Sunday Dinner

Do you have Sunday Dinner at your house? Did you have Sunday dinner at your Grandma's or maybe your Mother-in-laws? After having Cade's friend over here for the weekend and him being so shocked that we actually sit down as a family to eat supper, made me think back to how we shared meals when I was little.

My mother has never been domestic. When we were younger kids she did cook and I can remember eating at the table with my family. As we grew up some she gave up and we ate out or brought home fast food. We ate in front of the tv or in our rooms.

Every Sunday afternoon though, we went to Grandma's for supper. (to us dinner is lunch and supper is the evening meal) Everybody showed up at Grandma's on Sunday. She did all the cooking (later my Dad took over) I don't remember my Mom or Aunt ever bringing a dish. They did clean up though. I have so many good memories of those Sunday meals. We cousin's had the best time on my grandparents farm. I still remember how sad I would feel when we would drive home. I knew my Grandma would miss us (til the next weekend) I knew I would have to go to school on Monday morning. I can still remember the sun setting all red and pink and purple.

After I married Andy, all the Dillard's would go to his parents house after church on Sundays for dinners. My Mother-in-law or Nanny is VERY domestic. She does everything perfectly!!! Believe me....my husband and his brothers and sister had a "leave it to beaver" childhood while mine was more like "Tarzan" Nanny is an excellent cook and I am still in awe that she was able to have a meal ready for our huge crew right after church!! How do people do that??? She still has Sunday Dinner at her house probably once a month.

Anyway...ya'll know that I'm not a great cook but I do enjoy cooking for my family. Usually on Sunday nights we have something quick and easy..maybe sandwichs. I had been looking at this book and decided that last night I would have a good Sunday Supper. I love the idea of keeping it up and maybe one day my family will all show up at my house for Sunday Supper!

Last night, it was only me, Andy and Cade. We had what we call Sticky Chicken. recipe here
pintos and baked rice. We had peanut butter cookies for dessert that I had baked on friday. We had a nice evening. It was 68% here and we ate with the kitchen window open. From my table I could see the sun setting all red and pink and purple!

I would love to keep this up (and take better pictures)

Have a great day! We start the LAST Book Fair tomorrow so I won't be around much til it's over! :(

The Longest Day

I wanted to share this cake tin that I found at Hobby Lobby yesterday. I just love the colors! I am not known for being a great cook around here. I cook supper most every night and nobody gets sick but I don't get many raves either! I try hard but to be honest one of my kids favorite meal that I make is affectionately known as "slop" I am a pretty good baker though so I will put this cake holder to use! By the way, it was on sale! Even better!

Why the longest day? After putting it off for almost 2 years and a bunch of planning between the adults, Cade got to have a friend from school over to spend the night. I won't go into it but "F' was removed from his parents at the age of 3 (for good reasons) "F" is on medication (for good reason) I have dealt with "F" at the school many, many times. He has a horrid reputation. I have been told that if "F" was to come to Cade's birthday that some other kids would not be allowed because of "F's" behavior. Really, I don't blame the parents. Andy and I decided that this weekend would be the weekend that "F" got to visit. We knew that we had our work cut out for us when he pulled a knife out of his pocket and quickly ran and jumped off our deck! Then he decided it would be fun to keep jumping at the cat and yelling at her to see her scared. Well, she finally went after him like a wild dog!! Believe me, he has stayed away from her since then!!

We sat down to eat supper, that I had cooked (nothing fancy-pork chops, roasted potatoes, salad and rolls) said the blessing and ate together..like we do every other night. Well, "F" said "Do ya'll eat like this all the time? " Cade just stared at him. I said "Yes, every night" and he said " This is great! This is the bomb, I love this" That made me feel so bad for him. It made me think of the things that I did wtih Cade when he was 3. We went for walks, we did crafts, we baked every friday, he was tucked in every night and met with hugs and kisses every morning. Not for 1 day has my boy ever thought that he wasnt loved and wanted by us. What a difference it makes!

So, yes, I will be glad when "F" goes home but I will have him over again!

Stitch Along

I finished my piece for the 5th Stitch Along for the Flickr group New Embroidery w/Vintage Patterns. The theme is Sunday/Rest/Church/Visiting. My pattern is from the always awesome Floresita.

I made it into a mini quilt/too big to be a pot holder. I love it!

Stitchings

I did these cute little stitchings for the owner of the Etsy shop Sweetness Abounds. I think they are adorable! The shop has really sweet patterns. I was a nervous wreck doing these. I really wanted to show off her cute patterns so I tried to make them with brighter floss. I tend to make my stitchings too light.

This is a sweet little bunny. I may make this into a pillow for my niece.

I love the faces on these two Honey Bunnies!

and 2 more Love Bunnies! I really thought about making the carrot in a chocolate brown...like he had given her a Valentine's gift.

