Let's Celebrate!!

Today is my birthday!  Yes, Chris and I were born only 8 days apart (and some years...), so it's a special time of year for us.  :)

I have already had such rich birthday blessings showered down on me this morning that I know that my cup truly does runneth over.

So...let's celebrate!!  I want to share my blessings with y'all.  Let's have a giveaway!  I don't know why, but I just love to give stuff away.  Probably because I know how happy I am when I win something or someone does something kind for me that I just want to make someone else feel that good too.

How about a $25 gift card to go fabric shopping??  Sound good to anyone else?

And this time around, let's support Amanda at Westwood Acres.  Amanda is fun to read over at her blog A Crafty Fox and gave away all kinds of goodies after Quilt Market.  And you know how I feel about giveaways!  ;)

She's got this Lark by Amy Butler jelly roll for $21.  And there's a layer cake too!

Or this Riley Bake Polka Dot FQ Bundle for $24.75

And this Bella Solids Bright Bundle for $25 just makes me smile.

And Field Study by AMH Feathers.  LOVE!  This half-yard bundle is only $19!

But those are just some of the bundles.  She's got yardage in Chicopee, Out To Sea, and Chevrons besides a TON of half-yard bundles, charm packs, fat quarter and fat eigth bundles, etc.

I think I'm going to order some Madrona Road at the same time for myself.  A little birthday spoiling, maybe??  :)

So--let's get to the details--leave me a comment telling me your favorite birthday dessert.  Like I said yesterday--Chris would rather have hello dollies than cake and I'd eat just about anything!  But what's your favorite treat?

For an extra entry, let me know you're a follower, because y'all are so special to me to keep up with the ramblings I lay on you.  ;)

I'll keep the giveaway open until Monday (November 12) morning after I drop off the kids at school.  Around 8 a.m.  Then I'll randomly pick a winner.

Thanks for being here another year with me.  :)  Now I'm off to a birthday lunch with a friend.  Yay!

**This giveaway is completely organized and paid for by me.  I chose the gift because I wanted to share.**

One of those easy things...

You know those secret weapons in life that are super easy but everyone assumes you must be a genius pastry chef/top-notch seamstress/professor of awesomeness because you can do it??

Well, I have one of those to share with you today.  It's my recipe for the best bar cookies in the world.

Last week was Chris' birthday and he is INCREDIBLY low-key about his birthday.  Like, if we didn't celebrate or even mention it to him, he'd probably be okay about it.

But of course we do celebrate it because we love him.  The kids and I talked and decided what to get him for gifts, what to cook for supper and what to make for dessert.  Chris isn't a really big dessert eater, so while he likes chocolate cake, he'd eat a piece or maybe two and then guess who'd eat the rest...yep, me.  :/

So...I asked the kids what we should make instead and both piped up "Hello Dollies!!"  almost simultaneously.  Hello Dollies are one of my secret weapons.  You may know them as Magic Layer Bars, but everyone in my family calls them Hello Dollies and the name always makes me laugh.  They are probably Chris' favorite dessert in the entire world and thank goodness for that.  :)

This was the only one left this afternoon and Emma snapped a photo on my phone for me before sharing it with her brother...sorry for the phone pic.  ;)

Want to know how easy they are??  Of course you do...

Gather your ingredients together:
1 stick of butter
1 1/2 cup of graham cracker crumbs (I just throw a sleeve of graham crackers into my food processor and turn that baby on for a few seconds.)
1 can sweetened condensed milk  (YUM!!)
2 c. chocolate chips
1 1/3 c. coconut flakes
1 c. chopped nuts (I use pecans, but go wild with what your family likes)

Now...time to get busy...
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  While it's heating, throw the stick of butter into your 13 x 9" pan and put it in the oven to melt.

When melted, pull it out and sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs evenly over the melted butter.

Pour the milk over the crumbs and then sprinkle the remaining ingredients over the top.  Press everything down gently with a fork.

Now that your oven is fully preheated, pop the pan back in the oven for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool and cut!

See??  Easy peasy!  But, let me get a little honest with you here--I NEVER measure anything.  And I don't usually even gather my ingredients together until my butter is melting away.

