Good Morning, Quilters and Friends!
Welcome back to my family’s recommendations for Happy Hours in Quarantine! (Read our first edition HERE)
We hope and trust YOU are well!?
All of my family are well and adjusting by trying new things as well as returning to some tried and true favorite activities.
We would like to share some things that have made the hours a little happier this week!
My Two Tips
My first tip is a reminder--your sewing scissors are for fabric only!
YOU are NOT licensed to use them on your hair! (I share the photo above because I am sporting a professional haircut back in the day…I will say no more.
PERFECT Mask Ties
My second tip is for those of you who are making masks. Strips from old T-shirts make perfect ties for masks! Cut one inch strips from T-shirts fabric and give the strips a hard tug. The overstretched fabric rolls together to create a soft, elastic tie and can be sewn into the masks in place of elastic.
I followed the instructions HERE and it worked like a charm!
Patrick’s Pick–Last Seen–A Podcast Thriller
Patrick – or PK as we call him–knows that I love true crime books about art and museum heists. (One of my favorite books is The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser.)
PK’s pick this week is Last Seen. It’s a ten part podcast detailing the art crime of the century-the theft of 13 major works of art from the Isabella Gardner Museum in 1990. The podcast highlights all the events leading up to the crime and several of the prevailing theories on who committed this audacious crime. It’s a thriller!!!
Nora’s Pick-A Long Walk and FREE Apple Audio Books
Nora loves to go for long walks and listen to podcasts and books on tape. This week Nora recommends Pride and Prejudice read by Kate Beckinsale and it’s FREE on Apple Audio. In addition to Pride and Prejudice, I’ve listened to an old favorite, The Secret Garden--fabulous! The other titles are: The Wizard of Oz, Frankenstein, Winnie the Pooh and The Time Machine.
Olivia’s Pick-Wind Down with a New Board Game!
Olivia is a nurse in Minneapolis and her pick this week is the board game, Azul. Azul won the prestigious German Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) in 2018. Players compete for tiles, inspired by Moorish art, to build their score and block other players from scoring. It’s definitely a favorite in the Kennedy house!
Faye’s Recipe of the Week
Faye loves to cook-and we LOVE to eat whatever Faye is making. This week, Faye’s favorite recipe is a hearty salad with croutons and goat cheese and plenty of lemony-garlic dressing! It gets the Kennedy family’s highest rating –“Once a Week Please!”.
Try the Grilled Panzanella Salad from Bon Apetit, and Faye recommends adding crumbles of goat cheese!
Deirdre Offers a Shout-Out to All the Mom’s
Deirdre is a busy mom chasing a toddler around all day. While it’s been too cold to be outside this week, her son has found new places to explore!
We all laughed when Deirdre shared a Facebook post she found.
The caption is “Pulling up to your kids’ grandparents after quarantine…”
Claire’s Cocktail of the Week
Claire lives in St. Louis where the weather has been quite a bit warmer than here in Minnesota. She’s been enjoying time outdoors on her patio and even flying a kite!
She’s been enjoying Happy Hour with a Kennedy family favorite–the always refreshing Bullfrog!
To make a batch of bullfrogs combine:
- One can of limeade
- One can of gin
- One can of water
Perfect on a warm spring day when you’ve been chasing two toddlers!
My Brother in Law in the News!
I have to share a special shout out to my brother-in-law, Rick Cavaliere who made the news in Chicago! He’s been busy in his workshop–and made a few squirrel picnic tables.
The squirrels love their formal dining arrangements!
I LOVE this!
And maybe the birds will be able to steal from the squirrels now?! LOLO
What about YOU?
What are you doing to spend more Happy Hours during quarantine?
Have you tried any new board games, recipes or podcasts?
Are you enjoying any old favorites?
Do YOUR squirrels deserve a new place to dine?
We’d LOVE to hear!
May YOU enjoy many Happy Hours at home!
Lori
PS..This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase–at NO additional cost to YOU–I may receive a little “pin-money”. I greatly appreciate when you support LKQ in this way!!! Thank YOU!
PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy Quilts and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to LKQ. For all other purposes, please contact me at Lori@LoriKennedyQuilts.com. Thanks!
18 comments
Julie Spear
These posts (well, ALL your posts!) are fabulous!thanks for the reminder to NOT cut my hair, its very tempting, since today is my last day off work!! Thankfully our office is closed to public – phones only – so they wont see my long rooted shaggy hair! I have a WONDERFUL recommendaton of something GOOD and very uplifting to watch!! John Krasinski has a new series of youtube videos called Some Good News. They are “news cast style” and he has visitors (from their own home) for instance Robert Dinero does the Weather… But the best part is he has organized “events” for folks – my favirite is a virtual Class of 2020 Prom for an inner city school!!! He is so outstanding – funny, and down to earth! You will LOVE these uplifting videos.
Sue H
What a fabulously fun post! Thanks for sharing the many different ideas, including a cocktail! My favorite cocktail is a Moscow Mule.
1 jigger of vodka (I love Pearl’s Lime Basil vodka but any vodka will do)
juice of half a lime
Ginger beer to fill your glass, usually about 3-4 oz, 1/2 bottle in my case
Thanks again for a GREAT post!
