Whirlygiggle repeat

I've had a hard time parting with the Whirlygiggle quilt. So, in order to make it easier to give away the baby quilt (which has no real use in my house right now and thus no real reason to keep anyway) I'm making a BIG couch quilt.

It's going to be about 64"x74" when it's finished. Yahoo! A quilt to snuggle with that reaches all the way to my toes! The best part -- every single scrap of fabric came from my stash downstairs. I didn't buy a single thing for this baby! I even had the batting! I LOVE FREE QUILTS! (OK, so I did at one time pay for all this stuff, but it was for another project, so it's like getting it for free since it's leftovers)

I'm hoping to quilt and bind it this weekend -- I've got some new purse patterns I'm dying to try! This time I promised myself I had to finish my current project before starting a new one.

Crock-Pot Cafe Rio Beef -- Spicy Beef

This is one of my most favorite dishes. You can use this beef in tacos, on a salad, burritos, chimmichangas, almost anything Mexican will work. I've even used it to make empanadas. Yummy!

For those of you familiar with Cafe Rio, this is my adaptation of their recipe:

Spicy Mexican Beef (Cafe Rio Beef)

3 lb Chuck Roast
2 cups salsa
1 cup beef broth
1 can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon cumin
3 cloves garlic
1 onion, cut into rings

1. Put the roast in the crock pot.
2. Mix salsa, broth, tomato sauce, cumin and garlic in the blender or food processor until smooth.
3. Pour mix over the beef.
4. Top with onion rings.
5. Cook for 7-8 hours on low.
6. Remove the onion and shred the meat, removing any visible fat.
7. Return to crock-pot juice and simmer for about an hour.

Serve as tacos with cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, lettuce, and beans.

Grandma's Quilt

I made this quilt in stages. I started piecing the log cabin blocks back in 2003 with the great intention of giving my family each a Christmas quilt for the holiday season that year. I worked on it quite a bit, but just when the blocks were almost finished I gave up for some unknown reason. I picked it up again in the spring of 2009 and finally finished the job. It took me forever to decide how to make the borders. I just couldn't wrap my head around it, but in the end, I like what I chose.

We gave the quilt to my husband's grandma this year for Christmas.

Whirlygiggle complete!

Whirlygiggle -- 40"x40"

I really love this quilt! I think it turned out so cute! I debated whether to stipple it or quilt some swirls my friend has been trying out, but the stippling won because it would be faster. I'm so glad I did -- now the pieces have a kind of puzzle look to them. It adds a great dimension to the design.

Now I just have to force my kids(and me) to part with it so that we can give it away. Does anyone else have a hard time giving away their projects? Am I the only greedy quilter? It's so sad to see my little babies go to someone else!

Whirlygigle ideas

I fell in love with the whirlygigle quilt from Crazy Mom Quilts that is pictured above. I'm so sad she has left the blogging world, but I still find her quilts inspirational. So I decided to imitate her whirlygiggle pattern. I really tried to find out where the pattern comes from, but it seems that most people refer back to Crazy Mom Quilts at some point. My blocks are 8" square, for a total quilt size of about 42" -- a perfect size for a baby quilt. I cut all the colors out to make 75 squares -- enough for three baby quilts.

Now I just have to decide which design I like most. Our friend had a baby last Friday and I'm a little slow on getting her a present. I figure that one of these should go together fairly quickly. We have a big snow storm coming and I have all the supplies here at home.

YEAH! Let's sew! Oh and make homemade doughnuts and oatmeal cookie pancakes. Bring on the party!