Ding Dong

Barb calling--

I took a drive out to Pennsylvania on Wednesday to visit my blog buddies Sujata and Kelly at Sujata's lovely home.

It was their regular small bee meeting and I was lucky enough to meet the group and see some of their work.  What nice and incredibly talented ladies.  Thanks for making me so welcome!

I decided to make a little treat to bring.  This is a recipe from an Illinois quilter friend, Pat R. of the Piecemakers.

It is simply called Orange Toast.  Sorry I don't have a "beauty shot", but this is what they look like.

Orange Toast 


(I'm giving a 1/2 recipe as I find it's the one I use most, you can double it)

1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 T. Orange Peel (you find it in the spice isle at the grocery)
1 loaf Pepperidge Farm Very Thin sliced bread.

Cream together ingredients and spread on bread.
Cut bread slices into thirds.
Place on cookie sheet (I lined with parchment)
Bake at 250 degrees for check at 1 hour.  Should be golden.

They are good with Tea, Milk, Coffee and oh yea, wine :)

*******
Hooray, Hooray!!  I ordered 2 bolts of Moda Solids from Thimbleanna.  She is so speedy and nice to work with - thanks Anna!

My plan is to make a quilt for my daughter each year she attends Miami University.  How lucky am I that the school colors are red & white?  She wants to be surprised, so I can't post until she receives it in May -

Household problem - SOLVED

Every morning before walking coco, I would have to dig around those 2 baskets for the right scarf, gloves, hat, etc.


But then I thought about how I "file" my flip flops, and viola'!
So I bought a shoe caddy and now we can see all our winter accessories easily.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  I'm hoping for snow.

Go Giants!!

this, that, the other (again)

Thank you all so much for positive comments and encouragement on my Jubilee quilt.  It means so much to have a cheering section!

Several people commented on my Eagle quilt so I thought I'd review this quilt that I finished in 2008.

It's called "Obama For President" but I had to change that to "Olympic Eagle" (to be non-political) for the Vermont Quilt Show.  It is, to this day, the only eagle quilt I know featuring black eagles.  I named the quilt just after he spoke at the democratic convention...

It's a pattern from "antique quilts and how to make them".
I started it during the opening ceremonies of the winter olympics in Turin, Italy.  Another commemorative quilt?  yep. I guess it's one of my thangs.

I put an Olympic ring in each of the beaks and one of his tallons.

Here is a photo of me at the Vermont Quilt Show, 2008.  It was awarded a blue ribbon - very exciting!

So, what am I up to?
A little (more) of this-

And some of these-

And finally, how fun is this?  Beth is having a pincushion parade!  My pincushion cup runneth over!  Thank you to all my friends who have contributed to this collection.

Have a fun week!

My Jubilee Quilt!

I've decided to make a "Jubilee Quilt"" to celebrate turning 50 this year instead of the Hawaiian appliqué.

Here is the partially finished first of four blocks:

I was inspired by a quilt that I saw at the Newark Museum during a December visit with friends.  All three of us were inspired and are considering making a version of this beauty.

 

As you can see I've changed it a bit from the original antique quilt.  Instead of the mariners compass blocks, I'm doing a ring of berries.

I really like that there are only 2 fabrics.  The red reproduction print was given to me be my friend Jill who had it in her collection -thank you Jill!!  The other fabric is just a unbleached muslin.  I feel this gives it that good soft, aged look, not unlike myself ;)

I'm also changing it into a 4 block applique.  Here is a neat trick; make a color copy of the inspiration and cut or fold it into your size or version.  I also marked out the 4 blocks to get an idea of placements.

I designed the berry ring around an eventual hand quilted feathered wreath that I will be doing.  I don't think I've ever seen this done before, making design decisions based on the future quilting design.  It is a great way to ensure a good circle and enhance hand quilting.  I'm excited to see how it works.

To challenge myself, I've decided to stuff the berries.  I know I will love the look, but it is challenging.  I'm making the berries as I usually do, (click here to see my method) then stuffing them and sewing them to the pre-marked circle to ensure a good smooth circle when appliquéd.

The final choice:

And here is a photo of this same quilt that I found in my files.  I have no idea who did it or at what show I saw it.  Isn't it funny how we are repeatedly drawn to something?


Barbara Brackman just did an article one the Princess Feather on her blog here.  Ann Hermes also just blogged about this quilt and you can see that post here.  Isn't it funny how the quilt muse works.  I often find the coincidences amazing!

Amaryllis update:  After constructing some "Suess-icle" looking scaffolding, the Amaryllis is still going strong!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this project.  Your support means so much to me and often keeps me going on these long term projects.

I hope you have found a new and challenging project for 2012!

Happy 2012!

Just popping in to say Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a peaceful (and pieceful) holiday season.

I'm enjoying a bit of a blog break while my birds are in the nest.  I look forward to catching up with all my blog friends and seeing what you are all up to.

My latest quilt was for my son's best friend, John.  He was surprised and thrilled.

Based on the photo, the size fits him perfectly.

My pal, Mary, popped over on Christmas Eve for our traditional fruit cake snack and champagne toast.  It was so great to see her and catch up.

I was welcomed home from Illinois by my blooming amaryllis.  It's a beautiful pink!  Thank you E for the lovely gift, it was well worth the wait.

This morning there were even more blooms.  It is a double, which means I'll have 8 blossoms.  What a lovely way to start out the year.

So now I'm wondering when the elves will come and pack christmas away.....good thing there is still a bottle of bubbly in the fridge to help me with the job this weekend :)

I'm working on my new long term applique project (not the Hawaiian as planned) and look forward to sharing it in my next post.

Happy New Year Sewing to you all.

We Need A Little Christmas

Holiday Greetings!

I know how busy I've been, so I can imagine how busy all my friends are too.  I hope you finding a little down time to enjoy the season.

Just popping in with a Christmas post before signing off for the year.

Last year I went on a Christmas tour (click here  if you want to see over the top christmas collecting!) and was inspired to start my own White House Historical ornament tree.

This began in 1981 and each ornament comes in a beautiful box with a booklet telling the story of the ornaments historical significance.  Here is this years:

I've replaced the ribbons with these Christopher Radko gold hangers.

Here is a daytime shot

and a night time shot

and two of my favorites, The Madison's and my man, Abe.

It's been so fun to collect these (thanks ebay!)  I have only 3 more to go.

Here is my sewing room tree, with vintage red and pink ornaments and Janet's (Quiltsalott) doll quilt swap:

The cupcake group got together for food, games and presents.  I won LCR again - lucky me!

We actually had sing during this game.  so funny.

Susan and her husband make a beautiful wooden gifts each year.  The white mice collection has grown to 4, aren't they wonderful?

Jill made this beautiful hand quilting sewing kit:

Pre-threaded quilting needles all ready to go.

What a nice surprise!  Sujata (The Root Connection) sent these wonderful mug rugs.

Believe me, it's no accident that coco matches the new FR furniture!

I'll leave you with a couple shots of my Dickens' Village.  I placed tiny lights underneath this year and it's a magical effect.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas filled with laughter and cheer.  I hope that the New Year is filled with comfort and joy.

I'll be heading out for the farm and will be back in January to share a new year long project that I've started.