facade.

27 April 2012



facade.

my new facade pattern is ready & available!!!
yayyy.

facade is everything i love in a quilt.
precuts, solids and oh so quick {& easy} to piece!!!
forgive my lack of pics, but . . .

as most of yall know, it's that time of year when everyone is getting ready for market.
aka making more quilts in a 2 week period that we normally do in 2 months.
;)

and to celebrate being ubber productive, all patterns are 20% off this weekend in my shop.
just enter "PREMARKETSALE" during checkout. <--expires sunday night.

so go stock up on any pattern{s} of your choice.
i'm gonna get back to piecing another new design that i'm head over heels for.

qulit stats:
size = 52 1/2" x 70 1/2"
fabric = good fortune by kate spain for moda
quilting = darla padilla

♥ rachel

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rhapsodia.

25 April 2012

rhapsodia

it's chilly. and rainy.
this doesn't make for good picture taking weather.

so instead of taking pics of things i need to take pics of, i'm having fun with this yummy stack.
SO pretty.

fabric = rhapsodia by pat bravo for art gallery fabrics

i'm really loving the teals in this line. and the redish/pink color.
which color draws you in?!?!
:)

♥ rachel

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fabric8.

22 April 2012

fabric8_webad_1

any of yall have a dream of becoming a fabric designer?!?!
have you ever desired to see people create quilts, clothes or bags with your designs?!?!
well today could be your lucky day.
:)

here's the lowdown . . .
fabric8 is a design contest from spoonflower & robert kaufman fabrics.
they're looking for 8 new bold, modern collections.
one of those 8 will move on to having a new career as a textile/fabric designer.

basically everyone has until this tuesday to design a piece of fabric within the pin & ink theme.
from there the judges will choose 100 designs from the first round.
then in regular spoonflower fashion, peeps will get to vote.
those votes will determine the final 8 designs/designers.

each of those 8 peeps will then be asked to design a collection of 8 fabrics.
and sometime in june, peeps will vote on their favorite collection out of those 8.
the designer with the fav collection will then begin their career as a fabric designer.
sounds fun, eh?!?!

for those that want more info, see the official rules here.

my mother in law is infamous for saying, "if you aim at nothing, you'll hit it everytime."
so if you're lazing about this sunday, why not give it a shot?!?!
who knows . . . YOU just might be the next fabric design star.

♥ rachel

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vintage modern winner.

21 April 2012

i had a fun time reading about everyone's flowers. and lack of flowers.
:D

we've been making grand plans for our front flower beds.
there's alot of things in the front beds from the previous owners that we don't want.
but the hostas, we're keeping those.
and we're adding hydrangeas. <--i loooove hydrangeas!!!
oh and we're talking about adding some hyacinths. and mini tulips.
i guess we'll see what happens.

so without further ado . . . congrats to our winner!!!

the vintage modern fat quarter bundle goes to clara.
clara, and her daughter, share a really cute blog. yall should check it out.

please email me: rachel {at} psiquilt {dot} com

thanks everyone for playing along.

♥ rachel

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rachel's beef stew & rice.

20 April 2012

beef stew & rice.

beef stew & rice is my all time favorite meal.
i don't know what it is about it, but it's my ultimate comfort food.
{oh and even if you think i'm gross for admitting this, i really love dinty moore beef stew.}

if you loved my beef tips & noodles recipe, chances are you'll love this one.
it's very similar.

here's what y'all will need:
1 1/2 - 2 lbs frozen beef stew meat
1 big can {26oz} cream of chicken soup
1 envelope lipton soup mix <--i use beefy onion OR savory herb with garlic
1 cup water
1 can sliced carrots, drained
1 can new potatoes, drained & diced
cooked white rice

the making part:
mix cream of chicken soup, lipton soup mix & water in bowl.
place frozen beef stew meat in crockpot.
pour soup mixture over meat.
cook in crockpot on low for 6 hours.

add in carrots & potatoes.
stir once and leave it alone or the carrots will break apart.
cook on low for another 30 minutes.

serve over cooked white rice.

hork it down.

like i said, this is my comfort meal.
me loves it. so very much.
try it. you'll like it. promise.

hope y'all enjoy.

xo, rachel

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vintage modern.

18 April 2012

vintage modern fq bundle

yall know that i love, love, love fabrics designed by bonnie & camille, right?!?!
well, i really do.
i have a whole stash of their fabrics that i refuse to be frivolous with. <--true story.
{hi camille. i stole your pic, but in my defense, your fabric always steals my heart. xoxo.}

vintage modern is the only bonnie & camille fabric that i haven't gotten my hands on. <--and of course the new one that was just announced!!!
{if santa is reading this . . . please don't make me wait until christmas for either of these fabric lines!!!}

my good pals over at the fat quarter shop said they wanted to give one of yall a whole vintage modern fat quarter bundle.
yayyy!!!
side note: did yall see that their 2012 designer mystery block of the month features vintage modern?!?! <--*big, dreamy sigh*

so as promised . . . let's have a giveaway!!!
:)

to enter, simply tell me what flower is showcased in your front flower bed.
{winner will be drawn saturday.}

comments closed. winner will be announced shortly.

♥ rachel

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messy mess :)

12 April 2012

messy mess :)

it's spring break here in the griffith house. <--hince my lack of blogging.

everything is a mess.
messes made by 3 kiddos that can pretty much clean up after themselves.
messes made by a certain 18 month old that just likes to make messes.
and messes by this lady that came home from a lecture and dumped everything into her kitchen floor.

this week i will embrace these messes.
but next week, next week is a whole different story.

miss yall. giveaway coming soon.
xoxo.

ps - don't judge this pic too harshly.
my iphone can only hide so much messiness.
;)

♥ rachel

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curiosity.

