Oscars 2010

Image from http://oscar.go.com/

I love movies.
Can’t wait to see the glitz and glamour at Sunday’s Oscars.

Who’ll win Best Film this year?  Avatar or Hurt Locker?

Will Jeff Bridges win Best Actor for his role in Crazy Heart?  I hope so.  I have enjoyed him in so many films over the years.  Gonna have to watch him in Starman again.  Starman is on my list of movies that I have to watch over & over again.

Hope Sandra Bullock gets Best Actress for The Blind Side.

My daily newspaper, the Sun-Sentinel, has a link to a one page ballot.
I printed one off for me and one for DH.  I wonder who will get more right, DH or me?  I wonder what the prize will be for guessing the most winners?

Here’s a link to a page that the Oscars has for Twitter.

I want to try Wolfgang Puck’s “Black Truffle Chicken Pot Pie” and Pastry Chef Sherry Yard’s “Baked Alaska” at the Governor’s Ball.  I want one of the Goodie Bags that they give to the stars.

But, I will just have to be content watching from my living room.  No fancy food or swag!  I binged “swag” and it said it was an acronym for “stuff we all get”.  Well, then, where’s mine?

Beef Taco Skillet

Don’t you just love it when you find a recipe that’s quick & easy and tastes good?  Well, this one fits the bill and since DH preferred noodles instead of strips of tortillas, there was no chopping!

Here’s a link to the recipe at CampbellKitchen - Beef Taco Skillet 

Changes  --
3 cups dry extra wide noodles for the tortillas.  Cook the noodles while hamburger is browning.

Future Changes --
Next time, I will add more salsa.  Will use 3/4 cup of salsa, instead of 1/2 cup.  Used a favorite salsa from the Deli.

Served with a salad and a nice crusty Sour Dough French bread.

I look forward to the leftovers at lunch today.

Reading Pillow Cover

Read on and you will see what I did with the fabric that gave me the scraps in the previous post.

I have some things that help to keep me "on track" when I quilt. Sometimes I use little patterns drawn on Freezer Paper and ironed on to the piece being quilted. Let me show you how I make ‘em.

I am using a block I found in Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting magazine, Jan/Feb 2010, page 92, Star Rosette block by Nancy Mahoney.  I drew the block in EQ6.  I like to draw interesting blocks in EQ6, it gives me practice.

I use EQ6 to create quilting stencils --

Since I like to draw the stencil directly on the block, I need to bring the block back into EQ6 as an image that I can trace on. Use the "Export Image" tool and save the image (block I drew) to a Directory where you can find it. I created an IMAGES directory right off the EQ6 directory and put images in there that I will be using for tracing, etc.

Make a new block for drawing stencil motif
Block > New Block > PatchDraw Motif
Block > Import image for tracing (the quilt block I drew)

Using the Freehand tool on the Appliqué layer, draw out a design directly on the block. You will probably need to tweak it up some. Save to sketchbook.

 Here's block with tweaked freehand
design drawn on it

Saved drawn appliqué without
the block image underneath it

If I were using multiple quilt blocks in a quilt, I could then place the saved drawn appliqué onto each block in the quilt, to see how it would look on the finished quilt.

The repeat in the  drawn appliqué is 2 sizes of teardrops.  Convert the drawn design into guides – Block > Convert to Guides and then draw a template of a teardrop for each of the 2 different sized loops
Save to sketchbook.

I then printed a 10" block of those 2 teardrops
Print > Templates

I could've printed the 8 teardrops templates onto Freezer Paper, but I was being conservative and find it easier to print one of a needed repeat and then trace it, staple it to layers of Freezer Paper for additional copies, having only to cut the template shape once.

Plus, I get to use up scraps of Freezer Paper.

Smaller teardrop traced to Freezer Paper
and stapled to sheets of more Freezer Paper

 Teardrops cut out

Teardrops ironed onto quilt sandwich,
ready to be quilted around

Another favorite guide for quilting lines
is Contact Paper.  It is repositionable
many times

And here’s my completed Reading Pillow, waiting in my Reading Chair.  I use the pillow to prop up my book.

FYI, I always have a book in progress.  I just finished “Just Take my Heart” by Mary Higgins Clark and will be starting “Promise Me” by Harlan Coben.

Monday is one of DH’s & my movie nights.  We will be watching “The Painted Veil” from Netflix this evening.