Meerkats anyone?

I have NOTHING to report this morning but found this on this blog and thought I'd share:

There's a pdf with the instructions over here if you'd like to make some. I may just have to!

Raspberry Sundae

or "What I did yesterday"
I'm, once again, seriously contemplating keeping this one, but how many table runners does one person need? The pink is just tugging at my heartstrings.


I'm especially happy with the contrasting quilting on the brown fabric.

In my Etsy store right now. SOLD!

Did I mention...

...
1. that summer has finally (kind of) arrived here?
2. that we're going to Hawaii in a few weeks time and I may have to wear a SWIM SUIT?

This was on the last page of the latest Real Simple magazine.

Pretty much sums it up.
(Click on the photo for a legible version)

All caught up!

Star quilt-along

Week 7:

Week 8:

Week 9: (the contrast is not quite right here)

Redo:

And a little preview of what it might look like when I get the setting blocks made.

No sewing/crafting, but...

It's summer. My whole routine is out of whack. Last week was just a flurry of activity which included the last day of school BBQ, a whole day of quilt shop hopping, and getting estimates for the kitchen redo.

I've just had 2 cups of coffee for the first time in weeks, so excuse the scatteredness of this post.
I thought I'd just post a bunch of pictures today.

My kitty's (on) a tramp.

Decisions, decisions...

Yes, we're STILL working on the fireplace.
Remember before? (Probably not, since that was MARCH!)


Making progress...

I have a slight obsession with neatly trimmed shrubs.


The mess is a pain to to clean up.

How lucky am I?

A little while ago Rhonda had a 100th post giveaway and I WON!
Isn't it an amazing bunch of stuff? Rhonda took more detailed pictures over here.
I'm searching for a pattern to use all that wonderful red, white, and blue fabric on as we "speak".
Thanks Rhonda! Love it!

Bee-licious

I quickly whipped up my block for the Virtual Quilting Bee this morning. One thing ticked off my to-do list. Woohoo!

Citrus Punch

I made something yesterday. It's a minor miracle. I really, really like it.
I call it Citrus Punch. It measures 16½"x48" and it's going straight to my Etsy shop before I change my mind and leave it on the kitchen table.

Fabric!!!

Yesterday, the hubby and I went cooktop and cabinet shopping. Exhausting, I tell you. We're thinking of redoing the kitchen cabinets and we REALLY need a new cooktop, but it's a little scary to think about the cost of all of this. I have two little door samples sitting on the kitchen counter and I'm not totally in love with either one. What would the cabinets in your dream kitchen look like?

On a brighter note, I ordered some fabric for my Baby Jane quilt online. The teardrop fabric is so I can redo a block I messed up completely but it used up all the fabric I had. The others were experimental because I was doubtful about being able to match colors accurately online. I haven't checked them against my others yet, but they actually look like they might match.

These Midwest Modern fabrics are courtesy of Kathy at Pink by Post. She still has a few Stack Packs if you want to go grab your own.

Junuary

Yes, that's what it is around here. They're forecasting 6-12" of snow in the passes!

On a happier note, I received my wonderful swap buttons from Michelle. For more button photos, do visit the Flickr group.

My dogwood doesn't seem to realize that winter's still here. So pretty!

We're empty-nesters this week. It's going to be very, very strange. I'm planning on getting some things done, including painting the new fireplace mantel (remember?), which will be the final step in the project. Next we're moving on to the kitchen. This will be a little more of a costly project, I'm afraid.

Frugal Friday

It's rainy and miserable. But here's a photo of the pot of mint that's waiting for Mojito's if when the sun comes out again.

Yesterday I paid $4.31 a gallon to fill up my car. It's ridiculous!

Our gas bill for May was, however, only $125 compared to $183 in March and $223 in April. It'll probably be higher in June because gas prices have gone up by almost a dollar a gallon, but I think we're doing pretty well.

I will list a couple of things we do. I'm aware that not everyone has the options available to us but maybe one or two of these will help.

Combine errands
This is by far the biggest fuel saver.

Currently it costs about 50c a mile to drive my car, excluding depreciation and car payments. There are some good stats for car ownership costs here. To calculate your cost per mile in fuel only the formula is as follows: (Price per gallon of fuel) / (Avg. mpg)

I have a list with columns for Home Depot, Costco, Trader Joe's, the fabric store (of course), etc. - all the stores I visit regularly. When a need comes up, I (1) ask myself if it's urgent, (2) if not, write it down on the list. When the lists gets pretty long or I have to get something NOW (like fabric), I visit the stores all in one trip.

Keep your tires inflated correctly
Every pound-per-inch under the manufacturer's recommendation for your tires loses you one mile per gallon per fill-up. Really.

