Author Archives: mlwilkie

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About mlwilkie

Software Developer, Mother, Wife with keen interest in art, design and crafts of all kinds.

Meal Plan {27.04.2013}

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The hubby is healing well, from the broken humorous he sustained last week. It looks like we will be taking it easy for several weeks, as it could be 8-12 weeks before he has full use of his arm back. It will definitely, still be in the sling and requiring care, while in New York the beginning of June. The rest of the week went well and we are getting use to a new schedule, with only having one fully functional adult.

A few things I have found out during this challenging week:

  • I hate doing dishes, this is definitely up there as a #1 thing
  • I was pleasantly amazed at how much the hubby helped out with the day to day things like dishes, playing with our son while I sew, swimming lessons and most importantly picking our son up so we can both work full days. I sure miss at the moment  🙂
  • I am really happy with these pre-planned, pre-cooked meals, that I can do on the weekend to help during the week. This week Cuban beans and rice, Potato Quiche, and the meatball pasta bake were made ahead of time. I will be pre-preparing the lunches for the hubby so he can eat during the day when I am not around.
  • My son is very helpful and caring. He also does amazingly entertaining himself in the backyard.

In keeping with making things simpler this week, here’s the meal plan.

DAY BREAKFAST DINNER EXERCISE
Saturday  French Bakery goods Chipotle salad bowl
Sunday Canadian bacon + poached egg Meatball and Spinach Pasta Bake (GF) 20 mins HIT
Monday Date loaf Grilled Fish + Corn + Spinach Salad
Tuesday Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt Stir fry + Brown rice  Walk
Wednesday Berry + Banana  Smoothie Zpizza (Pizza with whole wheat crust and organic ingredients) 20 mins. HIT
Thursday Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt Self-crusting potato quiche
Friday Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie Cuban Beans and Rice 20 mins. HIT

We are usually spending ~$70 a week for our meals. Here is this weeks shopping list:

GROCERY LIST (NEW STOCK) IN THE CUPBOARD/FRIDGE
  • Onions (TJ)
  • Strawberries (TJ)
  • Apples (TJ)
  • Bell Peppers(TJ)
  • Potato (TJ)
  • Tomatoes (TJ)
  • Garlic (TJ)
  • Dates (TT)
  • Prunes (TT)
  • Soy Yoghurt (WF)
  • Soy Milk (TJ)
  • Juice (TJ, TT)
  • Fish (FM)
  • Ground Beef (TJ)
  • Brown Rice (TJ)
  • Vegetable Stock (TT)
  • Corn tortilla (TT)
  • Spinach (from the garden)
  • Broccoli (from the garden)
  • Butter (TJ)
  • Flour/ WW and GF (TT)
  • Gluten Free Pasta (TT)
  • Granola (TT or BJ)
  • Oats (BJ)
  • Frozen Peas + Corn (TJ)
  • Sultanas (TT)
  • Stir Fry Sauce (TT)
  • Pasta sauce (TT)

NOTE: We shop majority at Trader Joe’s (TJ), Target (TT) with an occasional visit to Whole foods (WF), BJ’s , Harris Teeters (HT), Lowes Food (LF) and Fresh Market (FM).
NOTE: We do not typically use coupons mainly due to time.
NOTE: Items indicated by * are specials for the week we took advantage of.

Wonky Universe

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After last week’s cushion top, I received the best compliment, my 5-year-old son asked if I could make him a cushion.  I started the strips and posted on Wednesday my start with the “space” themed cushion top using “Constellations”  by Lizzie House for Andover.

When sewing the strips together, I realized that I can take advantage of my errors purposely inaccurate alignment of the squares (and the wonky star) 😉 and we have a cushion we are calling “The Wonky Universe”.

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I can say this about working with postage stamp squares (and probably other squares too)….It doesn’t take much for the strips not to align just slight errors in cutting and probably inaccurate seams makes all the postage square not line up.

The quilting on this one I went with dark blue straight lines radiating from the wonky star, which is our sun, to kind of represent orbits. These lines were alternating to make sure the softness was left in the cushion cover. I also added yellow lines both horizontal and vertical directions through the sun.

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When I showed my son this morning his response was “AWESOME!!”. It made my day 🙂

I am linking up with Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday.

Quick update: After seeing the amazing cushion from Adrianne @ On The Windy Side, I asked how she gets her squares so aligned….she gave this great advice:

  • accurate cutting helps a lot. Personally, I don’t find pre-cut charms or mini charms very accurate, and I find the pinked edges make it difficult to line them up accurately. I would recommend cutting your own squares or cutting down pre-cuts so they have straight edges.
  • sewing a consistent 1/4″ seam is a matter of practice. Sewing lots and regularly (like at least an hour most days) will help you get better faster. I’m not sure that my 1/4″ seam is exactly a 1/4″, but after a lot of practice, it is at least consistent. If you’re not already using a 1/4″ foot, it is worth the investment. I can’t sew a consistent seam without one.
  •  when accuracy is important, I use a LOT of pins. I line up the seams I want to match and pin through the seams. Depending on how big the squares are, I might also put a pin (or 2) between each pinned seam. I also pin in a slightly unusual way (I didn’t realise this until I started sewing with friends!) – I put the pin through the fabric perpendicular to the edge, with the point towards the edge I will sew along. If you put the pins back from the edge a little bit, you can sew along without removing them as you go.
  • I don’t usually pre-wash or starch my fabrics, but when I know something might be tricky (like the Essex linen in black I used for these cushions), I do starch just for that extra bit of control.

I hope you go over and check out her blog :-). Have a good weekend all.

WiP Wednesday {24.04.2013}

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I am continuing on with postage stamp cushions this week and thoroughly enjoying piecing them together. Last week, I posted about this one below, which I hope to finish by this Friday:

IMG_7187

The biggest reward I got after sharing this one with everyone, was my 5-year-old asked if he could have one too. Surprisingly, I felt so proud and delighted he wanted one :-), of course I replied and off I went to make one.

I recently purchased the Constellations bundle by Lizzie House for Andover,  as I want to use it in a quilt for my son. I decided that I would use a strip of each fabric and add a wonky star in yellow for the sun. I have sewn all the strips for the pillow (10 of them) and here are the top 8 (all I could fit on my hanger). You can see the wonky star which was my first wonky star – it was fun seeing how the pieces come together. I am loving the constellation fabric – great for a boy. The photo has been rotated so you can see what the final pillow will look like.

IMG_7208

I am thinking of either quilting straight lines 1/4 inch from the seams (both horizontal and vertically) or diagonal lines through the corners. I am again hoping to have at least the top finish by Friday to show every one.

Anyway, we are over the hump of the week, hope everyone’s week is going well.