Degree.

Well, it's official now.  I attended the ceremony yesterday and I have received the parchment.

Now, if only I didn't have to deal with a "foreign transcripts that don't exist" issue... Ah, life.

Have a good weekend!

Tova

Been strangely distracted by a lot of running around the last week or two.

I did manage to get a little sewing done.  I finally made the Tova top that it seems everyone else that sews clothes for themselves has already tried.  I even tested out some of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine.  Dipped into my freshly organized stash and decided on some Moda Crossweave in blue.

It's a little wrinkled.  I was wearing it for most of the day before I had someone available to snap a shot or two.

That's it for today. Gotta watch what could be the last game of the playoffs, and I'm hoping to avoid a broken heart. Much love, Martin. Much love.

Organizing: Jewelry wrestled, fabric tackled

As I've mentioned, I've been on a rampage.  Cleaning, organizing, editing, revising. My space, my things, my life, my mindset.

I've made some significant progress on the first two. :-) ( I imagine I'll be working on the last two for eternity. As we all should be, really.)

My jewelry drawer has been a source of constant frustration for a long time.  I wandered into an aisle in the grocery store the other day and came home with some inexpensive ceramic dishes.

I cut into some leftover felt that I made (from the Scrappy Afghan that is no longer such - more on that another time...) to line them and prevent scratches.

Et voila!

Little tip I picked up from Martha:  Use spare buttons to keep pairs of earrings together.  Thread them through the holes and they don't get lost.  OR if you lose one, you lose both - out of sight, out of mind. :-)

And after seeing many organized fabric stashes around the interwebs, I finally bought some comic book boards.  Mini bolts.  Love them.

Yeah, this isn't all of it.  There are more mini bolts behind this stack and in the bin to the left...

And now that I once again know what I have, I used a big chunk to sew a spring top. (Coming soon to a blog that might be this one. :-)  

The New Recipe Rule: Aioli, Steak, and Cake

At the end of April,  I decided to try at least one new recipe a week.  I've had some interesting results so far - the sourdough being the most (and unexpectedly) challenging.  But I've enjoyed myself and tend to get ridiculously excited when I find the next one I plan to try...

When I saw this list posted at littlebrownpen, it sounded amazing but I was skeptical about the aioli My understanding of aioli was that it was a fresher, fancier version of mayonnaise.  I loathe mayonnaise.  I won't even use a knife that's been used to spread mayonnaise even if it's been wiped clean on a piece of bread.  I ask every server at every restaurant what exactly I can expect if I order a particular sandwich and ask for them to hold the mayo every time.

However, I figured I had nothing to lose by trying it and I'd always heard that fresh was amazing, etc. I hadn't bought a Mother's Day gift....

HOLY AIOLI!  It's definitely not mayonnaise.  It's definitely a workout. It's definitely worth it.

I made the other recipes, too.  It's probably one of the best meals I have ever made in my life.  One of the best I've eaten, too.  Seester was in charge of the bbq.  She cooked the steaks perfectly.  She'd want me to tell you that.  I want to tell you that the fresh parm on top melts into the steak and adds just the right bite...

I did use potatoes that were larger than large apparently so I'll be wiser next time. But dipping them in the aioli was delicious!

For dessert, I stuck to a old family favourite from a community fundraiser cookbook that lost its cover decades ago.  I had already tackled three new ones in a single meal - I figured I was safe.  And it's new to you. :-)

You can tell from the picture that it's well-loved and oft-made. It's not too sweet, has a rustic texture, and a really nice flavour.

I top it with balsamic strawberries and frozen vanilla ice cream or yogurt.  For the strawberries, hull and slice (or quarter) two pints of strawberries.  Add a few tablespoons of brown sugar and a couple tablespoons balsamic vinegar (trust me!) and let the berries macerate.  I leave the bowl on the counter and stir it once every 15-30 minutes for a couple of hours... Delicious.

Recipe links - found via littlebrownpen:
The Creamiest Aioli  - lots of garlic and lemon goodness
Baked Potato Wedges - it's the garlic and fresh rosemary that make these special
Grilled Filet Steak and Arugula - I used mixed field greens with herbs instead of 100% arugula with great success

Enjoy!


