Sunday check-in

And another week went flying by.  Another day of binge cooking, two Christmas gatherings to attend.  The Belles and I met for breakfast at Cracker Barrel on Tuesday. Yesterday was the quilt guild's final meeting for 2014 and potluck.  It was so cool to see the walls decorated with all the quilts, challenge quilts and crafty items as well as catch up with the group a bit.  Oh, the food was good too, LOL.

I've gotten zero sewing done this week and every day I thought I might be able to carve out some time.  Didn't happen but a little knitting did get done.  The critters and I log some couch time in the evenings so I need something to keep my hands busy.  Sometimes, it is just playing free cell.  I had to get one more ball of yarn to finish up the dishcloth that lacked 1 inch of completion.  Of course, I started another with what remained.  I think it will have to be the last one for awhile as I counted 8 in the towel stack plus I have three to work in the yarn ends.  12 total once this last one is completed.  I should be working on my embroidery!

This next week I don't have anything scheduled so depending on the weather, whether Oscar needs to be more in than out, I am hopeful that I can start on the zip zip bags that I've wanted to try for weeks now!  I half expect Donna to call one of thesedays to tell me she has that last Christmas top ready for me to quilt.

Since I don't have anything of my own to show, I'll share the quilts that were turned in by Bama Belles, a little quilt show.  I had to get my butt in gear and get them all logged into the 2014 quilt document as 15 quilts were given away this last week.  3 to some needs here in our community, and 13 to a home in Gadsden that serves wards of the state of Alabama.  I'm not sure yet where the remaining ones are headed but will work it out.  The girls prefer that the quilts stay in the area if possible though we are part of the larger group, Wrap Them in Love based in Washington State and have been since our group formed in early 2000.


This is Lois' challenge quilt finished.  I had given them a choice of fabrics to work with this time and she picked the M&M fabric which she used on the back BUT she matched the M&M colors in the rail fence blocks.

Earlier in the year we had explored the 4 patch stacked posie technique which produces a kaleidoscope effect with the four pieces in the block identical.  This sweet little quilt was made by Aline.  Lois has one also  below--watch for it.

"Fiddlesticks" from The Teacher's Pet is another one we played around with using some fabric donated by one of our members who was relocating to OH.  Aline chose to use some fabric in her stash for this quilt with a Southwest vibe.  Actually I barely got this one logged in; it was one of the 13 I pulled for the group home, thinking that one of the older kids might need a bigger quilt.

This is Lois' Log Cabin in the Straight Furrows set

Lois' Log Cabin Medallion set.  I didn't see the turned block till I took the picture. 

Lois' 4 patch posie simply sashed and cornerstoned with complimentary fabric.  Lovely!

An old favorite, Pineapple Blossom

This is a little something that was sent to me from a fellow blogger.  Barb had commented about something I had made for a blog hop a few months back.  I had decided I was done with the pattern and offered to pass it on to her if she wanted it.  She sent me the cute cup cozy.  I looked at the package thinking "who do I know in Oklahoma?" but it came to me BEFORE I hit the house after the trip across the lane to get the mail, LOL.

AND one last picture!  Lily is 5 months old now,  Each month Mama gets a picture of her on the blanket her Nana (my sister Diane) made for her and wearing the little tutu.  She is also stylin' in her seasonal hat.    She has also modeled a pumpkin hat and last month a a turkey one!  My sister usually watches her once a week so I kept supplied in adorable pictures of this precious one.

Guess that's it for this post.    Oscar has been patiently waiting for me to claim my part of the couch, LOL.

A little this and that

DJ called me into the living room with a "get your camera"  Skyler was trying to hide behind the lumbar pillow that he uses in his recliner and sometimes on the kitchen chair against his back.

He tries valiantly to keep the cat hair off of it but that is a little difficult when it either sits upright on the recliner or the love seat when not in use.  Both of those spots are Skyler's preferred night time sleep spots.  Or they will be till the weather turns cold and he bunks with one or the other of us.  I think that one shot  made it look like he was a baseball umpire.  I may have baseball on the brain though since they are down to like 10 games to go and the Cardinals are 2 up in the National League Central.

