arabella, bella, & ballerinas.

aren't these fat quarters gorgeous???

i'd like everyone to meet arabella.

{pat sloan's brand new fabric line.}

i oooh'd & aaah'd over them like crazy when they got here.

i even sent pat a picture of me hugging them.

{i was hugging my new secret garden kit too.}

yeah i'm a dork...but yall ♥ me!!!

momma...

thank you SO super much for buying me the arabella motherload from pat.

this is the best st. patty's gift EVER!!!

i heart you!!!

now this...this made me cry!!!

seriously.

terri sent me this beautiful quilted angel today.

it's the sweetest thing. EVER.

her dress and wings are made from a vintage quilt.

the lady who makes them finds the quilts at estate and antique sales.

how cool is that???

i think i'll name her isabella, and call her bella.

yes my friends, like bella from twilight.

{don't laugh. i know i'm obsessed.}

and terri:

again...thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

i will cherish her forever.

promise.

now aren't these the cutest little repro fats???

{especially the ballerinas!!!}

these are from john.

we decided to have our own personal fat quarter swap.

we were supposed to only send 2 fat quarters.

of course, neither one of us followed that rule.

haha.

john...

i really, really ♥ them.

thank you, again.

so there you have it:

arabella, bella & ballerinas.

today was brought to you by the letter b.

virtual retreat recap.

this weekend was pat sloan's 'orange pile' vitural retreat.
{say that 5 times as fast as you can.}

basically a few weeks back she challenged us to find all the orange fabrics we owned.
i barely had enough to speak off.
{hence me & mandie's fabric shopping trip.}

well everything was pretty hushidy hush until friday.
and we all had a blast.
{and alot of orangeish foods. lol.}

we cheered each other on.
shared recipes.
had lots o' pic updates.
even some giveaways.

it was a great time.
i highly recommend a vitrual retreat.
seriously.

i'm not normally one to buy orange fabrics.
i mean, obviously i do in the fall, but you get my drift.

i'm SO happy that pat made me step out of the box.
because honestly this is turning out to be one of my fav quilts!!!

p.s. my bloggy pal vanessa is offically cooler than cool!!!
she made her debut appearance today at the moda bake shop!!!
go see her braided rag rug tutorial...and give her a hi-5!!!

heath ledger.

he won!!! he won!!! he won!!!

heath ledger won best actor in a supporting role!!!

yayyy!!!

rachel's skillet lasagna.

what y'all will need:
1 lb. ground beef or chuck
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 jar {26 oz.} your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup zesty italian dressing
1 box oven ready lasagna noodles, broken into quarters
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
dash of parsley or cilantro
salt & pepper to taste

brown meat in large skillet on medium heat until done; drain, return to pan.

add garlic, spaghetti sauce, water & dressing.
bring to boil.
note: you can add in 1 chopped green pepper here, if you wanna.

stir in noodles; reduce heat to medium-low. cover.

cook, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. or until noodles are tender.
remove from heat.
sprinkle with cheese. cover.
let stand about 5 minutes. or until cheese is melted.

serve with crescent rolls and a side salad to complete the meal.

i add a dollop of sour cream on top of mine.
cause that's how i roll.

this is the perfect meal to make if you've been quilting ALL day.
trust me.

hope y'all enjoy.

xo, rachel

mail call.

what a day.

i. am. exhausted.

my day included a trip to the post office.

it's SO funny to walk in there, because i kinda feel like norm from cheers.

they just know me. and they know to assume to write fabric on my customs forms.

yeah...my own mail clerks know i'm addicted to swaps.

so today was a big mailing day for the griffith house.

seriously...look at all this!!!

1 package to ireland. {to sherry.}

it was more like a letter, but still.

1 package to australia. {to tia.}

my brushfire block.

1 package to south carolina. {to my momma.}

just because.

1 package to north carolina. {to john.}

we had a personal fat quarter swap.

cause that's how we roll.

1 package to louisiana. {to salinda.}

st. patrick's mini mini swap.

oh yeah. yall know i couldn't pass this one up.

i'll post a pic after she gets it.

2 packages to oklahoma. {to jen & to cheryl.}

this covers my spring block swap AND wishing it was spring fat quarter swap.

1 package to ???. {4 seasons quilt swap.}

and lastly:

1 package to illinois. {to terri.}

well because she won my fat quarter giveaway!!!

luckily i had her address on hand so i can't wait till she reads this and gets all surprised.

{that or she'll totally miss it and get a big surprise in her mailbox.}

wanna know what the cool part is???

it only cost me $17.13

yeah. i'm SO cool.

p.s. the fats in the pic are just random fats.

SO not the ones i mailed to anyone today.