Happy Spring!

I  finished the stitching of the cat needlepoint in Middle School when I was about 12 years old.  I'm turning 54 this year - you can do the math on that one, ha ha

As a girl we always had pretty Siamese cats.

The kit was given to me by grandfather for Christmas about a month after he passed away.  I always wanted him to paint me a cat portrait, but he found it very difficult as he mostly painted landscapes.

I am so happy with how sweet it turned out.

I also had the Ridgewood Needlepoint Shop block this needlepoint that my mother, Cathy, finished before she died sometime before she died.  So that's been more than 25 years now.

 I will have it framed.  It seems like a perfect fit now that I live in New England.

 Here are my top picks from the AQS Lancaster Quilt Show.  You can see all the winners by clicking here.

On Monday we woke up to a lovely spring snow it was completely melted by sundown.

I've been doing a little house construction while watching House of Cards.  I'm so looking forward to teaching a Liberated House workshop in Texas next month.   I forgot how fun these were to make.

My blog friend, Diane, of Butterfly Threads has published her first book.  Congratulations Diane; it is fabulous!  She sent me a copy and a cute mug rug in preparation of participating in her blog hop.  I have the lucky spot of being the Caboose on the fun train.

Here is the blog hop dates and websites.  Hop around and try your luck at winning a book and visiting these great blogs.

3/21    C&T Blog http://www.ctpub.com/blog/
with Diane (that’s me) http://www.butterflythreadsquilting.com
3/22    Bonnie Hunter http://quiltville.blogspot.com/
3/23    Lori http://humblequilts.blogspot.com/
3/24    Karen http://nanagirlquilts.blogspot.com/
3/25    Audrey http://quiltyfolk.blogspot.com/
3/26    Pat Sloan http://blog.patsloan.com/
3/27    Valerie http://myplvl.blogspot.com/
3/28    Kelly http://pinkadotquilts.blogspot.com/
3/29    Victoria Findlay Wolfe http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com/
3/30    Rachaeldaisy http://bluemountaindaisy.blogspot.com/
3/31    Angie http://quiltingcrescent.blogspot.com/
4/1       Julie http://quiltjewelry.blogspot.com/
4/2       Barb Www.funwithbarb.com

I'll end the post today with the deal of the week - a fun Dog with Glasses shopping bag from TJMaxx.  99 cents.  All that cuteness for under a buck.

Happy Hump Day!
xo

Blizzard Juno came a callin'

Hello!  well, we got hit with the Blizzard Juno late Monday into Tuesday.

Here are some images taken on Tuesday morning:

There was some drifting around the window feeder.  There is a bird there, lol.

 The birds are feeding at about knee level.

 coco took one look at the drift at the front door and turned right around.

All that fluffy white snow reminded me of vanilla frosting.  So I whipped this up. A lot of people worry about having bread and milk when a storm is coming, not me.

After some snow shoveling, we shoveled this into our mouths.

 I also made my absolutely favorite soup: African Chicken Peanut Soup.  I'll put the recipe at the bottom of the post.  Thanks to Pauline for the recipe!

 The only sewing I've done is make a little mug rug from a reject block.

Thank you Doreen for making me a Album Quilt Diagram box for my sidebar of the Alice Payne blocks!   I'm working on.  Check out Aunt Reen's Place blog for her ongoing and finished projects.

Thanks to everyone who ordered stencils.  I quickly sold out of the Large Fans, but have them on reorder.

So I get now why they call it a "kitchen table" company.

Thank you for playing my guess the pattern of my Asian Challenge quilt. The key with this one is that I pulled the solid colors from the Asian print, then I used the color once on the inner border and once on the outer border.  There is one red herring in that I didn't reuse the orange.   It was a simple one, but sometimes antique quilts have really complicated patterns.  Next time you see a scrap quilt you really like, try and figure out why.

Congrats to CecileD - the potholder is going off to France!!  Maybe it will get invited to fondu.

I hope you are all safe and warm and enjoying the quiet gifts of winter (or a warm summer in Australia).


African Chicken Peanut Soup

1 1/2 cups cubed peeled sweet potato
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
2 cups cooked chicken
1 cup salsa
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 16 oz cans chicken broth
2 15 oz healthy choice chicken with rice soup (undiluted)
1 15 oz can black beans, drained
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (I use about 1/2 cup, cause I like it)

sauté sweet potato, onion, garlic and jalapeño for 5 mins in a dutch oven in a little olive oil over med/high heat.

Stir in chicken and rest of ingredients except peanut butter.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer.

Put the peanut butter in a bowl, then add a few ladles of hot soup and mix well.  This will temper it, then add it back to the pot, stir and heat another 2 mins and serve.

recipe from my friend Pauline (who was born, raised and lived in Africa for most of her life).