back to work

I've been back to work for 2 weeks now. And I haven't really slowed down. The first 2 days back, I did 5 quilts. Yes, f-i-v-e; insanity!!

A simple meandered table topper for Johanna,



Kathy's beautiful batik quilt for her daughter,

I love how the borders are different.
quilted with Autumn Leaves.

For Hamels Quilt Store,



quilted with Wildflower.


Looking forward to what this week brings.

quilt monday

I love how this turned out!! And the straight line quilting?? *swooooon*


And what's even better, it's all for me!

did you race today?

I joined in with 1 Choice 4 Quilting and took part of the Jelly Roll Race. I've seen this quilt on a few blogs and was excited to finally get to make one.

I had a jelly roll(Wrapped in Paisley) that I've been waiting to use for something fun and this was it.

In total, this quilt took me about 2 hours and 18 minutes-that is from me undoing the jelly roll to finishing the pressing. And it included 1 playdate drop off, laundry starts/stops and 2 escapes by our cat escape expert. Pretty impressive to finish a quilt that quickly.


I probably should have trimmed up my edges but I'll take care of that after it's quilted

I also got 2 other quilt tops completed;
I used the Geese in the Park pattern from Moda Bake Shop.


I used half of a Pure layer cake and bordered the quilt with some Lily and Will.

Quilt #2,


A fat quarter stack from Jo-Ann's and some yardage for borders from my LQS and this is almost ready for a baby shower this week.

Lastly, I had to tear off a border on one of my zig zag quilts. I'm embarrassed to say that I ended up cutting just over 2inches of fabric out; that's a lot of fullness!



Now I need to find some *me* time to get this quilted! I love productive weekends like this :)

looking for something fun this weekend?

Check out 1 Choice 4 Quilting, they have a very fun weekend challenge going on. And all you need to play is a single jelly roll. Or 42 2.5inch strips.

I'm hoping to squeeze this in with my other quilting things this weekend. It sure sounds like fun!

snack saturday

Triple Berry Crisp

1½ c. fresh blackberries
1½ c. fresh raspberries
1½ c. fresh blueberries
4 tbls. white sugar
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
1½ c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
1½ c. butter

1) Pre-heat oven to 350
2) In a large bowl, gently toss together blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and white sugar; set aside
3) In a seperate bowl, combine flour, oats brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press half of mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Cover with berries. Sprinkle remaining crumble over the berries.
4) Bake for 30-40 minutes or until fruit is bubbly and topping is golden brown.

stress

Monday I got an email asking if I could complete a custom queen quilt by 5pm today. The quilt wouldn't be finished until Tuesday afternoon so I couldn't start it until Wednesday. And just to add a bit more stress, it's for the cover of a book. But it's all good, I could do it right?


Wednesday night I went home in tears; 6 hours into the quilt and I finished ONE row. What was I thinking? This wasn't going to get done by Friday unless I spent every single waking moment quilting.

Thursday was madness; I had 6 people in and out of the studio. I ended up going back for 3 hours last night hoping that working that late, no one would call or stop in. I could get this done!


This morning, I had the last row to quilt. Then the border. Then the quilt needed taken off, turned and the sides quilted. And I was losing an hour of my day to lunch supervision at the elementary school.

And guess what? I FINISHED. 3 hours early in fact. Even after it took me 45 minutes to sink all the threads. See all this thread? That's from one row of quilting; I should have taken a picture of the garbage can lol.


I love love LOVE how this turned out. Two different block inserts, sashing inserts and the border.



Now I have the matching pillow and lap quilt to finish next week.

card friday

wordless wednesday

just because

the not so awesome quilt

I made this quilt in January; had a few issues with it since some of the instructions were off. But the pattern was fixed and I decided to attempt it again.

I printed off the directions, checked that this time they were all right and I started to cut.

Once I started putting the quilt together; I noticed that it wasn't sewing together straight. I pulled my first four rows apart and started again. And again, not straight; the quilt was going trapezoidal.

