Tuesday!

Not much to report today. I am posting from my sons computer because I am too lazy to go downstairs to get mine! And all my pictures are on my computer.... I spent most of the day at the longarm machine. Which was very nice, I find I get a little crabby when I am away from it for too long. And the boys cleaned the house! ( well at least the part you can see!)
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So - the reason for the no picture post - I made this soup - it is from the crockpot365 lady. It was absolutely wonderful for us... and it made a lot ( always a plus) so I thought I would share. I think it will be great in the fall and winter too!

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2009/06/crockpot-baked-potato-soup-recipe.html

I did not serve it with bacon or onions - simply because we ate it all... but I did use cheddar and parmesan cheese. And I made the chicken broth myself... ( impressed aren't you?)
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Have a great night!! off to put my feet up and probably fall asleep!

Quilts and the Weekend

This Lovely Quilt was made by Lyn H of Colorado. She is in my quilt guild. It was quilted by Julie in Colorado . It is really a neat quilt - I like how all the strips turn and twist!

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The next two quilts came from Stephanie over in Windsor. This is only the first two that she gave to us for the soldier.

The Log Cabin one sort of surprised me, I could really see a color pattern emerge when I took the picture, but the sumlight had muted it. The darked it got in the house the more pronounced the colors became. I was intrigued!

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And just to prove that my kids still let me hang out with them... I took the picture! We went up into the mountains and went camping. Tent Camping... on a hard ground, and it got cold ( are you feeling sorry for me yet?)

Actually it was a lot of fun and just a beautiful place! I took over 100 pictures - I was shocked. Truly beautiful country. The kids all caught fish and they tasted good in the crisp mountain air... plus we were starving!!

I guess it is back to real life now... Laundry and cooking and that stuff.

Quilt of Valor Sew Along Step One

Step One:
Take your 61 Dark 1 1/2 inch Strips and your 61 Light 1 1/2 Inch Strips and sew them together using a 1/4 inch seam. I tried to time me, to see how long it takes - but I am one of those that sew for 15 minutes then have to go do a chore, and then come back. And I lost track of time.

Press them. I always press them to one side, not open. But that is your choice.

And then you have this lovely pile of strip sets.

Will this keep you busy for a week?

Its Starting Again (yay)

Seriously folks - you have got to love being me!! I have been so blessed by all you quilters and your support of our Quilts of Valor - No Soldier Forgotten project... it just makes my day!

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My son says - Mom its starting again huh? We have had packages delivered each day for the last 3 days. And I got to meet up with some Quilt Delivery angels. So last night was a photo session... be prepared! My LongArm Quilting angels have been working tirelessly over the summer too!

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So the first quilt on the right. Can we say WOW? Was made by Gwen L of Denver, and quilted by Pat R of Peyton CO. Pat thank you - you did a beautiful job!!

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The second quilt was made by Lou M of Keenesburg CO, and Quilted by Pat as well. Lou is a retired Vietnam Vet, and when she heard about what we were doing so just couldn't wait to make a quilt. Thank you ladies!

Next - Kerin in MO has been extremely busy! And in my computer move I have lost her email addy. I am sure it is in here somewhere.... but I think I need my kids to show me where they went! Anyways Kerin made these two Log Cabin beauties. They are wonderful.

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And they came in these nifty bags that she made. She was wondering about them, so I asked the boys and WM what they thought - COOL was the response. So there you have it Kerin- they are winners!! I love them and the embroidery - nice touch!!

It is nice to be me! Tomorrow will be the first instructions on our QOV Sew Along, so don't forget to come back. Plus you will want to see the rest of the "packages" I recieved!!

Miracles Quilts of Valor

My friend Jess works at a place called Miracles. She teaches quilting, and gets lots of people involved. Most of the ladies that she works with have never sewn before. She helps find the fabrics, and teaches them from start to finish. I have visited her a few times and most of the ladies seem to be in the 18-35 age range. ( Jess if I am wrong - sorry)
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These two quilts were made by them and my sweet quilter friend Cathie in Utah quilted them up for us. She did a beautiful job.








The quilt to the right - with the person in it, was delivered to the Cheyenne VA for a special soldier who returned from Iraq. I somehow got hooked up with the Liason there and we talked. They are pretty well taken care of by some Wyoming quilters. That totally made me proud - that we are taking care of so many soldiers! Anyways this was the quilt I chose to deliver up there and it was a quilt made by Miracles ladies too.

