BOD, Inside Out

I'm not sure if that's a thing or not.

I may have made it up....

But,

In the quilting world

BOM

stands for block of the month,

so I figure BOD

should be block of the day.

Yesterday morning,

worn out from a very long week of going 

and doing

and being around loads of people,

I gave myself permission to chill.

I was just about finished with my coffee

when I read Amanda Jean's Friday post.

I told myself I could click on one link, 

and then I needed to get moving.

(A day off for a momma isn't really a day OFF,

so much as a day of less...)

Well.

That one link I clicked on 

was "Carla @ Creatin' in the Sticks 30 blocks"

Turns out,

the '30 blocks'

was a quilt a long!

30 (super easy) blocks 

in 30 days.

I thought,

I can set up a sewing space!

I can do this!

I'm going to do this!!

I dug around in my tub of vintage sheets

and found one to use for a backing

and then I went to the old house

and pulled 30 fabrics to go with it.

I found a piece of another vintage sheet

to use as my background

(sorta - more on that in a minute)

And the perfect fabric for binding

(California Dreamin' ~squeal~)

I have never been so giddy with a fabric pull before!

Okay;

maybe I have.

But I was pretty happy!

I laid it on the floor to take a picture

then set it on the tv cabinet thing

and every time I passed it,

I smiled.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

I was a little worried about how much background fabric 

I had

(or rather, didn't have)

so I did some basic math,

calculating how many square inches I had

and how many were listed in the fabric requirements.

Turns out I was right.

I didn't have enough.

But I did have enough square inches 

of the background polka dots

to use as the main fabric

if I were doing a 2 fabric quilt,

so I decided I'd make my blocks

inside out.

I cleared a path

and a 3x5 ft space in the library,

and swept the floor.

I brought in our folding camp table

and wiped if off.

I found a chicken work light in the attic

and hung it 

from the hinge of an uninstalled door.

Josiah helped me bring over my machine

and cutting tools,

the daylight lamp,

the little TV tray pressing board,

and my tiny iron.

I excitedly set my fabric stack

next to the newly assigned 'ruler bin'.

I thought about 

how I had planned to sew with leaders and enders

this year

and ran back over to the house to get the box of fabric

I'd set aside for my first L&E project

and set it on the table next the the lamp.

I grabbed a piece of leftover carpet pad

just the right size for standing on while I press and cut

and dropped it on the (sub)floor.

And then 

I cooked dinner.

Real life, People.

After everyone went to bed,

I cut fabric.

And when I got up this morning,

I sewed!

For the first time in over 9 weeks.

😊😊😊

It's not going to be a masterpiece,

but it'll sure be fun!

(I got a little carried away

sewing my leaders/enders

and sewed up all that I'd cut.

So I cut 5 more blocks worth.

And then I sewed those up too)

sewing again

Besides helping Lexi a tiny bit

with the bag she made a few weeks ago

(that I haven't posted about yet.

except in passing)

and some hand-quilting that I squeeze in

here and there

as I can,

I haven't sewn since the morning of January 26th

when I finished up Ribbon Star.

When we first moved into the new house

(early February)

I figured that I'd just sew in the other house

until we got the LEM moved

and I had my own space.

It quickly became apparent that 

that wasn't going to happen.

Firstly,

I was even busier than I'd been.

Turns out building and moving

along with the rest of life,

is even more time consuming 

than building and life.

But also,

without us living in the house

and opening the door 

fifty zillion times a day,

(letting in fresh air, along with the bugs)

it got stale and nasty really quickly

(nastier - it was already plenty nasty)

Add to that, 

it was,

of course,

cold,

and well - 

I had zero desire to spend any more time

than absolutely necessary in that house any more!

I also had no desire to go trashing 

the new house

with my sewing explosions,

so I had already decided that until I had a sewing room,

the only sewing I would do over here

would be by hand.

I love hand - quilting.

Y'all know that.

But the thing about hand quilting is

it's slow

my hands are still giving me grief,

and it doesn't always feel creative.

I'd started announcing

 how many weeks it's been since I've sewed.

I might have even gotten whiny about it.

It's hard to say...

This past weekend,

Tyler said,

"I've been thinking.

You can set up a sewing space in the library."

(The library is unfinished, 

and half of it isn't even built yet

because we can't add the other half of it

until we get the LEM moved into position.

It's also where we keep most of our smaller tools,

the rest of the flooring,

the window casing wood,

doors that have yet to be installed...)

I started to tell him why that wasn't a good idea

when I realized

there really was no reason why that wouldn't work.

Sure - I wouldn't be able to have all of my stuff,

and certainly not all of my fabric,

but I could have a table with a sewing machine on it!

So,

now,

I sew in the library.

😊

Thanks, Love!

creamy jalapeno bacon biscuit bombs

I tried these Sunday evening for our snacky dinner 

and they were a big hit

so I figured I'd type up how I made them,

so I can make them again,

and you can make 'em, too,

if you're so inclined.

