Colors and fabrics

Redecorating is continuing. Remember I posted those two color samples for the living room walls? We weren't quite sure about either one...so I got another one, Benjamin Moore's Tyler Taupe. Here are all three on the wall...

Peanut Butter, Fudge Truffle, Tyler Taupe, respectively. It's funny, with the last one up we revisited the Peanut Butter and decided that one was it. It's funny how colors look depending on what they're next to, isn't it?

Last weekend we bought a chandelier at Lowe's and hung it in the foyer.

Up until then, we had the ugliest brass/glass fixture that the builder installed. Ick! I just kept putting it off, couldn't decide what to get, etc. Anyway I really like this one, it's not too big which is good because we don't have an "open" foyer. But it's different enough to be interesting, I think!

On the crafting front, I've been quilting this guy.

I decided to stitch-in-the-ditch around each block, inside and outside the borders. Plus a little square 1/4" in from the block's center. Simple enough, but turning the quilt a million times on my machine is tedious! I think I have four blocks done. Slowly but surely, right?

Would you like to see some fabrics I've gotten recently? These are some Fresh Palette prints I got from Fat Quarter Shop's 50% off sale a week or two ago...

And these are some Lakehouse prints I got recently as well. They were 50% off too (except for the top panel).

Actually they all look nice together! I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but a sale's a sale!

Last night I made Sharon's Ranch Chicken for dinner. Mmmm, was that good! Nice and creamy and perfect with the angel hair pasta she suggested. I used low-fat mayo and milk, but canceled that out with all the butter. Ha! It was worth it!

Have a great weekend...

♥ Jen

A is for Annabelle

Several years ago, my daughter was given a book by Tasha Tudor called "A is for Annabelle." Appropriate since that is her name! So you can imagine my excitement when I saw this fabric recently at Fat Quarter Shop...

I bought the panel and some coordinating striped fabric...but what to do with it? Annabelle has a bunch of pillows that I've made her already. So, as luck would have it, all three of her initials are on this panel (there are two panels in the collection, for both halves of the alphabet). I decided to make three wall hangings--each one will be a letter block bordered by the striped fabric.

Since it's so simple, I'm trying mitered corners for the border. I like how that looks with stripes. So far so good, for my first attempt anyway. I'll show those next time. Anyway I'd like to find white frames...Hobby Lobby didn't have them, I'm going to try Michael's next.

By the way, in the above picture, that's the new ironing board I made. I took a piece of plywood, covered it in two layers of cotton batting, then one layer of Insul-Brite batting, then stapled that pretty Fresh Palette fabric around it. It's a great size, I made it to fit on top of a cabinet in my dining room, so it can easily be removed. Until now I've had my regular ironing board set up in there...not very attractive. I'll still get that out when I have yardage to press, but this is good for everyday pressing.

Ok, I'm going to go make some Cucumber Tomato Salad for dinner tonight. I've got pulled pork in the crockpot so this will go well. Have you ever tried McCormick's BBQ Pulled Pork Seasoning? It's really really good. Better than the "from scratch" recipes I've made!

Enjoy your day!

♥ Jen

It's that time again...

Yes, today is National Pie Day! Celebrate by eating some pie...we're having Elizabeth's famous Lemon Angel Pie, Blueberry Pie (that my husband is making) and pizza pie. I'll make the pizza dough and then everyone will make their own pizzas. Mmmm! A good eating day!

Did you see that the famous pamkittymorning blogged about my coffee cup quilt? Wow, I was so honored! I really respect and admire Pam...she is so very talented and she is such a sweet person as well. Thank you for featuring me, Pam!

 

I hope everyone enjoys their Sunday! Talk to you soon!

♥ Jen

Moving right along

Hey guess what? I finished the quilt top! *happy happy joy joy*! As you can see, the sashing and borders are nothing fancy. But, you have to remember that although the block pattern came from Pam, I figured out the other parts by myself. And that involved lots of math. So I'm just happy it's all sewn together in an approximate rectangle!

Now I have to figure out what to use for the back. The quilt is about 72" x 50-something", so I'll have to get about 5 yds. of backing. I'm thinking about piecing one, and just using fabrics from my stash. I've never done that before, I usually use one lone print. OK, I'll try it!

Is it supposed to  be cold where you live this weekend? Oh man, here it is. They're saying in the negative degrees at night, and that's not windchill. I'm wondering if the kids will have school on Monday, Sunday night is supposed to be -15! They've canceled school before due to cold. Now that's Arctic.

Ok friends o'mine, I'm off...have a great weekend! Stay warm!

♥ Jen

Coffee Cup Quilt progress

Hello folks! I went food shopping this morning and now I'm home, drinking coffee, and melting a Pumpkin Flapjacks tart from Candles from the Keeping Room. This day is getting better and better! I wanted to show you what I've been working on since the weekend...I finally got the sashing and border fabrics washed and pressed so....the sashing is done...

I really like the red sashing. I'm usually not one for solids, but I'm learning to appreciate them more. For busy blocks like this, solid sashing gives your eye a place to rest, don't you agree? And as you can see I'm working on the inner border.

Next up will be the outer border...that's going to be a red/brown floral, also from Fig Tree. Then for the quilting! I'm kind of at a loss as to what quilting pattern(s) I should do. Any thoughts? I was thinking stippling, but the cup handles may get in the way of that. Hmmmm, I don't know....?

We're making progress on our new sitting room. In fact we got two paint samples that I have to put up on the walls this week. They're Behr colors (from Home Depot); the first one is called "Peanut Butter" and the other is "Fudge Truffle."

