San Francisco Highlights #2

 My FAVORITE part of the trip was the sailing trip!

mimosas

It was a bit cold & foggy going out to the Golden Gate Bridge

Look how bundled up the  first mate/bartender is!

The sun came out an we enjoyed the rest of the sailing trip

Bay Bridge

CUTE!

Did some shopping at Pier 39

Painted Ladies shown at the beginning of Full House

Birthday Girl

Pet Portraits

Had too much fun last night at Corks N Canvas!  This was by far a much better experience than my first painting of a pair of pears a couple of years ago.  My friend Tasha was so nice to join me at this class and paint a portrait of Reggie.

Original Pictures - Reggie (cat) and Samson (dog)

I was very concerned when I arrived and found the sketch drawing of the animals.  I didn't think we'd be able to paint anything that would remotely look like them.



Ta Da!



San Francisco Highlights #1

My first week back to work after vacation was CRAZY so I'm just getting around to posting pictures from my vacation.

This was my first trip to the west coast and it was AH-MAZING!  My friend Tasha & I planned this trip around her 30th birthday.  We arrived Thursday night and had a late dinner at Medjool in the Mission District. Then we toasted our arrival on the roof top bar with beautiful views of the city.

Friday morning we took a motorized cable car tour of the city for a quick introduction to the city.  We went across the Golden Gate Bridge and were treated to a clear view of the city.

And did a bit of sightseeing

Lombard Street

Coit Tower

China Town

And had a few treats

Ghirardelli Chocolate Sundae

My favorite - an Irish Coffee

We visited the Buena Vista for the Irish Coffee.  Click here for the story of the world famous Irish Coffee and even the recipe for drink.

Basically, you add sugar cubes to the bottom of the glass, add coffee and stir

Add liquor

Then add cream

Delicious!

WIP Wednesday #6

I'm so disappointed.  My long arm quilting class this weekend was postponed (until an unknown later date).  I had to reschedule for the mid-August class at the New Orleans location.  Ugh!  SO FRUSTRATING!!! So it'll be another month before I can start finishing my quilts.  (Guess that may be a good thing, since I don't really have any finished quilts to quilt right now.

Current Projects:

Kaleidoscope Quilt Along

Somewhat getting caught up on this project.  All blocks are sewn together.  Now I just have to press them.  Maybe I'll finish the blocks tonight.

Here are the few completed blocks.  Next, I'll need to arrange them and sew each block together.  

BOM Paris in the Fall Quilt - still no REAL progress.  I began working on the borders.

This picture shows the only pieces I have left. Why can't I finish this?  Is it because I don't want my first BOM to end?

Down & Across Lap Quilt - started piecing the strips in sets of 3.  All sets of 3 are complete.  I now need to purchase more dark fabric for the vertical columns.

Projects on hold (one's that I've forgotten about)
1. Quilt for my niece - Moda Bake Shop Snuggly Layer Cake Throw
         a.  cut and sew borders
         b.  basting
         c.  quilting
         d.  binding

2. Quilt for Aunt/Uncle #1 - Carousel Lap Quilt - Kim Schaeffer's Cozy Modern Quilts
    Still need to figure out what fabric I've purchased for this one

Goals for this upcoming week.
1.  Finish pressing Kaleidoscope blocks and arrange them.
2.  Revisit Paris in the Fall BOM - FINISH the borders!!!
3.  Purchase dark fabric for Down & Across.

Projects on my Radar
Happy Hauntings Block of the Month
Postage Stamp Quilt Along
Blockapalooza

Thanks to Lee at Freshly Pieced for hosting this Linky.  I feel more organized and feel like I'm accomplishing things when I post my weekly progress.

WIP Wednesday #5

Current Projects:

Kaleidoscope Quilt Along

I'm a bit behind on this Quilt Along.  I lost a week while I was on vacation in San Francisco.  I've completed last week's task - piecing the kaleidoscope triangles.

And I've made a few blocks and sewn a few neutral triangles to the kaleidoscope triangles. 

BOM Paris in the Fall Quilt - no movement on this one. Still need to finish the borders. 

Projects on hold (one's that I've forgotten about)
1. Quilt for my niece - Moda Bake Shop Snuggly Layer Cake Throw
         a.  cut and sew borders
         b.  basting
         c.  quilting
         d.  binding

2. Quilt for Aunt/Uncle #1 - Carousel Lap Quilt - Kim Schaeffer's Cozy Modern Quilts
    Still need to figure out what fabric I've purchased for this one
3. Quilt for Aunt/Uncle #2 - Down and Across Lap Quilt - also from Kim Schaeffer's Cozy Modern Quilts
    Still need to purchase more fabric in dark colors for the borders. 

Projects on my Radar
Happy Hauntings Block of the Month
Postage Stamp Quilt Along
Blockapalooza

WIP Wednesday #4

Good news, I've finished reading The Passage by Justin Cronin.  All 776 pages!  Going on vacation this weekend, so all projects are on hold this week.
Current Projects:

BOM Paris in the Fall Quilt - no movement on this one. Still need to finish the borders. 

Kaleidoscope Quilt Along

Finished cutting!

Projects on hold (one's that I've forgotten about)
1. Quilt for my niece - Moda Bake Shop Snuggly Layer Cake Throw
         a.  cut and sew borders
         b.  basting
         c.  quilting
         d.  binding

2. Quilt for Aunt/Uncle #1 - Carousel Lap Quilt - Kim Schaeffer's Cozy Modern Quilts
    Still need to figure out what fabric I've purchased for this one
3. Quilt for Aunt/Uncle #2 - Down and Across Lap Quilt - also from Kim Schaeffer's Cozy Modern Quilts
    Still need to purchase more fabric in dark colors for the borders. 

Projects on my Radar
Happy Hauntings Block of the Month
Postage Stamp Quilt Along
Blockapalooza

Quick and easy dinner

Saturday, we went to Lafayette and Milton. I practically lived there during the summer at my grandparents house.  We also went every Sunday during football season to watch the Saints games that were blacked out in Baton Rouge, but not in Lafayette. 

We went to Keller's Bakery to pick up a few sweets.  We would stop by there every Sunday on the way to to my grandparents house and my mother worked there when she was young. We ate a delicious lunch at my grand-uncle's house - jambalaya, ribs, brisket, macque choux, and so much more!  We also drove by my grandparents old house and the cemetery before heading home. I was feeling a bit nostalgic when I stopped at Maxwell's to pick something up for dinner.  Not feeling like eating anymore meat, I decided to make Hitachi Shrimp. I can remember my mom making this and loving it.  The name Hitachi comes from the brand name of my mother's rice cooker.

2 cups rice
1/2 - 3/4 lb shrimp (small ones) peeled & deveined and seasoned
1 stick of butter, cut up
1 cup of chicken broth
chopped bell pepper & onions
salt & pepper to taste

Throw all of that in a rice cooker and hit cook.  When it dings, it's done.  Delicious!  This might not be the best picture, but I promise it's really good!

Hitachi Shrimp