I can finally share a picture of something that I made for my pal Norma recently---right after I made my hexie hop version I made this one for her along with the accessory pieces.  I mailed it off to her in late August and it arrived yesterday to her home in BC, finally!!!!  She asked for lime green and I accommodated that but used some accent colors to go with it and striped fabric instead of piecing the detachable pin cushion..  The pattern is from Curry Bungalow  I just made the contrast cuff a bit longer and used wider boning.

The rotary cutter hold is something that she didn't know was coming and patterned after one I had received from our guild president at Christmas last year.  The thread holder was just something I was goofing around with.  It is a hexie on the ends so that made sewing it on a little harder than if I had used yo-yo's like the one I have.  LOL  In the end I got the flap just hair too long but I was NOT starting over.  Nor did I want to put it in the blog hop, as I would have ruined another surprise for her!  I hope it will live happily in her home.

I was not going to sign up for the upcoming "WICKED" hop mostly as I had hoped to get caught up with some other projects.  Also I will be going "home" soon to visit with my family in early October.   However, Mdm. Samm announced that there were still a few openings.  I think it will jump start a Halloween quilt idea that Norma and I collaborated on last year. Wendy, the head cheerleader, approved me so I am IN!

Since that time I have been thinking about and looking at all manner of Halloween elements in my computer files and notebooks.   This picture just happens to be part of it.   I have tweaked my design, have a rough print out of what I am doing and have begun cutting.   I am afraid that there will be another spell of blogging without many pictures of what I am up to. Well, so be it -- participating in the hops is so much fun!  I missed the pin cushion hop and elected not to do the batik one though I am anxious to see how the theme was interpreted.  Soon I will be able to cross something else off my list which is okay with me.  If I have time, there is one other craft type item that I may try but it will depend on what day I am assigned and how quickly my other plan comes together.

On a personal note:
I received a call from my sister in IL this afternoon.  Diane and Rick will be passing through Alabama on their way down to Destin, FL on Saturday morning.  She has never been to my home though my sister Janet and her daughters have.   It should time out that we will join them for lunch and then they will complete the 5 plus hour drive to their destination from here.  It is a little bit out of their way but as Diane says, 40 minutes away and not stopping to see us is not an option!   Had we not made connections, then I will be seeing her in a couple of weeks but it is not quite the same thing.  Woohoo!

And sew it goes---------

Reveal date!

The FABs are celebrating Norma's bday today---at long last.  Her day fell around US Thanksgiving this past year and we just could not get everyone's schedules to coordinate.  Trust me, the emails and IM's were flying to decide that Saturday, Feb. 4th would work out for all concerned.

At left you see the Snow Days Button Up from Joined at the Hip that I made for her.  When I first offered to make her one, I told her to pick a couple that she liked.  She suggested November for her bday month and the December stockings one.  Well,  she and I made that "Charley Brown" Christmas tree so December was taken care of.  November, I could have done but with her party being pushed back so far I was afraid she would not get to use what I made till next fall.  Snow Days, it was.  Shown on my base though and my buttons were not aligned just right for display nor was I going to move them just to take a picture, LOL.

I am sure she will post about this and her other gifties on her blog in a few days time.  What a talented bunch of gals I am associated with.

As part of her Par-Tay plans we are sewing on Atkinson Designs' "Popsicle Sticks"  (PopStix, in FAB talk).  Well, 4 of us are.  Norma is working on a king sized version with fall colors.  Pam is making a queen sized with a lot of dotty fabric.  Pat is making a donation sized one using a jelly roll and some additions from her stash while I am aiming for somewhere between a full and a queen if possible.  She lists the full version as 80 wide which is too narrow for my bed while the 96 inch queen is too wide.  I am hoping to do a half row or something like that.  And should be sewing!!  I am getting closer to done on the step A-B part but stopped to post this.

I didn't forget about Cher though.  She elected not to start a new project but rather go back to another of our previous "par-tay" quilts and try to finish it up or make some forward progress.  I think she said she was doing the Line Art/Skinny Strips one that I had selected for my day.  It's all good, LOL!

I cut a few more light background strips just before I broke for lunch so best get back to it.  I still say these girls work a lot faster than I do even if the "speed demon"  title may not fit.

WIP Weds

Okay, what I am actually working on , I cannot share since it is a gift and the recipient does follow my blog. I got a bit of the piecing done on Monday but approaching storms necessitated shutting down shop.