After I finished this one, I went back and added french knots for the boy bunny's tail. Dark brown french knots don't show up well in pics. It didnt take as long as I had feared and turned out really cute. Cade had a friend over and they loved the tail. and kept mashing it:(

Today I am cleaning house and hoping to get back to quilting that Hallowen quilt!

Have a wonderful day!

PIG POST #2

Jill is hosting The Year of the Pig. Her questions for today are :
1. Do you have a current list of Pigs (unfinished projects)
2. How Many do you have?
3. What is the oldest and how old is it?

Hmmm...#1. I do not have a complete PIG list. I don't have many though.
#2. I know of 4 that I want to finish. 3 of them this year.
#3 My oldest PIG is close to 5 years old.

Here are the 3 PIGS that I want to work on.
This is a 9 patch scrap quilt that I did last year for Amanda Jeans Quilt Along. I have the blocks all done, just needs put together and quilted.


String Quilt. I started this quilt a few months ago. I HAD all the blocks done and some rows put together...then at Christmas I used some of the blocks to make potholders as gifts:) I need to make more blocks, put the quilt together and quilt it.

Halloween Quilt. I am handquilting this quilt right now. I am almost done but keep putting it aside to do embroidery!! I need to finish quilting it get it bound and put up for Halloween 2011!

My fourth PIG is my Moda Christmas Quilt AKA the Pizza Box Quilt. It is a kit that I bought about 5 years ago and worked on at the Quilt Shop when I worked there. I will probably put it off and work on something else!

Thanks Jill for making me make a list of my PIGS!

Back to School

Today was the last free day! Back to school for me and Cade tomorrow. Yuck! I have really enjoyed our snow days. I love having Cade home and having nowhere to go! I just like being home.

I spent today doing my grocery shopping then hanging out around the house. Cleaning up and doing some embroidery. When I go out and feed the dogs I try to remember to throw out some birdseed. I looked out at one time and saw over 20 of these little birds on our side deck. You can see that we still have some ice on the deck!

Someone else noticed the little birds! She would love to go out there and "make friends" with the little birdies!
I also made these Orange Brownies. I saw the recipe on Pleasant Home. They made my house smell like sunshine!! Mine turned out more like a cake than a brownie. I think they would be wonderful with a cup of coffee or tea...I was lazy and had a glass of water with mine:(

Friday Night Stitching

Our schools were closed today too! That is fine by me. Our yard and driveway are still an icy mess. I am going to have to go out soon though, I am fixing our last real meal for supper tonight.

We have our Saturday Sewing at church tomorrow and I plan on getting out for that! I need some adult conversation! I will be taking some hand embroidery with me. I am testing some patterns for a lady that is opening an etsy shop. I am working hard and fast to get these stitchings done, and Cade was watching me doing a stem stitch. He said " I want to try" well, I am in a hurry but he was interested so I got ready to teach him but NO! He said that he knew how to do it! You can imagine that he didnt stitch too long! But, he looked so cute trying!

Flickr

Have you been to Flicker? I spend way too much time over there!! I can get lost for hours looking at quilts, embroidery, sewing, patterns, vintage items, pets, pets on quilts, etc!!!
I belong to a few groups on Flickr. My favorite is the New Embroidery with Vintage Patterns group. The Stitch Along theme this time is Sunday/Rest/Church. I have my pattern all picked out and ready to go. I am going to make myself wait and work on it Saturday. We have our Saturday Sewing at church this Saturday.

We are still out of school which I love!!! Our roads are clear but driveways and parking lots are still very icy.

I have to get out today. Cade has a wart (hope nobody is eating) that has to be removed. He was crying with it so I made the appointment thinking Andy would take him. Andy is at the Fire Dept. So, its up to me.

My memory card for my camera got busted so no pictures til I get to town and get a new on!
Lucky for ya'll cause I have nothing to take a picture of but Cade's wart!

Cade's Ice Day

We got a good bit of ice here in Georgia. Here is our road. The tracks are Andy's where he tried to go to the Fire Dept. before dawn, he didnt get far, had to come back and wait until daylight. It took him over an hour to get to work. It usually takes about 30-40 minutes. I hope they don't have many calls but they probably will with people out trying to drive in this mess.

Very slick icy road.

Cade got this big chunk of ice out of his sled. He wanted me to take pictures of it.

He really thought it was something.

He carried that ice chunk across the road to show my Mother.

Wendy liked it too! She kept taking big bites out of it until Cade dropped it.

I hope everyone is staying warm.

I hope we don't have school tomorrow!

Waiting...

for the big ice storm that is rolling into Georgia.

