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!

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.