03 April 2012

curiosity - front cover

i give yall curiosity :)

curiosity.

this quilt is so fun & quirky.
i just heart it.

and i'm pretty sure that miss melanie wants to keep it forever because of all the dots!!! <--a girl after her momma's heart!!! :)

curiosity.

curiosity is SUPER quick & easy to piece.
how SUPER quick & easy?!?! <--let's just say that if you decided this was your "weekend" project, come sunday you'd be relaxing with a nice beverage and your favorite magazine. :)

both solids & prints are used, which i love.
and it utilizes all those fat quarters & fat eighths we quilters tend to always stash.

curiosity. {in white.}

oh and curiosity looks real good in white!!! :)
white was my original design, but i wanted to try a black background for once.
note to self: make a white version asap.

curiosity.

i love that binding!!!
i might have called this the minnie mouse quilt once or twice.
;)

curiosity.

quilt stats:
fabric = welcome to bear country by berenstain bears for moda
size = 64" x 64"
piecing = lani padilla
quilting = darla padilla

curiosity can be ordered directly HERE.

if you are a shop that is interested in purchasing my patterns you can contact me directly or you can contact your united notions rep.

♥ rachel

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let's talk meal planning. (& grocery shopping.)

02 April 2012

what's cooking.

it's seems yall are always interested when i post my recipes. <--yayyy!!!
so i thought it would be okay to devote a whole post to meal planning and grocery shopping.

i know everyone is different when it comes to meal planning and grocery shopping.
some people fly by the seat of their pants, some people plan weekly, and some people plan monthly. <--yes monthly.

we are one of those families that plan our meals monthly.
in doing so, we also shop monthly. <--i know, but it totally works for us.

PLANNING-
here's what we do:
around the 30th or so, i ask all of the family members what they would like to eat for the month.
the kids almost always say the same things: mac & cheese, alfredo, & pizza.
hubby & i generally mix things up according to the month, the season or if we're expecting guests.

after i get everyone's input, i sit down and plan out the meals for every day in the month.
it might sound a little daunting, but it generally only takes me an hour or so and then i'm done planning - for a whole month!!! <--it makes my life SO much easier.

like most families we have "special" nights.
example: pizza night, taco night, etc.
take us for instance, we have mexican night every tuesday and italian night every thursday.
and the trick to not getting bored is that i alternate within that theme.
one mexican night we'll have tacos while another mexican night we'll have mexican gumbo.
i think that by having these "special" nights, it helps plan our meals.

while planning the menu, i always leave one "open" slot per week.
this bodes well for having a "leftover" night or a night to go out to eat.
so with all that being said, if you take out all the "special" nights and "open" nights, the meal planning is easier.

obviously other things contribute to my meal planning.
things like holidays, guest request, sports banquets, etc.

on top of our main meals, i have to consider breakfast & lunch foods as well as snacks. <--sometimes even desserts :)
to me, this is super easy planning because i know what my family consumes at these times so i just add these items to my shopping list.
keep in mind that summer time requires a bit more planning because we have extra mouths home from school.

and on top of all that, i have to consider things that we buy & need on a monthly basis.
things like tea bags, flour, sugar, etc.

note: i don't buy certain staples for the whole month.
things like milk, eggs & bread.
there's NO way i could store a month's worth of milk at our house. <--not gonna happen. lol.
and everyone wants fresh bread. and fresh eggs.
so even though we do a big shopping trip once a month, we'll stop and grab something here or there as needed.

so after all that planning, i make my shopping list.
we shop at few different stores. <--again, it sounds like a pain, but we save LOTS of money by doing so.

another thing that i do is add a few items to the list to make up an extra meal or two.
i really like having extra meals just in case. cause you never know.
instances these meals are used for: a friend is in need, no leftovers, it's not in the budget for going out to dinner, the church is having a potluck, etc.

SHOPPING-
we get all of our meats directly from our local butcher.
i highly encourage all of yall to look into finding a local butcher.
not only are all the meats WAY fresher, but they generally have better prices, better cuts, and better selection.

we generally get the remainder of our grocery list from walmart.
after years of comparing prices with our local grocery stores, walmart almost always has the best price. <--and this is name brand stuff.

oh and obviously if it's summer time, we'll get fresh produce from local farmers &/or produce stands.

STORAGE-
after shopping for our monthly groceries, we come home and divvy up our goods.
example: we'll buy 10lbs of ground chuck, so we'll come home and divide it into "meal" portions and place them into freezer ziploc bags.
we also have a section in our basement where we store canned goods and extra groceries that won't fit in our kitchen pantry.

it sounds like alot of work, which i guess in hindsight, it is.
BUT at the end of the day . . .
the planning takes about an hour, the shopping takes a few hours, the storage takes about an hour, and then i'm done. <--for a whole month.

and as yall can see, i write the weekly menu on our kitchen dry erase board.

BUDGET-
i know someone will ask, so here's the monthly food budget for our family of 6:
@$75-$150 at the butcher, depending on our choices. <--things like roasts, ribs & steaks quickly change our total. lol.
@$300-$400 at walmart, depending on our choices.
@$100 for here & there shopping. <--extra milk, bread, eggs &/or emergency sweet tooth attacks.

so how do yall do your meal planning and grocery shopping?!?!
inquiring minds want to know.

♥ rachel

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