It's Tuesday...

Feels like a Monday to me, how about you?  Hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend. 

I started what may be a baby quilt on Saturday.  I am told the mother-to-be does not like pink.  She is expecting a baby girl. 

As you can see, I am doing what I can to help her overcome this.  ;)

We celebrated my dad's 80th birthday yesterday.  Fortunately, we got most of the grilling done between the raindrops and had a dry place inside the garage to enjoy the festivities.

My brothers played an impromptu mini-concert for Dad.  Since Glen Campbell is Dad's favorite singer, they were sure to include one of his songs.  My brother Darrell, on guitar, had the lyrics written in his notebook (they're a bit complicated in parts), which daughter M. dutiful held for him.  It was a great time!

I uploaded two other songs they did, Drift Away and Sweet Home Alabama.  The latter cracks me up.  When one trips up, the other is there to set him back on track.  And, yes, they do know the right words, but apparently like to have fun with them sometimes.

Finished Hands2Help Charity Quilt

There was a delay of several weeks between piecing my Hands2Help quilt top and putting it all together, but I finally got it done this week.  Nothing like a deadline for motivation!

I used the Nine Patch Lattice Quilt tutorial by Elizabeth Hartman at Oh, Fransson!  I made it a bit wider and longer, though, so it's closer to twin size.

The print fabrics were from a Jo-Ann kit I had found during one of my thrifting adventures last year—brand new, good quality fabrics in the box.  I loved the bright, yet earthy, color palette.  The tan solid is from Connecting Threads.

The scraps and a couple of leftover fat quarters and other yardage from the kit went into the backing and the binding.

It is quilted in an all-over meander, my go-to, git 'er done method.

I shipped this off to Sarah on Friday for the NOLA project to distribute quilts to grade school children in St. Bernard Parish in New Orleans, an area particularly hard hit by Hurricane Katrina.  These quilts will be distributed in the fall by her church group, which has made several mission trips there since the disaster.

A couple months ago, I won a pretty black/white/red rag quilt from Richard of Richard Quilts for being one of the winning guesses on the birth stats for their baby girl, Julia, born in March.  Richard is a prolific new quilter, and I honestly don't know where he gets his energy from, but I was happy to win one of his handmade beauties.  I told him I would be donating it to Hands2Help, so I tucked it into the box to Sarah, along with my own.

I know that these and the many other quilts donated through this charity quilt challenge will bring much joy and comfort to their recipients.  It is an honor and a pleasure to be part of this event, and I look forward to participating again next year!

Favorite Things Friday ~ Cream of Asparagus Soup

What do you do when you have been blessed by a friend with several pounds of fresh, homegrown asparagus?

You steam some for dinner a couple nights in a row, and then you take a whole bunch of it and make cream of asparagus soup.  At least, that's what I did.

I used this recipe, which is the first one that came up when I Googled "cream of asparagus soup."  It was simple and had a lot of good reviews, so it seemed like a winner to me—and it certainly was!

I tweaked the recipe by adding a minced clove of garlic, using ghee instead of butter (which many with a milk protein sensitivity can tolerate) and instead of heavy cream, I used a tablespoon of full fat coconut milk in my bowl.  Everyone else stirred a little moo-cow cream into theirs.  It was, in a word, divine.

I snipped some chives from my garden for a garnish.  Did you know chive blossoms are edible?

Favorite thing:  Homemade cream of asparagus soup.

Also, this new song, which I heard on the radio on Tuesday.  I predict good things for this band, Alabama Shakes.  Brittany, the singer, has a unique voice, sort of (but not entirely) like Etta James meets Macy Gray.  To be honest, when I first heard it on the radio, I thought it was a male singer.  The video set me straight, and I loved it all the more.

Mittwoch

I helped my dad plant his garden this morning.  We put in one row each of marigolds, kohlrabi, peppers, onions, and radishes; two rows of parsnips; and three rows of tomatoes.  He'll plant cucumbers, squash, beans, and another row of kohlrabi from seed later.

It's a good thing I already complained about bending and stooping and aching knees earlier this week, because after planting this morning, Ibid.  It'll be well worth the transitory soreness once things start producing, though.

I figured I'd need a good breakfast for this endeavor.  It was an afterthought to take a picture (hence a couple bites missing).  Sometimes I think people wonder just what I can eat since I don't eat gluten or dairy products and I limit most sweets*.  Short answer:  A lot.

Obviously, I am not suffering.  I like these butternut squash pancakes, substituting canned pumpkin and using applesauce instead of maple syrup in the batter.  I make a batch, freeze them with waxed paper between each one, then flip a couple in the toaster to reheat.  These went a few seconds in the microwave as well, just to make the almond butter on top nice and melty.

I also finished quilting and binding the Hands2Help charity quilt.  Here is a peek.  I'll do a formal post on the finish later so I can link it up this weekend.  I was out taking photos in the yard this afternoon.

Our guard rooster, a garden decoration, aka "Cock Blocker," keeps a watchful eye.  He makes me smile, as does the goofy name I gave him.

If you haven't yet seen the Dancing With the Stars finale last night, you may want to click away now (Elizabeth, I'm talking to you).

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Okay?  So, WOO-HOO!!!  Donald Driver won the Mirror Ball trophy!!!!  I am so proud of him for the great dancing, winning attitude, and that megawatt smile that kept me rooting for him week after week.  Bring it on home to Title Town, baby!!!  I think this dance is what clinched it for him on Tuesday night.

*Not counting the rhubarb-blueberry crisp I made the other night...and proceeded to eat most of. I mean, it's rhubarb! That's a spring treat.

Make it Rain

So many things vie for our attention this time of year, don't they?  Gardening, yard work, graduation, outdoor parties, to name a few.  Over the weekend, I finally got a few things done that I'd been meaning to do for a while.  

I potted a few containers with flowers, keeping it pretty simple.  I also finally finished the top for the Iron Work Quilt Along.

I followed one of Sandi's suggested color schemes and just love how it turned out, so vibrant!  I used a rosewood colored solid in lieu of black, which I'm happy about as well.  Now it needs quilting, but that will have to wait a bit.

I need to finish the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge quilt this week.  That means that today I had to (a) wash the kitchen floor, and (b) get down on said floor to pin-baste the quilt.  Ugh, my knees.  On the plus side, my kitchen smells like Pine Sol.

Does anyone actually enjoy basting?  Because I am not even sure that is possible.  And because I'm seriously thinking of hiring it done next time.  Especially if these guys will do it for me.

Hey, now there's an idea: Strip basting!  "Oops, you missed closing a pin.  I'm sorry, sir; you will have to remove your shirt."

Well, a gal can dream...