pinwheels!

I finished the pinwheel quilt! FINALLY! It only took me like six, seven years. And before I even put the last stitch in it, it was sold. Thanks Tiff, enjoy!

sigh

confession: i am bad at the internet.

ok, i'm good at finding things on the internet. i'm good at ordering things from the internet. i'm great at wasting time on the internet. but i am really, really bad at updating things on the internet. i know the last thing this world needs is one more blogger/crafter/baker/joker posting their wares, and not like anyone reads this anyway, but i am still doing a lot of projects, and when people ask me what i'm up to i have to say 'here's my blog but there isn't much new stuff on it'. what's up with that? i have a digital camera, i have a flickr page, i have an etsy site, facebook, everything, but i can't update it to save my life. i am currently internally whining about the prospect of revamping my flickr page. 4000 pictures on there and i think i'm going to have to just delete them all and start over again. le sigh.

in other news: i made a key lime cheesecake with mango topping for my friend's birthday. it's glorious.

so i'll allow myself a mini-rant about quilting: i'm so annoyed with how deified denyse schmidt is. yeah, she's great, she does cool things, but why does every beginning quilter have to make their first quilt out of either denyse schmidt quilts or the modern quilt workshop? also, why does so much ADORABLE and/or GORGEOUS stuff come out of Japan? it seems everything is perfectly pieced, perfectly coordinated, perfectly sized, and freakin' awesome. plus it's all hand-pieced and hand-quilted! where do all these ladies get the TIME? anyway, kudos to japanese crafters, because you guys make me jealous in a good way.

ok, i am off to the quilt shop for a solid red (only) to use as the background for a charity quilt for the roses and rosemary auction. i got a bunch of different red prints and actually have been dreaming (literally) about a red-prints-on-red-background quilt for a few months now so i'm excited to have an excuse to make it :)

april already?

And the middle of April, at that!
Saturday was absolutely GORGEOUS and I went to Monica and Andrew's for a barbecue on the lake. I also got some quilting done and only have the hand sewing left to do on my pinwheels, but the cat has been sleeping on that one so I haven't been able to work on it, because she's so dang cute! Yes, I will be a crazy old quilty cat lady. Sigh.
love,
mcnabbs

laughed till i cried

ok. shitty two weeks. like SHITTTTTTT-AY! shitty.
but this, thank god, just made me laugh till i cried.

http://littera-abactor.livejournal.com/7748.html

holy crap i finished something!

only took me five years! here it is on my bed, before I washed it...

and here it is with the lucky recipients!

love, mcnabbs

long weekend

Hey guys! I had a super awesome weekend. Friday night the Bedards and Ani came into town for GT's 60th birthday party (which was awesome) and then we all went to Murphy's for a pint o Guinness. Saturday was Jenn and Will's wedding (gorgeous, personal, memorable, and fun!) then to R place with Allison and 4 adorable gay men. Sunday I pinned three quilts and quilted one, then came down with the cold/flu that's been going around my office for weeks. Monday was gorgeous AND a paid holiday, so it was a total waste of a sick day, but at least I watched all my netflix that had been hanging around for three weeks, got about 10% of my hand quilting project done, and even some laundry besides, so it wasn't a total loss.

culinary adventures

so last weekend was a feast-fest. I ate well and drank a lot.

thursday: meatloaf and mashed potatoes, berry crumble, and something red with chris and jade.

friday: wine night at monica's: fettucine with salmon and lemon zest, apple pie, many something reds (mostly from washington)

saturday: squash-themed dinner party at dave and lisa's: savory sage-infused soup with pancetta, some kind of bread-pudding-like baked dish without the bread, chorizo-stuffed butternut halves, and creme brulee. also, something red.

sunday: pie party chez my parents for their birthdays. two each pecan, lemon meringue, apple, marionberry, rhubarb, and banana cream. also the best guacamole i've ever made. THEN paella at justyn's with sausage, chicken, shrimp, mussels, and clams. yum. more red wine.

so i had a pretty tasty weekend but gained three pounds. hmmm.

tonight i'm making delicious valentine treats, tomorrow my new red shoes AND jenn and will's wedding present AND my 40 yards of quilt batting are all supposed to be delivered to my office (o happy day!), and then friday michela and brian come to town for terry steig's 60th birthday party. saturday jenn and will get married, then i have the rest of the weekend to sew, sew, sew!

mission: one or two dresses and maybe new shoes for under a hundred bucks. i already checked out shoes at the rack (and impulsively bought lime green slingback wedges for only $15) but didn't get to their dress section, although the girl in front of me in line had two formals for $30 each so i think i have to go back there today. macy's had two gorgeous options for over $100 each but the presidents' day sale starts today so maybe i'll get lucky there. banana republic had one fun and flirty but less flattering dress, also over $100. sheesh.

heart,
at

token january entry

Hey guys.

sooooooo even though I'm uber-bad at blogging, I can't have a whole month not show up at all on the little dealie on the side there so here ya go.

