Day 716

I learned a few months back that I could put my teeny tiny fabric scraps to use. A quilt shop in Boise collects pet beds for the shelter. Two pieces of square fabric, filled with extra batting and strips and squares and all those little triangle and clipped off pieces of fabric that are just too small to do anything with. I've made several of them so far.

But now I've made a bigger pet bed, one stuffed with fiberfill instead, a bed in a specific color at the request of the owner.

The owner? Our daughter. The animal? Her new cat.

Petri, a girl cat. One of the Valentine's presents from daughter's boyfriend. 

Their task - baby kitty proof their apartment. My task - make a baby kitty bed.

Day 715

Hope everyone is having a good Valentine's Day. Kinda of a bummer here being sick - the best we can do is a frozen pizza.

There was a little highlight in my day. Fish and duck related fabric I won the other day on ebay arrived. It'll be a good fit for quilts for those little boys who live in Alaska with dads stationed far away from home.

Day 714

Yesterday was double excitement day. Thanks to the doctor, today became double trouble day.

Sinus infection. Bronchitis. Two different antibiotics and an inhaler. Lots of fluids and rest. Thanks, doc (I say in a sarcastic voice).

Thank you morning sunrise (I say in a non-sarcastic voice).

Learn How To Make Fabric Valentine's Day Cards - Day 713, Tutorial Tuesday

Learn how to sew your extra fabric scraps together and create these homemade Valentine's Day cards. They are a unique handmade Valentine's Day card sewing and crafting project idea.

If you have some extra fabric scraps or strips just hanging around you'd like to use up, this quick and easy project could be just what you've been looking for.

It's a double excitement day today.

First, my book is again free. Last time before Valentine's Day to get it at no cost to you. If you didn't get a chance to download it last week, click on that link over there to the right to get your free copy.

And number two, finally another Tutorial Tuesday. Yeah, I know - it has been a long time since I did my last one. But let's forget about that and just take a look at what I have for you today. A great way to use up those scraps and make some Valentine's Day cards in the process.

For this project you will need:

• Fabric strips
• piece of muslin for foundation
• Cardstock
• Iron
• Pinking shears and scissors
• Sewing machine
• Matching thread
• Envelopes
• Heart template – make your own or download HERE

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.

The pattern is now available in my Etsy shop as a digital download with the written directions, step-by-step photos, and printable template. Click to get your copy today!

Looking for other Valentine's Day ideas? Check out some of my other projects!

Otherwise you can find the tutorial for the handmade Valentine's Day heart note cards from fabric scraps right here:

Day 712

After nearly two solid months the snow has finally melted. And now that it's nice and sunny, I can tell that we had quite the windy, wet winter by the look of my windows. Yuck.

Day 711

I imagine I'll wind up being the loser here, but I'm going to go ahead and ask the question anyway.

Whose dinner looks better tonight? My can of Hormel chili with shredded Tillamook cheese melting over it?

Or hubby's homemade potato soup with big chunks of potato and bacon with a sprinkling of cayenne pepper over it?

Day 710

If you had to venture a guess about which part of a rabbit might be most intriguing to a cat, what would you say? The tail? The feet? The nose?

As I was working on my bunny quilt today someone decided to help me answer that very question.

Guess it's the ears.

Day 709

There are times we set too high of expectations and things just can't match up. Whether it's a vacation, a new piece of jewelry, or even a job, what we expect and what really happens wind up being two different things.

Except when it comes to the excitement of having a book well-received.

Everyone who knows me knows I'm pretty laid back. I don't get too excited about much, I don't get frustrated much, I just kind of keep it all in. But yesterday I didn't behave as I typically would. I really was excited. Couldn't contain myself as you could probably tell from all the exclamation points I used in my writing yesterday.

Thank you everyone for your support (and your downloads). If you get a chance to put a review of it on Amazon, I'd love to hear what you thought.

The final free download number was 2,250. While that and the #2 rankings were super exciting, now that the book is no longer free my ranking is dropping. But I'm just fine with that since the whole point was just getting it out there. So back to reality, back to finding a picture amid the hustle and bustle of everything.

Good thing I (finally) had a day off, a day to spend at home all by myself. Not exactly. I worked a while on the computer then went to my recliner. Guess who I found there? The cat.

