Photo Scavenger Hunt: February

Time for the February Photo Scavenger Hunt, hosted by Kathy!  I love this scavenger hunt because a)  it’s so fun to see pictures of the same thing from all over the world, and b) there are some really fun interpretations of the same word (“eye” was a good one this month!)  My photos aren’t from exciting London, like Kathy’s and Abi’s, but I still have fun anyway.  And I love that the monthly assignment gets me out exploring my neck o’ the woods.

So, here are my shots for this month:

A Big Truck: I did not text and drive!

A Big Round Clock: Our federal courthouse — er, maybe that’s county courthouse.

A Bridge: Pitiful.  I waited too long in the month for this picture and I’m sure there are much more beautiful bridges around here.  Rust is beautiful though, right?

An Instrument: Poor neglected piano — I had to dust her keys before I could take the picture.

A Newspaper Headline: Interesting juxtaposition of Luxury and Default.

A Park Bench: Well sort-of — it’s along a running path out in the boonies.

A Postbox: Classic model.  I love how the blue paint faded.

Eyes: Young and wrinkle-free.

Something Heart-Shaped: The heart doctors.

Something Red: Are you seeing red? {Har Har}.

Something with Stripes: Tell me zebras aren’t the first thing that pops into your mind when someone says “stripes”.

Your Shoes: I bought these for quilt market in the fall and had to quit wearing them on the first day — I spend all my time crawling around on the floor and I was rubbing the finish off of the toes.  Looks like those toes need polishing again.  These may be the most comfy shoes I’ve ever had — I love ‘em.

Thanks for hosting Kathy!  There’s a flickr group if you want to see more photos — there are some really fun photos uploaded this month.  I can’t wait to see what the March assignment will be!

XOXO,
Anna

Kitties and Winners

Wow! Are you guys all Aurifil-ed out? Thanks to everyone for playing along — it was a fun blog hop.

Now to the real reason you’re here — the winners of the two little sample packs:
LauraLovesQuilting and CateringQuilter
Congratulations Ladies! Please send me your addresses and I’ll get your packages shipped off to you.
For the rest of you, you still have a chance at the grand prize — Pat will announce the winner on her blog on Monday!

Otherwise, not much going on around here. I’ve started the big (ok, huge, for me) task of figuring out how we’re going to update our kitchen and family room. At long last, the end of the UH-GLY green tile is in sight. (The downside is that it will be the end of the 18-year-old threadbare couches – I doubt we’ll be so lucky to find couches that will last as well as these old babies have.)  It’s going to be a long project and I’m not really looking forward to it, but it will be nice to be rid of a lot of the tile around here. And guess what? I enlisted the aid of one of those free design services from a furniture store, and she said I need a big quilt to hang on a high empty wall that we have. Ooooh baby, that’s right up my alley!

The kitties aren’t very impressed with all the furniture and fabric talk going on though — they’re back to their usual antics with the rug.  Something moved under the rug, so PaulKitty pounced on it.

So it stopped moving.  As if I’m supposed to do something about it.

He bravely reached in under there to see what’s shakin’.

So, it stopped moving again and he waited it out.

Aha!  It moved out to the end, so Paul Kitty jumped on it.

They tussled around for awhile.

Then decided a good knucklebump was in order and called a truce.

If only this decorating adventure could be that easy!
XOXO,
Anna

Aurifil Blog Hop – The Letter I

Welcome to The Letter I (well, the first letter I)  in the Aurifil Blog Hop!  I is one of my favorite words – thank you for giving me I, Pat!

Pat asked us to choose a word for our letter, so I choose I!

Ok, not really — that might be just a teeny bit self centered, don’t you think?  Instead, I‘ve chosen the word

Ideal describes Aurifil to a T I, and it’s therefore the Ideal word to describe Aurifil thread! (You’re probably not allowed to construct a sentence like that in the English language, but you guys are all Invisible, so it’s ok.) Like Kathy, I have to confess that I‘ve never really paid much attention to the thread that I use for quilting.  But, I‘ve heard a lot of buzz lately about Aurifil, so when Pat asked me to participate in the Aurifil blog hop, I jumped at the chance to try this new-to-me thread.  And boy, oh boy, am I glad I did!

Inquisitive, I decided to go to the Aurifil web site and read what I could about the different thread weights.  There’s lots of info on the site, and you can even watch some videos of Pat discussing the threads.

Immediately after I read about the threads, I pieced my Aurifil Spring block.  Heaven!  That thread is Amazing Incredible!  No wait — it’s IDEAL!   I used the 50 weight and it’s so nice and thin and smoooooth — pressing block seams is so easy.  And the best thing is that the thread isn’t splitty or linty like some other threads that we all know and love … or not.

