Pots and Pins

Geese In The Forest Quilt...

When I showed the mister this quilt top and told him it was all paper-pieced, he was not nearly as impressed as I had hoped, but then, he doesn't have a clue about paper-piecing and how difficult it can be for someone who UNsews more than she sews!  Not wanting the mister to feel left out, to not be in the know, I explained how every piece was sewn with a paper foundation and just when I got to the part about removing the paper, I noticed the mister's eyes were glazed over as if he was in some kind of trance.  It was only then I realized my words had fallen on deaf ears as the TV was on the Military Channel and I had been competing for the mister's attention with a guy talking about the M16 rifle, the mister's mistress.  The M16 is sleek, shiny and smooth...me and my quilt top did not stand a chance.  When the M16 show was over, the mister picked up the quilt top and studied it, and then said, "Wow, this is really soft, doesn't feel like paper at all!"

  

 

 

 

 

Two thoughts come to mind when I look at this quilt top:  1. It was a total buggar to make!  2: It's probably my all-time favorite quilt.  I'm convinced that only left-brain people should paper-piece.  Logic is needed, there's a pattern, a system, a methodical placement of fabrics that make paper-piecing extremely accurate...something right-brain people are not entirely comfortable with.  I have done my share of paper-piecing, and while I love the outcome, I really hate the process.  And with this quilt, it was a very, very long process! 

About 3 1/2 years ago I saw this pattern online - and fell in love with it!  I showed Lori and Kareena the pattern and suggested we all make it together - thinking we'd get together, share fabrics and sew our little brains out.  How hard could it be?  They laughed.  After a bit of convincing they both agreed to make the quilt with me.  Lori volunteered to sew through a ream of vellum paper so we would all have the patterns.  (Vellum is much easier to remove than regular paper.)  I donated my bin of green fabrics to the cause and we were off and running...well, not really.  After closer inspection of the pattern I realized there was no way I could do it...paper-pieced-triangles...who was I kidding?!?

Lori thought better of the idea, too, and it was only Kareena who, perhaps naively, went ahead with it.  She was relatively new to quilting so maybe at the time she didn't realize what she was getting herself into?!  It wasn't long after we divvied things up that Kareena moved to China for two years; during that time she worked on this project, sewing 52 blocks together before she realized she HATED it!  When she returned from China she brought the project to me - said she didn't care if I finished it or not, she just never wanted to see it again and it needed to be out of her house! 

That was last year.  I was both stunned and happy...stunned after all that work she could/would give it up...and happy that she did!  Then reality hit...she may have sewn 52 blocks together but that left 48 to be finished!!  Gulp.  48 blocks to finish.  48 blocks that I sewed and UNsewed and REsewed over the course of a year.  (While Kareena can say she sewed half of this quilt, I can say I sewed the other half 4 or 5 times!)   But finally, after all that work, it was time to sew those blocks together...and that should have been the easy part but there were "things"...little snippets of corners that were missed where the fabric ran short!!  Right when I was about to cross the finish line I ended up spending hours sewing on little pieces of fabrics to those missed spots.  I may have cursed someone at that point! 

All is well now...it's done.  It's finally done.  And it is my very favorite quilt.  I love everything about it.  I especially love that it's finished!  I didn't follow the pattern exactly, surely that's not a shock, because I felt it needed more geese in the forest, so I added in more red - besides, red is a neutral for me!  This is a Twiddletails pattern, designed by Anina and it's available by clicking here.

I've decided that this quilt top doesn't need the usual aging that most of my tops get, where they sit in a basket for long periods of time before they're quilted.  I want to get this one quilted as soon as possible...it just kind of screams hand-quilting...crazy, no?  What would you do?         

Thanks to Lori and Kareena...without their help I wouldn't be the proud owner of this magnificent quilt! 

Tie Pockets...

Yesterday at church one of the speakers said we should enjoy the small and simple things in life...he might have been talking about reading the scriptures or prayer, I have no idea because he lost me at small and simple.  My mind went straight to my Tie Pocket in my handbag - it's definitely small and simple and I smile every time I see it.  

 

 

 

 

 

It's entirely possible to make a Tie Pocket for everyone you know in a matter of minutes - as in it takes ONE MINUTE to make ONE Tie Pocket...no kidding!  First you start with a tie.  From the wide end, measure 11-inches from the point and then cut.  Fold the cut end over and stitch down.  Save the remainder of the tie for something else - like maybe you'll sew all of those pieces end to end and then roll them up into a giant TIE BALL?

