My First Row

I've started making a shop sample of Seasons in a Row.

It is a fun sampler quilt with each row representing a different month.

Seasons in a Row is the current block of the month at Glad Creations. If you want to do it too, no worries, there is still time to get registered.

The snowmen are the row for January. I'm using the kits from Glad Creations.

January's kit comes with buttons for the eyes and noses and embroidery floss for the mouths.

The kits are great. Preselected fabrics in just the right amounts.

I already have February's kit, so be looking for a row of hearts shortly.

Brownie Goodness

I volunteered to bring the treat to quilt group today and baked up a little experiment.

Byerly's makes Killer Brownies, which have something yummy baked into the center. One of my favorites is German Chocolate Brownies.

One of my mom's cookbooks has a recipe for Caramel Brownies. I decided to modify it and bake German Chocolate Cake Frosting in the center instead of caramel.

So here is the recipe I used.

1 German chocolate cake mix
1 Devil's Food cake mix
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup chocolate chips
1 batch of German Chocolate Cake Frosting

In a large bowl, combine the cake mixes, evaporated milk and butter. Stir by hand. Spread 1/2 of the dough in a 9"x13" ungreased pan. Bake at 350° for 8 minutes. Spoon the frosting across the top. Crumble the remaining over the frosting and top with chocolate chips. Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes.

I served it with vanilla ice cream and carmel topping. It was a hit. I hope you enjoy!

I'm FAT!!!!

Sorry for not blogging for a while. I'm going to try to blogging more often and about more than just quilting.

I've been feeling like my life is a bit out of balance. One reason is that I haven't been exercising or eating right.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to lose my extra batting around my middle.

Here is a picture of me from about 5 or 6 years ago.

I like the way I look in this picture.

My goal is to eat right and exercise at least 3 times a week.

I'm hoping by the end of the year that my clothes fit a little better.

I'll be posting an updated picture of me every couple of months, to show my progress and as motivation to keep up with this resolution.

Of course, good luck to all of you with your resolutions!

A Few of My Favorite Things

I've been listening to Christmas music to get in the mood for the holidays. One song I don't quite get making it into the mix is My Favorite Things.

Why that song says Christmas, I'm not sure.

But it did make me think. I have a few new notions that would be on the list of my favorite quilting things.

The first is Grip and Grip. Love it. Great for marking what needs marking.

I've used it for marking my applique and here I was using it to mark my half square triangles for the border of Tapestry.

It sticks to the surface it is on and grips the fabric too. It is smoother than a sand paper board, so it won't scratch up your ruler.

Since I'm making Tapestry king size, I need 28 border units which means 56 half square triangle units.

That made quite the long chain. Enter the Chain Ripper.

It has a weighted holder, which keeps the seam ripper upright. The point on the ripper is broken off, so you can't injure yourself.

Just with slight pressure the chain is broken and you have your units free for your next step.

Both these notions are affordable and would make great stocking stuffers for the quilter on your shopping list.

What are some of your favorite things?

Stewing

I'm a little hurt that no one commented on my last post.

Instead of stewing over it, I'll tell you about my new stew recipe.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew.

Steve and I used up stew meat that had been in the freezer for over a year. About time!

He froze the parsnips from our garden. Really what are you supposed to do with parsnips? Make a stew!

His big innovation was sucking out the extra air from the ziplock freezer bag with a straw. I think he might have got a little light headed.

I begrudgingly let Steve put in some parsnips in the stew. Really they weren't bad, until I had a bite with only parsnip in it. Not so good.

The flavor of the stew really was tasty. It was very flavorful today as a leftover lunch.

If anyone wants frozen parsnips, you know where to find some!

Tapestry 2.0

Here are the contents of another one of my ArtBins.

I purchased the Traditions Tapestry kit. I've already made one kit into Tapestry and made the other kit into a different quilt.

I decided to take some artistic license with the pattern this time around.

Instead doing the nine-patches in the pattern, I'm going to do split rails. The first picture is my first block. I'm liking it!

I also decided to make it king size, so I will be making 19 extra blocks.

The layout from EQ7 illustrates the layout I'll be using. The direction of the split rails will alternate to add a little more interest.

I had enough of the dark fabrics to make the extra blocks, but needed to buy more of the two sashing fabrics.

I'm excited to experiment. We'll see how it turns out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Unfortunately, Steve and I are not together for the holiday. Steve is spending the day with his family up north and I'm with Cheri spending time with her family.

I wanted to send Steve off prepared with food for a potluck dinner.

I made last year's Cinnamon Apple Cranberry Sauce. It ended up more tart that Steve remembered but still very yummy.

Steve's family has very traditional tastes, so he wanted to keep the cheesecake flavor simple. We went with Strawberry Cheesecake.

We changed the baking a little. We wrapped the pan with tin foil and put the cheesecake in a bath. This left the cheesecake perfectly flat and without cracks.

We also baked the cheesecake for an extra half hour.

There is extra strawberry sauce for serving, so I think that will be even more delicious.

Steve will have to let you know how it tasted, since I don't think there will be any left to bring home.