There have been treats for parties.

We’ve been walking under the blooms.

I found the most amazing button card.

Someone got to make a wish.

I lost my will power in the Easter clearance aisle.

Today I’m working on basting  a lap quilt that I’m hoping to have done by the end of the week.

This quilt by Amy Smart became my jumping off point.

Both the Union and American flags are pieced according to their official sizes.

Three of the American flags have 13 stars that have been hand appliqued.

The flags were my starting point and from there I looked to history for my next step.  I loved the idea of a central motif surrounded by border upon border as seen in quilts from the late 1700′s to early 1800′s.  Unfortunately by the time I came up with this plan, my panel of flags was too wide to have all that extra border on the sides.

Things like this tend to happen when you plan as you sew.

So I went with bands at the top and bottom.  This book cover gave me the idea to make rows of off kilter flying geese.

I kept the feel of the historic quilts by adding corner blocks to the borders.

A red star in each corner that was closest to the flags and then Union shields on the corners of the flying geese rows.

Here’s the completed quilt top.

Did I mention it’s huge!  We had to bring it outside for a picture and call in our neighbor for an assist.

I’ve sent it off to my aunt to long arm and I can’t wait to see it when it’s done.

That’s what lulu calls them. When I tell her I’m making them she jumps around shouting for joy. Fingers crossed she is always that easy to please.

fried bocconcini

1 container of bocconcini (mini mozzarella balls)

1/2 cup flour in shallow dish

3 eggs beaten in separate dish

2 cups panko crumbs in another shallow dish

salt

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon oregano

oil for frying (I use peanut or canola depending on what I find in my pantry)

Get your oil heating. I use my stock pot to fry these so there’s less splattering. Just pour a couple of inches of oil in the pan, along with a deep-fat thermometer and while the oil is heating you can prep the cheese.

Mix the salt, thyme, and oregano into the panko and set aside.

Drain the cheese and place on plate lined with paper towels and roll the bocconcini around to dry them off.

Dredge the cheese in the flour.

Then dip in the egg mixture to coat and roll in panko crumbs. I usually leave mine in the panko dish until I’m ready to fry.

When your oil is a 360 degrees you can start frying. I find cooking them in two batches works best. It takes about 45 seconds to 1 minute for each batch. The are best eaten right away, which really isn’t a problem. I like mine with a warm marinara, but lulu loves to eat them with ketchup. I’m considering enrolling her in a 12 step program for her ketchup addiction.

broke me down to my knees

broke me to the point I was weeping on friend’s shoulder right in the middle of the hallway of my children’s school

broke me

for just a moment

Let me tell you the truth

I’m worn.

Autism sucks

Being a constant advocate takes its toll

What if there’s something I missed?  What if that one little thing I didn’t do could have been the one thing that meant this wouldn’t have happened?

The thing about autism is that it seems I can’t fix it

I’ve spent so many years thinking I could figure out the code.  Thinking that somewhere out there was the answer and I would find it.  Try this or that or that…maybe this…or that…

there’s no single answer

what works one day, doesn’t another

Ultimately it comes down to me to help this boy navigate his way through our world…

Here we are, all these years later

Everything I’ve tried and here we are

I have learned that if you cry too much in a 24 hour period, your eyelids will swell to the point it will hurt to blink.

So here I am at a low point trying to find the bit of hope that will give me the strength to stand up and carry on like everything is just fine.

As I was told the other day, my hands are full.

damn straight

But, I will pick up and move on.  You see, that’s what we all do.  We carry on.  We have to.

There’s some talk out there about reality and blogs and I say this…

write what you want, it’s your show.

Know that no person is perfect.  No person’s life is solely sunshine and daisies, but now and then we all get sunny day to pick a bouquet.

If you go around comparing your life to what you see on blogs you might just drive yourself mad.

Wouldn’t it be more fun to bake yourself a cake?

As for me, I think some people misinterpret what I do and why I do it.  Yes, I love food baked from scratch instead of some cake baked who knows where…Yes, I like to nap under handmade quilts instead of some store bought poly-blend blanket…Yes, I like to sit at home and knit on a Friday night.

Do you know why?

Because, nine times out of ten, things like flour, eggs, butter, fabric, thread, and yarn all do what I ask them to do.

If they don’t, I can fix it.

The pattern is from Knitting New Mittens & Gloves by Robin Melanson.

I’ve been working away at the giant flag quilt

I love my  mini iron.

I also noticed this while brushing my teeth this morning…

Downton withdrawl is hitting hard this week.

Somehow between the pantry and the fridge I was able to together and on the table in time.

When my herbs are growing, I’m going to try this with dill instead of the parsley.  I’m thinking this would also be great with cooked chicken in place of the salmon, cubed pieces of butternut squash in place of the peas, and crumbled sage for the herb.

pasta with cream sauce and whatever

10 ounces of pasta (I used farfalle)

2 Tablespoons and 5 Tablespoons of butter divided

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup heavy cream

1 can cooked salmon

1 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese (divided into half)

nutmeg

parsley

Cook the pasta in salted water for 10 – 12 minutes.  Drain.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, melt 2 Tablespoons butter, stir in frozen peas and cook until tender.  (5 minutes or so)

Add remaining butter and cream and stir occasionally.  When the mixture is warm, add salmon and one half cup of the parmesan.  Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Let the sauce simmer for a couple of minutes and then add drained pasta.

Stir in remaining cheese and herbs.

Set the table it’s time to eat.

It’s going to be king sized which, to be honest, makes me hyper ventilate, but I’m working through it.

Here’s what I have so far.

I’m bringing brownies for everyone to snack on.  The recipe can be found here, but I used 1 teaspoon of mint extract in place of the espresso powder.

I’ve been sewing, honest, I have.  I’ve been sewing so much that a lot of other things have been thrown by the wayside.  Important things like taking pictures of projects and writing posts and ironing.

I’m doing surprisingly well at keeping up with my 365.

These are a couple of photos from February.

I’m also following along with Faith’s Solstice series over at Fresh Lemons Quilts.

Here’s what I have so far…

I’m loving how they are coming together.