Even Fancier

Oh. One thing I forgot to brag on the Green Turtle for...my salad wasn't even on the lunch menu (Tony had seen it on the dinner menu earlier - on the internet) and they made it for me anyhow! {love}

Fancy Livin'

Boo is getting his first taste of "fancy livin'" (in other words, eating at a restaurant without plastic cups). We took him and Cozy with us to The Green Turtle in Gig Harbor.


I'm not sure he's ready for it - since he dipped and licked his fingers in the cream that accompanied Tony's bread pudding.



Actually, I'm probably only slightly more well-mannered than Boo, since I dipped Tony's bread pudding in my creme brulee. (We almost always go halvsies with our food. Smaller portions. More variety.)

Besides, this...


...plus this...


= Yum!

I know what you're thinking - why are we eating out so dang much? I blame AM radio. Tony heard about Sound Savers on MyNorthwest.com, and he just can't seem to pass it up when those already half-price certificates go on sale.

I liked the Green Turtle. It was small, had a great view and a very good poached pear salad with curried walnuts.




Here's to fancy livin'! - I'm off to my extremely UN-fancy lifestyle!

Chloe's Quilt

For Chloe's birthday I took a request (from her mother, not her) and made a somewhat retro, feedsack-esque doll quilt, with a traditional pattern. I had been wanting to try some bow ties anyhow.


I LOVE the backing, which is courtesy of my lovely Mother-In-Law. She saw a good sale and ordered me some very cute patterns. I've no idea who they're made by, but they're called "Mama's Cottons". It even sounds perfect - I know!


All bundled up for gifting. These next couple of months are SUPER busy for birthdays. I honestly don't know how I'm going to keep up. Maybe I can outsource? ...or start my own sweat shop?


The incredibly lucky thing about this quilt is that I totally unwittingly matched it to my niece's bedspread! Complete serendipity!

Somewhat Bee-lated

Our family is afflicted by bad puns. It's entirely genetic. We can't resist the urge, so you'll just have to excuse me.

I got the Alabama Stitch Book from the library quite some time ago, but never got around to doing any of the beautiful projects in it. They've just been floating around in the back of my head for a while, waiting to manifest themselves somehow. Why Rachel was the target of those manifestations - no idea. Maybe I knew she was brave enough to wear whatever I made.

So...when her birthday came around, I started cutting...


...and sewing...


...and embroidering...


...but not finishing it in time for her birthday.

I gave it to her, a somewhat belated gift, this weekend.


...complete with name tag...


...and sleeves I stole from another shirt.

Happy Bee-lated birthday, Rachel Bee!

Workin' My WIPs

We just got back from Portland and fun times with family and ants in our hotel room (a few tried to stow away on Cozette's carseat - much to my horror) and I though I'd do a quick post about my WIPs.

Can I just say - it took me billions of years to figure out what W-I-P stood for! (I'm not super savvy. If you are slow and steady like me, it's Work In Progress.)

As for my WIPs, my house contains copious amounts of them at any one moment in time. We are never WIP-free. (It sounds like I should call an exterminator, doesn't it?) However, these are my deadline-less, recipient-less sewing WIPs. The ones that do not stress me out.

They're both made from "Jolly Packs" (purchased at the Fat Quarter Shop). Jolly Packs aka charm packs are an assortment of pre-cut, 5" squares, all from the same fabric line. If I buy a Jolly Pack for $8.50, I don't have to buy a fat quarter pack for $40-$60...and I still get to sample the wares.


WIP #1 is made of the blue, red, and gray squares from my Woodland Delight pack, with some Kona solids thrown in. I keep trying to lay it out and finish sewing it together, but every time I do, Cozy crawls right through the middle. ...and no, I can not make my bed and lay it out there.


WIP #2 is from my Nicey Jane pack. Soooo pretty! Too bad you aren't having a girl, Bets! Actually, I may keep this one.

I don't personally care for them as baby sleeping accommodations, but baby cages are a great place to hang up your quilt tops while you're thinking about finishing them.



I followed a disappearing 9-patch pattern for this one. It should have been simple, but I over-thought it. I wanted all of my favorite, large prints to stay uncut, every uncut piece to have a small coordinating square next to it, and I wanted all of the rectangle pieces to be white.

Too much thinking. It nearly ruined the whole thing.


Tomorrow I'll show you what I finished this weekend. Ahh. There's nothing like a long car-ride to help you catch up!

Frangiwhat?

Back in the day, I was a serious Jane Austen addict. (I still read Persuasion once in a while, but, for the most part, I've moved on. You kind of have to - there are only 6 books! Sanditon totally doesn't count.)

Anyhow!...back then, when I was totally obsessed, my husband thought he'd make me happy by baking me a period dessert. Bakewell tart. It turned out great. We promptly lost the recipe and could only remember that it somehow involved ground almonds.

Well, one of us (Tony or I - once again memory fails me)- blessed with a moment of clarity - said, "Aha! Bakewell Tart!" Even the hooligans loved it. Annika said, "Wow, this is so much better than pie!" (She isn't a fan.) Anyhow, we highly recommend it for your next Jane Austen moment, and, if anyone is interested, I'd love to serve it, should anyone wish to join me to play the Jane Austen board game Jeszie sent me.

...and you'll have to read the recipe to find out what the frangiwhat? is.

That Poor Frog

This has been going better lately. More pee on the frog. Less pee on the floor. Poor Froggy.