Giant tie balls are quite heavy!  I think there are 75 tie pieces in that thing!  What does one do with a giant tie ball?  Glad you asked...I used it when I taught a lesson to the girls at church about us all being "tie-d together"...as the girls sat in a circle, if they wanted to talk they had to have the tie ball, so it was thrown back and forth and around the circle while I asked them questions and dispensed my pearls of wisdom...by the end of the lesson they were all tied together, clever, no?  (If I had been talking to a group of women I would have mentioned the ties that bind...and gag...and suffocate...but since they were young I left all that out!)   I gave them all a Tie Pocket...they were thrilled...it is the small and simple things that bring joy!  So, after you fold the cut end over and sew it down, you fold the tie into thirds:

  

 

 

 

 

Sew down each side, forming the pocket.  Three little seams and you're done!  You just fold the flap (pointed end) over the pocket and press, see?  Easy-peasy!  Now you have a nice little Tie Pocket to maybe keep some tissue in, or your driver's license, or a pack of gum or a supply of Advil/Vicodin, name your poison. 

 

If you don't happen to have a huge stash of men's ties, you can find them on ebay for cheap - I ordered some years ago and I've used them in different things...but this is one of my favorite ways to use them - who doesn't need a Tie Pocket?!?

Joni's Grandfather's Clock...

Have you ever wanted something so badly that you just can't get it out of your mind?  Well, that's me and my friend's clock.  It's SO fabulous I can't stop thinking about it.  I close my eyes and I see it.  There's no escape...it's like a song running through my head only instead of music I see the checkboard, the butterflies, the color, the fun, the fabulous-ness of it all!!!  Here's just one pic - something for you to drool over...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My friend Joni the author, TV show host, radio personality, cook, baker, beauty pagent winner AND artiste painted her grandfather's clock.  She painted it.  By herself.  She didn't see one and copy it, she dreamed this up all on her own. 

It's spectacular, no?

I love it.  I've told her how much I love it.  I know for a fact that I love it more than her, but doest that matter to my friend?  No, it does not as she still has the clock.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but if someone you call a dear friend says they love something of yours, shouldn't you give it to them?  Yes, I thought you'd agree with me.  She should give me the clock.    All in favor say aye!  Aye, Yi, Yi, Yi!  I love it so much, I just had to tell you about it...but go to her blog, Joniopolis, and see her inspiration - and more pics...then you'll be as envious as me and I won't feel so bad! 

Bill The Butcher...

For five years I drove by Bill The Butcher in Redmond, telling myself each time I would stop and go in on my next trip.  But I never did...I just kept driving by.  Then a friend invited me to go to a class at Bill The Butcher to learn how to properly cut up a chicken.  I went.  I learned a thing or two and I came home with all kinds of goodies, including a chicken to brine (more about that in another post.)

 

Bill the Butcher has several locations around Seattle, check their website  to see where they are.  I'll bet there is one near you, well, if you live in Seattle that is.  The Redmond shop is rather charming - not only do they sell meat/chicken, but they sell organic milk and cream plus they have a really nice selection of salsa, BBQ Sauce, and pickled things - like Pickled Figs and PIckled Raisins.  I bought a jar of the Pickled Raisins (they are surprisingly delicious!) and plan to use it with a pork tenderloin, sounds yummy, no?  

Meet Bobby the Butcher.  Bobby taught the chicken class, in the back-room of the shop.  It was about an hour long and he was chock full of good info - definitely worth the $50 cost of the class, which included a whole organic chicken ($21.00) and then we were given $25 to use on anything in the store...so basically the class cost us $4.00.  Is that a deal or what?!?  And Bobby the Butcher said he would be willing to teach a class on whatever we wanted to learn - they are open for suggestions and love to teach what they know because they love what they do - super nice people!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The chickens at Bill the Butcher come with the neck attached, that was a new one for me - so I learned how to remove it. 

I also learned how to locate and remove the big pieces of fat that are usually attached on whole fryers.  Bobby showed us how to fry those pieces of fat until they are rendered/liquified creating a nice flavor enhancer for sauteing veggies or potatoes or to use with fried rice...anything that could use a boost of chicken flavor. 

  With the $25 from the class I bought some of their cinnamon bacon - it was SOOOO good!  Just the tiniest hint of cinnamon - can't believe what a difference that made!  I also bought some of their sausages - they were outstanding - will be buying more very soon!  And I came home with a couple of steaks - not too thin, not too thick - they were just right for us, because at Bill the Butcher, they'll cut it however you want.

