Wednesday, February 08, 2012

15 Minute Challenge with Kate

This is going to be a short post . I'm still trying to find my groove this week (in fact as I write this post -in a bloody hurry might I add- I should be in the shower and getting ready to go work !) and I don't have much to report on the sewing front.

Somewhere this past week in between babysitting Little P , and getting ready to go back to work, sewing took a back seat. I feel like I've been spinning my wheels and getting nowhere with projects. Progress has been made but nothing is getting finished. I'm not sure whether to keep working on bits and pieces or whether I should focus on one thing. It feels like there aren't many finishes happening.


The hourglass quilt blocks finally got some much needed TLC. I  finished 10 new blocks this week. Forgive the photo quality . It's very dark and overcast here this morning (Summer - where for art thou?)


My Farmers Wife buddies will be pleased to hear I actually started them this past week. 2 down and 109 to go . This is going to be a real labour of love and a test of my patience. I'm going for near enough is good enough with these....seriously.


Little Miss Sunshine made mention in this post about our joint cooking session this past weekend. Instead of sewing on Saturday I indulged in a spot of confectionery making.  I found a recipe for peppermint patties and because I am insane decided it would be great to make some.  It seems I'm no better at wrangling chocolate to my will than I am at baking. They taste good but they don't look all that pretty. I mention this because it took about 5 hours away from sewing and I'm all about making excuses as to why I didn't achieve greatness this week. (There was also a lot of gardening going on here over the weekend - but that's the subject of another post) 


Mental note to self: If you're a dumb arse and think it's the best idea ever to use a cooling rack to dry your chocolate covered mint patties you'll end up having to deal with this crap. 


Which will result in peppermint patties that look like this. 


Linking up with Kate again this week. She's doing a giveaway so pop on over , have a look and link up!

29 comments:

Michelle said...

Your hourglass blocks and Farmer's wife blocks look great!

And yes, you Little Miss Sunshine must be a bit cracked to make confections in the summer. That said, the ones that survived the cooling rack (and yes, I'm sorry, I'm laughing ~ I have no right to as I haven't ever made confections ~ but I am) look just great to me. And I bet they taste good no matter what condition they're in.

Michele said...

Those chocolate mint patties look good, broken or not! Your Farmer's Wife blocks look beautiful :-)

Sandi said...

Love the hourglass blocks!
At least you were able to save a few peppermint patties. The broken ones would still taste good tho'

Pat said...

What is it they say? A day sewing is better than a day at work? Or maybe 'they' don't. Hope you can squeeze in some fun sewing. Progress is progress.

Brenda said...

Hahahaha - they never look like that on Martha Stewart, but they do at my house. If you only post blocks for the next year, I would still be quite happy, they are so wonderful to look at.

Nana B said...

I don't klnow about you but I am not above eating the "bad" ones of a baking//chocolate experiment ;^)

Michelle Ridgway said...

Hmm...chocolate, peppermint...broken...who cares! I think I could have a new career eating all the reject confectionery efforts. Your blocks look lovely. Hope your working week is not to crazy.

Vesuviusmama said...

I laughed out loud at your peppermint patties on a cooling rack - hilarious! Although, I feel that when something crumbles up like that, you can eat all those crumbs because they aren't the real deal - I'm pretty sure they don't have the same caloric count or anything. I can't believe your holidays are over already. I was taking comfort in the fact that at least one of us was having fun... Oh well.

Pokey said...

I bet how the patties "look" doesn't keep them from getting gobbled up, at least they would be at my house. If Larry really likes it, he'll claim, "You better not have any of those, you'll get diarrhea" ( I can't believe I shared that, but we always laugh at his humor!).
Keep going with your FW blocks, I bet you will have a quilt you love in the end, it is definitely worth the challenge! Hope you win the draw at Kate's ~
:-}pokey

Sarcastic Quilter said...

First, I'd be the dumb ass using the racks to cool candy so rest assured, it isn't just you. :)

Second, unless you have a deadline for a gift or something, let go of worrying about finishes and just enjoy the time to sew when you get to it. The rut you are in sounds a lot more like the one of expectation to complete rather than time to relax while working.

give yourself permission to do it at your leisure and when the mood hits and remind yourself it's supposed to be for your enjoyment, not for counting your projects. (I say this loosely, of course, not saying you are actually doing that but, well, you are a Virgo. It was in there somewhere. This Capricorn knows. -wink-)

Sarcastic Quilter said...

ps - I don't care if all your plants die, I'm thrilled you are gardening! hehehe

Kate said...

