Saturday, October 24, 2009

Cool Quilting websites

I just found a bunch of websites that are Very Useful.

print your own graph paper! Although when I printed out graph paper that was 4 lines to the inch, it wasn't on my printer. I found this out After (boo, hiss) I drew 17 simple (fortunately) paper piecing templates and Before (Yay!) I actually sewed on them. Just warning you, and now I have to go with plan B (figure out how to adjust printing on PDF) or plan C (draw it myself with a selection of rulers that are not necessarily suited to the job.

http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/

If you want ideas on machine quilting, check this site out. Unlike my site, she promises to update EVERY DAY!

http://www.freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/

I mention this site primarily for the t-shirt. One of my friends said "I can do that without drinking, what does that say about me?" And it is where I found the previous website.

http://thebitchystitcher.blogspot.com/

And this one I haven't fully explored yet, but looks like another one for great ideas.

http://twocreativestudios.com/free.htm

Thursday, October 22, 2009

animals



The animals are fun to live with.
I am not talking about my hushand, actually.
My daughter has this bassinet they have no room for, so we have it. It took the cat a day or two to test it out. She finds it OK. Lindsey's opinion is that, because it is not an actual human being, it is no good. Although he did give me a chance to warm up the lunch and eat three bites before he discovered that he was asleep in an unsuitable place.

In the second picture, you think that they actually conspired to ask for something. That they spoke to each other. Either that or they found the kitchen smells (chicken stir fry) really good and were hoping.
In reality, Checkers avoids any cats because they have claws and they contacted her nose once. (So we know she is smart. But she refuses to learn "roll over.") But we did catch her licking Sasha's face once. And Sasha did not like it at all.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

August at our house

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Saturday, October 10, 2009

another sure fire recipe

We take a break from the grandson (while he visits the other grandma 6 hours away) to post a recipe. I just made this and got rave reviews and two requests for the recipe, so I might as well post it here:

Tortellini Soup

1 pound sausage
1 onion (or a half, if it is big like we get around here, brag brag), chopped
garlic, whatever you want
-----------brown. Sometimes it helps to get the sausage browning first
1 can tomato soup
veggies: beans
corn
carrots
zucchini
insert your favorite here
spices: basil
oregano
other favorites for a tomato based soup
pepper
salt, if there isn't enough already, I usually leave it out
1 cup beef stock (Optional, I mostly leave it out)
1/4 cup (or more) red wine (optional too, but I mostly leave it IN)
water about a quart? Depends on how thin you like your soup.
------------add (or transfer to crock pot), simmer for as long as you want (at least until carrots are done)
1 package of cheese filled tortellini
-----------add, ten minutes before serving
parmesan cheese
------------add at table.
serve with bread and butter. My personal favorite to serve with this is asiago cheese bread.

http://webvalue.net/recipes/bbs/messages/290.html

and I have tried that recipe with water or milk instead of white wine, and I like water the best.

Notice the almost complete lack of amounts? Well, use what you like!

Friday, October 09, 2009

sisters


I haven't always made my girls wear matching outfits, but they both loved these sweaters.


Isn't it great how they love each other?

He approves


I had him try out the quilt and he went right to sleep.


Well, sort of.

He was already asleep.

But he was warmer, so he slept longer.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

for those who want more baby pictures




Well, you have to see Laurie's 20th birthday cake first.

We don't have 20 cheap little candles (they only last 2 or 3 cakes, and they break easily). And we don't have a 2.

So, adding to our series of off-normal birthday cakes, we put six candles on this one. Laurie hates math, so we didn't do any binary, powers or exponential functions. So her first guess (add them up) was correct. There are only so many tricks you can play on a new mother of a 2 1/2 month old who drools and spits up.
And Lindsey will be a lobster at Halloween. We're not sure he is really happy about this...