This is usually how it goes around here--get a hankering for Hello Dollies...Turn on the oven and throw a stick of butter in the pan and get it to melting.  Grab everything else out of the pantry and crush up the crumbs.  When the butter is melted I drop the crumbs in, get them fairly even and then start sprinkling.  I put a few handfuls of each ingredient in till they look good and pour the milk over the top of everything.  Yep, it doesn't even matter what order you put it all in there.  Then I gently pat it all down with a fork and throw the pan back in the oven.

I have never taken these anywhere that I had leftovers.  Which is sad because I always want to eat the leftovers myself on the way home.

You can add or substitute the ingredients for what your family loves--peanut butter chips or butterscotch, maybe even cinnamon chips or toffee bits.

Next time you need a quick and easy secret weapon, try these Hello Dollies.  Your family will thank you.  :)

Photo via My Recipes--now if only I had taken a picture like this last week... But we ate them too fast!  ;)

I'm linking up with Debbie a day late, but I have to say that her post yesterday on donuts drove me to get 2 donut pans at Walmart today and I think I know what I'll be baking up tomorrow...

My life...

gets busy.
is full right now.
consists of managing the schedules of 4 people. I have no idea how we have so much going on!
is so blessed that I'm not sure I could ask for more.

Sorry for the disappearing act, but life got full and something had to give.  In January, I spoke of balance.  Finding balance between all of the many jobs I try and do.  I am yet to find that balance.  I find that I flit from one thing to the next and that when push comes to shove, the part of my life that gets left behind is the part that is solely me.  That way I'm not letting anyone down but myself.  That way, everyone has what they need.  Except for me...

Except that when I lose my creativity--my time for sewing, knitting, blog-reading, book-reading, bible-reading, prayer time--I lose the glue that holds the rest of me together too.  So I slog through what has to be accomplished and feel tired every night.

And so it was last week.  Between PTO responsibilities, Halloween, celebrating Chris' birthday, homework, dance classes, Homecoming Week and the annual Run for Fun at school, there wasn't any time left for anything else...

But...my schedule is opening up.  My shoulders are feeling the burden lifted.  My creativity is rising up.

Balance is something I will need to continue to focus on and work harder at.  Balance is apparently not my strong point.  But, it is something that God has given me ample opportunity to work on.  And so I will...

I'm leaving you today with a smile.  Yes, Oren was an old-school ghost and yes, I did curl and spray-paint Emma's hair red.  It was awesome and I think she has quite a future as a red-head.  Her Daddy just grimaced and said he better buckle up for this ride.  ;)

I'll be back tomorrow...hopefully!

So Random....

1.  I meant to link up with Debbie on Tuesday and then forgot it was Tuesday and posted bee blocks instead but as the temps cool (and by cool I mean I don't start sweating as soon as I step outside, it take 15 or 20 minutes...) I've been wanting to bake more!  I made these last week and they were DELICIOUS!!

Apple Cider Doughnut Muffins via My Baking Addiction

Seriously--make these.  You won't be sorry.  I've also made Salted Caramel Pumpkin Blondies and they are also a winner!  Although I originally got the recipe here I found almost the same recipe here and mine look much more like the second version.  Bree's are so pretty.  Mine might not look so pretty, but definitely taste delicious.  I don't use Bree's caramel either.  Chris makes a divine and simple caramel here for ice cream and the like so I used that instead.  As mine weren't overly pretty--here are Bree's to get your appetite going...

Salted Caramel Pumpkin Blondies via Baked Bree

2.  To counteract the baking, I've signed up for 2 fitness challenges.  Tina is hosting a plank challenge to strengthen our core muscles.  I have like little to no core strength and a bad back to show for it, so I'm in.  It just started this week, so definitely jump in if you're interested.  On Mondays you hold a plank position as long as you can to get an initial time.  I got 75 seconds before my back started literally popping.  Then on Wednesdays she posts a core workout involving planks that takes 10 minutes or less.  Yesterday's was difficult by not quit-worthy impossible.  Then on Friday, we'll hold a plank position again to get our new time.  Most people have set their goal in 4 weeks to double their time--I'm going to try and push myself harder and get to 3 minutes.  Things like this are often as mental as they are physical and I really need to start pushing myself harder mentally.  I want to give up way too easily when it comes to exercise.

