Malta, Idaho

These are the projects that I will be working on in the next few days, so hopefully I can post some photos of completed quilt tops when I get back!

Circle Quilt

I don't know the actual name of this quilt, but my cousin Ashley and I have been quilting together lately. This is the pattern that she is working on, and I loved it, but I didn't want to have to buy more fabric, because I have enough projects for now. I have this material that I found in my moms closet, so it is all really old, and some of it is really ugly. But I am really excited to see how it turns out. After you sew the three circles onto the square you cut it in fourths and then sew it together again. Ashley's is really cute, she used a lot of bright random fabrics and it looks great. I tried to stay with pastel blues and pinks, because that is what I had.

Crazy Square

This pattern was so frustrating at first, so it sat in my room for a lot of months before I actually started it up again. I ended up making two, the first one was intended for my mom for Christmas last year, and then I finally finished the top for Christmas of 2008, now it is at the quilters and it will hopefully be done for her soon. I had a lot of extra fabric, and I really liked how it turned out, so I made one for myself.

Bento Box

This quilt is also from scraps from another quilt. My aunt Karen gave me this pattern, and I like it a lot, it uses up all of those random strips.

HIdden Nine Patch

I love nine patches, I did one a couple of years ago that I just love. After I made the quilt for my step mom, there were a lot of strips left over, and I hate throwing material away. So with all of the scraps I have put together these hidden nine patches. You first make regular nine patch squares and then you cut it into fourths rearrange and then sew it back together. My pieces are a little too small, but that is what I had from my scraps. The square ended up being about 5 1/2 inches. Eventually I will put a sashing in between the blocks.

Crazy Heart Pattern

I love this pattern, I just finished one for my step mom and it is so cute. I will post photos as soon as I get it back from the quilter. I started one for my self, at first I really loved the colors and fabrics, it was in a bundle pack at Jo-Ann's once I started working on it, I haven't liked it that much, but usually I don't like them until they are done so we will have to see. I put one of the photos of all of the pieces, it is crazy to cut up, but I put pennies on all of the stacks to keep it in order.

Trip to Malta, Idaho

So tomorrow I am going to Malta, Idaho, don't ask me where that is because I am not sure yet. My good friend Becki lives there and we are going to have a quilting party for a few days. I am so excited, I have so many unfinished projects that I can't wait to work on. A few weeks ago, Becki and I went to Bernina to pick out some fabrics for a baby quilt, Becki is having a baby girl in June, I am so excited for her. I am going to teach her how to quilt and it is going to be way fun!

Roman Shade Curtains

Right now I am working on some curtains for my spare room, which will one day be my office. I am so excited to get these finished and to post some photos. I got the fabric at Jo-Ann's and it is so fun. Eventually I will paint the room light blue and accent in red and black. I might even paint the bathroom red, I can't decide. The walls will be covered with photos from work, but then also have a collage of Black and White FIne art prints.

Mexican Lasagna from Rachael Ray

Ingredients
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 pounds ground chicken breast, available in the packaged meats case
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1 cup medium heat taco sauce or 1 (14-oz) can stewed or fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• Salt
• 8 (8 inch) spinach flour tortillas, available on dairy aisle of market
• 2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack
• 2 scallions, finely chopped
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil - twice around the pan. Add chicken and season with chili powder, cumin, and red onion. Brown the meat, 5 minutes. Add taco sauce or stewed or fire roasted tomatoes. Add black beans and corn. Heat the mixture through, 2 to 3 minutes then season with salt, to your taste.
Coat a shallow baking dish with remaining extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 tablespoon oil. Cut the tortillas in half or quarters to make them easy to layer with. Build lasagna in layers of meat and beans, then tortillas, then cheese. Repeat: meat, tortilla, cheese again. Bake lasagna 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly. Top with the scallions and serve.


I never stick to recipes, so I made a few changes. I just used regular tortillas, and just used chicken breasts and chopped them into little pieces and then topped it with cilantro (make sure to add it after you cook, or it will get flakey). Also because I just cook for myself, I made three different dishes of it, I used pyrex pie dishes which made it really easy with the tortillas. I only used two tortillas in each one and it was plenty. I baked one of them and put the other two in the freezer for future meals.

New Blog

I wanted to make a new blog with stuff about me, most of my friends have a blog with their family or husband, but I am still on my own, so mine is going to be about all of the stuff I am creating. I am obsessed with quilting right now, and I want to show off my quilts. I have also been cooking a lot and I love to take photos of the food, so I wanted to post some recipes with photos. I am not good at updating my other blogs, so we will see how far this one gets.