Greener Grass Original Picture

Here is my Greener Grass (short for the Grass is Always Greener) original quilt picture from the book, "Save the Scraps". While I think the pink is lovely, I don't have a place for it in my present life.

The blocks are 9" unfinished, and the finished quilt is 64" x 72".

Much to do, not enough time to do it.

~Joan

Another Scrappy Quilt Underway

Here is my latest scrap quilt. While I'm piecing something else (in this case the Mosaic Baby) I always have another scrap quilt in the works (at least partially cut) so that I can use the new units as leader/enders as I piece.

This is from the same book as Another Mosaic and is called Spring Break. I am going to call it The Grass is Always Greener or maybe Greener Grass.

I'll take a pic of the original quilt some time. Where I have green outer triangles, the original has light pink. I don't have pink in my public rooms, so green works for me. Special thanks to my sister for parting with 2 pieces of her lightest green Thimbleberries for me.

Off for a delicious supper...
~Joan

Behold--Bountiful, Beautiful Beef Barley

Hopefully you can see past the reddish-colored oil slick to the barley on the spoon here. This is my first barley-cooking experience. My friend, Diane, sent me a beef/barley soup recipe at my request. We're having this barley-rich food for supper. Did I use "barley" in every sentence? I'll stop now.

I just tried a tiny bowl of this to make sure it is palatable. It is not as thick as many of our favorites, but it is so tasty. BTW, the oil was just a smidgen used to saute the onion, garlic, and celery. Just don't tell my children.

Here's the recipe...

Diane's Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

1/2 lb. lean ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

7 cups water

1 - 14 oz. can chopped tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup Quaker Barley

1/2 cup sliced celery (optional)

1/2 cup sliced carrots

2 beef bouillon cubes

1/2 tsp. basil

1 bay leaf

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 9 ounce pkg. frozen mixed vegetables

Brown ground beef. Add onion and garlic. Cook until onion is tender, drain. Add remaining ingredients except frozen vegetables. Cover, bring to boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 50 min., stirring occasionally. Add frozen veggies; cook 10 min. until veggies are tender. You can add water if it is too thick.

Number of Servings: 12

That was the original recipe. I changed mine just a little bit. I hate, hate, hate canned tomatoes except for sauce, so I subbed an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce for the chopped tomatoes. The ground beef I had in the freezer was already browned, so I just defrosted that and put it in a non-stick skillet. Then I whizzed the garlic, celery, and onion in a food processer and added that to the meat. I sauted the whole she-bang for a few minutes. Then I added the tomato sauce. I dumped it all into a medium-sized crock pot and added the water, spices, and everything else that wasn't already in there. Cooked on high for about 4 hours.

~Joan

This is sweet!

I am posting from my daughter's iPod. She is having her piano lesson. Oh, these are soooo cool.



~Joan

$6.99 Haircut

Worth every penny since I won't need a cut for 3 months now! Here is a rare picture of me.

~Joan

Mosaic Baby and Parker Baby

Every once in a great while I am patient, and sometimes it pays off. The top picture is made from the tiny HSTs left over from my Another Mosaic quilt top. They finish at 1" square. I have a pattern I have wanted to make for some time, but was put off because I'd have to make 60 little tiny 1" finished HSTs with the same background print. I double sewed the corners of the Another Mosaic quilt top, so I just had to square up 60 of them. Ha--like how simple I make that sound?...just square up 60 of them.

So over the last two evenings I pieced the above top. I am calling it Mosaic Baby. The original name of the pattern is Cotton Seeds. It's about 24" square. I am going to hand quilt it and put it somewhere in my home, probably in my sewing/school room.

The bottom picture (below the Mosaic Baby, so named because it is an offspring of the Another Mosaic top) is my first Parker baby. He was worth the wait, too. I'll let you interpret that as you will. It's all good. Isn't he handsome? This is my seldom-seen oldest child. I took this picture for his Facebook profile tonight. I am not a picture-taking mama. But here he is. I am very proud of him. He's a great guy. So many good qualities.

Hope you all have a good evening and enjoy YOUR babies, quilts or otherwise!

~Joan

Another Mosaic Top Finished

Above is my Another Mosaic quilt top. It is not very large. Perfect for a small throw. The close up picture at the bottom shows the border treatment. Makes me think of curtains...which are now window treatments. Anyway...

This is the block that is second from the left in the top-most row.

I already have a quilting design and recipient in mind.

My 3rd daughter had her tonsils out this AM. In addition to the normal pain with such a procedure, she has a nasty deep diagonal cut on her tongue that is puffy. Yikes!

Please be praying for her quick recovery.

~Joan