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I had an angel on my shoulder today. We had to go to town for an orthodontist appt, and on the way stopped in my small town at the Post Office. My car seemed to be driving fine. As we were stopped at the stop light ( you need to know this is THE ONLY stoplight) the man behind me honked and got out. He ran up and said your tire is flat. I thought I had left the trunk open. But he was right - the tire was dead flat. Sweet people in our small town - backed up so I could flip a U and get into the gas station to air up the tire. Had it not been for him I probably would have driven the 20 miles on a flat tire. Instead we fixed it and were back on our way.

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Hope you all have a good one... and that you are cutting up your strips and squares....

County Fair Results

My Youngest boy isn't old enough to be in 4-H yet, so he made his quilt and entered into the open classes. He got first place in his age group, and second place in the first timers competition. He was VERY excited! He used Star Wars , Blue Flames and Blue fabrics.

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Son number 2 entered his quilt thru 4-H and won first place in his age group, then Grand Champion overall. They selected his quilt to go down to the State Fair at the end of August. Of course, he really doesn't want it to, because he wants to use it RIGHT now!! His quilt was made out of Super Hero fabrics, and Red and Blue Flames.

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Son number three also won his age group, and got Reserve Champion. He made his quilt of Camo fabrics, and then put Air Force fabric on the back. The judge thought that the backing didn't coordinate with the quilt front, until he explained why. That he helps make Quilts of Valor for soldiers, and that Air Force is his favorite college. I am not sure she completely agreed, but then I told him - we listen and take her comments to heart, and also realize that it is our quilt and this one was ultimately made for him. If he wants to make a true competition piece, he should pay very close attention to what she is saying. Made sense at the time ;-)

While we were there at the fair they had a lot of neat activities going on. One of them was a hot air balloon. We all got to take a little ride in it, and

the last ride of the day happened to be when Wrangler Man , oldest son, and I were in the basket. So the Ballooneer let me help him take the balloon down. This picture is from me sitting in the basket as we are tipping it over to lay the balloon down. It was really cool!

Susan and Janet

This wonderful Heartstrings Quilt is made by Susan - of the Aprons for Afghanistan (http://apronsforafghanistan.blogspot.com)

fame. She sent it on to Janet in CA - and she quilted it and bound it... and now it is ready for a soldier!

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It is really striking. It got a lot of ohhs and ahhs in my family.

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If you haven't checked out the Heartstrings group - head on over there.... http://heartstringsquiltproject.com This group = boy can they get the quilts done!!

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This is my first post from my new computer, and new upgraded explorer.. and I tell ya, nothing is the same. Apparently the world kept moving on after I purchased my 2000 computer, and I did not keep up. Due to some flickering on my other computer Wrangler Man and the boys escorted me to Best Buy. I asked all the dumb questions to the tech people while my family hid. I think they can only take so much embarrasment in one day.

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Yesterday I learned what an external Memory was, and how to use it.... and I did! I even learned how to transfer some files with a stick. Tomorrow I am promised that they will help me move my Electric Quilt stuff... any suggestions? I don't want to lose any of the patterns that I have made.

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Hope you all are cutting well....

Zu-Queenie

Wrangler Man is a BIG Gardener. He has plants all over the place. Which is good - cuz we all like to eat. The boys got in on the garden this year. And we are harvesting zucchini - a lot of it. So I have become the Queen of Zucchini.... therefore the Zu-Queenie!!

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First - the spelling of that word just looks wrong... but I googled it... so it has to be right? Right?
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So - Heres the first night of Zucchini.

Baked Potato and Zucchini packets.
For each person wash and dice a potato. Dice a small zucchini. In a piece of foil - spray with Pam - mine were about 9 x 12.
Put 1 diced potato, a handful of zucchini and 2 pats of butter. I also added a little Garlic salt.
Wrap them up - put them in the preheated 350deg oven and cook for 40 minutes.
We ate them right out of the packet.

