craftopia

7.14.2006

Cowboy Caviar

A friend gave me this recipe quite a few years ago and it is great for all the summer cookouts that we seem to get invited to.
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two cans black eyed peas drained and rinsed
one green pepper diced
half a red onion diced
three cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Wisk the oil and vinegar until emulsified, add all ingredients and let marinate for four hours or overnight. Serve with fritos scoops or tortilla chips.
YUM

7.09.2006

today's word is...organization

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This is the chaos that is my sewing space. I have been working on getting organized all week. I have stacked, sorted, piled and sorted again. Again and again. But I finally have all of the "to be decided" piles of fabrics and projects decided upon. So, my discards and keepers are all in their spots and I have two bins of stuff to get rid of!
I sorted the fabrics into color piles, that was fun. I always am pleased with monochromatic stacks of fabric.
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I also made a little more progress on my sisters quilt this week. I am determined to have it finished BEFORE her birthday this august...I am especially determined because this quilt was a gift for her birthday LAST YEAR!!! I have all of the nine patch blocks pieced I just need to lay them out on a large enough surface to arrange all of them...it is a queen size quilt so I will probably lay it out on the lawn!
Here it is...a partial shot of the top two rows...
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The width is about double what you can see in the pic.
I also worked out a new purse pattern last week, one I have been trying to work on for awhile now. This one is a handbag size big enough for essentials but not much more. I am also working on a pattern for a larger version of the same style, a shoulder bag big enough for EVERYthing to fit.
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and the details...
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the black fabric is a double layer of ultrasuede. Sturdy and soft but easy to sew with!
I'm still working on some swap offerings so check back!!

swap!

I received my swap package from Alison and I love evrything she sent!! Here's some pics of my contributions to Alison, I hope she likes everything!
Here's a pincushion and needlecase I made out of a piece of vintage fabric...
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with linen backing and piping.
And here's a shot of more goodies I sent her.
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What fun!