Yesterday was quilt meeting so I didn't feel much like working on it last night. It is one of those patterns that require paying attention and follow the pattern step by step. I know better than to sew when I "don't feel like it". I vastly enjoy piecing but the unpiecing, not near as much, don't you? VBG

SO here is one of Lois' wonderful scrappy tops that she brought to the meeting with her. I found the pattern online at about.com's quilting site and ran her off a copy, knowing how we look for scrappy quilt ideas or ideas on using cut squares and strips. This year our hunt is increased since the group is doing a scrap bag challenge! You can find the pattern HERE. I did combine all the pages into a document though to make it easier to print off. If anyone wants it as an email attachment that you can download and then print, let me know.

Lois' daughter has recently bought a long arm (or maybe it is a mid arm, not sure?) machine and they are both going through the instructions provided by the company. The donation quilts are a great way for them to practice. After discussing whether the three tops she brought should be pinned or her taking the tops with just our batting over to Lauri's, she cut out what she needed. I know she has other ones that are already pinned at home. On those she possibly have skimped a bit or even trimmed the batting down for quilting on the domestic machine. The tops she brought yesterday, she could be more generous or take extra batting home to piece it to a wider width.

I marked the Santa top for cross hatch hand quilting and we pinned it along with one of the donation tops. Oh, I have "tons" more to pin, personal and donation, but I am bound and determined not to have a pile of pinned tops up there till that last personal quilt is dealt with! (read: as soon as the gift is done)

We did find out that one of our members will soon be moving up to the Knoxville, TN area. As I suspected, the tops the group recently pinned for her will be coming to me after all. I had wanted her to at least TRY to quilt them herself rather than her continuing to expect me to do it just because I am the group leader. She will not have time to deal with them with packing, moving and unpacking. They can live at the meeting site for the time being if they have to till I am caught up enough to allow them to come home with me.

Changing course here. Before I forget, I had referred to the Billie Lauder way to doing two four patches at one time from two squares. A couple people asked about that so I went hunting and found a link to a video tutorial of Billie demonstrating the technique. It includes a way of looping them with say, a string of 5 inch charm squares for scrappy 4 inch finished 4 patch units. Too bad I didn't see that before I started the 4 patch diagonal quilt, LOL. It possibly would not have worked for my version with the background color remaining the same but I can see other applications that it would! All that narrative is probably making NO sense to you so go watch the video, LOL. The link is HERE .

You can, of course, make the 4 patches any size. The formula is "the finished size of your 4 patch unit plus 1 inch" for your cut squares. 4 inch finished 4 patch? You would cut 5 inch squares, 5 inch finished, 6 inch, and so on. I know she shared all this stuff on the old "Simply Quilts" show and you find other Billie things online as well.

Also you may be interested in her method of doing two nine patches at once from two cut squares from her Quick Quilt Tricks booklet shown on in a tutorial on this blog post . While the blogger does not specifically say it is a "Billie" trick, it IS how it is done. You end up with one 5 dark/4 light squares and one 4 light/5 dark nine patches out of the deal. The formula you use is "finished size of the block plus 1 1/2 inches" NOTE: something easily divisible by 3 is helpful. If you want 7.5 inch finished 9 patches then you use two squares 9 inches to start with and 9 is divisible by 3 at 3 inches. 6 inch finished, squares are cut 7.5 and divides by 3 at 2.5 and so on. I don't think she included that in her instructions. Clear as mud? Go look at the pictures, LOL.

I have a couple of things to follow up with for the quilt group so will close this for now. Hopefully I will be able to report a "finish to flimsy" on the gift piece in a day or so--even if I can't share any pictures till after the online birthday party.

Bday reveal

No, you are NOT seeing double if you saw a previous post with a "twin" to this. I received word that the recipient got her package just in time for her special day so now I can post this.

This was made for my long time online pal Veronica who plans on making a few of these Joined at The Hip projects herself. I asked her to pick a couple that she liked and I would do one of them for her birthday gift. She would know what was coming but not which one. Works for me. I DID ask for a picture of her base so I would know which direction to go fabric wise.