  The second fitness challenge is from Monica.  To encourage us to pile on the miles instead of pounds this holiday season she is hosting a challenge.  Pile on the Miles 2012 is a chance to sign up to commit to run your choice of miles in November.  There are prizes for those that do participate.  As I'm still half-marathon training and starting to get into real training time, I've committed to running 60 miles in November.  I can easily do that and would like to do more, but I didn't want to over commit because I'm not sure how busy we'll be yet.  You have to sign up for this one by October 31.  I encourage you to do this, even if it's only 10 miles.  Even if you're walking.  Any exercise is better than none!!

3.  I've got my dGs quilt basted and ready to quilt.  I think I'm going to go with random straight lines across it, BUT...I might go with a diagonal cross hatch instead.  I was leaning toward the random but with the symmetrical and very orderly design of the quilt top, I'm not sure if random will take away or add to it...

4.  Oren's got a field trip to the local "pumpkin patch" tomorrow.  And by pumpkin patch I mean the Methodist Church who sells them under a tent.  It's a long walk from the school, but they did it in pre-k too, so I'm counting that as my mileage for tomorrow.  ;)

5.  We're trick-or-treating Saturday night with good friends at the local carnival.  House to house trick-or-treating around here isn't big and the city decided to do it Friday night this year instead of Saturday (no, we never do it on actual Halloween here and especially not on a Wednesday night--people gotta get to church!  Yes, this is the rural south.)  I'm trying to convince Emma that her store-bought Merida costume is enough and we don't need the wig.  I bought some red hair spraypaint and I want to just curl it or braid it wet and let it be wavy...

6.  It is such a dreary day here today I just want to put my yoga pants on and curl up in bed with a good book.  Unfortunately it looks like some sort of kitchen monster threw up in my kitchen so I'm going to spend some time in there.

7.  I started a new sweater last night!  I'm knitting the February Lady Sweater in a mustard yellow.  I've never done a sweater before so I am excited.  Well, that's not exactly true.  I started a sweater last year and got the collar done before giving up on it...  BUT, I'm determined to see this one through!  It's so pretty!  Here's Pamela's:

So, there's a whole bunch of randomness for you...

Bee Blocks done

I don't know why I always put off my bee blocks each month.  I get my marching orders the first week of the month and I never even consider starting on them until at least two weeks later and then it'll take me another week to get to the post office.  Does anyone else do this?  But...it's only the 23rd and I've got them all made and mailed, so I'm feeling pretty smug this October!  ;)

This month for Nubees, I decided to try out Lee's cartwheel paper pieced block and it is a great block!  I was so tired Sunday afternoon when I made these that I had multiple mistakes and rip-out sessions, but that is completely my fault and not the pattern.  Paper piecing is so simple, but you have to be paying attention.  Glad I was only making three--it took me all afternoon!

Please excuse the over-exposed photos--I took these this morning in direct sunlight because I needed to get to the post office...I didn't want to stall too long and lose my momentum to get there!  haha

Laura's block--she asked for aquas, yellows and pinks--light and lovely

Tara's block--she asked pink, yellow and burgandy--I have absolutely no burgandy in my stash...shopping time!

Marisa's block--she asked for dark purples, lime greens and aqua or turquoise blues--Emma LOVED this one!

In our Empower group of do. Good stitches, Shannon asked for Converging Corners blocks from Ashley.  I didn't love this block while making it.  I don't know, I usually love log cabins, but this one just didn't do it for me.  And then my second one got all big and I had to cut it down so much that I didn't like how the corners turned out.  I think the finished quilt will look awesome and I love all the ones I've seen floating around blogland, but it just wasn't my favorite to make...

Wow--next time I'm hurrily taking pictures, I might want to at least stop long enough to smooth out a block before taking the picture.  yeesh...

And with no block in October for my Modern Blocks bee I'm done until next month.  Of course I'm in charge of both Modern Blocks and dGs in November, so I've just got to get everything sent out and emailed and then sit back and wait for the blocks to start rolling in.  That'll be nice!  

What are you up to today?