I've been labeled as kitchen impaired by several of the people I work with, so don't feel bad. I'd have done the same with the peppemint patties. I bet they tasted fine. All of your blocks look great. Something is better than nothing. There is always this next week.

seabreezequilts said...

Squid and I indulged in some cooking this weekend what a mess. If you have a receipe that involves melting marshmallows run very far away. The kids have decided they like anzac bikkies so I am going to have to find a recipe instead of buying them from foodland. Hope work isn't too painful this week mine is that's why I am taking a long lunch.... better get back to it actually.

Jennifer said...

Chocolate is chocolate is chocolate.....and when it is broken the calories leak out and fly away (no doubt to settle on my hips), so don't worry about your broken mint patties. Your blocks are pretty!

Marg said...

10 hourglass blocks and two FW blocks isn't bad going when you have been very busy.
It doesn't matter how those patties look they still taste great. When they're broken up like that you can eat more because you technically haven't eaten a whole one.
I'll keep aside some time to go to the plant funeral in a couple of weeks.

thea said...

The hour glass blocks are very pretty. How many have you gotten done? The Farmers Wife blocks look great. Are you planning on it being a red/white quilt? and those peppermint patties... even the pieces look yummy to me.

You can always ship them over here for sampling ..

Rachaeldaisy said...

Good one with the farmers wives blocks! You've done 2 more than me. Gosh those mint patties look yummy, even the broken squidgy ones.

Helsie said...

Trouble with broken stuff is you can't count how many you've eaten - well really none. Just a few broken bits !! Bet they tasted good.
The quilting is coming along very nicely.
Cheers

Canadian Abroad said...

Whack those broken peppermint patties on ice cream and tell everyone they were meant to be crushed just for that purpose.

Anonymous said...

Oh my gawd, that's a short post!

Anonymous said...

Those peppermint thingys don't look that bad. Just looks like you've scoffed the lot (:>) and then had an accident (:<) in both directions!!

Dianne Neale said...

I'm sure they taste just as good!!

AnnieO said...

I vote for concentrating on one project--speaking from frequent experience of having too many bits and pieces going and being discouraged by it!

Ha ha ha ha, hoooo! I'd be the only slightly less dumb arse who would probably plop them right down on waxed paper and then have to eat paper bits with my confections.

Terri said...

LOL! You kill me! You did get some sewing done, and while babysitting? You deserve a medal!!! And I'll bet your candies taste wonderful. Love your blog!
Hugs!

libbyquilter said...

i'm thinking you did well considering all else that you are doing . . . sheeeesh, just cleaning up that mess must have taken quite some time. :-O
i'll bet they tasted great and as said before, calories simply can't be properly calculated with the broken bits so they don't count at all~!

as for working on many projects or focusing on one i have to say i do better at working on many in a carefully organized way if that makes any sense. i don't have the attention span to hang in there on one project and remain happy. some serious creative ADD here.

:-)
libbyQ

Mistea said...

Mmmm delicious blocks and confection.
Those hour glass blocks are looking gorgeous.
Enjoy the Farmer's wife.

Elizabeth said...

I'm getting nowhere on projects too. So much I want to do and so little time. I'm debating about focusing on one thing or working on bits and pieces. Let me know what you decide and how it works out for you.

Love those hourglass blocks and your Farmer's Wife blocks are really great too!

I love peppermint patties, but if they take that long to make and leave such a mess, lesson learned. I'll stick to buying mine.

xo -E

Jindi's Cottage said...

Love the hourglass blocks. Hey, I'm impressed you even ATTEMPTED peppermint patties...and the ones on the plate don't look bad to me at all, yum!...
And yes, what is with summer...so hit and miss...ripped off or what!...

Larri said...

You should totally stick those patties on Pinterest under the "Nailed it!" board. ☺

Hope you're finding time to sew this week as you get back into your work schedule. Happy Thursday! ☺