Ok, so, as a little reward for participating in this blog hop, at each website in the hop (locations below), you can pick up a quilt block pattern. Since winter is hanging on with a vengeance in our neck of the woods, I decided to create little block to give us some hope for warmer weather. I wish I could tell you that I stuck a few strands of Aurifil thread together for the embroidery, but I didn’t — I used DMC embroidery floss. You can pick up a copy of the pattern here.

But Wait! There’s More!!!
Leave a comment and I‘ll choose 2 winners to receive a sample pack of Aurifil thread (with a few little goodies thrown in from me.) PLUS, at the end of the week, Pat will draw a grand prize winner who will win a Pat Sloan Kit Art 50wt Amazing IDEAL Aurifil Thread Set. (Do you think it would look rigged if I won???) Look at all the pretty colors!

And, last but not least, be sure to visit the other blogs in the blog hop for your quilt block patterns and even more chances to win Aurifil thread. (Not to mention the fabulous posts — Pink Chalk Studio and Lizzie B Girls started things off with a BIG Bang!)

Monday Feb 21st

Pat Sloan Starter Block

Tuesday Feb 22

Pink Chalk Studio (Letter A)

Lizzie B Girls (Letter U)

Wednesday Feb 23

Erin Russek (Letter R)

Thimbleanna (Letter I) — That’s Me I!

Thursday Feb 24

Stitchin’ Heaven (Letter F)

Quilting Gallery (Letter I)

Friday Feb 25

Sew Cal Gal – (Letter L)
I Have a Notion (Letter T for Thread!)

Pat Sloan Final Quilt Layout

XOXO and Good Luck,
Anna

And btw, if I missed any I‘s please don’t tell me I!!!

Recipe Box Swap: Your Favorite Recipe

It’s time for our monthly Recipe Box Swap, hosted by the ever-so-sweet Randi, at I Have to Say.

Randi has chosen “Your Favorite Recipe” as our theme this month so I decided to make one of TheManoftheHouse’s favorite dinners, Teriyaki Steak.  I have a few different recipes for this dish and I’ve kind of combined features of them all for this recipe.   I love this dish — it’s perfect for a dinner to make someone feel special or for a busy weeknight dinner (30 minutes start to finish — and it only takes that long because of the rice.)

Teriyaki Steak

1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 minced garlic cloves
2 T rice vinegar
1 T grated fresh ginger (I’ve also used the dried spice with equal success)
2 t. cornstarch
2 strip steaks, about 1-inch thick
2 T vegetable oil
3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 t. toasted sesame seeds (cook in dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until golden and fragrant — about 5 minutes)

Whisk sugar, soy sauce, garlic, rice vinegar, ginger and cornstarch in a medium bowl.

Heat oil in skillet until just “rippling”. Cook steak until well browned and cooked until desired doneness — 4 – 6 minutes per side. Transfer to cutting board and cover with foil.

Wipe oil out of skillet and pour in soy sauce mixture. Simmer over medium-low heat until thickened. Slice steak thinly and place slices on top of bed of rice. Pour sauce over steak. Sprinkle with scallions and toasted sesame seeds. Serves 4.

Enjoy! And don’t forget, tomorrow is my day with the Aurifil blog hop — stay tuned for more!
XOXO,
Anna

New Socks

If you can believe it.  It’s been SO long since any knitting has happened on this little blog — what a sad state of affairs.  I finally finished the socks that I’ve been working on  forever.

The yarn is the Lorna’s Laces custom dye that I picked up at Cami’s shop (sadly no longer in business) a few years ago.  The pattern is the Mockery Sock free download.  I’ve used this pattern before and I love it.

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Lorna’s Laces yarn.  It’s VERY comfy and it wears and washes like a dream, but I always have problems with pooling.  The pooling in these socks wasn’t too bad — except for the area where the sock gussets were being created.  That’s the area where the skinny brown and white stripes are on top of my foot.  Otherwise, I love the way this yarn played out.

Don’t ask me what the heck I did to those heel flaps.  I did half of the flaps and then the socks matured in my stash for a few months.  When I picked them back up, I though I was doing a different heel pattern.  I was too lazy to rip them back and fix it.  It’s a little easier to see the mistake in the first picture.    Anyway, it’s nice to have them done and dusted.  They’re really cozy and I know I”ll get lots of wear out of them.

Sorry for the absence this week.  It seems like lots of things have been breaking and needing attention around here (to include this happy little blog — she suffered a few fainting spells earlier in the week.)  I’ll make it up to you this coming week though — Tuesday is Randi’s Recipe Box Swap and on Wednesday, I’ll be participating in Pat Sloan’s Aurifil Blog Hop.  There will be prizes.  Should be fun!

Have a great weekend!

XOXO,
Anna