Finally finished!!!

I started this quilt back in late November or early December with the hopes of selling it at a craft show called "Art in the Garden"

I had finished the front and back of the quilt (about 36" square) but then my sewing machine died on me. I took just the front & back of this quilt and another with me and explained that my machine was in the shop but if anyone was interested to give me their email and I would email them when it was finished. It was the best I could do.

So, the sewing machine.. Literally, stopped moving. Had to have the gears replaced. And when I got her back from the doctor, I had to quickly try to finish everyone's Christmas presents since it was a 100% homemade Christmas in the Crafty home, except for the new battery for my car that was Mr. Crafty & my gift to each other. Romantic, right?

Anyway, my boss' best friend is expecting a baby any day now. Originally I was supposed to have this done in December for my boss to be able to give to her at the shower she threw for her... and that just didn't happen. Then I started school again and lost all sorts of crafting time.

Here's the back of the quilt

I used 2 cuddly quilt kits from Joann's to put the whole thing together. My mom had bought them for something and then gave them to me so I could make something to sell at the craft show. The pattern that came with the kits just had you make big blocks of fabric for the front and the yellow bubbles (the back border and binding here) was supposed to be the back. I didn't like that so I made my own pattern combining the 2 kits.

It's very soft and cuddly. Since it was a kit, I didn't prewash the fabric and I gave it to my boss without washing it. I am sure it will shrink some, especially since some of the fabrics are flannel.

A little before & after

This weekend Mr. Crafty and I did a couple little things to our humble abode. Next month, we will have owned our townhouse for 5 years... which is about 2-3 years longer than we both thought we would be living in this place. Don't get me wrong, we like our little starter home but we thought we'd have moved on & up by now, at least that was the plan when we bought the place. We have definitely made it ours. We are thinking about installing bamboo floors in the kitchen, dining and living rooms sometime this year, if we can find a decent bamboo flooring in our budget.


So several weeks ago, I accidentally broke off one of the slats of our blinds in our living room. Our cats, Maggie & Rory (a.k.a. the crafty assistants) love sitting in the window and staring out at the world so the blinds get disheveled. We kept putting the slat back up, only to have it fall and then while shoving it back up, 2 more broke off. So it was time for a new window treatment.

I've been wanting to get 2" wood blinds for awhile but Mr. Crafty was resistant, I think because we didn't need them. We got these custom cut (for free) to fit our window at Home Depot. They are actually faux wood but I think they are a better option for us. This window gets to hot, afternoon desert sun and I worry that the wood blinds would dry out or something.


I am not sure how the crafty assistants feel about the new blinds. I don't think they've figured out how to get in the window yet. I caught Maggie giving them a "cat scan" this morning.

Also, I should mention that it's a tough time in the Crafty household... I'm a Suns fan and Mr. Crafty is a Blazers fan. We agree to disagree. Hey, if he wants to cheer for them he's free to, I know my Suns are gonna beat them and move onto the next round! GO SUNS!

(Crafty Momma & Crafty Daddy raised me a Suns fan. They have shared season tickets for years and when I was five, our new neighbor turned out to be a Suns forward and my mom even got to sit with the players' wives at a game. I attended the last game at the Madhouse on McDowell (1992), where they played the Blazers and we were so loud the palyers couldn't even hear the refs' whistles. I owned a pair of purple Rebok hightops that I wore with orange socks and purple or orange shorts during my preteen and early teen years. Once in high school, I wore nothing but Suns t-shirts and went over 2 weeks before I repeated one... so yeah, I'm a Suns fan. I bleed purple and orange.)

Giveway over at Quilt Dad

John at Quilt Dad is having his 2 year blog birthday giveaway. He's got some great prizes, you should swing by and check his blog out.

Fat Quarter Shop giveaway at I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts

Ryan at I'm just a Guy Who Quilts is hosting another giveaway this week. This time, it's a chance to win a giftcard to Fat Quarter Shop! Head over and enter to win this giveaway!

Help needed from the quilty world!

I need help from the blogging & quilting worlds. My aunt called me today and her friend's mother-in-law apparently has a TON of quilting fabric, batting, quilting frames, etc. The MIL had to move in with her family and they are trying to clean out her house (apparently, it looks like an episode of Hoarders) and they need to find a home for these quilting supplies.

While I would love to bring these supplies home, I fear my home might start to look like an episode of Hoarders too. I have a bi shopping bag full of fabric that I inherited from Mom recently that still has yet to find a home in my home.

I suggested to my aunt that we try to find a charity, like Quilts for Kids, that can use these supplies to help the sick, the needy or something. Unfortunately, it sounds like the amount of fabric is pretty big and would cost a lot to ship. So we need to find a charity close to (or in) the Phoenix area or at least within a close drive to Phoenix.

Does anyone know a charity near/in Phoenix that could use these supplies???

Winner, winner! Chicken dinner!

This past week was "Grand Opening Week" over at Quilting Bee Blocks and there were some great giveaways. Plus this website is a great one-stop-shop for all thing bee-related. Erin has done a fantastic job setting up this great resource for us quilters!

