Jingle Bird: Block 3 and 4

Progress continues on the Jingle Bird quilt. Block 3 is a little pot with leaves coming out of it and of course a bird!

Block 4 was originally just supposed to be the vines and leaves and little round fruit things, but then I thought - why not add a bird! This is going to a real bird lover, so my motto is when in doubt, add a bird.

I'm going to be setting this project aside over the holidays, and will pick it back up in the new year. I have four more blocks to go - it's actually taking me way less time than I thought it would to make these!

Friday Finish: Christmas Embroidery

I bought this pattern from a woman in France. I just really loved the way she used lines and textures to create this nativity scene, plus it's fun to get stuff in the mail from France! It stitched up very quickly, and I gave it to my godmother as a thank you for the annual christmas luncheon at W.A.Frosts that she hosts every year.

Christmas Ornaments

I fell in love with Larissa Hollands Twelve Days of Christmas felt ornament patterns last year, and bought the first 6 days (Partridge and a Pear, Turtle Dove, Colly Bird, French Hen, Gold Ring, and Goose-a-Laying). I managed to make the Partridge and a Pear for an ornament exchange at work, and loved how it turned out, but then got sidetracked with other things.

When this year's holiday season rolled around, I knew I wanted to work on more of these, so I've been hard at it, going back to my Partridges and Pears. I made three of each since I wanted to for sure have a pair for me, and then some extras for whoever. Ornaments are a pretty big thing in my family - I know these will find homes without a problem!

I have the pieces cut out for the Turtle Doves next, and am hoping to complete the Colly Birds as well before Christmas.

Recipe Time: Goulash

https://www.theseasonedmom.com/grandmas-one-pan-hamburger-helper/

I haven't been able to get much sewing done this week, so it's time for a recipe posting instead! This one is courtesy of my friend Angela, who found this when she googled "What to make with hamburger". The official title of this is called "Grandmas One Pot Hamburger Helper", but Hamburger Helper has never been very appealing to me, so I'm renaming this one Goulash.

It seems that every family in MN has a Goulash recipe (none of which bear any resemblance to the real dish from Hungary). They all involve pasta, tomato sauce and meat. My mom's version was made with venison from my dad's annual deer hunt, and ketchup. No offense to my mom, but I've just never really craved her goulash, so I'm happy to now have my own version.

This is one of those easy skillet dinners that come together in about 20-30 minutes, no muss-no fuss. I did make a few changes to the original inspiration recipe, so I'm just reprinting my version below.

Goulash - Serves 4

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 c. water
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 c. dried pasta (you can use elbow noodles, or whatever spiral shape you want. I used egg noodles)
• 1/2 c. tomato paste (or whatever's in one of those small cans)
• 1 t. chili powder
• 1 T. worcestershire sauce
• Dash of hot sauce
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 c. shredded cheese (cheddar, colby, whatever)

Saute the beef, onion and garlic in a large skillet until browned. Drain and add the water, broth and seasonings. Bring to a boil and simmer. This has to simmer for a total of 20 minutes, so when you add your pasta depends on how long it has to cook for. For instance, my egg noodles needed to cook for 8 minutes, so I added them after the sauce had been simmering for 12 minutes already. Keep an eye on the liquid levels - if it looks too dry, add more water or broth and if it looks to soupy, turn up the heat and boil it a little longer. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle on the cheese and serve. 

Endless Summer

Over the weekend I cut fabric for two new projects. I've had the "ingrediants" for this quilt called "Endless Summer" for awhile now, and I was attracted to the fun bright colors during what has been a very grey dull month here in Minnesota.

My other new project, the Jingle Bird quilt, is all applique and no actual piecing, so it's been fun to put this together using good old Half Square Triangles and Flying Geese units. The quilt is made up of two different types of blocks, and I've finished all of the one kind using prints. The next block is made up of all solids and looks a little different, and I'll start working on those this week.

Christmas Sewing

My sister asked me to sew her a christmas-tree skirt, which was a fun quick project. I cut two circles out of different christmas fabrics, sandwiched them with batting, and quilted the whole thing in a stipple. I bound it using bias binding so it would fit around the curves. It turned out really cute, and my sister liked that it's reversible so if she gets sick of one side, she can flip it over and enjoy the other.

Her boyfriend's cat Bacchus also likes it.

Friday Finish: Cross Stitch

I don't really post much about my cross-stitch projects, aside from when I finish something. There's really not much to say about cross-stitch. It's boring to write about, and they take forever to complete, so it doesn't make for very exciting reading.

That being said, I pretty much always have a cross stitch or embroidery project going. I like to work on them while I'm watching TV since it makes me feel like less of a lazy bum. This one I started way back in 2012, put it away for a few years, and dug it out last month to finally finish it up. I always lose interest once the fun parts are done and it's just fiddly stitches here and there or outlining, which gets old really fast.

I need to start making pillows out of these or something. People are cuckoo for needlepoint pillows - why not cross stitch pillows!