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.