes.

Then over in my (slightly) raised bed, what is that I see?

Why, that's a green pepper! My salsa pepper plant had a pepper on it when I bought it, but the green pepper didn't. This is so exciting! Let's take a closer look.

I mean, I might be a little biased, but he's obviously the smartest kid in the class... And there are more blooms coming in, which means more peppers in our future.

Right next to my peppers I found this little guy.

There's a big ol' fat red-breasted robin that's been singing in the tree over our deck, so this must belong to him (her?). Or rather, one of his/her children.

What plant does this little twirly thing belong to?

That's my spaghetti squash! Rob & I discovered the delight that is Spaghetti Squash over the winter, and I can't wait to eat some from our own garden. Here's a bloom from this morning.

Tasty AND pretty.

And my salsa peppers? Well, there are FOUR little mini baby peppers on that sucker.

Can you find them? Here's another view.

And last, but not least, there's this little guy.

All Photos © Me

He's not really part of my garden—he's kind of off to the side. And I didn't really plant him. He just showed up. That's one mushroom I don't think even Rob would eat...

Peace,

New Look

It's been a while since I let Rob cut my hair short. I think the last time was right before we got engaged. Which was over 2 years ago. He's been dropping (not-so-subtle) hints recently, and I was ready for a change. So...

Tada! Not too drastic, and I love it!

Peace,

Grilled Chicken Parmesan

Rob has been craving chicken parmesan for some time now, and it's totally doable on a lo-glycemic diet! The best way to do it is to grill the chicken instead of bread it. So I did a quick Google search, and this is what I found:

Grilled Chicken Parmesan

• 1 pounds thin cut chicken breast, cutlets
• Salt and pepper
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 small yellow skinned onion, finely chopped
• 1 (14-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, such as Muir Glenn brand*
• 1/2 cup, 10 leaves, fresh basil leaves, shredded or torn
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/4 pound sliced mozzarella
• 1 box Quinoa linguine **

Directions

Heat outdoor grill or indoor grill pan to high. Season chicken with salt and pepper and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil to keep it from sticking to the grill. Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side and transfer to a foil covered platter to hold. If you are using a grill pan, cook the chicken in 2 batches if necessary. While chicken cooks, make sauce.

Place a medium pot on the stove over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Add garlic, crushed red pepper flakes and chopped onions. Cook 10 minutes, stirring often. Add tomatoes and heat through, 2 minutes. Wilt in the basil and season the sauce with salt and pepper.

Preheat the broiler to high.

Layer the chicken with fire roasted sauce in a casserole dish. Top the casserole with Parmigiano and mozzarella. Brown the casserole under the broiler 3 minutes

* I stood in the canned veggie aisle for a good 4 minutes with the $.88 Kroger-brand diced tomatoes in one hand and the $2.19 fire roasted diced tomatoes in the other, weighing my options. At more than twice the price, the organic Muir Glenn seemed a bit extravagant. I mean, I'm on a budget, people. I finally decided to splurge, and boy was it worth it! I love chicken parmesan, no matter how it comes, but that extra fire-roasted flavor, combined with just a bit of heat from the crushed red pepper flakes, really sets this recipe apart.

** Quinoa is a whole grain that is native to South America. The Incas ate Quinoa! It's full of protein, and is gluten-free. It's great for those trying to eat lo-glycemic, and comes as a grain, pasta, flour, and flake, depending on what varieties your store carries. It cooks like wheat pasta (just don't over-cook), and it tastes like wheat pasta. It's a winner! Just watch your portion sizes, since it's still a grain.

We both loved this meal, and it's definitely going into our regular rotation!

Peace,

New Work-In-Progress

It's been a while since I started a new quilt project. Here is the very beginning of one of my newest works-in-progress (WIP):

I am making a wedding guest book/signature quilt for one my friends who's getting married in July. It'll be a cozy toss blanket, not for a bed, so she wanted it to be something she loved and could have out, no matter how she decorates her house. I'm a firm believer that blues and greens can go with anything. We looked at a bunch of fabrics that could be both color-neutral and gender-neutral, and this is the print we settled on:

It's from the Free Spirit's Dolce collection. Those flowers are huge and gorgeous! I plan to fussy-cut this print to take advantage of them. I'm so excited about building a quilt around this print!