Missing my sweet girl. I stitched this up for her apartment at college. She picked the colors out. She left today.
Pattern by the totally awesome Aimee Ray . Find the Doodle Stitch Along here

Ninja Embroidery

I wanted to share one of the CUTEST embroidery Block of the Month that I have ever seen!!
Kandra Young at MY LIFE is hosting a Ninja Block of the Month. Kandra did this AWESOME design and is offering it free on her blog. GO visit her blog, she is very talented and has a fun site!! My Kelsey LOVES Ninja's so I knew that I had to do this little stitchery!!

I can't wait to see next month's..and the next...and the next..and the next!!

Have a wonderful weekend! We are hoping for some snow, atleast enough to cancel school on Monday!

BALANCE

Kelly over at Charming Girls Quilt Club is doing something on her blog that is different from most New Year's resolutions! She is asking that people choose words that they want to identify

with what we would like to see more of in our lives in 2011. I have had the same word running through my head since New Years, so when I saw Kelly's post I knew it was for real!

My word is BALANCE! I have been praying for balance in my life! I am so much happier when I am able to balance the things that I have to do and the things that I want to do. It hasnt been easy with me being away from home so much last year (and thats not over) and I have been depressed, sad, mad and guilty for awhile.

My prayer is for BALANCE in my life to be able to do the hard and the fun! Without nutting up!!!

Guess Who Came to Dinner?

First off, let me apologize for these bad pictures. Yesterday was Cold, Dark and Rainy. Which was how I was feeling since Cade had to start back to school:( It is just a matter of days before Kelsey heads back to college:(

In other news..."Boyfriend" came over to hang out and to eat supper!! We had fun with him and Kelsey! He paid attention to Cade, which was nice since our Joey never pays Cade any attention anymore (but thats another post) Cade spent his time acting like a pesky little brother---spying on them and shooting them with nerf guns! They even took Cade to Karate! Andy did find a reason to get a gun out though:( Some of you know that we live back in the woods, not many other house on the road. Last night around 9 pm, Kelsey walked by the front door and said " Someone just pulled in the driveway" Andy got up and looked and noticed that the light she was seeing was Andy's inside truck light on. Like someone had opened the door. Andy had to get his gun and go out and investigate!! Never found anybody and we have no idea why his light came on! I'm sure "Boyfriend" was either impressed or freaked out!


I also finished putting the borders on my yellow quilt! I need to get it quilted fast..remember I still need to finish up my Halloween quilt too!

I guess I should get busy! Next week, I start back in the library. Sherry plans on coming back in late January! WOO HOO!

The Year of the PIG

Jill over at Ramblings of a Fabric and Yarn Obsessor has started a support group for PIGs. PIG's are Projects in Grocery bags or unfinished projects. I don't know of any quilters or crafters that have no unfinished projects. Most probably have quite a few! I probably have less than most because as a handquilter, I have to know my limits! However, I do have some projects I would like to finish. I just don't know when I will!

Jill will be posting questions for participants to answer. The first question is "How do you store your PIGS seperate from your stash?" I do store my PIGS seperate from my stash.

Here is a kit that I have started piecing. I started this years ago. I was working at a LQS and we stored our projects in Pizza boxes.

As you can see, a pizza box makes a great storage for blocks and fabric that has been cut. Everything was very neat and tidy until the cat knocked the box over. The downside to storing your PIGS in a pizza box is that if it is knocked upside down, everything comes out!

I have some string/strips stored in a heavy duty box. I would really like to make some more string blocks!

I also use clear plastic containers as storage. These have a nice lid and you can see what is in it. My favorite form of storage. This has the blocks for Bonnie Hunter's last years Mystery Quilt. Will I finish it? I don't know. I really like this years better and I doubt I would make both!

I keep my embroidery projects (patterns, floss) in ziplock bags. Whatever project that I am currently working on goes into my cute little project bag.

How do you store your PIGS?

Yellow

I don't know how many of you read Judy's blog Patchwork Times. She has a truely awesome blog full of great quilts, knitting, food and so many great tips! I havent been reading her blog long. I found her blog through Jill. and I am sure glad that I did! Anyway, Judy hosts alot of different events on her blog. I know that she has done mystery quilts and this year she is doing a UFO group and a Monochromatic Challenge. You can click on the links for more details.

The Monochromatic Challenge is basically Judy picks one color a month and you make a project using just that color. You can add a white or black background. The challenge is working with 1 color and using from your stash. The project could be a quilt, pillowcase, potholder anything!!

I'm not sure yet if she is going to post a list of people in the challenge or if we just blog on our own. Either way is fine with me. I decided to give it a try because I am bad about using fabric from 1 collection and I want to learn to use color more freely. Also, I was looking at my fabric and there is no way I can use all of this stuff!!!! I need to use some of my stash up...especially since I have no plans to stop buying fabric;)

Here is a sneak peak of my January Monochromatic Challenge. The color is YELLOW!