Humbled

After being so proud of myself and confident (after all I had completed all of step one of the Grand Illusion Mystery ahead of time!) I hit the wall with Part 2.  I just could not seem to wrap my head around how the double diamond blocks worked. I have finally managed to get a whopping four blocks (out of the required 100) done. And they are far from perfect. As I said in the blog title - humbled.

Naturally I had to do something to restore my confidence levels, so I started making these cute little blocks. I have four different fabrics that I cut from and just kept adding borders until I got them the size I wanted (in this case 8 1/4 inches).

Here's another one. These just make me happy.

And here are all thirty blocks on the design wall.  I am using the bright orange batik as sashing between the blocks. Ah, much better.

Here's another stress reliever (What, you didn't know that stressed spelled backward is desserts??) The is a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens, Pumpkin-Cranberry Bread. It's made in the crock pot!  If you click on the link it will take you to the recipe. It uses fresh cranberries and canned pumpkin and turns out really good, and moist, too!

This was lunch today. A friend posted a picture on that great tempter, Facebook, today and it inspired me to make this. It's just sliced potatoes and chopped onions, sauteed in a little canola oil, then add chopped smoked sausage and a couple of handfuls of those lovely long thin green beans (mine were frozen), sprinkle of garlic powder and cooked in my cast iron skillet with its lid on over low/medium heat until done. Keep an eye on it and turn every little once in a while. I know, very involved recipe, huh? It was good though!

These African violets blooming in the kitchen window make me happy, too. I am all about being happy!  How about you?

I do hope you are having a good week so far. I'm not giving up on the mystery quilt. I will conquer!

Hugs and kisses,