I left off last night with one long side of binding to go on Daisy Chain so my goal for the day is to get the quilt on the bed by tonight. That is an entirely do-able thing!

package received

Have you ever made something for a friend or family member that you thought was so cute that you wanted one too? I did this once before, making a winter snowman scene for a secret pal and then years later, one for me. This time I didn't wait so long, LOL!

My pal Pat had a birthday recently and I wanted to make her a little something this year. Since she has a fall birthday, the choices were endless but I kept coming back to this little wall hanging. No surprise, it was designed by one of my favorite designers Amy Bradley so that was part of the attraction plus Pat is a dog person. It was featured in a Quilter's World magazine in October 2003. Yep, I have had it in my clipping file for awhile and waiting for the chance to use it.

But I couldn't find the black and white fabric that Amy used for the fence nor anything that looked even remotely like it; it was a wonderfully crooked lined piece that was perfect for the fence. What to do? Initially I tried foundation piecing a picket fence but it just didn't work as well as I had hoped. I love to foundation piece but I tossed that effort. Sharpie and white tone on tone lines looked "more like it to me". KISS philosophy and all that. From there, I was off and running and having a ball pulling fabrics to use on the rest of the piece.

You know how I love to hand embroider and this included those elements. I don't know how well the Trick or Treat message shows up on the wagon---you might have to click on the pic to see it better. The more I do machine button hole, the more I like it and the better I get at it. Fun project for me and I hope she likes it as well.

I am currently entrenched in another project I can't show you as the FAB fall challenge mailing date is looming with a week to go. I have Pat's name this round so had to reach into my bag of tricks for another idea. Unlike the previous rounds, there was no challenge fabric that had to be used somewhere in the piece rather Pat told us to " just make something that says fall" That left it pretty wide open---Thanksgiving, Halloween, just plain fall. I chose something that is more of a craftie project since I just did a wall hanging for her. I'm having fun with it and using my machine in a different way than I usually do----that is all the hint you are getting, Pat! LOL
Stay tuned---we will have the reveal once everyone in our little group of 5 has received their package, around the first of November. Man, that is sure sneaking up! It sounded so long ago when we set the time. Well, talking about it is not getting this last part done so I best get cracking.

busy, busy round here

I have kept fairly busy since I last posted---a little of this and that. One thing at the top of the list was this little wall hanging for my pal and fellow FAB Cher who had a birthday last week. The pattern, originally purchased as a kit from Keepsake Quilting, is "Don't Go Out of the Lines, Plant the Seeds" from Plain Brown Wrapper. Because it has a gardening theme, I thought it made a good choice for Cher.

The original pattern called for perle cotton stitching and raw edges with maybe the batting sticking out or some such thing. It had jute ties and a stick for a hanger. Now I would like that folk art-y vibe but it just didn't seem quite Cher-like. Nope, I ordered a little split bottom hanger from Ackfeld Wire and put hanging tabs on the back instead. The pigma pen writing and coloring were fun, fun, fun!

The plaid fabric that came with the kit was filched for my last two months Calendar quilt stitcheries. I substituted the little bit of fabric leftover from my Sisterhood of Quilters instead. There are little butterflies amongst the ivy, butterflies being a motif Cher enjoys. I did purchase the darker green dot to complete the project---also from designer Jodi Houghton. I hand quilted around most of the small motifs which wasn't easy with whatever batting I had stuck in there-- just some piece leftover from something and in the sewing room closet is all I know! So Happy Birthday, Cher-- a few days late.

I picked up a "new to me" sewing machine from my friend Lois on Friday. It had belonged to her mom who recently had to be admitted to a nursing home. It is a Singer Stylist 6548 circa 1978 (with cams) but let me tell you, it has a nice stitch. A lot better than my carry around Jem is doing right now----tension issues that I need to look into a little closer. My dad will cut me out a sewing machine table insert as I was able to trace off the table extension around the free-arm (it is missing some legs) but I did put the machine to work.

I whipped up a pile of triple rail blocks for a donation quilt I will be making. My friend Norma does strings as an ongoing sewing project when she doesn't feel like anything taxing, matchy-matchy----I do triple rails or bowties, LOL.