Drive like an old lady (almost)
Don't pull away from the traffic light like Jeff Gordon at the start of a Nascar race. Don't race the guy next to you to try and get to the lane merge first.
DON'T, however, do 30mph in the 45mph zone or 40mph in the fast lane on the freeway. That would be taking it over the top.

Shop around for gas
Gasbuddy.com will give you up to date gas prices for stations in your area. Don't make a special trip out of your way for cheaper gas, but if you're in the neighborhood of a cheaper gas station while running your errands, it may be an option. Prices around here differ up to 25c a gallon, which, in my car is about $4 a fill-up. Nothing to sneeze at.
I am picky about where I fill up because I fully believe that I get better gas mileage at Shell, Chevron, or 76 than at ARCO, for instance.

Use public transportation
Here we are lucky. The public transport system is great. My husband has always taken the bus to work and his company pays for the bus pass. It takes longer, but allows him to get some work done, reduces the stress of sitting in traffic, and saves gas and parking.

Sneakity Peek

Here's what I'm working on. I'm very excited about this - another "winged" effort.

Seeing Stars

I've been catching up on the blocks for the Star Quilt-along.

Week 5

Week 6

Setting block

Playing with what it'll look like when done. I wish I could make setting blocks multiply like this for real.

Where's Summer?

If anyone out there has a little bit of extra Summer they don't need, please send it this way. Yesterday it barely made it to 60. Today we're celebrating the fact that it may get to 65! Tomorrow's forecast is 58 degrees. Just awful, I tell you!

On a brighter note, on Thursday Chara and I sewed up a storm over here. She made a log cabin pillow cover which I'm sure she'll share soon. I started a new project that's been brewing in my mind for a little while.

Aurora and Jo got along famously.

Chara worked on a project from her quilting class.

And her pillow cover.

A lot of scraps were generated.

We were so busy, the camera had a hard time keeping up.

Frugal Friday

This photo has nothing to do with this post, but I just can't have a photo-less post. Rhodies from my garden.

As I've mentioned before, I'm on a serious mission to save money around here. Everything's getting more expensive and the amount of money coming in is not increasing. I'm not sure if anyone's interested at all, but I thought I'd use Fridays to share some of the things I'm doing to try and keep our heads above water.

In my previous post I had made dog biscuits and laundry detergent. I now have the results of that test.

The dog biscuits, which were the same size as Milk Bones, and therefore could be calculated by the oz, were MUCH cheaper.

Milk Bones: 20 cents / oz
Homemade: 10 cents / oz

The laundry detergent, however, was another story. Even though the Costco laundry detergent claims to be for 200 loads, I have a super size washing machine and only do large loads, so I only get 128 loads from a bucket. (Don't even ask how I calculated that, just trust me)
So...

Kirkland Signature powdered laundry detergent: 10 cents a load
Homemade laundry detergent: 8 cents a load

Is it worth going through all that trouble for 2 cents a load?

Frugal tip of the week:
Only do full loads of laundry. Half loads use the same amount of electricity and/or gas as full loads. I have a laundry hamper with three compartments. Each of them holds exactly one load. This was a total coincidence, but I love it, because I only do laundry when a compartment is full.

I'm still here

Wow, I didn't mean to take another break. I just haven't done much worth sharing lately. That's about to change however. This morning someone's coming over and we're going to sew up a storm! I have an idea I'd like to work on.

In the mean time, I did make the fourth block for Amanda's star quilt-along. I've decided not to go with medium and dark fabrics, but only darks.

I'm still one block behind but that's the first thing on the list this morning.
I've been creating a little collage of the blocks to see my progress. I think it's time to start making setting blocks...

Spring has sprung

After the longest winter EVER, it's finally Spring in the garden.

When this happens I remember why it rains so much out here. This beauty would not be possible without it.
(The photo would not upload any bigger. Please click on it for more detail)

I used to hate slugs and snails but now I just don't plant their favorite food and I don't have to be stressed out about their presence. They're kind of cute when they're babies.

I haven't been doing any sewing lately. This is a very busy week.

Blocks

For the Virtual Quilting Bee - Courtney

For the Star quilt along - Week 3

I'm off to go some badly needed fabric shopping.
Happy Weekend everyone!

I've been itching...

...to show you this.

Kathy has done her reveal, so I can do mine.

Remember the teaser back in April?

Here's the actual bag:

Kathy has great photos over on her blog. It has an inside zipper pocket - a wonderful skill I learned making this.

Save the Gummy Bears!

What does your husband do on weekends?

Want to see the rescue in more detail? Look here.