My first sewing post...

My parents recently visited for Thanksgiving and brought down some quilts I dropped off at my favorite quilter couple in Carson City back in October. They were my favorite quilter couple until they revealed the price to me. Let's just say it was hundreds of dollars more than I thought. Now I am forced to find a new quilting service, and it isn't easy because everyone charges too much! I feel especially stupid about the whole ordeal because I didn't ask for a price estimation. I've taken about three quilts to them before, and they've never chaged me over $80 a quilt. My plan of partially retiring by age 28 needs to happen soon so that I can buy myself a quilting machine and start my own biz. I haven't yet figured out why buying this machine would have to coincide with my partial retirement, but that's just the way it is.

Anywho... here is a picture of one of the quilts (I sent off three) that I got back. It's my favorite quilt I've ever made! It's a huge Irish Chain. I enlarged the pattern from the book because even though it was a queen sized pattern, our pillow-top mattress necessitates enlarging quilts, or else they look stupid by not even reaching the bottom of the mattress.

But isn't it fabulous? I still have to put the edging on. Hopefully I'll have it finished before Christmas, but I'm not making any promises. Notice the cute flowers quilted into the plain white part! I love those gosh-darned money-gouging Carson City-ites! Why did they have to triple their prices?

And then we have the quilt I made for my grandma. It's just a log cabin, but I love the colors and patterns on the fabrics. The quilters also did a great job on this one. I kinda want to keep it... but I won't. I initially set out to choose "greens" and "goldens" as my colors. I decided to throw in a dash of burgundy as well. These are the colors with which my grandma mainly decorates. I made her a wall-hanging last year, and after she opened the gift, she hinted, "I would really like a big one..." I assumed she meant a quilt, not a gigantic wall-hanging, but maybe I'll be in for a surprise on Christmas Day.

I know you're all dying for more quilter info and pictures, so here is a close-up of some of the quilting detail on this baby!

I definitely have to have this one done by Christmas, for obvious reasons, so I need to get the binding sewn on as soon as possible; however, it's way more fun to sew Christmas stockings. I will try to prioritize.

Granny-ism Gaiety!

I feel rejuvenated. I've thought of a spectacular focus for the blog.

*drum roll please*
Sewing and Cooking! My two passions! Long have I waited for a venue in which to exploit and brag about my two favorite pastimes. I have arrived!

Perhaps I should change the name of the blog if this passion is going to be the focus. Dave hesitates to even sleep under my artful creations, declaring that they're too girly; I doubt he'd want to be named a co-author of their blog.

However, I don't think I'll change it, and I'll probably still post pictures of him. (By the way, I left my camera in Reno last month - blast! - so no pictures until mumsy and pop-pop bring it to me this weekend when they come down for our uber-fantastic three-day cruise we're taking to Ensenada, Mexico. Until then, I will have to rely on pictures found on the internet... which brings me to my first passionate post:)

Sazón Goya
¡Ay ay ay!

Muy delicioso!

Mi amiga mexicana introduced me to this wonderful flavoring. I've only tried it on rice, but it's so good on rice that I'm not in a huge hurry to try it on much else... because I keep making the rice. The rice is delicious is what I'm saying. Based on tips I've received from my friend, Gloria (or "Glorita" as I adorably call her), I now fry my rice in a saucepan before I add the liquid - usually chicken broth. If I'm using white rice, I wait til it turns golden before adding the broth, and so far I've only used brown rice once, and it's a little trickier to monitor... but not much trickier. Anyone with some college should be able to figure it out. When I add the broth, I also add one packet of the Goya flavoring - the one that says "con culantro y achiote" (coriander and annatto) is my favorite, then cover the saucepan and let it cook. It's a big hit with the sexy husband. Throw in some sauteed veggies, and baby you got yourself a stew goin'! (Not really, because we're not making stew... but I love Arrested Development, and I will often say "Baby you got yourself a stew goin'" when I think something is about to be awesome, so get ready.)

The only problem encountered so far with this spectacular seasoning is the relative difficulty one may have with finding this product. Glorita says they sell it at Wal-Mart. I found it at Pancho Villa last night - our local Mexican superstore. The website does not offer any help with locations. Lo siento.

I'm excited that it is now the holiday season (officially, right?) - because I have some fab-u recipes to post for all the fab-u readers of my blog! In fact, I may post the first one tomorrow because that's how excited I am about the new focus of my blog.

TTFN

My First Blog

I kind-of made this blog by mistake. I thought I had to create one in order to comment on other people's blogs, but I have since found that not to be the case. Now that I feel I've told a sufficient lie to explain away my lame-feelings, I'll move on.

I'm gonna go 'head on and keep this blog though. Sure Dave and I don't have kids yet, or much money with which to buy anything interesting and make videos to post on our blog. But we have dogs. And they are sure cute.