Washing a Charm Pack

I'm starting a new quilt and I want to use these darks/mediums from my stash. The problem is that I don't have enough lights left in my stash...so I decided to purchase a charm pack of lights-Butter Churn Basics by Henry Glass. Then I thought did I want to mix the unwashed charm pack with the washed fabrics from my stash.  I'm not really sure that shrinkage would be a problem but...so I hand washed the charm pack in the sink .

I hung them on the small rack I have and put it out on the screened in porch. It was quite breezy and they dried quickly.

They ironed up beautifully as you can see. So if you're ever not sure, wash the precut. It works. If there was any shrinkage it was irregular and less than a 1/16".

I'm now ready to start this project...as soon as I finish the one I'm working on! :)

 

Sweetpea baby quilt pattern-no applique needed

 MamaNanaPatterns just added a new baby quilt pattern Sweetpea that I just love. If you love flower quilts but don't like to applique, check it out.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1221953010/pdf-baby-quilt-patternlap-quilt?

New Pattern Little Miss Muffet from MamaNanaPatterns @ Etsy

 

I just love this new pattern, Little Miss Muffet,  from MamaNanaPatterns...so soft and sweet-just I what I want in a baby quilt.  I love the little "tuffets" in amongst the flowers.

 For those who like a more modern look, this pattern works great too. 

You can find out more about this cutie here-and even purchase it! Its a pdf. download.
 

Blue work embroideries continued

 I've been working on the blue work embroideries and have finished 4 more embroideries. I think the rabbit looks like one of Peter Rabbit's sisters, don't you? And the duck is well, one of Donald Duck's nephews, isn't he?

I am linking to  Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching. Be sure to stop by and see all the lovely handwork done this past week...lots of hand quilting and embroidery!

Finished! Hand Applique and Hand Quilted quilt

 

I've finished the quilt that was in the frame. How this quilt came to be is one of those...oh my gosh I made a mistake and it was a good one. 

Years ago, I made a wedding quilt for my daughter and I divided the quilt into panels so it would be easier to applique..there were 6 panels--2 center panels and four side panels. I had started to applique the second center panel when I realized that it was the bottom panel and I had already finished it! I "immediately" got to work on the top panel of course.

I baste all my applique pieces on and then do the applique so here it was-the repeat bottom panel-all ready to be put in the closet to be finished all on its lonesome someday and that day is today!

I'm linking to Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts.

I'm linking to Can I get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

I'm linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathysquilts a link party devoted to all types of hand work from quilting and applique to knitting and embroidery. Stop by and see all the wonderful creations worked on or finished this week.

Handwork: Hand quilting and embroidery

 

I've made quite a bit of progress...you can see I'm getting close to the outer border. Yay!

I've also been working on the embroidery project I took with me. When the quilt shop I used to teach at closed, they gifted me with a full box of blue floss so I thought I'd put to good use. 

Here's Grandpa and Grandma!

And some animals! I still have more animals to finish. :)

I just love the puppy.

Hand Quilting

I've been hand quilting on an applique quilt that has been ready for quilting for a long time. I took the top with me to the States to quilt in a hoop while at my daughter's..you can see the hand basting...but I didn't get much done so I brought it home and put it in the frame using only 2 rails. I must say, I have totally gotten out of quilting in a hoop. :)

Springtime...a new applique baby quilt pattern

Hope you're all well. We made our usual trip to our daughter's for the winter but then we got "stuck" and so we spent an extra month there and then we spent two weeks in quarantine when we got home. The flight was fine...United Air really stepped up. No one was seated in the middle seat, the food was all packaged and the drinks were all in single serve bottles-including the water. There were no pillows because they couldn't be properly cleaned and everyone wore masks the entire flight. It all made me feel better-I was a bit nervous about the flight.

A new pattern has been posted to MamaNanaPatterns at Etsy.com. Hope you like it - Sarah (and me too) would love any feedback.

Springtime

The Shrinking of Lap Quilts

Have you noticed that lap quilts are now the size of baby quilts? My daughter explained this to me...what I think of as a lap quilt is now called a throw (a term formerly used for woven coverlets and afghans) and lap quilts are literally that-small quilts that fit on your lap and are wonderful for people in wheelchairs. (Seems the younger generation of quilters is thinking of us seniors :)

Here's MamaNanaPatterns latest pattern, And The Green Grass Grows: a quilt whose size and design makes a wonderfully cheerful baby or lap quilt. Click here for more information about this pattern.

WOW! Its been so long since I've written anything! Mary Mary Quite Contrary-a new pattern at MamaNanaPatterns

It has been so long since I've written a blog post. I'm visiting my daughter, playing with my granddaughters and catching up on my daughter's Etsy shop. It has really grown...there are now 10 patterns available for instant download- baby quilts and one kids quilt that would also be nice as a lap or sofa throw.