This month has been alright so far; our team only lost the month-long trivia tournament by five points (and several of us were out for two weeks in a row, plus the other team may or may not haev cheated), I got to go skiing, and go on another fantastic weekend to Seabrook. And today I found a bolt in my tea. Serious. Check it out.

love,

mcnabbs

new year, new start

So I've been busy crafting and baking over the holidays, but for some reason I have this huge problem transferring pictures from my camera so you can see them. So you'll get pictures soon of the over-one-thousand-cookies I baked for friends and coworkers near and far. But until then, since it is the last day of 2007, I shall write a list of new year's resolutions, since I have a jillion this year. Apparently my free-and-easy three b.s. resolutions last year didn't cut it for me, so I've got to be more serious about this.

1) don't overdraft. my bank must love me since i spent an absurd amount of money on overdraft fees last year. yes, i actually went through my bank records and added it up. no, i'm not going to share it. it's frightening and obscene. i'm going to avoid that this year and have extra money for:

2) weekend trips to at least LA and NY. i've been promising tatum for years that i'm going to come out to NY but so far have failed miserably. it's been a while since i've been there, and it's a good excuse to get in an H&M trip before we get one here in Seattle. also, i had so much fun hanging out with michela and brian and their beautiful friends last summer that i miss them terribly. i'd also like to spend more time in SF because i have beautiful friends there too.

3) i'd like to fit comfortably into a size 8, and like the way i look. i fit a smidgen snugly into an 8 these days and don't like the way it looks, so it's just a little extra effort at the gym i already signed up for to stay fit and trim. plus monica and i are going to do all the fun runs in the city, so if i have a goal like running to keep me motivated that will be great. i'd like to run one 5k all the way through without stopping.

4) last year one of my resolutions was to buy a new art/architecture book every paycheck but unfortunately i was too broke. i hope to resurrect this idea this year, especially since i got new bookshelves and actually have the real estate to house fancy books.

5) i'd like to pay off my debts - a small one to my visa, and a slightly larger one to my parents, which i've been adding to since i was seventeen or so. it's only a few thousand dollars but i know i'll feel better when i pay it off. also once i actually have little or no debt i'll feel better about planning much needed vacations.

6) get to work earlier. especially in the last few months i've been getting in later and later - usually between 9 and 930. i feel really bad getting in that late, and i don't like staying late to make it up, so if i spent less time hitting the snooze button and slacking off in the mornings i can get to work earlier and leave earlier and have more productive time in my day. i started putting my alarm clock across the room so i actually have to get UP to turn it off. good start. it worked today because i got in at 8.08. too bad no one is here to notice...

7) finish quilting projects so i feel good about starting new ones. this is a continuing problem. ]

8) actually get a cookbook together. this is a project i've been thinking about for a few months but didn't have enough time to actually do it this christmas, but hopefully having a year to do it will be enough.

a lot of these resolutions flow together - going to the gym will help me sleep better so i can get up earlier; also if i am a little sleeker i'll feel better in my clothes and not have to change outfits twelve times before i rush out the door, so i get to work at a reasonable hour. not overdrafting gives me extra money for paying off debts, going on trips, and buying books. getting to work earlier means i can leave earlier and have more time for finishing projects and make my cookbook - and makes me look like i work even harder than i already do, giving me more leverage for a raise in october which will help pay off debts! these are more lifestyle decisions - where i can redirect energy from timewasters and things that aren't important to things that ARE important, making my life more fun and successful. good stuff.

plus i want a red ipod nano, a black/silver tivoli model two, and a new car stereo. and an engine flush and full tune-up for my poor car. sigh. and a new smart car. as long as i'm dreaming...

love,
mcnabbs

coasters.

so I was up until 1 am last night baking a red velvet cake for my project architect. umm. just realized I got zero pictures. good job, abby. at least it was delicious and I have the precious memories.

ANYWAY. I got up at 6.30 to frost it and get to work at a quasi-reasonable hour (still didn't make it until 915), and was sleepy all afternoon so I didn't get much done, but Monica and Kate and I did work out a quilt block exchange which I'm SUPER excited about. and we talked about sewing and stuff, but I ended up not calling Monica because I worked late to make up for all the work I didn't do at what should have been naptime, and then by the time I finished dinner it was 9 pm and of course that's too late. but I was amped up about sewing so I couldn't go to bed until I made something, so I whipped out some wee quilted coasters in teal mini Hawaiian prints. it's a pretty cute set of 4, I think it would be a good Christmas gift for someone lucky, so I think I'll put it up on etsy for kicks. sets of 4 run about $10 which sounds good to me. it's funny how you can look stuff up on there, and some things are all almost exactly the same price, except a few grandmas who are totally underselling themselves and some egotistical thirtysomethings who have way overpriced their "art". hello, a quilted coaster is a craft, like a third grader might do, or a grandma, only classier. don't try to sell it as an art piece, Dali. yeah, you have amy butler fabrics. so does everyone else. notice how SHE is the one making the big bucks because SHE is the one with actual creative vision.


...ahem. I digress.


the point of this story is to tell you that I'm such an idiot that I'm up past midnight again, just because I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad to make something. I have serious sleep issues. ugh.


anyway, here's a crappy phone-camera picture of the coasters because they're kinda cute but I can't be bothered to go dig out the camera and the cable and blah blah blah. Here. I'm going to bed.

good night.

love, mcnabbs

p.s. mine are better than everyone else's because I at least made a little effort to make the corners square. most everyone else left their corners all lumpy. losers.