PS:  If you borrow recipe books, magazines, etc., and forget to photocopy or type up the recipes you want to try until 3 seconds before you were going to give the book, magazine, etc., back to the lender, whip out your phone or camera and snap a picture of it. You can also take a picture of complicated technique photos or the finished dish photo.  That way, if you never end up making the recipe, you haven't spent a ton of time or photocopier money, copying the recipe.

Giveaway Winners

UPDATE:  After two weeks and repeated attempts to get in touch with the first winner and in consultation with Sew, Mama, Sew, I've used the Random Number Generator to pick a new winner for the fat quarter bundle:

Congrats, JustPam!  I will get that bundle in the mail for you this weekend!

***

Thank you SO much to everyone who entered and entertained me with their comments!  I appreciated every single one and had a great time reading them.  I even tried to imagine what some of these movies would be like...  

If there was a movie about my life, I'd like it titled "Rock(the boat)&Roll(with it)", and starring Sean Connery as me.  If he's not available, I will settle for Naomi Watts. Or Michelle Yeoh. It would be about a  teacher who finds herself in the middle of political intrigue, on the run, with only her wits and knowledge of theatre sports to help her until she meets a charming spy (Chris Evans) trying to take down the corrupt government chasing her. Wacky hijinx ensue...  Directed by Wes Anderson.

So what if I made most of that up?  It's my movie. :-)

Anyhoo!
Fat quarter Bundle:

Number 75 is:

Charm Pack:
It was HARD to pick my favourite for the charm pack. Really hard. I loved so many of them. I weeded it down to ten, and then to five, and then finally, based on the fact that someone in the room with me nearly wet themselves when I shared it, I picked this one:

Congratulations, cakegirl and Joy! I have sent you emails and can hopefully get those fabrics in the mail for you soon!

Tomorrow, I'll be sharing food recipes.

Homespun

My spiderweb quilt, begun years ago, is finally complete.  I think it is my favourite quilt that I have ever done. I'm completely serious. I can't even tell you the insane love I have for this quilt. Are there flaws? Yep. Am I going to point them out? Nope.  I'm just going to bask in pride and love.

My inspiration pieces were here and here.  I loved the one because the webs didn't touch and were two different sizes and the other because more than one background fabric was used.  So I sketched.  And counted. Made templates. Traced. Cut. Glued.  It was a while before I got going with the sewing.  Other than the linen-coloured Rouenneries and cream muslin backgrounds, the rest is scraps and a pair of my father's old trousers.  The back and binding is a bed sheet leftover from my teacher quilt.

I've named it Homespun.  Spiders spin, quilts are homey, and I had that line from A Midsummer Night's Dream running through my head for some reason... "What hempen homespuns have we here?"  They were a ragtag bunch, definitely fitting for a scrap quilt.

I quilted the name into one of the webs.

I'm insanely happy with the quilting. Pebbles, and echoes, for the backgrounds (thanks to Audrie who suggested doing more than one thing in the back) and improved spirals and squiggles in the webs.

I discovered while quilting that there was a hole (a HOLE!) in one of the fabrics.  Yeah.  So I sketched a spider over it.

His name is Troy.  I don't know why.  It just is.

Measures about 76" square.  Photographed just before it started raining.

NB: When using very light binding and backing, clean your hang-froms before hanging your quilt from it or all your fears about using a light binding and backing will come true and your efforts to keep your cat off it are all for naught. :-)

Yep, I really love this one.

Sew, Mama, Sew's Giveaway Day: Fabric!

UPDATE:  Giveaway is now closed.  Winners will be announced soon!  Winners have been announced HERE.  Thank you (so much) to everyone who entered - I was greatly entertained by your biographical movie titles and star choices. :-)


Hello, everyone!  This is my first Giveaway Day as a host and I'm so glad you've stopped by.

Today, I am sharing a bit of my stash! I have a Samba Dazzle Fat Quarter Bundle (8 fat quarters!) for you:

and 

a Chrysalis Charm Pack.

All you have to do is answer me this:  If they made a movie about your life, what would the title be and who would you like to play you?

I'll close comments around 6pm CST on Friday, May 25th.

The winner of the FQ Bundle will be randomly selected.  For the charm pack, I will pick my favourite answer so have fun with it!

International entries are welcome!

Important:  If I can't contact you, I can't give you a prize SO please make sure your profile contains an email address or is not set to no-reply.  If you're unsure, please leave your email address in the comment!

Have a great week everyone and thanks for visiting CitricSugar!  For more great giveaways, head back to Sew, Mama, Sew...