I'll try them at some point 

with my favorite low carb bun recipe

 and share the verdict,

but right now,

life is calling for canned biscuits.

I'm not thrilled with that,

but I am well acquainted with my limits,

and let me tell you,

I'm pushing them.

Canned biscuits it is.

And that's okay.

Mix together

8 oz softened cream cheese

about 1/3 - 1/2 cup bacon bits

about 1/4 - 1/3 cup parmesan cheese

2 small-med or 1 large jalapeno, diced small

After it's all mixed,

sorta smooth out the cream mixture

and cut it into eighths.

Pop open your favorite brand of flaky biscuits,

the kind with 8 large biscuits per can.

Smash a biscuit between the palm of one hand

and heel of the other

until your biscuit is about 4-5 inches across

spread 1/8 of your cream cheesy goodness

in the center of your biscuit pancake

and fold the biscuit up around the cream cheese,

pinching it to form a seal

and place on baking sheet

(lined with parchment if you've got some)

Repeat 7 times

Bake in a 350 degree oven about 15 minutes

then sprinkle with grated cheddar

and bake another 10-15 or so minutes more,

'til the biscuits and cheese are golden.

Cool 10 minutes or so before eating

(Honestly, I have no clue if you need to do this.

That's about how long they sat 

while I finished up the rest of the food

and they were scrumptious.

They might be equally delicious piping hot...

I dunno...)

If you happen to have any leftover,

warm it/them up under the broiler

(but not too close)

for about 4 minutes.

big things are happening

It's been kind of a big week here,

with plenty more goodness

(3 birthday parties, a wedding, and of course, Easter!)

still to come in the next few days.

I've been so bad about documenting life , 

that I figured I better pop in and record these 2 3 biggies

lest they fall off my radar

and never end up on the blog.

The biggest bit of news 

is that

Brandon started an engineering internship 

yesterday!!

He is going to continue working 

his tutoring job at the University

through the end of next week,

so his days will be extra extra full.

The other item of great impotance

is

Lexi got to meet quilting guru

Angela Walters!

Angela does The Midnight Quilt Show,

which Lexi just loves.

She's always asking me if there are any new episodes

(incidentally - there is a new one right now

that we haven't had time to watch yet)

and peppers quilting conversations with

'Angela says this or AngelaWalters 

(she says it as if it's one word)

says that'-

and knows Angela's go to quilting thread color.

So, when I learned that Angela Walters

was coming to town,

I figured I best take the girl to see her.

See her, indeed!

Angela was sooo sweet to Lexi. 

talking with her,

encouraging her,

and oohing and aahing over her quilt 

and bag that she made for the occasion

(that she also shared Show and Tell style

in front of a room of over 100 quilters!)

Angela even let her help unpack 

and re-pack her quilts

and Lex' loved being able to see

up close

some of the quilts she's watched Angela make

on the Midnight Quilt Show.

It was a special evening

and I got about a dozen "Thanks, Mom"s

Oh, and another big bit o' news!!

Brandon just (literally - just a minute ago!)

received notification that he has

been named

the Mechanical Engineering Sophomore of the Year.

Awesome, Bud!!

We are so proud of your diligence and persistence!

let's get organized, organized, I want to get organized

(you sang that, right?!)

~

Right about the time we started moving 

stuff

over to the new house,

Tyler said,

"Now you get to focus on your second hobby!"

"Second hobby?" I asked.

"Yeah.

Organizing."

I hadn't really considered organization a hobby,

and

I don't necessarily enjoy  the process,

but I do like things organized...

Because I also like things even

and I knew I wanted a stack of drawers,

I designed 3 32 inch 'sections'

in the 8 ft run of cabinets along the wall in the kitchen.

Which meant I ended up with rather large drawers.

Standard purchased drawer organizers

were out of the question.

They'd be pricey for one thing,

but also too small.

Plus - 

(and perhaps even more important)

what is with drawer organizers being 1 1/2 - 2 inches tall??

What about the other 1 1/2 - 2 inches??

What a waste!

So Tyler and I headed to Lowe's

to figure out what we could use to make our own.

After spending a rather ridiculous amount of time

looking at various options

that didn't seem right,

but almost settling on some of them,

Tyler leaned over into my face

and with Italian hands

asked,

"What do you want?"

What I really wanted was dimensional lumber,

not plywood

(though I was okay with it

 if that was the most affordable option)

but the thinnest dimensional lumber

was nicer than we needed,

still 1/2 inch thick,

and cost more than I wanted to spend.

We considered buying 1x4s and planing them

to about 3/8 of an inch

but that seemed awfully wasteful.

And it was still a more expensive option

than I was wanting.

We were about to just get plywood,

when we split up 

and walked around the lumber area one more time.

I remembered reading about using cheap boards for planking a ceiling

on a remodeling blog a few years ago,

and thought I'd try to find that stuff.