Marta
Oh..love Secret Garden. In 6th grade our teacher would read to us for half an hour
after lunch every Friday. She chose Secret Garden and it was finished right up to the 2 week Christmas break. I checked it out of school library for the two weeks, I did that every year til graduation. Then as a parttime working student I bought my own copy of the book. I continued my obsession until after 3rd child was born. I just didn’t read much anymore. Aha, pandemic ! Perfect time to read since I had not resumed after becoming a quilter.
Also have found my way to the kitchen again,,, cooking some of SpouseMan’s favorites
that took a back burner to quilting. I have made a few masks for family, trying out various patterns. Ran out of one supply and am thrilled to learn about t shirt ties.. YAY, have plenty of those. I have also tried new shoelaces since I found a batch of them in a drawer. I think this “rest” time has birthed lots of ingenuity on many societal fronts.
Patricia Trujillo
Thank you for this post.
Janet
Thanks for the Friday happy hour emails. I’ve signed up for the Yale course, free Apple Books and audio books, plus the podcast Last Seen. Still making masks and finishing some UFOs
quilterpt
Hi Lori,
I had just done the deed….cut my own hair, when I read your comment….and I used my favorite fabric scissors by Karen K Buckley…they were a pair that I had dropped one time too many so they did not work well for cutting fabric anymore, but they are terrific for hair cutting…the serrated blade holds the hair perfectly for cutting, even though I will admit it is a little awkward to DIY my own head! 😄
Lori Kennedy Quilts
How did your haircut turn out? Was it a trim?
annieofbluegables
Happily I discovered that t-shirt trick before I tackled my 50 masks. I’m glad you shared it with a wider audience than I have. Such a great tip, especially since I had several of hubby’s t-shirts I had retired.
That game looks cool.
Thanks! Anita
Lori Kennedy Quilts
I’m glad to hear another quilter endorse this idea–and what a great way to use all those tshirts that we can never part with! Lol
Mary Green
Well, I’m definitely not losing weight here in NE Texas. Baking goodies for hubby (who needs to add some pounds to his 6’2” frame) and making interesting lunches and dinners every day. And I tend to follow the “see-food diet!” Ouch!
Today is our granddaughter Edie’s 9th birthday. Mom has planned a Zoom Room for us to wish her a Happy Birthday and watch her open her gifts. We are here in TX, other grands in Mich, and the birthday girl is in Seattle. Thank goodness for the internet!
I’m working on Pat Sloan’s Quarantine Quilt as well as piecing crumbs into fabric to make vinyl-fronted zip project bags for my bee friends in December. I have many quilt tops I could work on but I have always enjoyed the designing and piecing much more than the quilting. But…as I read your newsletter and see such great quilting designs, I’m getting more inclined to give them a shot.
Thanks, Lori, for your gift of bringing cheer and positivity into our lives. We are in this together. God bless…
Lori Kennedy Quilts
Happy Birthday to Edie! I hope you bake a cake for her! LOL
Mary Green
Thanks. We just had a Zoom Party with her. She designed her cake this year – a striped cat with a big body…red, blue and aqua colors!
Cheri
You and your family have some great ideas to keep us going. Since my husband and I have been retired, we feel that we been in training for this lock down for many years now! So we keep doing what we love! He has his garage projects and I have my quilting (some UFOs) projects. Once a week the kids come by and we have a porch/Car dinner, we’re on the porch, they are in or by their cars. It helps seeing these people we made as well as the grandkids. We have FaceTimed, zoomed and DUOed too!
Lori Kennedy Quilts
It’s so weird to not be able to hug the little ones, but at least you all get together!
Becky Shaffer
Hi Lori! Thanks for some great ideas. I’ve been spending a lot of my time catching up on some UFO’s, making masks, taking long walks and practicing yoga with an online instructor since my weekly yoga class has been cancelled due to the virus. Back in the “old days” (a month ago) our family would designate several days as “game day” during the winter and spend those days playing games. We have tables set up all over the house so everyone can play different games. One of our favorites is Azul! I was surprised to see you mention it because most people around here haven’t heard of it. I am going to tell my son about the podcast. He, like you, loves to read about true art crimes. He always has books about art heists on his Christmas wish. I can’t wait to be able to go out to quilt shops, restaurants, church and other places again! Stay safe!
Lori Kennedy Quilts
Don’t you just love AZUL? What other games do you recommend Becky? And do you have a link for yoga—I sure could use it!
cyndyp
The squirrels don’t need an invitation! Whole families move in and rob my feeders blind already! As for my happy hours, I have spent a couple hours in quality driveway time with an elderly friend (her birthday is today but it’s rainy so Tues we meet again) talking quilt-y… a little wine may be involved. Otherwise, most of my hours are happy hours spent quilting, making masks while listening to books on tape, watching OL quilt-y classes and otherwise learning things I want to learn OL. Not as much time spent reading like normal as I’m spending much more time cleaning out and clearing out which also makes me happy…at least when I’m done with each project. I get so involved in all these projects, I’m actually losing weight forgetting to eat! I know many don’t want to hear that but losing weight makes me happy, too 🙂
Lori Kennedy Quilts
You certainly sound productive! And losing weight! That’s fabulous–unlike some of us…LOL
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