I later went into the sewing room and who did I find in my scrap basket again? The cat.

After dinner, hubby went to the freezer to get some ice cream. Guess who took his spot? Yep, you know who. (Notice how she won't pay attention to us when we're trying to scoot her along?)

Day 708

As of this moment, the magic number is 1,671 2,065 2,230.

What's the importance of that number? It is the number of times a book has been downloaded free in the last two days on Amazon. What book?  My book! Even more exciting - at this very moment the book is #2 in the Special Occasion Cooking category in the Amazon Kindle store!! Also #2 in Holidays and #2 in Desserts in the Kindle store.

And of all the thousands and thousands of free Kindle books on Amazon, my book is now #183!!

Yeah, I'm kind of obsessed with the numbers right now.

We're also still obsessed with Alejandra's.

Caldo de Pollo (Chicken Soup). They have the most delicious flavored broths in their soups.

Bean and Cheese Burrito. Can you believe this platter-size burrito only cost $3.50?

Ground Beef Burrito.

And Pam G, guess what? Ed and I are inviting you next week to partake in eating through the menu with us! You pick the day.

Day 707

The book is now free! Head on over today and get your copy. And please, if you like it, leave me a favorable review on Amazon.

Click here for the book

As for my picture(s) of the day, how about more of our journey of eating through the menu at Alejandra's?

Caldo de Mariscos (Seafood Soup), bursting with shrimp, crab, cod, and super-tasty vegetables.

Beef taco salad.

Chicken tostada.

One more soup to go and then we head to the burrito section.

Day 706

I just had to tell someone...

It's here! On Amazon! Here's my book!

Right now it's $3.99 but the best part is that it's going to be supposed to be free for download later today and tomorrow. (I'm still trying to figure out why it isn't happening.) You can put it on your Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or other digital device. Don't have those things? No problem - you can put it on your computer.

I hope you get a chance to check it out. If it weren't for your encouragement I certainly wouldn't have done it!

Thanks for letting me share my excitement. Blog picture to come later today (got it now), scheduled Tuesday Tutorial being moved to next week...

Updated with blog picture... I now have my own bed at our new house, the house my mom in living in now. A new headboard, mattress, and a very old quilt made by my grandmother circa 1979. Really brightens up the room. Now I have a place to sleep in Boise. As soon as my daughter gives back my pillow.

Day 705

How about some more dessert pictures from my new book?

Don't all these pictures just make you hungry? The book should be showing up on Amazon by tomorrow. I hope to have details then on how you can get it FREE!

Until tomorrow...

Day 704

Yesterday's ego bruising was a precursor to what is happening this week. Like I wrote a couple days back, I have an exciting/nervous/scary announcement.

So what do these pictures that I took today have in common?

Well they are just five of the desserts found in this new book:

If the name of the author sounds familiar, it should. Because that author is me!

I've been working furiously at getting photos and recipes together in a book just in time for Valentine's Day. It's a self-published book on Amazon, for the Kindle. It's darn scary to put something of mine out there, but I'm oh-so-excited for you to see it. And guess what? I'm working at making it free to my blog readers! I'll have more details Monday or Tuesday (I hope). You won't even have to have a Kindle to get it, either.

Cross your fingers for me. More info tomorrow...

Day 703

I got my ego bruised today.

We sat there in those metal folding chairs when the Marsing Disaster Auction started at 10:13 AM, waiting patiently for my quilt to show up. All day long quilts came and went for large amounts of money and it was just torture when mine didn't appear until the end. One of the very last items to auction off, at a time when most people had either left for the day, were tired, or were out of money. At a time when the auctioneers were trying to get things wrapped up for the day.

That's when the ego bruising happened.

The quilt I made this year for the auction, the one bigger and more colorful than my offering last year didn't go for much. 80 measly dollars. Ouch. In my head I knew it was no reflection on me or my quilting skills. But in my heart? Again, ouch.

After a bit of a nap when we got home, all is okay. The community got $80 that it wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

Goodbye, sweet quilt. I'm sorry I didn't buy you back myself.

Day 702

If you've been with me since the beginning you know I started taking pictures because of the cat. (The details can be found on Day 9.) So it is because of her - and because of you sticking around with me, encouraging me along the way - that I will be sharing some exciting news on Sunday.