I did find it

(or something like it)

and wouldn't you know it,

(once we ran them through the table saw

and cut off the tongue and groove portions)

they'd be the perfect height,

and they were already 1/3 of an inch thick.

Even better,

there were six 8 ft boards in a package

for $10.97!

I put a piece of kraft paper in what was to be 

the silverware drawer

and marked where(ish)

I wanted the dividers to go.

Over the course of a few evenings,

pieces of my new organization system

just showed up in the drawer

(thanks, Love)

and Friday night, it was finished!!

Isn't it fabulous?!

We only used 1/2 a pack,

so (not including labor 😉)

this custom drawer organizer only cost $5.50.

Everything can stay neat and tidy,

and no losing the top 2 inches of the drawer.

😊

Now all I need to do,

is move the paper to another drawer,

and draw new markings.... ;-)

the heart of the home

Friday the 9th was a big day,

and the day that followed

was pretty much a game-changer

for life as we know it.

The 9th,

was Countertop Day!

And 

Drop in the Sink Day.

And that all went so great,

it quickly turned into

 Add the Exhaust Vent Day.

And

Hook up the Stove 

Day.

After that,

there was no stopping my man.

Saturday,

he added the faucet,

sink plumbing,

and installed the dishwasher.

Suddenly,

we had a working kitchen!

We didn't have to cook and eat in the old house

any more!!!

We went out to eat to celebrate 

😊

The kids and I keep sorting through and bringing things over

and I hurry up take forever

to find *just* the right spot

for everything.

As the cabinets filled up,

 knobs and pulls

rose to the top of the to-do list,

so we tackled that a few days ago.

Slowly but surely,

things are getting done,

and this place is becoming more and more

home.

People. meet my PANTRY

This one was a long time coming.

I bought the boards several weeks ago

(right after we bought the wood to re-do Jeremiah's bed, actually)

and then worried about them getting ruined

before we even had a chance to paint them,
much less use them.

They weren't nailed together yet, but we had the upright and 3 shelves in place, and I was holding it all up
by pushing on the upright, while Tyler was looking at my plans, trying to ascertain what should happen next.
I was bragging about pointing out how great my plans were. I mean, I had even noted which boards needed to be nailed in,
and from which direction, and precisely where those nails should go (to avoid the shelf nailing debacle of early 2018)
I had just finished saying, "I'm so impressive" when, in my expressiveness, I knocked the ladder that was next to me.
The (brand new) little nail gun started falling off the ladder, so I turned to grab it, and stumbled,
and let go of the upright board. All of the shelves came crashing down.
Oh how we laughed and laughed at how very impressive I am 😂😂

I'd chosen MDF

since I'd decided painting would be faster than staining and sealing

and it's cheaper than plywood

and waay cheaper than dimensional lumber

and I'm really just 

ready. to. be. done.

with all this building stuff.

But since it was MDF,

and moisture could ruin it,

we shouldn't keep them in the garage 

with the other wood that's in there

waiting to be used.

And we couldn't paint in the house,

since floors were all finished,

and I didn't really want stacks of boards 

that would have to be moved elsewhere to paint

just laying around in the house

(that is about 40% construction /60% living)

but we aren't ready

to turn the old house into a paint booth

because we still have most of our crap in it.

So. yeah. I worried about my boards.

(Look at me - writing on walls like a real contractor/builder!)
This little guy sent me back to my plan.
My shelf was originally going to be a bout 2 inches lower.

Eventually,

we had 2 warm sunny days,

and on the first one, Tyler primed the boards

and on the second,

I painted them

(and then I laid them all out in the (new) house)

so I could finally start building my pantry!

Which would take

- like, a day -

right?!

You would think.

But you would be wrong.

I had wanted to use galvanized conduit for my upright shelf supports. We were going to cut
circular grooves in both the bottom and top of the shelves to hold the pipe in place, like we
did for the stair railing. But then we started worrying that all of them stacked on top of each
other, with the weight of loaded down shelves might cause the metal to cut into the shelves
further, so we decided no conduit.  I didn't want to go with 1x2s, because I already had the
image of  beefier supports. I thought about painting fat dowel rods silver, but I didn't want faux
metal and I didn't want stained dowels, 'cuz that just seemed weird. I decided I'd split a 2x4
in half.    The only 2x4 we had in the garage that wasn't being used to support concrete, was
one that the painters had used when they were spraying clear varnish on cabinet shelves. In
order for the board to take the stain, I had to get rid of the varnish. I sanded a ton, but obviously
didn't get it all sanded off. Which was fine, because we decided we actually really like it that way.

The pantry shelves
took me almost the whole dang week!

And the only reason they are done,

and I am typing this up,

instead of still building right now,

is beacuse

Tyler took the afternoon off work yesterday

to be with me.

And since I was building my pantry,

well,

he helped.

😄

And now it's done!

(except for the 2 dowel rods I need to purchase)

(what is it with me forgetting to purchase dowel rods??)

and I am so, SO tickled with it.