Listen kids, if you haven't been to Bill the Butcher, get yourself on in there - they are friendly, their prices are not out of whack and they are probably on your way to wherever you're going!

(I was not paid to write this post - I just happen to really, really like Bill the Butcher...and I hope you will, too!)

Pots De Creme...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Need a quick and FAB-U-Lastforeverinyourmouthdecadent-dessert???  Got five minutes?  Then you can make this and still make your departure on board the love train when it leaves the station!  Seriously, this dessert is all I could ever say it is...it's quick to make, and it tastes every bit as good, if not better, than anything you could get in a five star restaurant. 

 

 

 

Pots De Creme, (pronounced poh-da-krem, it's French you know, and it mean cream pots - duh) is rich, dense and smooth.  It's not a mousse - too thick for that - and it's not a pudding - there's no Jell-O-ish jiggle or meringue-sponge in this - it's just pure satin-y scrumptious.  And it's all made in the blender!  No cooking, no fuss!  Put in the chocolate, add the eggs and then pour in strong, hot coffee...blend till smooth and you're ready to pour into whatever cute Valentine dish you have...or if you're serving a crowd, you can fill up cute little shot glasses.  Two bites is good, or course three or four would be better but two bites will satisfy even the most devoted chocoholic.

Top Pots De Creme with a sweetened whipped cream for the piece de resistance!  If you want more of a flavor to your cream pots you can use a flavored coffee (I used hazelnut coffee) and you could skip the vanilla and add in a tablespoon of rum!  Why not, it's Valentine's Day!  Live a little! 

Aren't these beautiful?!?  I had every intention of taking a picture with them topped with whipped cream and a hazelnut...but I forgot...just imagine it though, they were just perfect!

Pots De Creme - Pots and Pins

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (the better the chocolate, the better they'll taste!)

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon really good vanilla extract

1 cup very strong HOT coffee (try a flavored coffee, like hazelnut or vanilla cream or caramel!)

whipped cream for topping

 

Put chocolate chips into the blender, add in the eggs and vanilla.  Blend until chocolate is in little tiny pieces, about 30 seconds or so.  Pour in the coffee slowly, with the blender running on high, and continue to blend until the chocolate has completely melted and is smooth.  Pour into ramekins, pretty heart-shaped bowls or shot glasses.  Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours or until thoroughly chilled.  When ready to serve top with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.  Makes about 2 cups, enough for 4 large desserts or 8 small...if you use shot glasses you'll get 16 servings!)

Optional toppings:  chopped nuts or chocolate shavings.

Whatever your plans are today or tonight, I hope you have fun, lots of laughs and a little bit of love!  Or maybe lots of love and a little bit of laughs...just make sure not to laugh at your love's little bits...

 

Coconut Cream Pie from the Dahlia Lounge...

The mister and I are not real thhh-eee-a-ter people, we don't buy season tickets or know every word to Wicked and we don't wear brooches or ascots to matinees or have any clue as to who or what is touring when...but every now and then we go to a play and we laugh and have a great time and spend our ride home asking ourselves why we don't go more often.  That was the case Saturday. 

  

 

We strolled around Seattle, in and out of shops, picking up a few necessary items along the way.  We had lunch at The Dahlia Lounge and I practically licked my plate clean - it was rather embarrassing, but I was there to eat, after all!  The mister, not so much...he spent most of our lunch telling me how great his food was on his American Airlines flight last week.  Not even kidding a smidgen.  He LOVED the Italian chicken and did he think I could get their recipe and make it for him?!?  Godfrey...it'll be a cold day in Perth when I stoop to trying to duplicate airline food!!  We skipped ordering dessert so we could walk next door to the Dahlia Bakery and buy mini-coconut cream pie bites to eat as we walked to the theater.  We each had two tiny bites of pie.  So good.  Wished for more.  Really wished for more!  Spamalot was worth every penny!  We had ourselves a rip-roarin' good time.  And then, not once, but twice, yes two times as we drove home the mister brought up his airplane food...rubber chicken that was edible at 35,000 feet, as if!  Now let me ask you, when was the last time you had anything decent to eat on an airplane?!?  Like the 12th of Never!?  Really, how good could it have been?!?    To put myself out of my misery, I made Coconut Cream Pie from the Dahlia Lounge, at approximately 700 feet above sea level.  It was, in a word, outtathisworld.