I went back to the pattern online and discovered it had been changed yet again since I had printed it. And now the cutting pieces were 1.5 inches bigger then what I had cut. Uh oh. So I pulled the quilt apart yet again and decided the only thing I could do was to not line the blocks up and just sew the quilt together.


I might still take the top two rows off and move them over a wee bit. If I square the quilt up now, it will cut too much off some of the sides.

Do I love the quilt? Yup. The fabric is busy enough I don't think it will be as noticeable that the blocks are off once it's quilted. I wonder if mom will notice once I give it to her since this is her (late) Mother's Day gift lol.

quilt monday

I have a plethora of baby quilts to do this summer. So far this is a spare; no baby designated for it. At least none that I know of lol.



I didn't like this quilt originally; now that it's quilted, I really like it. Made from another scrap bag and stash fabrics.


quilted with Folk Heart.

snack saturday

Classic Chocolate Brownies

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter
8 ounces premium unsweetened chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups sugar
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (spoon into a dry-measure cup and level off)
One 9x13x2-inch pan lined with buttered foil

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Let the butter get hot and start to sizzle after it's melted. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate all at once. Gently shake the pan to submerge all the chocolate in the butter. Set aside.
Combine the eggs, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. First whisk by hand to mix. Whisk in the sugar by hand.
Whip on medium-high speed for 10 minutes, until very light.
Whisk the butter and chocolate smooth and scrape into the mixer bowl. Whip on the lowest speed just until smooth, then stop the mixer.
Sift the flour onto a piece of paper, bend the paper, and slide the flour into the bowl. Mix again on lowest speed until the flour is absorbed — no longer.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a large rubber spatula to give a final mixing to the batter.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake the brownies until they are firm, but not dry, and the point of a paring knife inserted in the center of the pan emerges with moist crumbs clinging to it, about 35 minutes.

Cool in a pan on a rack. Unmold the brownies to a cutting board and remove the pan and paper. Cover with another board and invert the whole stack. Remove the top board and wrap the brownies on their board in a double thickness of plastic wrap. Keep the brownies at cool room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight before cutting.
Makes 24 square brownies.

card friday

wordless wednesday

It's a sad day

A sad day for two reasons. Number 1, my parents leave today for a 23 day adventure around Europe; we will miss them greatly! Number 2, I'm back to work today!! *SOB*

But I get to quilt one of my zig zag quilts. I felt I should do one or two of my own quilts to get back into the swing of work again before I tackle some customer quilts.

This is zig zag is for me. Made entirely from stash fabrics. I have a fun striped fabric I'm going to use for binding. I'm planning on customing this; can't wait!


I haven't decided where this one will live once it's done. Possibly on our bedroom wall; I seem to be running out of places to put quilts lol.

Andrea gave me some charm square packs and when I saw this pattern, I knew I had to use them. This quilt is going to someone very special. My mom's best friend was diagnosed with cancer 2 months ago. She's already undergone surgery and is currently doing chemo and radiation. This quilt is for her. It's the perfect lap size. I'm going to back it with some snuggly flannel and hope she feels the love when she wraps herself in it.



And now I'm off to work. Wish me luck!!

quilt monday

A scrap bag of fabric, a meter of stash fabric for a border and 2 hours later, this adorable baby quilt.


Now we just need baby.
quilted with Surf's Up.

snack saturday

Cranberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 1/2 cups chopped cranberries(I've also used craisins and not chopped them)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin pan, or use paper liners.
Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
Beat oil and sugar together until light. Add egg and beat until smooth. Add orange juice and grated zest.
Add flour mixture and stir just until mixed. Fold in cranberries.
Fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 20-25 minutes.

card friday

starts and finishes

My church is having a craft weekend this weekend. It's a fundraiser for our Sunday School department. Uninterrupted crafting for 4 hours on Friday night and all day Saturday-woo hoo! I'm hoping to start and complete a king-size quilt.


I was asked to make a door prize. I wanted something I could quilt at home so I went with a striped table runner.