Exciting, but scary. Makes me nervous to think about it. It's one of those if not now, when? kind of things. And for some unknown reason I've decided the time is now. I've been keeping it hidden and didn't even tell my husband until today.

I'll certainly need you close by, cheering me on. It's a biggie for me.

So please come back on Sunday - even Monday or Tuesday if you want - and find out what has me so terrified but excited.

Kitty is neither one right now.

Day 701

From Easter to Valentine's Day I think I've got things covered. Yesterday's Easter quilt is on hold because I'm getting things ready for Valentine's Day.

A Valentine tutorial, that is. Yup, time to start the tutorials again. They've missed me and I've missed them.

First one up will be this coming Tuesday. We'll be using these materials:

Come back on Tuesday to see what we have going on!

Day 700

The theme of my next quilt is starting to show itself.

Day 699

I had to get the taste of that cow stomach/feet out of my mouth/mind. Sure, I brushed my teeth, had breath mints, ate some breakfast and lunch all the while trying to keep my mind off of it. Never have we ever had anything at Alejandra's we didn't like so we weren't going to let that Menudo hang with us too long.

So we just had to go back tonight.

Maria (the cook) made us Caldo de Res, Mexican Beef Soup. Add the rice into the soup, squeeze some lime over it. Oh so good. Just look at the huge chunks of vegetables!

Then Cocktel de Camarones, Shrimp Cocktail. There must have been a pound of shrimp in that yummy sauce!

And lastly, we started on the ensalada (salad) section. Fajita Tostada, beef. Kind of like a flat fajita taco salad. Another yummy.

The variety worked. That icky cow stuff is at the back of my mind.

Day 698

Hubby's never met a soup he didn't like. Whether he makes it himself or orders it in a restaurant, no matter has gross it looks, he'll clean his bowl.

But today was different. Today was our eat-through-the-menu-at-Alejandra's day.

We still had two antojitos mexicanos (Mexican appetizers) to tackle.
Nachos Supreme, beef.

And quesadillas, chicken.

And then we started in the sopas (soups). Unfortunately the first one up was Menudo. Menudo, the soup made with cow. Cow stomach and cow feet.  While we both had several spoonfuls, we sure couldn't clean the bowl. Just knowing all the fatty, chewy chunks of meat were the parts of the cow usually thrown away was just a bit too much. Even for soup-loving hubby.

Day 697

That gunky snow-slush-ice-rain mixture in the road did freeze last night.

A big thank you to the birds for trying to break it up and keep us all safe.

Day 696

It finally rained last night. And that caused what happened this morning to happen. Because last night's rain froze.

I awoke this morning to hubby calling me from the back yard, asking to be let in the back door. He's been using the front door a lot nowadays - smaller steps, rails on both sides, easier for him to get up and down. I thought maybe he'd locked himself out or had his hands full or something else.

It was something else.

As he headed outside to take the mail to the mailbox across the street - and used the front steps, the ones not covered by the carport - he fell on the ice. Didn't even make it to the street. Didn't make it much past the bottom of the steps, even. The ice was so bad he couldn't get up. He scooted his behind down the sidewalk (he said it was pretty easy, being super-slick and icy) and around the corner to the carport. Unfortunately hubby is still pretty weak and can't get up from the ground. So more scooting he went until he got to the back steps where he could grab onto something to pull himself up and give me a holler.

No broken bones, not even bruised (maybe). Tomorrow will tell.

It's raining more right now. Just look at the mess of snow and slush and water in the road. If this freezes, they'll really be no going to the mailbox for some time.

Day 695

The elusive woodpecker has finally shown himself. That is I think it's a woodpecker. As I look closer, maybe not.

Day 694

Snow day for me, late start and cancelled class for kiddo in college. Unfortunately for hubby his school district decided to have school.

Ice Storm 2013 is what the news called it. Lots of school districts closed, a 80 mile stretch of freeway closed in the wee hours of the morning. Part of it still closed late this afternoon. Good thing I have no where to go.

I wish I could say no where to go and nothing to do. But I can't. A big project at work has me working from home - in my pjs.

Of course I just had to do a little bit of fun stuff on a day off. A new project. (Actually an old project that was stuffed in my quilt patterns. The fabric had already been cut and just needed to be put together). It's a long way from being finished but can you tell what the theme is?