Since the triple rail project will go on point I prepped fabric and cut the side setting, alternate blocks stuff along with new HST's for those donation blocks we received last week. I pulled those blocks and rows apart essentially starting from scratch with most of the same fabric. You see, whoever had made the blocks had used QST's around a large triple rail for an Economy block type thing. You guessed it---big time bias problems on the outside edges of the blocks. Since I had it all apart, I scaled the rails down a bit and the blocks will finish at 10.50. With sashing it will make a nice quilt for the kids.

Other things on the home front that kept me hopping over the weekend:

• finally boxed up that stack of donation quilts so I could get in the closet behind it. Woohoo, two boxes on their way to WTIL as of this morning

• Because I could finally get in the closet easily, I switched out the seasonal clothing and purged two lawn and leaf bags of stuff out of both closets, plus the armoire and the blanket chest while I was at it. I subscribe to the theory that if you bring something into the house, you get rid some thing else. (My husband does not do that though, LOL) In this case it was a few new pair of jeans and a couple t-shirts for two big bags for the thrift store. Delivered that stuff this morning too.

• I put the bunny/Easter decoration stuff away. It's May so it was time. Well, all but the April calendar quilt piece was put up I don't have the May piece stitched yet but I did trace off both it and the May Freckles snowman block. I have just a little bit of calendar stitching done---not much.

• Walking program resumed. I laid off too long. Bad girl! Put some weight back on. My triglycerides are probably back up or still up, more like. I made a pact with the MD to let me get back on track with my walking and then see where the numbers are in 6 months. Still up after I have been exercising and making some dietary changes?? Fine, put me on meds if I have to but give me a chance to do better first. I started slow and am going just a hair over one mile 6 days a week which is an increase over the every other day I had started with. I had to wait till my knees and shins forgave me. Another week like this and I will add another lap every two weeks till I reach 10. My pace is pretty good though I am not out there long enough quite yet---.28 miles in about 6 minutes consistently.

• Went thru all my recipe clippings and printouts and kept only the stuff I have actually made or will make soon. I had enough paper removed to ditch one entire notebook and a pile of mixed paper to take to the recycle center in town. That was my late Friday--early Saturday foolishness, LOL.

I took this pic of Skyler a few days back. This little sunny spot in DJ's room is a new haunt lately as he tracks the sun thru the house. He has not been sunbathing the past three days though as it is has been very overcast, windy, humid as all get out. Rain and storms were in the forecast but nothing came of it most of the weekend. Finally we got some rain after we went to bed last night----just a tad under 3 inches according to our rain gauge.

We needed some rain but TN really got hit! My brother and his family, a dear long time friend and a former secret pal all live in the Nashville and surrounding area so I could not help but wonder how they all fared. 1-24 is the route we travel yearly on the way back up to IL. Hard to imagine a manufactured house floating down that interstate or the prospect of the Titans' football stadium being covered in 2 ft of water. My prayers go out the residents dealing with this massive flooding as well as the oil spill mess down in the Gulf that effects my state as well as LA, MS, FL and TX. What a mess!

Guess that's it for now---time to heat up our lunch. Where had the morning gone?

This and that on a Monday

All too soon it will be Christmas Day. I had some quick errands to run bit ago which included a run to Wally World. I could not believe the cars in the parking lot! It looked like everyone in town was shopping for something there. Me? Just some frozen yeast rolls since we are not having stuffing and a turkey sized oven bag that I forgot on yesterday’s grocery shopping day. Quick dash in and out with the self check out.
Thanksgiving was such a bust with DJ being ill earlier in the week. We wound up having homemade mac and cheese for the holiday meal. The golfing friend showed up at 530 pm on Thanksgiving but had already eaten. I fixed the steaks I had planned for our meal the next night, more meat than any of us could eat in the first place especially since I fixed twice baked potatoes (the frozen kind—why bother with any other kind?), tossed salad (from the bag) and a Dutch apple pie. I don’t “do” crusts but the rest of it was homemade.
Normally I just make do a small turkey breast in the crock-pot but the turkey had been on sale for a decent price between the two “eating” holidays. I’ve got about 8 lbs of meat thawing for the big day. I can see that there will be plenty of leftovers---some for the freezer that will be repurposed for soups, salads and casseroles later. Wednesday, I’ll be making the cranberry sauce and pecan pie. Either way, I’m making up for the not so festive thanksgiving.