Finding the recipe for the Dahlia Lounge's Coconut Cream Pie was not hard, I just opened Tom Douglas' The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook, and followed along. (I'm a huge Tom Douglas fan - I think he has about 10 restaurants in Seattle, they are all my favs, and if you haven't treated yourself to his food, rectify that immediately!)  IF you decide to make this pie - and I really hope you do - then you need to know you have to start early in the day if you want to serve it the same night - or start the day before - you don't want to rush this, it's worth taking your time.

The crust tastes like a shortbread coconut cookie - rich and buttery.  The filling has shredded coconut, coconut milk, eggs and butter...say it with me:  my-oh-my-it-will-go-straight-to-my-thighs!  It's rich, decadent, and simply one of the best coconut cream fillings I've ever had the pleasure of eating!  (I made two pies - one for us, one for a friend - it's always good to share!  This recipe doubles perfectly.) Makes my heart skip a beat just thinking about it...perhaps it skips a beat due to plaque...I should probably have that looked at.

 

This pie sets up so nicely and cuts cleanly - no runny bizness whatsoever.  It's worth 5 dangs on the Dang Meter - ring them loud and clear - this one is dang, dang, dang, dang, dang good!!

Coconut Cream Pie - Adapted From The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook by Tom Douglas

For the Coconut Pastry Dough:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, plus extra for rolling dough

1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoons salt

1/3 cup ice-cold water, or more as needed

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine flour, coconut, diced butter, sugar and salt and pulse to form coarse crumbs. Gradually add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing each time. Use only as much water as needed for the dough to hold together when pressed gently between your fingers (don’t work dough with your hands, just test to see if it is holding). The dough will not form a ball or even clump together in the processor, it will be quite loose.

Place a large sheet of plastic wrap on the counter and dump the coconut dough onto it. Pull plastic wrap around dough, forcing it into a rough flattened round with the pressure of the plastic wrap. Refrigerate 30 to 60 minutes before rolling.

When ready to roll dough, unwrap round of coconut dough and place it on a lightly floured board. Flour rolling pin and your hands. Roll out dough in a circle about 1/8-inch thick. Occasionally lift dough with a bench knife or scraper to check that it is not sticking, and add more flour if it seems like it’s about to stick. Trim to a 12- to 13-inch round. Transfer rolled dough to a 9-inch pie pan. Ease dough loosely and gently into pan. You don’t want to stretch dough at his point, because it will shrink when it is baked.

Trim any excess dough to 1- to 11/2-inch overhang. Turn dough under along rim of pie pan and use your fingers and thumb to flute the edge. Refrigerate unbaked pie shell for at least 1 hour before baking (this prevents the dough from shrinking in the oven).

When ready to bake pie crust, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a piece of parchment in pie shell, with sides overhanging the pan, and fill with dried beans (this prevents the bottom of the shell from puffing up during baking). Bake pie crust for 20 to 25 minutes, or until pastry rim is golden. Remove pie pan from oven. Remove paper and beans and return pie crust to oven. Bake for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, or until bottom of crust has golden brown patches. Remove from oven and allow pie shell to cool completely.

For the Cream Pie Filling:

1 cup milk

1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk, stirred

2 cups shredded sweetened coconut

1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise

2 eggs

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

For garnish:

2 oz. shredded coconut, toasted

Chunk of white chocolate (4 to 6 oz., to make 2 oz. of curls), optional

For whipped cream topping:

2 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To prepare coconut pastry cream: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine milk, coconut milk and shredded coconut. Using a paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean and add both scrapings and pod to milk mixture. Stir occasionally until mixture almost comes to a boil. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar and flour until well combined. Temper eggs by pouring a small amount (about 1/3 cup) of scalded milk into egg mixture while whisking. Then add warmed egg mixture to saucepan of milk and coconut. Whisk over medium-high heat until pastry cream thickens and begins to bubble. Keep whisking until mixture is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes more. Remove saucepan from heat. Add butter and whisk until it melts. Remove and discard vanilla pod.

Transfer pastry cream to a bowl and place it over another bowl of ice water. Stir occasionally until pastry cream is cool. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on surface of pastry cream (to prevent a skin from forming) and refrigerate until completely cold. The pastry cream will thicken as it cools. When pastry cream is cold, fill pastry shell, smoothing the surface with a rubber spatula.