The picture above shows her best seller. Its called Mary Mary Quite Contrary and is truly a quick and easy quilt to make...there are even no seams to match! You can visit her shop and see all her listings here.

Hopscotch

Remember playing hopscotch? 

MamaNana Patterns newest baby quilt pattern, yes called Hopscotch, is quick and easy...so easy there aren't even any seams to match. Great for beginners and also a great pattern to finish in a week-end for that baby gift needed right now

Check it out here. This is an instant download pdf pattern.

Binding the Iris Quilt

Finally finishing up the Iris Quilt...hand sewing the binding to the back. Can't wait to be finished! :) 

Sewing the binding to the back is my least favorite part of quilting. How about you?

Quilting my Iris Quilt

I'm finally quilting my Iris quilt...it took a while, partly because I didn't like the border I put on originally so being dissatisfied I left it in the closet :) and partly because I just really wasn't up to dealing with it. I did finally figure out the border I wanted, removed the old border and added the new. The link above shows the old border. This photo just shows part of the center...yes, I'm kind of keeping the new border hidden still.

I decided to go with an overall florally look - not very original but... I am proud of how I got in between and around the petals keeping the pattern going in the tight spots. This of course is all done on my home machine.

What are your working on? Probably not something as old as this.

I do think I deserve a Whoop Whoop! Take a look and see all the other great projects being finished or at least worked on :)  this week.

Chocolate cake brownie bars with peanut butter filling...mmm

Our son and his family came up to visit on Friday. We had a great time, put the sprinkler out for the girls, even the baby liked it. :) One of the twins loves chocolate and the other peanut butter so what better dessert could I make that chocolate brownie bars with a peanut butter filling. I like them too-I always like a cakey brownie.

                                 

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C)                                 

Cake:

½ cup oil

 ½ cup sugar and ½ cup packed brown sugar

I teaspoon vanilla 

2 eggs

½ cup cocoa

1 ½ cups self rising flour or 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling:

1/3 cup  peanut butter

½ cup powdered sugar

Beat oil and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla.

Beat. Add cocoa and flour. 

  Mix well. The batter will be very thick.

In separate bowl, mix peanut butter and powdered sugar. Make into balls.

Spoon half the thick chocolate batter  in the bottom of an 8” x 8” pan. Lay out the peanut butter balls on the batter.  Press down slightly. Spoon batter on top of pressed peanut butter balls and spread gently.

In this pix, I've left one pressed peanut butter ball still uncovered with the top batter. (I forgot to take a pix of just the first half of the batter in the pan with the balls on top.)

Bake 25 minutes. Cool slightly and cut into bars while warm. Mmm! 

New Quilt Pattern Shop on Etsy

Wow! I can't believe it is so long since I wrote a blog post. 

What I thought was just a virus turned out to be one of those fatigue diseases. I'd just lie on the sofa and think about things to do and then never do anything! Thank goodness for Netflix and Kindle Unlimited. 

Dan and I just got back from a long--4 month--visit at our daughter's and oh what fun we had with our adorable little granddaughter. It certainly got my motor running and me off the sofa!

While there, my daughter and I talked quilts, quilt designs, and patterns. It ended up with her opening an Etsy shop..check it out. MamaNanaPatterns. I'm the  pattern tester :) 

The picture at top is Jitterbug and is lap quilt size and great on a kids bed.

The other pattern is called Tutti Frutti and is a baby quilt and a variation on a postage stamp quilt. A Honey Bun makes it so easy--instructions are included for scraps too.

Its good to be back.

A Meatless Monday Recipe: Shakshuka-Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce

 Shakshuka: Poached Eggs in Spicy Tomato Sauce

¼ cup chopped onion

2 Tbls. chopped sweet red pepper (or yellow or green)

2 Tbls. chopped parsley

1 glove garlic chopped

1 hot red pepper or pepper flakes**

1 tsp sugar, optional

1 tsp. olive oil or spray

2 cups canned tomatoes with juice, chopped

1 Tbls. tomato paste

Salt and black pepper (optional)

**How hot and spicy you want your shakshuka to be-very hot: use a whole red pepper and leave it in all the time, medium hot-use a whole red pepper but remove the seeds, mildly hot-saute the hot pepper but don’t cook it in the tomato sauce. I make the mildly hot and then my husband adds some hot pepper flakes or tabasco sauce to his.

1. Saute onion and pepper.

2. When the onion and pepper are soft, add the chopped garlic and parsley and sauté for 1 minute. If using the hot pepper, add it with the chopped garlic and parsley.

3. Remove the hot pepper for mild heat, and add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste, (For a hotter dish, keep the pepper in. Add the sugar if using. Add a shake of salt and pepper

4. Let the sauce cook about 15-20 minutes covered, Remove the cover for the last five minutes if you see there’s a lot of liquid still.

5. Crack the eggs, one at a time, into a cup and gently slide them into the sauce. Cover and let the eggs cook a bit to firm up, then gently spoon sauce over the tops. Cook until done.