I also ordered this floral to go with it (from the same Dolce line).

Once the fabric came in, my mom and I went to Joann's to find coordinating solids.

The green perfectly matches the leaves in the first floral (though the picture doesn't show that). And the yellow adds a nice non-matchy-matchy touch. We also decided to add a white-on-white print for some variation.

The guests will be writing their wedding wishes to the bride and groom on the solids and white fabrics. I wanted them to be light and not really patterned so the signatures will really stand out. I mean, that's the whole point of this quilt, right?

To add a little depth to the whole thing, we picked out this great starburst print, and the green and white dot will be the binding:

And I nearly forgot, this stripe will border the whole quilt top.

All Photos © Me

My wonderful mother took some time on her visit to cut the stripe very precisely so it'll match up all the way around. She really is the best!

My job this weekend is to begin cutting squares. And rectangles. It'll be loosely based on this quilt pattern.The nice thing is that all I have to do before the wedding is cut the pieces. I'll sew them together afterward, since the pieces will be easier for the guests to sign than a huge quilt top. (Did I mention the groom is well over 6 feet? I want it to big enough to cover him for a nap on the couch.)

Peace,

Memorial Day Weekend

My parents came for a visit over the long weekend, and as always, it was a bit of a "working vacation." (They may or may not have likened it to a mission trip, but it sooo wasn't our fault. They asked for it!) We packed those four days so full of housework, and we even squeezed in some fun.

We started by cleaning out our two basement rooms. They started out scary, and ended less-than-scary (but still not my favorite rooms in the house...). No photos, as I was avoiding the dead bugs & moths & dust with everything that I had. I mean, I even started going through some of the boxes that have moved houses at least three times without being unpacked.

Then we moved to the yard. We cleaned debris, mowed, planted, and now we have a nice little oasis.

Somehow my dad always finds a way to break the chainsaw out.
We now have stacks of kindling to get us through the winter.

My mom admiring my newly planted vegetable garden.
5 kinds of pepper and spaghetti squash.

My baby tomato plants in their Earthbox home.

The flowers waiting to be planted.

And on their last day, we got over to Red Rock Canyon for a three mile hike. My parents have to hike when they visit, or else they don't feel like they've actually been to Colorado.

Boys will be boys, even when scrambling is prohibited...

View of Garden of the Gods, from Red Rock Canyon.

All Photos © Me

Peace,

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Here's another easy, delicious, non-salad lunch option:

Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Adapted from Kelly at TastyKitchen.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups Chicken Broth
• 12 oz Frozen Chopped Broccoli
• 2 Tbsps Butter
• 1/3 cups Onion, diced
• 2 Tbsps All-purpose Flour
• 2/3 cups skim Milk
• 1 cup Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 1/3 pinches Ground White Pepper

In a large pot over medium heat, bring the broth to a simmer (a few small bubbles reaching the surface). Add the broccoli to the broth and continue to simmer for 15 minutes. To achieve a less ‘chunky’ soup, use a potato masher to smash the broccoli into smaller pieces and thicken the broth.

In a separate skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Then, add the onions and saute for 5 minutes or to desired tenderness. Add the flour to the onions and stir well, forming a pasty substance. Gradually add the milk and stir until thick.

Add this mixture to the broccoli mixture in the pot and stir well. I used an immersion blender to make it really smooth, since that's the way I like it. A regular blender would be fine, just be sure to do it in two batches and hold the lid on tight!

Next, add the cheese, stirring until melted (the heat can be turned off at this point). Finally, add the pepper to taste. We didn't have white pepper, so I just used regular pepper and salt. I topped it with a little bit of cheese and paprika, more to make it pretty than for taste. ; )

I found out as we were eating that Rob likes his soup with bigger bits of broccoli, so next time I might save some of the broccoli that has been simmered to add before serving.

Photos © Me

Either way, the flavor was great!

Peace,