Get Ready, Get Set, GO!

Get Ready, Get Set, GO!

Running Man is off and running this weekend

in North Carolina

at the Umstead 100 Miles Endurance Run.

He actually calls this fun.

It is a 100 mile run through Umstead State Park located

between Raleigh and Cary, NC.

The course is laid out in a 12.5 mile loop,

there are no alligators,

a rolling terrain,

an "ideal running surface"

hopefully, good weather

and a Friday night spaghetti supper for

runners and one crew member.

Sounds ideal to me.

No, I'm not the crew for this one.

Running man enlisted the help 

of his brother, once again.

Thank You, Tony!

 The race begins at 6 am and has to be

completed in 30 hours.

It does look nicer than the swamp.

He's trained hard, once again,

and is ready to get out there an meet his personal goals.

And what does he find at the end?

Ahh, the belt buckle.

We know you can do it.

Keep your mind focused on the prize.

(Ultra-marathoners are a whole different breed)

Until Next Time-

Mary Janes

I bet we all can remember when we wore

 

black patent leather Mary Jane shoes,

 maybe even a new white pair for Easter.

They were so shiny and they made you feel like a princess.

The name, Mary Jane's

 came from a cartoon character who was the

 sister of Buster Brown,

the character used by The Brown Shoe Company.

They both wore the little strapped shoes.

The style and the name continues to

describe that style of shoe since it's start in 1904.

I did make it to the shoe store this past weekend.

Keen's summer shoes are in

and Mary Jane's are popular again.

 Aren't they cute.

HA HA I just noticed the picture. 

No, I don't wear them on the wrong feet!

They are

So summery,

So scrappy, 

like a pieced quilt.

I feel like a princess.

Until Next Time-

I Need to Be Rewired

Slowly I have been working on the

"It Just Takes Two" blocks

designed by Dear Jane and Sentimental Stitches.

Let me emphasize slowly.

Lots of the blocks are designed to be done

with foundation piecing even though

many of  the blocks really could be done faster

with regular piecing, only my opinion.

But I haven't wanted to stop and figure out the measurements.

So I have had to rewire my brain to do paper piecing.

It is like the football being pulled away from Charlie Brown.

AAUGH!

My normal becomes abnormal.

I really have to stop and think about what I'm doing.

And like always it doesn't make sense.

Sewing on the right side of the paper,

With the fabric on the wrong side of the paper,

but right sides together..

 You are basically doing your sewing unseen.

But it's coming out right on the wrong side!

No, it's really not invisible, you do see what you're doing

when you turn it over, but it does take a lot more time, at least, 

for me to do.

Granted the positive part is that you just sew on the printed lines

and your points are always perfect.

So despite the extra time sewing,

and tearing away the paper,

I can do the happy dance when I'm done.

Oh, no 

There are more blocks to do.

I'd better keep going before my Neuron Pathways

 get a kink.

Until Next Time-

Spring Fever

Happy Spring.

I'm not sure if it's the fault 

of the warm weather,

the anticipation of tulips and daffodils

the need to go shopping for new shoes,

yard work,

or

starting the South Beach Diet, but

I sure haven't had the motivation to sew.

 This is my weeks accomplishment.

One 9" block for the "It Just Takes Two" quilt.

sigh

It's another beautiful day.

What's a quilter suppose to do?

Guess Sanford and I will go for a walk,

and then I'll head home this afternoon.

I think the shoe store is definitely calling my name!

Enjoy your weekend.

Until Next Time-

Running Man, the Handy Man

Running Man came to Denver.

No, not by running, but he could have.

The kids had a few little projects 

that he knew he could 

help with.

Of course, Sanford wanted to help

his Grampa.

They did a little fence building.

Hauled compost for the garden.

And chopping down trees.

Here's the before.

And the after.

The TV show that's on HGTV,
Curb Appeal,

would have removed those trees too.

Now Running Man has headed back home to actually get ready for

his next race at the end of the month in North Carolina. 
That one is

equivalent to running to and from Denver!

Good job, guys!
You made quite a team.

Until Next Time- 

Pass the Pickles, Please

Recently a friend give me

a vintage relish dish.  

It's lovely.

I know I will truly enjoy it with pickles and olives.

I'll probably use it at Easter dinner.

She also reminded me that it doesn't have 

to be used just for passing the pickles.

What about repurposing it my quilt studio?

I like what I can keep on it.

My rotatory cutter or scissors fit perfectly in the 

center section. 

My constantly misplaced glasses might actually stay in one spot

and other little things can find their home in the other sections.

Cute.

I've also repurposed muffin tins

 for keeping track of other small things.

I love the primitive look of the metal muffin tins.

If you haven't started following Pinterest,

it's the perfect place to see wonderful ideas 

of reusing and repurposing. Let me know if
you'd like an invite.

But in the mean time take

 a look around your cupboards and see

what treasures you've been storing away

that might have a new and better purpose.

It's good to know
a relish tray isn't just for passing the pickles.

Until Next Time-

Irish Eyes Are Smiling

One of the places on my travel

bucket list is Ireland.

It seems like a truly beautiful place to explore.

 This is Kylemore Abbey in Galway county. 
Don't you think I definitely need to go there?

So in honor of St. Patrick's Day and the 

hungry coworkers that work with my daughter and son in law

we made 

Irish Eyes are Smiling Cupcakes.

That's not the name you'll find if you visit

Annie Eats for the recipe.

She calls them Guinness and Baileys Irish Creme Cupcakes.

I'm obviously not a food photographer or

a professional pastry chef,

but in my amateur way I have fun.
Isn't that what's important?

These are rich chocolate and very moist.  I'm sure the

Guinness and the sour cream are what make them perfect.

I didn't follow the recipe exactly.  It calls for a chocolate

ganache in the center. But if you are ready to go over the top
add it in!

Living in the Mile High City
the there other thing that I have to do is adjust for altitude.
If you need that info let me know.
 

 

We decorated it with a Bailey's Irish Creme buttercream frosting and 

of course, sprinkled on some leprechaun gold and shamrocks.

These wonderful cupcakes will make any eyes smile.

Mine are twinkling.

Until Next Time-

Shoo-Fly

In January, I followed along with

Lori's quilt-along, from Humble Quilts,

 making a small 

antique quilt which she has called

Pink Lemonade.

It immediately appealed to be because of the

colors, pinks, browns, chrome yellows and dark blues.  It looked

like a little turn of the century piece using the shoo fly block.

I finally got mine done.

 Kyle's Pink Lemonade

17" x 22"

I love the fact that it didn't have any borders

but parts of blocks out on the edge.

I machine pieced it and even 

took the time to hand quilt it. 

The original quilt had been tied.

It felt good to be poking my fingers once again!

It became a stashbuster's quilt.

Every fabric came from my stash.

I even pulled out some antique fabric

to incorporate into the blocks.

A friend had given me some vintage fabrics and

these old blocks had just the right pink.

The blocks were pretty cut up so

it felt like a good place to save what was left.

The fabric is very thin so I had to be careful.

But it worked up fine, even with the hand quilting.

Pink lemondade reminded me of my favorite drink last summer.

Freckled Strawberry Lemonade

I need to get the ingredients.

It looks so good.

If you don't have this recipe, link back to my

old post.  You'll be glad you did.

Thanks Lori for your quilt-along. 

Your directions were terrific and

I love how my little quilt turned out.

Until Next Time-