To prepare garnish: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread shredded coconut on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 7 to 8 minutes, watching carefully (coconut burns easily) and stirring once or twice until lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

To prepare whipped cream topping: In an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip heavy cream with sugar and vanilla extract to peaks that are firm enough to hold their shape. Spread whipped cream over top of pie. Sprinkle toasted coconut over top of pie. Use a vegetable peeler to scrape about 2 ounces of white chocolate curls on top of the pie (or you can cut pie into wedges, place wedges on plates and garnish each wedge individually with toasted coconut and white chocolate curls) and serve.  Makes one 9-inch pie.  Serves 6 to 8.

 

Blue Valentine Quilt...

I've made just a couple of quilts with blue fabrics - it's not my color of choice and nothing in my home is blue so whatever blue quilts I make are usually for someone else.  It's okay to give quilts away, it builds character.  Feel free to quote me on that.  If you've ever given away a quilt, even one you don't particularly love, then you know what I'm talking about!  It's much harder than one would think...after spending weeks, months, sometimes years working on a quilt, it can be a bit painful to part with!  But this quilt?  Naw, no pain whatsoever would be felt because for whatever reason, this quilt does not speak to me.

 

If this had red fabric anywhere it might have stood a chance and I don't know why I ended up putting yellow in there but that was kind of the deal breaker for me  - the quilt just took a turn to no return. 

Some of the fabrics in this quilt have quite a history...all of them were used in another quilt, so they are truly scraps, but see that navy and blue floral?  That was once part of a shirt that belonged to my mom, along with the blue and white polka dot fabric!  Mom was tossing some clothes out a few years ago and they were all 100% cotton, blues and white, so I snagged them.  I've had them in my stash for probably 6 or 7 years - and one would think because of that this quilt would be a favorite!  Nope!

The backing is just cotton, not flannel, which is what I usually put on the backs of my quilts.  If you're going to reach for a quilt, reach for one with a flannel backing, it's always warmer.  Feel free to quote me on that, too!  Even the cute backing couldn't salvage my feelings for this quilt.  So I decided to give it away, to a blue person, then they would be happy and their happiness would make me happy...win/win.

As I was sewing down the last of the binding the mister arrived home, he been out with his good friend Jack celebrating the Seahawks big win, so he was in fine form.  He walked over to where I was sitting and said, "It that one for me?  I like that, that's purty.  It can be my car quilt because you said I needed one."  Instantly, this unloved blue quilt turned into my Valentine gift for the mister!  He does need a car quilt - you know, so when we are out and about and it's freezing yet he still has the air on, I can grab the car quilt and keep warm!  (Everyone should have a car quilt!)  A Blue Valentine, it's so fitting.  He can have this quilt and I won't have to look for a red sweater, or a red shirt or red socks or red pajamas...he saved me a lot of time and energy.  Like I said, when you give a quilt away, it's win/win.  Happy Valentine's Day to the Mister.

 

Yeti Hunting...

Two years ago I introduced my grandson Max to the fine art of Sasquatch Hunting.  When he was here that summer, I took him Sasquatch hunting in the forest at night.  It was great fun - we each had a flashlight, and a bucket of Squatch Food (turns out they like chocolate chip cookies) and a rope, just in case we found one so we could tie it up and lead it home to be our pet.  Max is a great Sasquatch hunter - and he looked the part with the shirt I made him with a Target T-shirt.  I added the Sasquatch and stuffed him so he would look, you know, more real!

 

Since that very first hunt, Max and I have hunted Sasquatch on many occasions - alas, we've yet to capture one.  Just when I thought Max's interest in Sasquatch was about to wane, someone told him about the Yeti.  Of course, everyone knows the Sasquatch hibernate in the winter and can only be hunted in warmer weather but the Yeti lurks in snow-capped mountains and forests all winter long, trudging around looking for small animals to tease and large humans to scare.  Naturally, Max wanted to hunt the Yeti.  So we did.  Max was prepared with a map he drew himself and his Yeti-hunting-flashlight.  You can see in the pic in the middle above that Max is investigating a lump of snow...sometimes Yeti babies curl up on the ground to hide from humans...one needs to be very careful.  Max was also equipped with night-vision-glasses - helpful in spotting Yeti at night.   

Max needed a Yeti shirt, he must look the part.  With another Target T-shirt and a picture from Pinterest, Max will be sportin' his new shirt today at school.  (I would happily credit the person who's picture I saw on Pinterest but the link went to a Flickr page with hundreds of pics and no names or other links.  Sorry!) 

 

Just in case you were thinking this was all a bunch of Max/Tom-foolery, I have provided you with proof.  Yeti is alive and well and lives in Utawrrrrrh!

Max happily posed with Yeti, who we found frozen with fear on someone's porch...well played Yeti, well played!