A gift for a dear friend

**Jennifer, who is awesome and if you don't already follow her you should, featured me yesterday for her Follower Friday!!  Go check it out if you want and show her some love.  And p.s.  I completely forgot to fill out the questionnaire until the day before it was due so I answered the questions in about 5 minutes.  Yep, I'm that good...someone wants to let me talk about me and I procrastinate.  WHAT??  ;) **


Awhile back I showed a preview of a baby quilt I was making for a good friend.  And the quilt has been delivered, so I'm finally back to show it off!!

My friend Toni who is really like my long-lost twin added to their family this August with a sweet baby girl and I wanted to show them some love.  I knew Toni had said she was thinking of an orange and pink color scheme for baby Jill's room, so I went with that.

As I was considering ideas, I remembered the string blocks I'd made awhile back that I hadn't used just yet for any particular project and I busted them out.  And the colors were perfect.  Orange, pink, white and yellow.  :)  I had enough to make the whole quilt out of the strings, but I thought it might be a little too busy for a baby quilt, so I decided to just use some of them and then frame them in Toni's beloved orange.

I told Toni that a lot of the fabrics in this quilt came from some of my early sewing projects once I picked up sewing again as a new Momma and some fabric I'd had for some time.  There are fabrics from my bridal shower, Emma's first dance bag, dresses I'd made for her and the orange comes from the crib skirt in Oren's room.  I thought it was fun to share these fabrics from my babies with her baby.

When it came time to quilt, I just went with a meandering loop FMQ which is good in some places and some places need a little work, but we're all friends, right?  So let's just keep a blind eye to those not-so-good places.

I did add a special addition of FMQ Jill's name on the bottom corner.  I'd never done that before and just went with it on a whim.

And then I bound it with some leftover binding strips I had from previous projects in the right colors.  So...it was a WIP that I removed from the list but turned into a greater project by putting it altogether with love.  I hope little Miss Jill gets lots of playtime and love out of it and that Toni feels the love put into it.

This picture made me laugh because Oren looks like he's standing in a jungle!  Actually he's just in my overgrown flower bed...the kids asked me to leave it like that so they could "tunnel" around in there.  And who am I to say no to less gardening chores??  ha

I always say it, but I am so appreciative to have found this online sewing community full of like-minded people.  We  encourage each other to grow and learn in our chosen hobby(ies), but we are also there for each other to encourage each other through life.  Thanks for being a part of my community.  :)

WIP Wednesday

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of WIP Wednesday.  Today I've been wavering between hard at work and hardly wanting to work...but I'm pulling through with a few projects...

I mentioned yesterday that I'd been working on my do. Good stitches quilt for our Empower group and I'm getting there!  I LOVE how the addition of the navy and green make the framed patchwork blocks pop!  All I have left to do is to add the big navy sections on the right and bottom.  BUT...now I'm not sure I want to.  Help!!

My original plan was to add a 12 inch strip to both the bottom and side of this quilt to add to the dimensions and to the "weight" of the quilt, but I only have enough navy left over for 8.5 inch strips and I'm just not sure that's going to work...  Plus, I'm not sure the quilt needs it visually...What do y'all think?  If I don't add the big strips, I think I might add another border all the way around in navy just to widen it a bit and add the navy back in.  Suggestions??

This was my original design...but imagine the blue sections smaller (like 8 inches instead of 12)  Yes? No?  

I've also been working on my bee blocks for the month.

Shannon asked for Converging Corners in this color palette.

I've got one done and one with strips cut out, so that shouldn't take much longer...  Apparently I need to do some fabric re-stashing because I was woefully low on icy blues and olive greens this time.  That makes some fabric purchases necessary, don't you think??

And for my Nubees blocks this month, I'm going to try out some paper piecing with Lee's Cartwheel Blocks.  (She's got the pattern offered for free right now!!)  I like pp every now and then because it's simple to just follow the directions and have amazing results!  So far, I've got the fabrics picked, now to start whipping them out.  Here's my fabric stacks for now:

Finally--I'm still working on cutting pieces to send off my Weekends fabric for Emma's quilt next month in my Modern Blocks Block Swap Bee.  I think I'm going to go with Kona Ash for the background because I have a bunch of it and because Em's room is already pretty busy with the paint job in there so maybe a light solid would be a little more restful.  I'll have to take a picture to show you later this week.

Don't forget to stop by Lee's and check out what she and everybody else are working on too, you're bound to find your "next project" there, my to-do list just never seems to get smaller...  ;)