So my friend and running partner, Shawna, arrives with a big box, wrapped, of course.

I try to get her to talk about her half marathon but she’s surprisingly hesitant.

I am then ordered to open the box.

All right.

And guess what’s in the box?

Yeehaw!!

Aren’t they great?!?

Shawna then ordered me to put them on and then told we were headed out.

To where?

Well…we’ve got to put those boots to use.  Right?!?

We went riding!  For an hour and half.

This is, folks, a childhood dream come true.

(sorry…no photo…forgot and then we ran out of time)

But that’s not it.

As if that wasn’t good enough,  afterwards she takes me back to her house under the guise of having dinner with D and the girls.

And guess who’s there?

Church friends, school friends, family friends…

and my mom shows up!  :D

I haven’t seen her since October.

She’s doing so well though she’s still so weak.

And that’s my dad (did you notice he’s wearing his cowboy boots?) and my brother (no boots on that boy).

My sister and my other brother weren’t at the party.  But they were missed…very much.

It was  such a good day.

I feel so loved.  <3

The easiest ones, of course.

The first one to make it across the finish line was my flannel winter quilt.

Just so you know, I love it.

 It’s just big enough to cover me chin to toes.  As in, it covers my toes.

My toes get cold.

The second guy…well, it’s really perty.

I really like the blue.  A lot.  It makes me happy.

And it makes me think of the caribbean.

Where I’d like to be.

Right.

Now.

*Looks out the window.*

Nope.  Still in Sumner.

Well, that’s okay.

 It’s sunny here today and warm enough that I didn’t need to wear my coat when picking the girls up from school.

That’s saying something for early February in Washington.

When I was 16 we got snow.  And snow.  And more snow.

We went to my friends house.

She lived on a golf course and there was a huge hill across the street.

When I say ‘huge’ I mean…*looking for adequate analogy*…bigger than a bunny slope, people.

We went sledding.  In the dark.

Best birthday.  Ever.

I wonder what tomorrow will hold…

p.s. did you see my cute little tags?  my friend julie made them for me.  i like her.  she’s nice to me.  :D

It took all week, two trips to the quilt store and about six hours of un-picking but I got there in the end.

The quilt is big measuring 92 x 94.

There’s continuous curve in the 9-patches and feather wreaths in the squares.

The borders have…well, I guess they would be considered feather swags with a variation in the corners.

And it’s a good reason to take a day off tomorrow and celebrate my birthday.  :D

Hopefully when someone goes looking for ideas for quilting one of these quilts this will prove helpful!

Ciao!!

Yep…that’s been my life the last couple of months.

But (BUT!) yesterday I made some headway.

My quilt for this springs Mystery Quilt is about half way finished!

All the blocks constructed and everything is going together nicely.

(Imagine a photo here)

I know.  I’m a tease.  But I can’t rightly post a photo…it wouldn’t be a mystery then!!

Also, I got Sandee’s bio and photos up on the website this morning.

Here’s the link over there:

http://www.heatherspencedesigns.com/recipients/

Please stop by and “meet” her!

I’ll get her benevolence fund info posted there soon so you have other options for helping her and her family.

And if you’ve not done it yet, please consider joining the Mystery Quilt.

We’d love to have you join us!

Ciao!!

p.s. also posted a better photo of my mom.  :D

It’s not often that I strike upon culinary genius.

But this, folks, was brilliant.

My husband even proclaimed (as he very rarely does), “This is so good!  Where’d you get the recipe?”

The beauty of it is this:  It’s dairy free, gluten free, egg free…and nut free.

Care for a gander?

Mashed Potatoes

Cook in usual fashion.  In lieu of milk and butter use chicken broth and vegan butter (I use Earth Balance).

Chicken Gravy

About 2 cups of chicken (I picked mine from a roasted chicken)

2 tablespoons vegan butter

3 cloves garlic, pressed

2 tablespoons starch of choice (potato, arrowroot or tapioca ~ I used arrowroot because I had it on hand)

Chicken broth

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

In a pan melt vegan butter.  Add crushed garlic and cook until sizzling & fragrant.  Then add starch, stirring continually until fully incorporated.  As soon as it is incorporated start drizzling the chicken broth while stirring.  The gravy will thicken to a paste so keep drizzling & stirring until you get a gravy consistency.

Once at the consistency you desire add the dried parsley and lemon juice then taste.  Add salt and pepper to your liking.  Let it bubble a bit to soften the parsley and let the flavors sink in.

Reheats beautifully!

Bon apetit!!

]]> http://www.heatherspencedesigns.com/2012/01/mashed-potatoes-with-chicken-gravy/feed/ 0 http://www.heatherspencedesigns.com/2012/01/tulips-for-a-winters-day/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tulips-for-a-winters-day http://www.heatherspencedesigns.com/2012/01/tulips-for-a-winters-day/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:56:37 +0000 Heather http://www.heatherspencedesigns.com/?p=1004 Last week was snow…and ice (and more ice)…with power outages.

In the midst of it, when one is stuck indoors, one might be inclined to ask, “What shall I do?”

Not this chica.  Oh no.  This chica had it figured out.

The unexpected (though welcome) discovery of three client quilts with backings that were too short opened up my week.

So I bound.

No, my darling…not through the snow.

(I left that to the girls.)

No.  I put binding on quilts.

Particularly, my quilt.

Isn’t she pretty?!?

I used a 30′s reproduction jelly roll and a white on white for the background.

She’s been sitting around for ages (since October) with the binding on but not finished.

Like going to work with your shirt un-buttoned.

Now she’s happily hanging in my studio.

Tulips for a winters day…

Ciao!

It’s soft.

Perfect for children.  Heck!  Perfect for me.

Tip:  Always use batting.

The quilt will have more weight and the feel is out of this world.

Make a smaller quilt for car seats covers…over even to go over strollers.

Another tip:  Keep quilt size to under 60″.

Piecing a back with minkee is asking for sewing nightmares!  It can be done, you just won’t have any fun.

Ciao!

From my sweet pea, Chloe.

Deciphered.

She leaves me love notes all the time.

I’m not sure when she did this but I suspect it was this morning.

She left it on the window sill next to my machine knowing I would find it.

I love that little girl.

Sometimes I wonder what I’ll do when they grow up and go away to college.

But then I remind myself I’ve still got plenty of time and to enjoy these small precious moments with them.

Though, “plenty of time” isn’t quite long enough.

The first 9 years were so fast…I’m expecting the next 9 to be quicker.

And I’m just not sure how that’s possible.

Having said that I’m going to leave in a few minutes to pick my little ones up from school.

I plan on hugging them, then smooching them and then holding their little hands all the way home.

I figure I might as well enjoy it while I’ve got them…it isn’t going to last forever…

Got the binding on my UFO quilt!

Bad news:  it’s too short.  (Boo!)

Good news:  found the fabric on Etsy.  (Yeah!)

Bad news: cost the equivalent of $16/yard. (Boo!)

Good news:  I’m this much closer to being finished with my flannel quilt *smile* with hopes of it being finished by the end of winter.  (Yeah!)