Sunday Stash Report

fabric purchased this week: 0 yards
fabric purchased this year: 12.25 yards
fabric used this week: 13 yards
fabric used this year: 76.0 yards

Stash reduced by: 63.75 yards

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

Friday Finish -- Quilt for the Unknown Recipient

If you haven't been to Bonnie Hunter's website, go there immediately!

I just finished her Scrappy Trip Around the World pattern:

In keeping with the scrappy theme, I used a bunch of scraps for the back:

Since the piecing is so busy, I played with the quilting and was quite pleased with how it turned out:

Can you believe that is freehand? And it was easy, too!

Check out what others have Finished for Friday!

More love for the toaster oven

Day 13 with no stove. No end in sight. This girl needs cake.

So I made gluten free chocolate cake in the toaster oven.

I had to eat a small piece to make sure it was ok, and it was absolutely delicious!

The main ingredient is: garbanzo beans. I kid you not.

You can find the recipe here.

Lucky Charms Quilting: part 1

Remember this quilt?:

This quilt lived on my design wall for many months last year, and I am so excited to finally quilt it! I thought I would film some of the steps of custom quilting to give you an idea of the process.

First, the details:

Pattern: Lucky Charms by Pat Sloan

Batting: Quilter's Dream cotton, select weight

Quilter's Dream wool

The quilting, part1:

The thread: InvisiFil, 100 weight polyester from WonderFil

The needle: Size 14, because the thread is really fine

After layering the backing, cotton batting, wool batting, and the top, I basted the edges of the quilt and began to stitch-in-the-ditch. On a longarm machine, this involves using a ruler and a ruler base. I chose to use the Handi Quilter Mini Scallop Ruler for the stitch-in-the-ditch because the ruler is a nice size (8x3 inches) and has little stoppers at each end. These stoppers help line the needle up with the ditch and also make sure that I won't quilt off the end of my ruler.

I stabilized the entire quilt by stitching-in-the-ditch around each border and around the edge of the center block.

Next week I can begin to add decorative quilting!

New Directions

I'm in the middle of a long and drawn out disagreement with my the company that carries the warranty on my stove.

On the bright side, I have had eleven days to explore creative ways to cook with small kitchen appliances. (On the not so bright side, I may have many, many more days to continue this creativity).

I have made:

Hot dogs on the George Foreman Grill

Baked potatoes in the microwave

Pot roast in the crock pot

Pea soup in the crock pot

Mushroom dumplings in the rice steamer

Sesame green beans in the electric skillet

Vegetable lo mein in the electric skillet. I even boiled the noodles in that skillet!

Spicy tofu in the electric skillet

Couscous in the electric tea kettle

English muffins on the electric griddle

Veggie burgers in the electric skillet

Chick pea chili in the crock pot

(It may be possible that I have too many kitchen appliances.)

My friends have been following along, asking about the "small kitchen appliance of the day" and suggesting that I start a new blog. I do not have time for another blog, but I figured I could carve out time for one post about my cooking adventures.

Tonight's "kitchen appliance of the day" was the toaster oven. I made deep dish pizza in an 8x8 pan.

If this is something that you might like to make, here are the ingredients. Note: I don't really use recipes, so everything is approximate. Sorry.

1 batch of pizza dough, divided into two 8x8 pans

top with:

olive oil

fresh pressed garlic

fresh chopped tomatoes

fresh chopped onions

a little tomato sauce if you like that

Italian seasonings (basil, oregano, parsley, and whatever else smells good)

shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese

fresh sliced mushrooms

and, if you are lucky like I am, some fresh lamb sausage from the local farm. yum!

Bake at 425*ish for 15 ish minutes.

Enjoy!

Sunday Stash Report

fabric purchased this week: 12.25 yards
fabric purchased this year: 12.25 yards
fabric used this week: 12.25 yards
fabric used this year: 63.0 yards

Stash reduced by: 50.75 yards

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

Friday Finish -- Kevin's Quilt

After about 15 years, it's finally happened: my son has claimed a quilt.

Don't get me wrong, he has quilts.

The first quilt I ever made was for him:

And when it wore out, I replaced it with the same quilt made in his college colors:

And when he got married, I made him this:

Technically, I finished it thirteen months after he got married, but in a long marriage, what difference do thirteen short months make?

But this week, he actually claimed a quilt. He saw me binding (by hand!) a new sample of my Dream a Little Dream quilt pattern.

"Mom," he asked, "how long does this quilt have to be a sample before it goes to it's rightful owner?"

"Rightful owner? Like me?" I teased.

"No. You made this for me. Isn't this Dream a Little Dream?" he asked with a huge smile.

It's always the smiles that get me. And the fact that he knows my quilt patterns by name doesn't hurt either.

So, here's the quilt that will belong to my son once it has done it's duty as a sample:

I pieced the back to give it character:

It's warm and yummy and made from very masculine homespun fabrics.

How long should I make him wait for it?

Check out what others have Finished for Friday!

Design Wall Monday

Since my design wall hasn't changed at all in a month:

I thought I'd show some photos of the border of a quilt I just finished for a customer:

It was a nice white border, just begging for some fun quilting!

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

_____
Please don't forget to vote:

I entered this quilt in an on-line contest:

Vote here! Pick your favorite, or pick mine (#29)!

Sunday Stash Report

fabric purchased this week: 0
fabric purchased this year: 0
fabric used this week: 9.5 yards
fabric used this year: 50.75 yards

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

and please don't forget to vote:

I entered this quilt in an on-line contest:

Vote here! Pick your favorite, or pick mine (#29)!

Pick the Winner!

I entered this quilt in an on-line contest:

Vote here! Pick your favorite, or pick mine (#29)!

Friday Finish -- Matthew's Quilt

For once, I am actually ahead of schedule.


Matthew is graduating from high school in 2012. Yes, over a year away. His quilt top has been done for over a year, so I just decided to quilt it up on a recent snowy day. Which snowy day? I cannot remember -- there have been too many!




In case you are experiencing deja vu, I have made several quilts like this.

A close-up of the quilting reveals "Elements":




Let's hope Matthew finishes the 11th and 12th grades, and that I can find the quilt by the time he graduates!

Check out what others have Finished for Friday!

Sunday Stash Report

fabric purchased this week: 0
fabric purchased this year: 0
fabric used this week: 9.5 yards
fabric used this year: 41.25 yards

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

Friday finish -- Aaron & Kristin's quilt

My husband is one of five cousins, all male. There are about fifteen years between the oldest and the youngest. My husband (and I) got married twenty-some years ago, and another cousin got married about ten years ago. The other three? They all got married in the last eight months.

Aaron and Kristin were the last to marry and I finished their quilt in time for the wedding. I am as shocked as you are.



A close-up of the quilting:



There are five cousins in the next generation (so far). My son is already married. My daughter has the rest of college, grad-school and possibly a PhD before she'll think of marriage (she says). The other three cousins are all under seven years old. I think I have some time before this side of the family requires more wedding quilts. Maybe I can sneak a nap in somewhere?

Check out what others have Finished for Friday!

Is that a new hat?

No, but there is something new about my blog. I've joined the Quilt Teacher Blog Ring. Since a lot of you are snowed in, grab a cup of tea and click on the link on my sidebar and check out the blogs of other quilt teachers!

Trunk Show Tuesday

Patchwork Posse hosts a trunk show on Tuesdays, and today they showed mine!

Check it out!

And remember, you still have a few hours to add your nomination for MQX Teacher of the Year. Let your voice be heard!