Skyler has made himself at home on the sewing room perch this afternoon keeping me company and sunning his backside. I think I wore him out tossing his little sponge ball around. Now that was the best buck and a half I have ever spent!! Early he was laying on a pile of clean laundry that I need to put away. I am happy to report that he has paid no attention to the tree ---maybe since it is artificial and has nothing dangling down on it? He has made no attempt to get to the snow village either. Jan from It's the cat's house suggested in an email that he might find the brushy trees too attractive if he did which never occurred to me! I wonder if she is speaking from experience there? No more sheep are missing from the nativity set either. I must admit that this is mainly because I stuck the lone sheep down to the bookshelf top with some poster putty rather than a reflection on cat behavior, LOL.
Good to see that sun! We were in that pattern of it warming up to rain last week. Mild, humid temps but that cold front that many of you have been experiencing around the country whooshed in last night. The wind was howling and DJ was putting more weather stripping on the front door. The temps dropped from 61 at midnight Saturday night to around 31 yesterday morning---quite a shock to the system the first trip out the door.
Speaking of sun, some fabrics I ordered last week arrived—the “go-withs” for the FAB “summer in winter” challenge. Pat and Cher are the challengers this round and after they put their heads together, Pat sent us all a yard of that speckled yellow-orange fabric (the second one from the left) . The picture does not show just how bright it really is. Darn near glows---just like the sun! I will be making a gift for Norma this time around. I am not to tell what I am making but I can torment her a bit with a preview, LOL. The 2nd gold-ish print is something I already had that I might use but the rust color, blue and the two greens are the new acquisitions.

As usual I am on the spend down program as my gift from DJ. I don’t care if there is no package for me under the tree—this works for both of us. One package arrived today and here is my picks-- two cute patterns I found online from Happy Apple Quilts. I really like the graphic look of “Charlotte’s Star” and the lap size is right in line with the preferred range for the Wrap Them in Love donation quilts. The Buckaroo Bears is just darned cute for a donation quilt too. I am thinking that you could substitute any critter or motif you wanted in that space if you didn’t want to do bears—say, a cat maybe?? Again, right in the Wrap ‘Em size range. The fabric, a fat quarter, came with the patterns. Pretty cute, huh? I just ordered a neutral package of Essential thread from Connecting Threads (on sale, even better) and Cable Confidence knitting book for next to nothing from a book club with my bonus points. The rest goes in my Dream Trip to Oregon (DT2OR) fund.
No cooking tonight as we had leftovers available for both meals. Yesterday I made a pot roast on the stove top last night, braising it in the Dutch Oven following the directions in “Joy of Cooking”. I believe it was the best roast that I have ever made. Very tender and fairly moist even without the gravy. My gravy even turned out right meaning without a swirl in the blender to get the lumps out! I made sort of a modified beurre blanc, (I think that is what it is called) with equal parts of butter and flour kneaded together and dropped bits of it into the drippings whisking with each addition. You need 1 tablespoon of each for each cup of liquid-- something I read in the local paper. I might learn how to cook one of these days, LOL rather than the slap dash methods. Okay, butter is not so good for you but then margarine would not have been either. Or red meat for that matter. You gotta eat! Once the meat package in the freezer is depleted we won’t be eating much roast or steak anyway. Who can afford it? Who can afford even chicken lately---sheesh!
Normally I would throw a roast in the crock pot or the pressure cooker, depending on what cut it was. Since it was cold out, it was a bit chilly in the living room/kitchen with those vaulted ceilings and the wind howling. I didn’t mind the heat from the stove top or the oven being on to roast the veggies later. If it were summer time I would re-think that whole deal! But summer seems so far away now that the first official days of winter are full at it.
Well, fabric ironing awaits. I hope to do a little cutting and possibly sewing tomorrow on that top secret project. If I feel the need for a little handwork, there is always binding on those appliance covers. Yeah, still not completely finished with those and thinking ahead to the next project---will I never learn?
Merry Christmas to all!