I had enough of this fabric line left in my stash that I was able to back it with the same as well. I love this print.


I have some other quilts that are this close to having the tops finished. But instead I'm going to enjoy some of this gorgeous sunshine we've finally gotten and work on my May Birdie Block.

wordless wednesday

summer 2007

I fell in love with a quilt from Quilts and More. The magazine sat folded to the page since; see how the magazine is stuck in this position?


I finally decided it was time to make the quilt. My favorite part of the quilt is that the quilting is what makes it. See the details?


I love how each block is done differently.


I dug through my stash and put together this.
for some reason, the picture is showing really green, sorry!

I even embroidered the details on the flowers and leaves.



I can't wait to get to work and get this quilted!!

quilt monday

For my brother for his 35th birthday. How is my little brother 35? That makes me feel really old!


Same fabric line as the one I made for Jim's birthday but this one is all snuggly flannels.

quilted with Rainbow Trout.
Yellow Brick Road pattern.

Mother's Day

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday. I am just finishing up mom's gift today(opps).

I got 2 lovely planter baskets from the boys this year.





I also treated myself to a cute little pattern.


And mom shocked me with this surprise; a fat quarter bundle of Luna Notte! Perfect for a new bed quilt!!

snack saturday

Lemon Loaf

13/4 cups (425 mL) all-purpose flour
1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1 large lemon
1/2 cup (125 mL) unsalted butter, at room temperature
11/4 cups (300 mL) granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
2/3 cup (150 mL) milk


Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Grease a 9x5-in. (1.5-L) loaf pan. In a bowl, use a fork to stir flour with baking powder and salt. Stir in grated peel of half a lemon. In a bowl, using an electric mixer on medium, beat butter. Gradually beat in 1 cup (250 mL) sugar. Beat for 2 min. Beat in eggs, vanilla and milk. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture just until batter is moist. Don't overmix.

Pour into loaf pan and smooth top.
Bake in centre of preheated oven until golden and a skewer inserted into centre of loaf comes out clean, 55 to 65 min. Don't worry if the top of your loaf cracks: Because it sets before batter has fully risen, it will split as it bakes.

Meanwhile, for glaze, squeeze 3 tbsp (45 mL) lemon juice into a small bowl. Stir in 1/4 cup (50 mL) sugar. Don't worry if sugar doesn't dissolve completely.
When loaf is baked, remove pan to a rack. Immediately use a skewer to poke several holes into loaf. Drizzle or brush half of glaze overtop. Cool loaf in pan 10 min, then run a knife around inside of pan. Turn out loaf, then turn top-side up. Drizzle remaining glaze overtop.

If making ahead, cool completely. Loaf keeps well, wrapped in plastic, at room temperature for up to 2 days, or overwrapped with foil and frozen up to 2 months.

card friday

i'll admit

I really don't like squaring quilt blocks. And I really don't like sewing hsts. But I am loving the progress on my zigzag quilts. I have the tops almost completed; tomorrow I'll head over to Hamels to hopefully find a matching white print to go with the fabric in my zigzag quilt. I used stash fabrics and am short enough for a border. fingers crossed I can find something that works. So until I have the tops completed, you'll have to wait to see them ;)

Cheryl is the owner of Country Quilts. She came to us a few months ago with some new quilts that she needed done asap for market and display in quilt stores.

The first quilt is Cinnamon Roll Swirl.


Cheryl requested a simple swirl pattern to mimic a cinnamon bun. This quilt will be hanging in Kansas Trouble's booth at Market.



I loooooove this next one, Garden Pathways.


I quilted Wildflower in the body of the quilt and did a meander around the applique in the borders. I added a freehanded flower in the 9patches in the corners.



Lastly,this fun scrappy quilt.


Quilted with one of my favorites, Folk Heart.

I love how Cheryl pieced the backing for this one,


I'm really really looking forward to getting back to work in the next few weeks. I'm surprised at how much I've missed it!