taking a break...

to order some solids swaps, bee blocks, etc.

They won't be used together...



But wouldn't they make a tremendous quilt?

Maybe for my month over here...

Off to design a scavenger hunt.

on your mark, get set...

I've got two weeks to turn this into a quilt.

















(Give It a) Go.

oh, fransson's trash...

is most certainly my treasure.  Sometime before Christmas, Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson cleaned out her fabric closet and put together ten packages of "outgrown" fabric for her etsy shop.  So much good stuff in this box of awesomeness (some that I've always wanted, and some that I wouldn't have bought but am glad to have...): Amy Butler, Kokka, Heather Ross (both Far, Far, Away and Munki Munki martians), Tula Pink, Lizzy House, Erin Michael's Lush...and on and on.  And a fat quarter of the exact AMH print that I need for the lining of a bag I've had in my mind since November. I can only imagine the fabric she actually kept! 

A great and unexpected thing: lots of sizes.  A huge stack of big pieces (including a bunch of fat quarters):





















A few small squares:

















And lots and lots (and lots!) of 2 inch-ish strips--more than this, even--

















This was the best part.  I'm thinking about some kind of strip quilt where I just sew together pieces from the stack and see where it goes.

My favorite piece: a tiny square of this (Kokka?) print.

















Just look at that squirrel!  And that hedgehog!  And the bluebird on the mushroom!!  Definitely destined to become something special for my critter-loving little critter. Not sure exactly what, yet, but it's definitely going into the special pile.  This box was such a great way for me to build my fabric stash--and now there's no denying it--once the basement (and therefore my "studio") is habitable, I'll need to plan out some system for keeping track of what I've got, sorting scraps, and all that good stuff.  The fun kind of organizing!

In keeping with today's theme...great friends of ours are moving to Phoenix this week, and last night I went shopping from their fridge--all the stuff that can't be taken across the country but is perfectly good and so would have gone to waste.  I came home with this (plus two more bags of cleaning products, etc.):

















and it fits perfectly into my self-imposed freezer & pantry raid for the month of January.  I'm following along with this challenge (other favorite bloggers are playing along, too) and my goals are these: 1) a $100 budget for the month, 2) no meat or starches in the grocery cart until I've used up everything we already own, and 3) only one "lazy" (unplanned) restaurant meal.

I did a good stock-up on some pantry staples last week (still within our regular grocery budget), and we were the lucky recipients of a huge box 'o meat (ham, turkey breast, bacon, chicken breast) at Christmas time, so that should definitely help.  We'll see if we can make it the whole month buying only fruits, veggies, and dairy.  Even if not, it'll definitely be interesting.

so, so excited!

I am so thrilled with my birthday present...two FQ stacks from AMH.  Now, to gear myself up to actually cut into them, and then to decide what to make.  The home dec weight is a really nice, weighty fabric; perfect for one of these?  Speaking of which, I really hope the "big project" she's been working on is a book, because I miss her blog, and that would at least be something worth the break.

As an aside, I tried a new recipe for dinner tonight; I used chops rather than tenderloin, but everything else was the same.  We also skipped the sauce because I have a thing about cooking a marinade, even though I know that when it's boiled for so long at such a temperature, blah blah blah, it's safe--but the only thing I can think of when I'm eating it is what if that bite had the one remaining bacterium from the meat?  So it was sauceless, which may have been why I actually didn't like it that much.  But I include it because I took some photos, and am realizing I have much to learn about the art of food photography, like you find here or here or here.  It's a goal.  So here's the pork:

or, here's the pork:

I think my favorite photo is the second; though it's messier (including sippy cup), it's more interesting than a blob of meat on a plate, especially when my camera skills are in the just-starting-out-with-a-point-&-shoot realm.

Served with cheese rice (maybe should be called rice au gratin, but my mom always called it cheese rice and that's what I call it too); kind of retro, I hope, because it's the only side dish to be eaten with pork in my opinion.  At least I added broccoli.  And we had a baguette from some real French nuns, via the farmer's market (it's Thursday, team!).  My nun today wasn't very friendly, but she gave me a break on a chocolate croissant, so I liked her just the same.

On the docket tonight...a season premiere and some knitting.  Our TiVo had better get himself warmed up--it's that time of year again.