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Night 2
Zucchini Lasgana - sort of
~ 1 Zucchini
~ 1 Pound ground beef
~ 1 jar spaghetti sauce
~ small cottage cheese ( I could have used more - this is all I had in the house)
~ Grated Mozzerella Cheese
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I washed and peeled a Zucchini, then sliced it into rounds. Layed them on paper towels and sprinkled with salt. I left them for about 30 minutes. I am thinking an hour would have been ideal. A lot of the moisture seeps out into the paper towels. ( it was a cool sciencey type thing)
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I browned a pound of ground beef ( okay mine was venison - no fat at all)
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I took a 9 x 12 pan and put spaghetti sauce in the bottom - just enough to cover it. Layered Zucchini, ground beef, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, pasta sauce, Zucchini, Ground beef, cottage cheese. Then I poured the rest of the spaghetti sauce on top. Put about 3 cups of shredded mozzerella cheese .
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Baked at 350 for 45 minutes.
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It was yummy and a little juicy. But awesome for me - it was an easy Gluten free meal.

Night 3
Fried Zucchini

I diced a peeled Zucchini. In a fry pan I heated up 2 Tbsp of Vege oil, stuck the Zukes in and fried them till soft. I served it with scrambled eggs, and bacon. Worked for us.

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I have 3 more Zucchinis in the house, I will have to pretend I know what I am doing and see what else I can make with them. I am thinking I might try a bread - but I have to bake Gluten Free bread - and it is not always successful following the recipe exactly. I am not sure about adding some crazy ingredients. Any body use Zucchini in a creative way?
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This was one of my brave excursions into public this summer. Wrangler Man and I went to a Big and Rich concert. It was fun, it was crazy... and it was LOUD!! Who knew?

But heres proof I was there....

Quilt of Valor Sew Along Cutting Instructions

As you all know - I am really into using up my patriotic pieces and making more Quilts of Valor. And it is working! I contacted a nationally known designer and asked if it was possible to use her design as a Mystery Sew Along.... and she said YES! It is a copyrighted pattern, and it belongs to her. This designer and the name of the pattern will be revealed at the end of the sew along. If you figure it out - keep it to yourself, as I will hold a drawing to see if you can guess - and there will be a prize!!
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So here we go: My cutting instructions are for scrappy - but I will try to give you an equivalent in FQ's or yardage. Using yardages you may have some leftovers.





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Cutting Instructions:

You need:

61 1 1/2 inch by 11 inch strips in a Dark. ( I used Reds in mine)
61 1 1/2 inch by 11 inch Strips in a Light. ( I used Creams and whites)

* You can get 24 - 11 inch strips per fat quarter - so by using FQ's you would use 2 1/2 FQ's for each color

61 2 1/2 inch Squares in a Light ( I used Creams and white)
244 2 1/2 inch squares in a Dark ( I used Reds)

* you can get 56 2 1/2 squares per FQ. I think you could use one for the white and use the leftovers of strip cutting to make up the next 5 square for the lights.
* for the Darks you would need 5 FQ's.

30 7 1/4 inch Squares in a Light ( again I used Creams and Whites)
30 7 1/4 inch Squares in a Dark ( I used Navy... It is peaking out under the whites in my photo)

* you can get 6 squares per 44 inch long strip of fabric. So you would need 5 strips ( 44 inches long) or 37 inches of each color.

So... are you excited?

Shall I post the clues weekly? Thats what I am thinking - especially since it is still summer.

Horses

Monday was the horse show day. We ( and by we -please know that I am referring to Wrangler Man and the 2 oldest boys. I had to hold hands with the little boy - yep - thats true!!) cleaned and washed up the horses. Made them all pretty again. They had already been washing them and keeping them as pretty as you can on a dirt ranch!
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They got the horses all pretty - then they worked on dressing themselves all up. The Horse Show definition of Cowboy wear is a little different than our torn jeans, t-shirts, and baseball caps. But the kids cleaned up nice.

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K - the middle son was working so hard with his mare, and she was really relaxed - until they got into the show ring. She immediately became a buckethead. He did so well with her though. She knocked his hat off. He was calm and cool and waited for someone to bring it back to him. After the mare had stepped on it. She was missing her partner who was waiting to come into the next class.

We think that maybe we should take the horses out more. They

were amazed at all the other horses out there! Barbie - thats the mare - didn't realize there was life off the ranch. Hmmm - sounds familiar!!

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And speaking of horses - look at this cool quilt. It is a Quilt of Valor that was made by Willa in Livermore. Joanne in IA quilted it for us - and it is just gorgeous!! Thanks ladies!

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Hope you all are having a great day. Do you have your rotary cutters all ready? Do you have a pile of Light and Dark Scraps handy? Only 2 more days until the cutting instructions are up!!