white chip cupcakes, originally uploaded by Hambone and Jennicakes.

Hambone and I had a little party Sunday for the Emmys, which were not, I'm afraid, all that exciting.

I was REALLY hoping Alan Alda would win for The West Wing, but when he did, and didn't attend(!) it took the wind out of our sails a bit. And I was sure my dear Stephen Colbert would not be beat out by Barry Manilow - WHAT??

At least the pre-show featured Tim Gunn quite liberally.

And the cuisine did not disappoint. I tried out a couple of new recipes, which I NEVER do when I entertain, but when I saw this recipe for roast eggplant at the Cream Puffs in Venice blog, I thought, "Why not? She clearly knows what she's doing."

And she does. It was wonderful, and I'm not an eggplant person. I can't wait to chow down on the leftovers later.

Allrecipes was fairly, if not completely, helpful with a traditional pierogi recipe, and with a cupcake suggestion - mix a bag of white chips (I used local favorite Ghirardelli, of course) and a few teaspoons of orange zest into boxed white cake batter. Delicious! It really altered the whole texture and added a lot of moisture. I just used regular old canned chocolate icing, because, frankly, I love it, and dark chocolate and orange is so perfect together.

Add a caprese salad and some barbecue wings (did I mention I cooked way too much?) and you have one Emmylicious buffet - certainly more Emmylicious than the awards themselves. Sigh.

almanizer, originally uploaded by Hambone and Jennicakes.

I take part in a monthly block swap, and while it's not a secret swap exactly, I probably shouldn't post what I made for my partner before I send it along.

BUT.

I really love this block. It's called "Almanizer," and I only chose it because I wasn't really sure what my partner would like. Now that it's done, though, I llove the way it shows off this cute fabrics that Carrie of Sommer Designs gave me.

And as luck would have it, Hancock's of Paducah is having a sale on charm packs, and I couldn't resist picking up a few. I love the idea of doing a wall-sized Almanizer quilt.

Only, does anyone even know what an "almanizer" means?

frame, originally uploaded by Hambone and Jennicakes.

Remember that frame from yesterday? It's a step closer to its final incarnation. Just added a coat of paint, and I'll watch it dry while the sun goes down…

fabric and frame, originally uploaded by Hambone and Jennicakes.

I had some serious luck today! I thought I'd do a little thrifting inasmuch as it's Thrift Thursday, and look what I found in the shop where I usually have the least good luck - an empty vintage frame, and a big piece of vintage fabric!

I've been looking for something EXACTLY like the frame, so if it doesn't look like much, never fear - I have big plans. And I just couldn't pass up the fabric. it appears to have some very light food staining on it (I know, WTF?, right?) and has been hemmed, so I'm guessing it was a tablecloth, but I want to launder it before further examination. It might be a great funky cover for one of my many folding tables.

We shall have to see.

There's pretty much nothing that can turn me into a dressmaker - I don't have the knack for it, even if I can sew plenty of other stuff. I made this as a favor for a friend, and, I will say, bebe clothes aren't as tough as me clothes - there's a lot less fabric to try to get around.

I just love this fabric. Lightweight jersey isn't the easiest to work with, but there's no need to finish every single seam, so I think the leftovers will be great for dolly clothes.

And in real life, I hope it turns out to be super-wearable.

new quilt!, originally uploaded by Hambone and Jennicakes.

I had such ambitious hopes for this fabric. But a couple of the prints didn't coordinate as well as I'd hoped, but it was no matter. The brown inner border became the brown outer border, and I made the whole thing square.

I hand-quilted the whole thing in front of lots and lots of Dallas. Actually, I exaggerate - it only took about ten hours, but I spent two days working from start to finish on this alone. Once I pieced it in the simple, pared-down style, I was so excited to see the end product that I couldn't look at another project until this was done.

I hope I have a lot more weeks like last week - and lots of quilt Mondays - as the weather starts to cool.

It seemed darn nigh ridiculous when it first came out of my mouth, even if it was true: "I think the kitty food space needs a makeover."

I am not the interior decorator I would like to be, and I don't know if the cat food dish is the place to start. But if you have a pet, you know how well that servicable old tray works for pet food… until it becomes crusty and dusty and unworthy of your baby's little paws.

I painted this food dish with my brother-in-law one day when we were seeking, in ascending order of importance, fun and air conditioning. I didn't go into the paint-your-own joint with any ideas about what I wanted to make, and since those places are not cheap, I decided it would be a good day to spoil some Hatbox.

The inside has a line drawing of Hatbox, and red dots on a blue background. This, of course, inspired this little quilted floor mat.

catmat2, originally uploaded by Hambone and Jennicakes.

I'll make a big, in-front-of-the-sink version soon. In the meantime, though, I shall bask in the thrill of havin a cat area that's machine-washable.

Hambone and Jennicakes eye quilts are now available for sale at the Hella Good site!

Go check them out!