Saturday check-in

Poor Pippi--her blanket got moved as I am doing some foundation piecing so she is reduced to sitting on the little bit of background fabric that I left on the cutting table. But her wool throw was replaced by bedtime, trust me! She had a hard afternoon yesterday---sitting in her perch minding her own business when whoosh, off to the vet's. Lab work results show that she is not losing any ground but the kidney tests are not improving much either which to be expected due to her diagnosis, I guess. Oh, goodie--some meds to try to see if her appetite will improve any but fortunately a liquid, not a pill. She was hanging around pretty close to me most of the day after our return home, like she was thankful she didn't have to stay at the animal hospital.

Norma sent me a link this morning which led to my discovering that today is Live Like a Cat Day. Wish I had known that before I spent a couple hours deep cleaning out both of my closets this morning. To think that I could have been imitating my cat all along! Two closets, you ask? Nope, I didn't touch the one in the sewing room though it could probably use it. You see, this goofy house has no coat closet off the living room like most homes do so my bedroom has two closets. The smaller 2nd one is used for out of season clothes and our coats. Why, oh why did they not put in larger opening with a bi-fold door or that kind that you can push the one side and get at the whole closet?? ( Bitch and moan) Anyway, I had 5- 13 gal bags full to donate and 2 that DJ was inspired to drag out of his space. I had already donated one other bag earlier in the month too. Today's stuff went off to a new thrift store down the road along with the surplus hangers.

I have a couple of pictures to share of the quilts from the Bama Belles meeting on Tuesday. At left, is a quilt that Beverly made for her son to commemorate his wrestling career in high school. I believe he received it for Christmas this year. Sometime this past summer I had helped her figure out how to set the pictures on point--what size they needed to be cut since they are rectangular more than square. She was following a quilt that Ginny had made for a fundraiser for the private school for inspiration but like Ginny, winging the pattern for it. The blue and yellow she used are the school colors. The center square is a cross stitch piece her daughter had made. Beverly said Nancy had made a scrap book for him with the press clippings and such that went with it. Our long arm quilter friend Susan quilted the blue with stars which accents it well. Sure to be a prized possession for Steve.

Meet our newest Belle, Nancy, Beverly's daughter-in-law. (a daughter and DIL with the same name) Nancy on the right and Beverly is kind of peeking out from behind on the left. Nancy is new to quilting but look what she just finished making!! A king sized sashed nine patch. I think she is properly bit by the quilting bug, don't you? (She said she was mauled by it, LOL) Very meticulous with her piecing and pressing too. Each of those seams is pressed in a four patch spiral so it lays nice and flat. Some family members helped with the color layout so the colors progress diagonally across the quilt.


Nancy was taking this over to the long armers after the meeting but she recently tied a full sized top that we helped her pin at the last November meeting. Done and already given to the person she wanted to have it, I might add. There were enough blocks leftover that Nancy made a top for the kids.

We pinned about 6 tops total, I think. I didn't get a speck of sewing done the other day as I intended but Nancy took a bag of 2 inch squares home to play with. I need to find her some instructions on how to cut left handed--online or otherwise. Got any suggestions of where to look?

This other little quilt was made by a local Girl Scout group. Ginny brought it in for us for donation to WTIL. The mother that assembled it is not a quilter but no matter. It is "birthed" and backed with like crushed velvet like fabric (not sure what it is called) so it will be cuddly and a smaller child is sure to love it.

I have been piecing a bit in addition to prepping the sections of the commissioned t-shirt quilt. A stand up job and a sit down one as it were. Believe it or not, I am working on the next row robin and not waiting till the last possible minute as it is not due till mid February. Nothing that I can share with you though as the receipent may be a blog reader. I am foundation piecing 9-8 inch blocks is all I will say. Three of them are done and I will get back to them this afternoon. Or being cat-like, maybe I won't, LOL. Some knitting done on my fall cardigan as well in past days but nothing to see there either though I have almost knit my way two skeins of yarn at this point.

So, I hope you have a wonderful day in whatever you chose to do---or in the spirit of "Live Like a Cat Day", DON'T do.

surprise packages, donation top and punkin' recipes

A little of this and that---first up the triple rail top that I just finished on Friday evening. I used an Mary Ellen Hopkins pattern of the month from back in August 2000. The plain squares really don't show up as well in my version as you can see the heart at the center really well on hers. Quilt Holder said "this isn't finished" when he was trying to figure out which direction it went, meaning there was no border. It's not getting one--first, because it is a donation quilt top and it is big enough and second, I am not fond of putting on borders in the first place. I cut the side triangles slightly oversized so it has a tiny built in border anyway.

