Lacking inspiration...

I miss blogging. But, as noted in my title for this blog... I've been without artistic inspiration these past six weeks. I don't blame my parents, whose house we've been occupying for the past six weeks. I blame the lack of space and time to sew and bake/cook. My sewing machine has been in storage since September 19th! Can y'all believe it? I'll be so dead on the inside by the time I have it set up in our new place, I don't know if there will be any coming back from that.

With any luck, we'll be moved into the condo this Saturday, and perhaps I'll post pictures of our fabulous newly-painted green walls and fabulous new furniture!

Going, Going, Back, Back, to Reno, Reno!

First, let's acknowledge what an awesome title I picked for this blog.


Okay, second, I would post another picture of the Reno arch for this entry, but I posted it two entries ago... dang it. A picture of the state of our spare bedroom (now: the box room) will have to do.


Dave got a job, I got a job, so back to Reno we go. We'll be there by the 20th of this month.

And now, to sing us out,... here is REM, detailing how one can be a star in Reno (thanks for the reminder, Matt).

Baby Luke's quilt

I finally finished the baby quilt I made for my friend Heather's new baby: Luke. (And boy was he a whopper of a baby, ladies and gents... 8 lbs 15 oz... I guess the days of her making fun of the big baby I was are over!)

I must admit, I really outdid myself on this one. I followed a simple pattern provided by the lovely blog, The Purl Bee. When I completed the quilt top, I thought it looked a little boring, so I appliqued on some turtles from some leftover backing fabric I had. When I added the embroidery, I felt better about myself.

Here is my husband, behind the quilt. Isn't he looking great today?

Here's a close-up of the embroidery.

Here's a super-duper close-up of another appliqued turtle.

Aaaaand, here's a picture of the backing fabric folded over on top of the quilt.

I made something for Max too, but I forgot to take a picture of it. He took a real liking to Dave when we visited. This is a picture I snapped right after he begged and pleaded with Dave to pick him up.

Vacation

I'm going to Reno this weekend! Woot woot!

Finished Journey Quilt top

Here it is with the additional border. You can't really see the turquoise squares in the corner b/c it's just so dern big. At first I wasn't sure about the red, but by the time I had put all four borders on, I loved it! Pearl really liked it too.

Journey Quilt and Danny's Shenanigans

I haven't posted anything regarding sewing/quilting in a long time, and I know you've all been waiting with baited breath.

I just (nearly) finished my Journey quilt top. I wanted to get it done before the hus and I drove to Reno in mid-August because once there, I'd like to take this quilt to my favorite quilters who live in Carson City... though they always seem to charge me double what they charge my mother. (This time my mother and I have cooked up a brilliant scheme. We're going to go TOGETHER to drop off our quilts... then we'll see! Then we'll see...)

Here are some pics of this fabulous quilt:

Here's a close-up of the cute corners:

And here are some close-ups of some of my favorite blocks:

The reason I said I (nearly) finished it is because at this size it is just a wee too small for our bed. I'm going to make an extra border out of these fabrics, so stay tuned for more pictures:

While I was having this quilt photo shoot, Danny had some 'splainin' to do! He somehow gets himself stuck under the dresser. This is the second time it's happened... at least while we've been home to hear him growling for help. I'm making it a habit to snap some pictures before giving him any sort of assistance.

He tried to squeeze out by himself:

Then he got frustrated and just stared at me:

Isn't he adorable? Today I let him lick my ice cream cone a few times... it's not so gross after all. As Michael Jackson said on a constantly re-aired documentary special from 2003 with Britain's Martin Bashir regarding adults sharing their bed with friends' children: "That's love... that's love."

Strawberry Cake

Num.

1 package vanilla cake mix
1 3 oz. package strawberry flavored gelatin (only use 1/2 - 2/3 of the package)
2/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
4 oz. frozen strawberries (or 1 cup chopped fresh strawberries)
1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Thaw and drain the frozen strawberries (if you're using frozen instead of fresh).
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Combine the cake mix, strawberry gelatin, oil, eggs, flour, strawberries, and buttermilk. Mix until combined. Pour into prepared pan (I made cupcakes).
4. Bake at 350 according to cake box directions. (I baked my cupcakes for 20 minutes)


It's enjoyable, and sometimes embarrassing, to hear reactions of those who try my desserts. This time, my friend Traci enjoyed these cupcakes so much, she said, "Ohhh sh*t!"