That was all the encouragement Max needed to continue the Yeti hunts - night after night. 

Just a word of caution to you other grandmas out there...be careful what you start with your grandchildren...apparently I will be hunting Sasquatch and Yeti till the end of my days!!

Quilt Group Friday...

The Seattle Seahawks are the Super Bowl CHAMPS!  Best game ever!  Well, if you're a Seahawks fan it was...and the entire city celebrated long into the night - including fireworks from the top of the Space Needle! (Photo from the Seattle Times.)

I was so wrapped up in the game/commercials/food that the quilt I had to bind just sat there - I was too excited to pick up a needle and thread!  And that's a first for me!  I was planning to show you my quilt this morning but as it's not done you'll just have to wait - but I have plenty of others to show you from our meeting last week so let's get started!

This is how we started our meeting - with a peek at Kareena's freshly painted "12th Man" toes...it was nice to see our Aussie friend has been converted to real football!  For those of you who live under a rock, the 12th Man is the name for Seahawks Fans...only the best in all of NFL-dom!

 

Actually, we started our meeting with a discussion on what type of project our group will do this year.  We talked about doing a Round Robin, like the quilt on the left.  That was the last Round Robin we did, and that's Helen's round robin.  That project caused us all a lot of heartburn so we decided not to do that one again.  Another time we all exchanged ugly 9-patch blocks - that's what we called them, we used our ugly fabrics to make and exchange 12 blocks each month.  We all ended up with dozens and dozens of blocks and some pretty funky quilts.  The quilt on the right above is one of two Helen made with her blocks.  After much discussion we decided none of us wanted to sew 12 blocks each month.  We finally agreed on the "My Month Project."  We each will get a month were we tell the group what blocks we want them to make for us...and everyone will make one block a month for a year.  We can surely do ONE block!  Then each month someone will go home with 12 blocks that were made just for them - we've done this project before and everyone likes it so now we've got a plan for the new year!

Above is Terry's wonky tree quilt - not only is the piecing fun and perfect but so is the quilting!  And Terry embellished her trees with gold threads. 

Terry brought in her new bag and if I got the story straight, a friend of hers gave her all of the fabric, already stripped together and those cute cupcake blocks!  All she had to do was sew it up!  We should all have a friend like that! 

 This adorable Christmas Gift quilt is also Terry's and the backing she used was so cute I had to show you that as well.  Our group did a Christmas gift block exchange a while back and your truly even did a Gift Block Tutorial !

Kareena, with the 12th Man toes, brought in this sweet Valentine quilt...I just love this!  Wonder if I can whip one up in the next few days?!?  Kareena also brought in three adorable baby quilts...

These quilts are small, maybe 40-inches square, or even less, but they're perfect for a newborn or as a wall-hanging in the nursery.  Who doesn't love pinwheels?!

Jenny brought in this quilt - I wish you could feel it, in all of it's polyester/wool/cotton glory!  It's fabulous!!  Jenny rescued it from a consignment store - it's got a real vintage vibe to it along with it looking dang happy! 

Helen's quilt is so her.  Surprising.  Aqua, pink with black and white stripes - and it works!  Helen is a master-piecer, she never starts with a plan, she just lets it fly and the end result is always spectacular.

This is Helen's latest creation - stunning in it's simplicity.  Just look at all those colors!  I need to get out of my rut and make a Helen quilt for myself - seems like good winter therapy to me!

Oh hello Stephanie!  When we were talking about group projects, Helen reminded us of our strip project.  We made strips for each other each month - this is Helen's quilt...it's fabulous!  You can only see a tiny bit of it but on the bottom strip, on the left, is the front part of a Woody station-wagon and those are surf boards lined up in front of it.  Flamingos, snail blocks, boats, kites, houses...Life is definitely a beach!  We all loved this quilt!

 

My red and white quilt, which was our last "My Month" group project, has been in the aging process for about two years now while I've been trying to decide what to do with it.  After a lot of thought I decided to hand applique primitive trees and houses for borders on the top.  I took the one finished border and the top to my meeting to ask my group what they thought and when you ask opinionated women for their opinions you get them!  They suggested I ditch the appliqued borders (which I was all too happy to do because really, did I want to spend another year hand-appliqueing three more of them?!!?) and Helen found a perfect fabric in her stash that worked.  I sewed on the fabric and love it and more importantly, it's out of the "aging basket" and on it's way to the quilter!!  Thanks girls!  Now, what do I do with the one appliqued border piece?!?

That's our show for this month!  Thanks for tuning in!