 Here's how the eggs look as they firm up enough to spoon the sauce on top:

 And here's the dish plated and ready to eat. Serve with bread and salad for a delicious lunch or light supper.

Pride and Prejudice: Happy 200th Birthday

200 years and 10 days ago, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was first published. Now you all know that it is my and many others favorite book but for those of you who haven't yet read it I though I'd add some links so you finally can and for those of you who know and love it, some links to reread it and for some Regency fun.

You can download the free e-book here or if you would rather listen to Pride and Prejudice you can download this wonderful free audio book read by Elizabeth Klett here. This reading is as fine as any you could pay for.

The English media is just full of fun articles celebrating the 200th birthday...here's one that I enjoyed-a slightly bizarre review of favorite characters by well known authors and scholars-from The Guardian. 

Even if haven't been to Bath, you can enjoy the Jane Austen Centre  events and bookstore here  That's also where you can read the on line magazine and try out some of the quizzes.  Today, you can listen in on a read-athon

You can purchase  the wonderful BBC mini-series from 1995 starring Colin Firth here at Amazon or watch it for free on You-Tube (it starts here) and I'll even get you started:
Happy Birthday  and thank you Jane Austen.

Some highlights from our trip

We're back from our month long trip to the US...of course, we had a wonderful time with family and friends. I thought I'd share some pix starting with: the grandbabies!
I caught them coloring! That's Ella first and then Mika-they're 22 months old now.

We had so much fun with them in Boston-just hanging out, going to the park, reading them books-you know-doing grandparent things. :)

We spent about a week in Philadelphia and had several outings planned but then I got sick-nothing serious just it put a kibosh on the outings. We did take a one day trip to Washington, DC-our daughter was testifying before a joint Congressional committee on human rights in China! Proud Mama? You bet!

 I finally got to the DAR Museum-every time I've been in Washington, its been closed.
Here's a bad hat hair  picture to prove that I actually finally got there.

 They allow no pictures inside-We saw a wonderful fashion exhibit and some quilts. DH always has my best interests at heart-I saw 2 quilts and thought that was it. He brought over a guide and she showed us how to pull out sliding display doors and there were 6 more quilts! Not one was one of the famous DAR quilts however. :( 

We had a wonderful week in New York with our daughter-we went up to Hyde Park (FDR's home) and just generally enjoyed the snow! I stayed an extra day with her and went to the Metropolitan Museum and my most favorite place: the New York Public Library where I read some Godey's Lady's Book magazines from the 1870s, (See why its one of my favorite places?)

Happy New Year to all...its good to be home.

Butterfly Embroidery Mystery Quilt Flimsy is Done!

I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to write this post's title! I feel like I'm getting back to myself. 

After I got the center of the quilt top assembled-which was handling a bit more weight than just blocks and I had no trouble-I had to think about what I wanted for the border and I knew I would have to rotary cut fabric. LOL! doesn't sound like it should stop me but I was a bit apprehensive-would my left arm be strong enough to hold that ruler straight! I decided I would cut 4 layers of fabric and not 8 as I formerly would have and it worked! So I cut the borders from the white fabric and then squares from the strips that were left over from the center.

I pieced the top/bottom and sides because I had the idea of a 9-patch for the corners...

But once I laid it out on the bed, I didn't like it-I thought there was no point to that being the corner. So I just reworked it-as a sort of 9-patch variant...

But I didn't use 3 little squares for the outside-I cut 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangles...so with a  few extra seams the border looks like I added each border separately (and I must say this way was much faster and much easier to fit that pieced border in.)

I wish I could now just layer this up and see how I do with machine quilting but...we're off to the US on Thursday! Yippee, we'll see our older kids and our sweet little granddaughters! We'll be gone a month so I'll be back in 2013!  (I must say this has been a year with little blogging by me-hope next year goes smoother.) I'm not taking my netbook-I have to worry about how much I'm carrying as it all has to be done with my right arm-so I'll only be able to post from my iPod. 

Happy Hanuka (I've been eating too many jelly doughnuts this week).

A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

Progress on the embroidered mystery quilt

I've made some progress on the embroidered mystery quilt. I finished sewing all the setting squares and put them up with the embroidered squares on my - rather clever I think - make shift design wall...I don't know what happened to the flannel I used to use (I think I cut it up for something) so I took a twin sized flannel flat sheet, folded it in half wrong side out and taped it to the wall. 

When I designed the mystery quilt, it was with this layout.

If you squint, can you see the stars? It was a great layout for a mystery quilt with the surprise secondary pattern and the Redwork club participants really liked how their quilts came out. I didn't finish mine because that was just when I got sick with the CMV virus...in fact, I missed the last session and had to e-mail Barbie the layout.

Well, I just couldn't resist moving squares around...

and I've decided that I'm actually going to use this layout instead. (Don't tell on me! :)