Stashbusting here, though in small bits. About a third of the blocks were leftover from some that Nancy had shared with us but I pieced the rest at the fall sew in---many from the scrap bag or batting bits. Some I swapped with Theramae for a bit more color in both of our tops. When I got down to the last three rows all I had left were blue blocks in various shades so I pieced a few more from the scrap bag. I look at this as being an ongoing project---triple rail blocks and bowties. Both can be assembled once enough blocks are accumulated and make good use of the scraps on hand and the muslin cutaways. I still need to seam the backing fabric and cut binding for this but the quilt group does not meet until the 8th of January so there is no rush to ready it for pinning.


I also wanted to share a couple of surprises that came in the mail yesterday. Veronica read my comment about not having the Santa insert made for my Katrinka Design multi-seasonal banner and whipped one up for me!! Apparently she had the block pieced and just waiting for a use so she said she "couldn't resist" . What a cool surprise! I had taken this wallhanging down so I could display the Mumm Santa but had to at least pin it up on the bedroom door so I could enjoy the new Santa this season! And there was more-----




The little holiday tissue holder was also included. The fabric squares came in a card from Cher . Thanks to them both for their generosity! Isn't it fun to get quilty surprises?

No sewing or quilting going on here. I DO have a top to quilt but figure it can wait one more day. I spent part of the day working on some computer maintenance yesterday. I decided to work on the sweater collar instead . I am currently about half done with it. I decided to go with the roll collar version so it needs to be knit to about 6 inches and then doubled over. Since the whole sweater has been set aside for about 7 years or more, there is no real rush to complete it. Probably going to go to my godchild/niece whenever it is done........

Carol asked about the pumpkin bar recipes I mentioned that I planned on taking to our recent holiday potluck. I actually made a layered pumpkin dessert for the event but will include the recipe for the one I normally would make for pumpkin cheesecake bars. You know how it is--spot one you would like to at least try and make others be the guinea pigs? I have made some changed to the original recipe to reduce the fats if not the calories!

Layered Pumpkin Dessert
• 8 individual Hostess Twinkies Snack Cakes (come in a box of 10)


• 1-8 oz. package Neufchatel cheese -- softened


• 1 cup powdered sugar


• 1-8 oz. tub Cool Whip, fat free -- divided use


• 2-3.4 oz. box vanilla pudding mix -- instant, not cooked type


• 1-15 oz. can solid pack pumpkin--not pie filling


• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (original called for 1 1/2 tsp. but that seemed a little much to me)


• 1 cup lowfat 1% milk


Slice Twinkies in half lengthwise and place cream-side up, in single layer in 13x9-inch baking dish. Using a mixer, blend together cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar and ½ of whipped topping until smooth. Spread evenly over Twinkies.

Combine pudding mix, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and milk. Whisk until well blending and layer over cream cheese mixture. Carefully spread remaining whipped topping over pumpkin. Lightly sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice. Refrigerate several hours or until set.

Source:
"http://www.nancys-kitchen.com/november-5-2006.htm"

My thoughts were that the pumpkin mix would also be good in a graham cracker crust and either top the filling mix with the pumpkin or the other way around. Probably would be enough for more than one pie. You could mix the cream cheese with sour cream instead of cool whip (as you do for blueberry dessert topping) and it would still be good.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Serves : 48

• 1-16-oz. box pound cake mix


• 3 eggs


• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted


• 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, divided use


• 1-8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened -- (nuefchatel is okay)


• 1-14-oz. can sweetened fat free condensed milk -- (not evaporated)


• 1-16-oz. can solid pack pumpkin, not pie mix


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 cup chopped nuts, I prefer pecans


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the crust:
In a large mixer bowl on low speed, combine the pound cake mix, 1 egg, melted margarine and 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice until crumbly. Press into the bottom of a 15 X 10-inch jelly roll pan.


To make the filling:
In large mixer bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in the condensed milk. Add the remaining 2 eggs, pumpkin, remaining 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice and salt. Mix well.

Pour over crust and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Bake 30-35 minutes or until set. Cool in the pan and then chill before cutting into bars. Should be stored in the refrigerator.

Source: Unknown, from my files