One of the giveaways is a fat quarter bundle of Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane from Ruth at Sew Love Fabrics. And I am now the proud owner of this great fabric! Yippeeeeeeee!

Thanks Erin & Ruth!!!

Giveaway at "I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts"

Ryan over at I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts is hosting weekly giveaways all month. This week he's giving away gift certificates to Hawthorne Threads!

Thirty

I am 30. And I am now OK with saying that. For awhile I wasn't... but that's a long story and not one I want to get into right now.

30, flirty and thriving!

I wish I was as awesome as these women that are the same or close to my age but I'm not. Something to aspire to!
Elizabeth at http://www.ohfransson.com/
Christina at http://sometimescrafter.blogspot.com/
Ryan at http://www.ryanwalshquilts.com/ (I know, not a woman but he does amazing things at 29!)
Rachel at http://www.psiquilt.com/ (only 27!) I am following her pinwheel sampler quilt along but I am very behind
There were a couple more that I wanted to include but my brain is telling me that it's Friday, it's been a long week and it time to stop thinking!

Anyway, there are some amazing people out in blogland. I love seeing what they create. It makes me wish that I had more time to pursue my crafty endeavors. This weekend, I am going to be sewing up a storm. I have a lighter load of homework and I have already scheduled a date with my sewing machine for the second I get home from work today! (shhhh, don't tell my boss I am blogging at work)

I wanted to share a couple of things from my birthday with you. My parents listened and got me some Heather Ross gnomes from Spoonflower!!! And tickets to see Glee in Phoenix!

This book was made by my mom for me when I was little. I asked her about the pattern and she said she created most of the pictures herself and worked on this when I was napping. I included some of my favorite pages.

The cat and the tree are corduory. I remember playing with this as a kid and Crafty Momma found this in a box somewhere recently. I noticed that part of the photos are cut off so to see the whole thing, click on the picture. Otherwise, you will be looking at the picture saying "What tree is she talking about?"

Also, I saw this article recently and thought you might like to read it too. It's about long-haul truckers that quilt (and knit) during their downtime IN their trucks!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704896104575139990857438962.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

Fruitcake giveaway at Jandi In Stitches

Jandi In Stitches is giving away a charm pack of Basic Gray for Moda's Fruitcake! Super cute holiday fabric. I'm adding this to my "want" category...which always seems to be growing!

Photo from Jandi's blog

Better than Chipotle shredded beef (according to Mr. Crafty)

So yesterday I made a beef roast in my Crock Pot and Mr. Crafty proclaimed it to be "better than Chipotle's barbacoa." Now I love, love, love Chipotle and would eat pretty much every meal there if Mr. Crafty would let me, so this was a very high compliment in my book.

While I was making the roast, I didn't plan on sharing the recipe with anyone since it really was all an experiment. I had a roast that needed to be made and I needed to find something to throw in the Crock Pot with it before I left for work...

And my "Better than Chipotle shredded beef"* was born...

I didn't keep track of the exact measurements while making this, it was all an experiment. But that's kinda how I cook - I keep throwing things in and see how it turns out!

Step 1: Make Pioneer Woman's salsa (I dream of being her - she's a sassy, sarcastic redhead with an awesome website and adorable redheaded children. You should read her blog/make her recipes if you haven't) http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/restaurant-style-salsa/

I made mine over the weekend and put in 2 jalapenos instead of 1 and didn't have limes so I substituted the juice of 1 lemon. Oh, and I didn't have a 28oz can of whole tomatoes so I threw in a 14.5oz can of fire roasted tomatoes and a 14.5 oz can of regular diced tomatoes along with the other 2 cans of diced tomatoes with jalapenos (mine were Hatch brand). The salsa is now almost gone and yielded a whole lotta salsa that we ate with chips, put on our steak, etc.

Step 2: The roast. I don't remember exactly what cut of beef we had but it was a pretty lean cut. If you have a fattier cut, I would trim off some of the excess fat before putting it in the crock pot

Step 3: Crock pot ingredients:

• Beef roast
• 1/2-3/4 cup of homemade salsa
• 1 can diced tomatoes (14.5oz)
• 1/4 large onion, roughly chopped
• 1 jalapeno, quartered (seeds left in)
• 2 cups water
• Juice of 1-2 limes (mine weren't very juicy so I used 2)
• optional: bay leaf or other herbs. I was in a hurry to get out the door for work so I didn't even think of this step but I am sure it would make it even better

Step 4: Throw all ingredients in the crock pot on low and spend the rest of your day doing something else - I worked an 11 hour day

Step 5: When Mr. Crafty got home from work (about 9 hours after I started the roast), he shredded the beef and added the following spices (I do not know in what quantity, sorry! Just season then taste and add more as needed):

•  Cumin
•  Tumeric
•  Garlic Salt
•  Salt

Mr. Crafty let it simmer on low for a couple more hours until I got home from work but you could eat it as soon as you shred and add the spices. I had a very hungry hubby on my hands because he had to sit there and smell it but he munched on the homemade salsa and chips :-)

 *according to Mr. Crafty. I would never take on the delicious empire that is Chipotle.