The Birthday Dress

When I was in Albuquerque visiting Suzy I picked up some darling strawberry fabric and a coordinating green fabric to make Abbie a dress. Well by the time we got home Abbie decided that she no longer wanted to wear dresses so I put the fabric aside with the intent that I would use it for Abbie's annual birthday dress. A week or two ago I let Abbie look through my patterns and decide which dress she wanted for her birthday dress. Nothing much happened with the dress between then and today because I was just too busy to work on it. Today I decided that the tradition of making Abbie a birthday dress was just to important to miss and I got to work after church this morning. Luckily Abbie picked a really easy pattern and I was able to get the dress done in less that 2 hours. The dress doesn't look that great in the picture but I hope that it will look cute on her. This was my first time using the jumbo rickrack and I am not sure I like how it looks. Abbie seemed to like it when I showed to to her and that's all that matters. This is another of the Oliver +S Popover sundresses that I have made before (here). I love this pattern it is so quick and easy, can be worn year round and can be embellished in many different ways.

My Abbie turned 4!!!!

It's hard to believe but today Abbie turned 4! It seems like just yesterday that I was anxiously awaiting her arrival (ok, maybe crankily was more like it). Like Alex she decided to take her sweet time and was a week late. No matter the late arrival she is dearly loved and I enjoyed being able to bake her a cake and wrap a couple of presents for her to have when she got home this evening. I will have a larger friends and family party for her and Alex next weekend but this one tonight was just for the three of us.

Yummy dinner salad

I recently bought a new cutting board from Pampered Chef and this salad recipe came with it. All three of us really enjoyed it, plus it used up a bunch of the Bountiful Baskets produce that I had in the fridge.

Southwestern Salad

Dressing

¾ cup ranch dressing

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

2 tsp taco seasoning

1 Tbsp lime juice

Salad

½ cup pitted ripe olives, sliced

1 cup diced red bell pepper

1 pkg torn romaine lettuce

1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed

½ cup whole kernel corn

2 cups diced cooked chicken

1 ripe avocado, peeled, seeded and diced (optional)

For dressing combine first 4 ingredients, stir until well blended. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For salad combine remaining ingredients. Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine.

Of course being me I had to change things a bit. I didn't use olives since I don't like them, but did add chopped tomatoes and shredded cheese. Rather than combining everything I put everything in separate bowls and let everyone choose what the wanted. Lastly Alex had regular ranch on his salad, Abbie had no dressing at all and I really enjoyed the dressing from the recipe. One note on the dressing is that I feel it really needs to sit for several hours before using so that the flavors can combine.

Absolutly Insane

Suzy and I have started a little block exchange of 3" finished blocks made with crumbs. I decided to make something a little different and made this little 3" finished log cabin block. The block has 21 pieces. I love it! I will have to make more of these.

An idea I had

Do you have pad locks hanging around the house that you don't use often? Do you have trouble remembering the combo from one use to the next? If so then you are like me. I have two padlocks that I have had for a very long time. I rarely use them and often have trouble remembering the code from one use to the next. I came up with the idea of writing the code on key label tags and putting them on the lock. Now I don't have to worry about remembering the code and when I am using it I can put the key tag on my key chain to help me remember the code.

Help me choose please....

I have made some more pineapple blocks to use as a sample for the class I am teaching on October 30th. Suzy has helped me with some different layouts. I can't decide which one I like the most, please give me my opinion. From top to bottom vote for A, B, C, or D

Public Exposure

Look what's hanging behind the register at Cutting Edge Quiltworks in Chandler, AZ!