White Spaces Quilt Part 2

 

It occurred to me the other day that I never posted finished pictures of my white spaces quilt. I first shared it in this blog post and was trying to decide if I liked the boarder. I decided to keep it even though it is a less polished look.

I bought the jelly roll to make this quilt back in May with some of my birthday money. I new I wanted to make a quilt for myself. A couple weeks before I bought the fabric my husband started a new job and our lives got very crazy. As I thought about what I wanted my quilt to look like I new it would included simple lines and white spaces. My life was so full and crazy and cluttered that I was truly craving some "white space". Over time as I worked on it I realized it was also evolving into a "make do" quilt. Money was very tight for a while so other than the jelly roll I didn't purchase any fabric for this quilt. Even the backing is a sheet gifted from a friend. It may not be the prettiest or most polished quilt but it is a visual and physical reminder of God's provision in the life of my family. 

Oh How I love my iPhone!

I got an iPhone yesterday and I am already in love!!! I debated between an iPhone and an Android and ultimately chose an iPhone for the applications. Or rather one application. Instgram. I have been wanting this app since my good friend Mrs. Amber Apple started using it! It also has a great plethora of social media apps. Pinterest, facebook, tumbler, flickr, even etsy and blogger! So now when I go on vacation next month I don't have to leave all you lovely people behind! So what are you favorite apps?

My Weekly Five

 

My Weekly Five:
1) I have been doing a ton of cooking lately and trying a bunch of new recipes. Found some really good one's lately. And I am enjoying being in the kitchen and especially the chance to use my new mixer!!

2) One of the recipes I tried was one I pulled out of a magazine over two years ago. I blogged about it and pin it to my food pinterest board simply to share with some friends. It has been re-pinned 36 times!!!

3) I finished two more quilt tops this week. Both have been works in progress for months, it felt good to finish this stage of them. Now onto the quilting.

4) I made a skirt for myself, and it actually looks decent.

5) Mom and Tabi visited this weekend and we had a wonderful tea party and visit!

New Recipe

I used to make resolutions to make a new recipe every week. I never follow through. And since I haven't even made New Years resolutions yet this year it's a mute point any way. However, I did try three new recipes this week a lone! For a family that sticks with the same old same old that is pretty impressive.

The first recipe I used was from real simple. It was marked as kid friendly and it delivered on it's promise! I did make a few changes to it. I am sharing the recipie bellow along with changes I made marked with *.

Ingredients:
12 ounces rigatoni
1 Tablespoon olive oil *(I used a garlic and herb infused oil for extra flavor)
1 Onion sliced. *(I omitted this as I cannot stand onion and neither can my 4 year old)
6 Ounces fully cooked chicken sausage links sliced.
1 Small head broccoli, cut into florets and stems sliced.
81/4 cup Vinegar 
1/4 Cup grated Parmesan (I used shredded instead of grated)

Directions:
Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook the onion stirring often for 3 minutes (I of course skipped this step). Add the sausage and cook, stirring until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broccoli and 1 and 1/4 cups water and simmer covered, until the broccoli is tedner, 5 to 6 minutes. * I substituted 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar for the 1/4 cup water. I loved the extra kick it gave it. If I hadn't been making it for kids I probably would have used more vinegar.* 

Toss the pasta with the sausage mixture and any remaining liquid and the Parmesan. 

Positive reviews all around!!!

I also made this recipe for potatoes casserole. I made is Sunday morning for breakfast before church. It was super yummy. I was planning on only making half of a portion. I halved everything and then accidentally added the full amount of potatoes. Oops. I added some extra cheese on top and it still ended up being really good. Possibly even better for breakfast than if I had used the full amounts of the ranch mixture.

I also made Nun Puffs from my Better Homes and Gardens cook book and loved them so much I made them twice. I will have to make them again soon and share that recipe with you all. So what are you guys cooking this week? Trying anything new?

My Weekly Five

The beauty of facebook is that it lets you stay in touch in ways previously not available. My family actually has a facebook group. It makes things like making Christmas plans way easier it also let's us be more of a daily part of each others lives. One things we do is post a weekly five. A simple recap of our week. I thought I might start sharing mine here on my blog as well. So with out further ado...

My weekly five: (or my list of finally)
1) I finally organized my craft space and cleaned my basement. This is huge!
2) I also finally got Josh's dad to drill some holes in a plaque for me.
3) I finally finished my first quilt for myself!
4) I finally left a group on facebook that was proving to be rather toxic for me. I have found a different group of doll makers to connect with who remind me of why I love doll making.
5) Maddie is sick again. I am a little worried about her as two other kids from her class are also sick. One with croup another with an infection and both with fevers hovering around 103.

 I love facebook, and blogs, and pinterest, and tumblr. I love the chance to look into other people's lives. I love feeling inspired and up lifted. Some days though after an hour of two browsing these sites I look around my still messy house and feel like such a failure. I am not the only one either. I stumbled across and amazing blog lately about reality verses the online life we portray. Check out this blog for the full blog post. The writer puts into words what so many of us have felt at times. I can even connect with the first paragraph as my husband and I discuss growing our family. It was encouraging and challenging at the same time to read this blog. I know in my effort not to complain I have probably presented a false image of what my life is. So I thought I would share a does of reality today.

This is what my sewing space looked like yesterday morning. Sad truth is that this is a HUGE improvement over where we were a few months ago. After putting in some serious time I finally got it picked up.

This is what my sewing space looks like now. It is far from the gorgeous, inspired studio spaces I drool over online. It's hardly pretty. It has concrete floors. Concrete walls with paint pealing. It's cold. Very cold. It's in an unfinished part of our basement with no heat. But it's clean. Well at least this half of the space is. The other half where we store stuff and do laundry looks like a tornado hit it. As does the finished part of the basement since in cleaning like crazy I parked the kids in front of the tv and the ripped the living room to shreds. But I am proud of it non the less becuase having a clean designated space to sew has been on my to-do list for roughly 4 years!!! And that is reality! :)

Beating the Monday Blues

It's is Monday. It is cold. It is rainy. My head is still foggy from a horrible head ache last night. But despite all of that it's been a pretty good day.

Yesterday we beat the cold by hanging out with friends most of the day. Lunch in the early afternoon and a few games of cards, hot tea, pinterest browsing, and just being together in the evening. Thankful for friends that are more like family.

Today I am staying up beat with lots and lots of hot tea. I went to the grocery store, which combined with all of the above was a recipe for disaster. However the check out lady was so helpful and gracious and managed to save me money. I ended up walking out with a week of groceries for $50.00, and two smiling little girls. Not an easy feat for a rainy Monday!

What is keeping you positive this dreary day?