5/16/14

Frenzied Friday

It's been a busy morning already. Tomorrow I'm hosting the whole family--six at our table now--for what has been playfully dubbed the Birthday Bash-A-Bration. We are celebrating three birthdays during the month of May, and tomorrow was the first day we could all sit down together. As I write this, I have our dessert for tomorrow in the oven: a Bailey's Chocolate Chip Cheesecake.


I've written about this cheesecake before, and so if you want to see what goes into it, click right here. It works out well because I can get the cake part of it baked today, and then add the topping tomorrow. Also, I'm going to try to get all fancy and do chocolate curls this time rather than just shaved chocolate. "Try" is the operative word in that sentence. It seems to me I've tried this before without success...thus, the shaved chocolate you see on the one above.

Also on the menu for tomorrow:

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail (super easy and a real crowd pleaser)
Crisp Skin High Roasted Chicken (I don't do the potatoes...too greasy)
Apricot Glazed Roasted Asparagus (beautiful asparagus in the grocery stores right now)
Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Chive Pesto (made with chives from my herb garden)
Spinach, Bacon, and Apple Salad (a family favorite)

You'll notice that everything (except the salad) is "roasted", which makes it easy for me. All I have to do is heat up the oven, throw in the food, and it roasts itself with very little effort from me. I can make up all the dressings, pestos, toppings, etc., ahead of time and then I can enjoy my family while they're here. That is the whole point, right?

So it wouldn't feel like a frenzied Friday except that we're taking the boat out this afternoon for the first time this summer. We have to make hay (and go swimming) while the sun shines, you know. The rain will be back tomorrow. I doubt we'll do much swimming today as the water will be far too cold. Still, it'll be Erik, Mike, and me, and we'll just relax and float. I'm betting we'll see an osprey or two, and even a few Great Blue Herons. We almost always do. I'm taking my telephoto lens today just in case.

Yesterday I got started on my next small project called Yukon Sanctuary. Here's the picture from the book:


It's another project from this book:


There are so many projects I want to make from this book that I barely know where to start. Actually, I do. I'm starting with this one. So yesterday I copied and made the template:


I put that pink arrow there to tell you that I'm seriously considering using white fabric for that one mountain. Look at the image from the book up above and see what you think. I like this project because it reminds me of the mountains we see from our house, except that our mountains are snow-covered year-round. So I'm thinking of making that mountain white instead of green. I can always lay a piece of white fabric there and see how it looks. I could change my mind, but that's where my head is right now. And I could choose a different mountain as well, I guess.

Anyway...all of that to say that I traced the "leading" onto my fusing medium...


then ironed it onto the black fabric (it's upside down in this picture). I'm using leftover black backing fabric from the Intel Underneath quilt for this, and there is puh-lenty!


Once I had it pressed down, I cut it to size, which meant cutting a 3/8-inch border around the whole thing.


Last night Mike spent quite a bit of time getting the boat ready for today, and I used the time to get most of the "leading" cut out. I just have a little bit left at the top.


The pieces for the trees were a little tedious and exacting, but the larger pieces aren't bad. This is the most tedious part of this technique. Once I have the leading cut out, it goes pretty quickly. I wrote a tutorial for the last one of these I did. I'll be posting my process as I go, but if you're curious to see how this is done, click right here to see my tutorial.

It's going to be a busy weekend, and so I don't know how much time I'll have to work on this. I'm hoping I'll have the day on Sunday to work on it.

So, better get going. Still lots to do today to get ready for this afternoon and tomorrow. I hope you have a Fabulous Friday. And don't forget to stop by the Blogger's Quilt Festival that started today.

AmysCreativeSide.com

You can see my "Shine On" quilt right here, and there's lots of other eye candy to peruse as well. Enjoy the festival and enjoy your day!

9 comments:

Marei said...

Sounds like you've got a great day planned today.....love boating and being on the water.....and a YUMMY day planned tomorrow. Enjoy! And Happy Birthday again to you, Mike & Mae.

Tami C said...

Boating and swimming are the things we miss about living in Texas. We used to manage going to the lake almost every weekend, since we lived so close. Have a great time!

quiltzyx said...

There you go AGAIN with the mouth-watering yumminess! Everything sounds so good - especially the salad, and I even have some baby spinach already. I may have to stop at the store for bacon & an apple. (Being as it's been in the 100s here the last few days, roasting & baking at my house is definitely out, but I would cook some bacon in the microwave or toaster oven for that salad!)
I think maybe it would be good to have a white mountain there. Like you said, you can always audition it first.
Have a great time with the Birthday Bash this weekend!

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

Barbara...I love the stained glass...but I keep going back to the cheesecake!!!!!!

Junebug613 said...

Busy, busy, Barbara! Dessert looks delish! Oh you should definitely customize the quilt, if you like the way it looks after you "test" it! I hope that you and your family have a terrific weekend!

Brown Family said...

Dinner sounds wonderful! I love the stained glass projects

Laura said...

OMG i want that cheesecake! I've done that appliqué method before! never again!!! hope you had fun with it - it's looking great!

What Comes Next? said...

oh my goodness! I want to come for dinner, that all sounds wonderful - my mouth is watering! Hope you had a good day out with the boat. I say go for the white mountain, it will bring it all home.

Anonymous said...

Virtual cheesecake is good; no calories.

I think a white mountain might distort the balance and focus of the quilt...you will be able to tell when you audition it. What color would snow in shadows be? A light blue? A light purple? That may convey the same idea without as much shift of focus.

I definitely agree that patterns are to be tweaked.