 One of those will be for the top half of the walls; the lower half will be white from the chair railing down. The chair railing that we have to install, of course. Hopefully this weekend we can get the top half painting done, at least!

Have a great day!

♥ Jen

Hooray for HomeGoods!

I finally found some of those awesome dishes at my HomeGoods! They were sneaky there...they had the tiered stands separate from the plates, not in a whole display or anything...but I found them! Yaay!

 

I love both patterns for the little plates. Each is a pack of  four for $6.99.

 

Why did I get two stands? Because I love them both and I couldn't decide! The 3-tiered one was $12.99, the other was $9.99. I thought those prices were awesome.

All they had were stands and little plates...but I'm going to keep checking for the big plates and mugs. So Jen and Sharon, and everyone else who couldn't find them, maybe they'll be at yours soon too!!

Have a great day!

♥ Jen

New chair and new winner!

Hello friends! Well, samisu57 never contacted me, I'm sorry to say, but happy to tell PAULA that she now wins the cookbook! (My son randomly picked her number.) Paula's comment was:

Beautiful blog! I have just discovered the Goose Berry Patch cookbooks and love them. I'd be thrilled to win one :)

So Paula, congratulations and please email me your mailing info and I will send out Homestyle in a Hurry ASAP!

I also wanted to show you a picture of that new chair I bought at Home Goods. Pretty right?

Yesterday we put up the shelving and set up the day bed in the basement...but we got a little sidetracked playing with our new smart phones. These things are so fun. Do you have the Talking Carl app? Hysterical.
Enjoy your Sunday!

♥ Jen

A bit of decorating

First, a bit of business--I still have not heard from the winner of the cookbook, samisu57. I'll wait until Sunday, but if I haven't heard from you by then, I'm going to pick another name. So readers, you may still have a chance!

Do you like Shabby Chic decor? I really do. I love the way houses look in Country Living magazine. So when I saw Deb's post about the dishes she got at Homegoods, I swooned. Aren't they gorgeous??!! But usually whenever someone from the west coast posts about a find from Homegoods, the stores here don't have it. Sadly, that's the case with these dishes. Oh well, I'll keep an eye out but I'm not holding my breath. To console myself I bought a few bucks worth of goodies at Michael's. LOL

My Desperate Quilters order arrived the other day!

The bottom three are all Fig Tree, and I plan on using them for the sashing and borders on my Coffee Cup Quilt. I'll prewash those and hopefully get started this weekend. The top fabric is one I just liked, from Carrie Nelson's Fresh Palette. I see placemats or a table topper, or perhaps an apron?

So what's everyone up to this weekend? We've got some work to do around the house. Our front room has been, up until now, a playroom. But since the kids are a bit older now they hardly ever hang out in there. It's pretty much wasted space. So we're setting up a kids' area in the basement...I put down a big rug, bought some shelving, and we're going to make Annabelle's old twin bed a "couch." Will they play down there? Who knows. But at least we'll get that room back!

Our plan is to slipcover a couch and chair, get some nice accent furniture and make it a Sitting Room. No tv, just reading and relaxing. Isn't that what grown-ups are supposed to do? I bought a beautiful chair at Homegoods today (Take THAT, west coast! LOL) which is still in the car, otherwise I'd post a picture for you. Soon though! We're going to add wainscoting and crown molding to the walls...I think it'll be really nice once it's done!

Hey if anyone wants to stop by and help move stuff to the basement, by all means, don't be shy!

♥ Jen

A winner and a thank you!

Hello my friends! I just finished taking the Christmas tree down...phew! What a chore! I love putting it up but man, taking all the ornaments off, lugging the tree out to the curb and cleaning up stinks! But at least it's done and two cats, who will remain nameless, can't drink out of the stand anymore.

So is anyone wondering who wins the Gooseberry Patch cookbook? I had an unprecendented amount of comments (113!)...thank you soooo much to everyone who entered and took the time to write something. I hope that those of you who are new to my blog will stick around! We'll have some fun and don't forget, I have at least four more upcoming Gooseberry Patch cookbook reviews and giveaways! So, without further ado, the randomly-chosen winner is...

Comment Number 12, samisu57! She wrote: Christmas in Southern Illinois was white with snow & wonderful. Food, family, & fun!! What more could one ask for. Recipes look scrumptious. Must try the Chicken casserole. Love Gooseberry Patch!!

Samisu57, your profile is set to no reply, so I can't email you directly. Please email me your address and I will send your copy of Homestyle in a Hurry to you right away! (My email is found in my profile)

Thanks again to everyone who entered! More to come!

♥ Jen

 

Last coffee quilt blocks

All of my coffee quilt blocks are done! I did the last two over the weekend. Wanna see? Here's November...

And here's December...

Something a little sad? I went to post them to the Flickr group I belong to and I wasn't allowed in. I guess since I hadn't posted since my October block, they deleted the "inactive" members. *sniff* It's okay, really. I'll make my quilt anyway, all by myself. *sniff*

To cheer myself up, I squared up all the blocks and then figured out how much fabric I'll need for sashing and borders. Then I went onto Desperate Quilters and got some great deals on Fig Tree fabrics. I'll show them to you when they arrive. There, I do feel better! A little retail therapy always works!

So how was your New Year's? Dave and I stayed up til midnight, and the kids almost made it. We woke them up a few minutes before 12 and then they promptly went to bed about 5 minutes later. LOL I like our cozy New Year's Eves, I'm never hungover and I get to eat a whole bunch of leftover Christmas cookies!

Don't forget to check back on Tuesday (January 4th)...I'll be announcing the winner of the Gooseberry Patch cookbook, Homestyle in a Hurry! Leave a comment on last week's post to enter!

♥ Jen