Spring Break

planting 50 crocus bulbs in the front grass in the fall makes for fun spring surprises

Hard to believe spring is here, especially when we keep getting snow. The boys are on day two of their spring break; and as you may have noticed, blogging as taken a back seat. 

I'm not sure how much blogging I'll be doing in the next week or so while we enjoy spring break.

And hopefully we'll find some spring.

some recent favorites

Marie always does the funnest quilts. This is for her dad's 85th birthday.

Quilted with Autumn Leaves

I love how she did the blocks,

For Dina; I looooooove the fabrics.

Quilted with Floral Meander

Victoria loves homespun quilts and always gets a star pattern on them. 

Quilted with Shooting Star

And her second quilt,

Quilted with Random Star

Sometimes it's really hard to give them back lol.

wordless wednesday

oh baby

I had to stamp on Saturday. I don't spend a lot of time stamping anymore and I haven't decided if I miss it or not. I can tell you that I do hate spending money on cards lol.

I had a baby shower to go to and I had to make a card. Of course I realized this 30 minutes before the baby shower lol.

The rattle stamp is from one of the first Stampin Up sets that I bought and it still remains one of my favorites. 

quilt monday

This quilt I haven't shown you at all. I picked up two charm square packs of Little Apples and wasn't really sure what to do with them. Pinwheels, disappearing 9-patches... so many choices!

While playing with the squares I realized if I changed a pattern a wee bit, I could get two quilts instead of one. I  picked up a neutralish fabric, some inner border from my stash and the last bit of Little Apples yardage I could find on a recently fabric trip and this is what I came up with.

Based on the Moda pattern here 

It's smaller than baby quilts I usually make but since I was able to get two quilts, it's all good.

quilted with Raindrops.

The aqua fabric from my stash was a perfect fit. And I had just enough of the border to fussy cut it for both quilts.

And the aqua polka dots, perfect for the binding!

snack saturday

Fruit Crumble

• Fruit mixture:
• 6 cups (1.5 L) prepared fruit: apples, pears, peaches, rhubarb, blueberries - or a mixture -- fresh or frozen
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp. (45 mL) corn starch
• Crumble topping:
• 1 cup (250 mL) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (125) mL butter
• 1/2 cup (125) mL brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. (2 mL) cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease an 8 or 9-inch (20 or 23 cm) round or square baking dish.
2. First make the filling. Prepare whatever fruit you're using. Whole fruit should be peeled, cored and cut into chunks, or thin slices. Berries should just be rinsed and drained. If you're using frozen fruit, it is not necessary to defrost.
3. In a large bowl, toss the prepared fruit with the sugar and cornstarch. Feel free to adjust the amount of sugar to suit your taste and the type of fruit -- for example, rhubarb is very tart, so you may want to increase the sugar. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
4. Now make the topping. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl (or in a food processor). If you're using a processor, simply process until it forms a sticky crumble mixture. You want the ingredients to be combined and well mixed, not just pulverized. If you're doing this by hand -- use a pastry blender and chop the ingredients together until it forms sticky crumbs. Sprinkle crumble mixture over the fruit in the baking dish. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the fruit is bubbly and tender when poked with a fork, and the topping is browned.
5. Let cook for about 5 minutes before serving with ice cream or whipped cream.

card friday

blog slacking

Yes, I am still here. Life has gotten ridiculously busy; Jim has been swamped at work which has resulted in way too many trips away. Thankfully that is all over and done with come April 1st; and a new chapter in our lives begins! 

Work is busy, I'm planning on taking off Spring Break but I didn't think of that before I booked quilts in(oops), so I'm a wee bit scrambly but I'll get it done.

And because life isn't busy enough, we our getting a Japanese exchange student tomorrow; fun times ahead!

Jean's son had Tshirts made for a fundraiser. And all 150ish of them were printed with the design on upside down. What does one do with that many Tshirts? Why, make a quilt of course!

Quilted with Random Star

Love it! The fabrics  are all flannel; the perfect couch quilt.

Jean also did this quilt using up her scraps.

Quilted with Floral Meander

This last quilt was done by Catharina. She got the panel and added a border to it and than wasn't sure what to do with it next. She wanted something more than a meander but didn't want the quilting to take away from the fabric.

I had an idea and hesitantly, Catharina decided to go with it.

Simple straight lines. Catharina loved it. When she picked up the quilt, she admitted to being sure she was going to hate it when it was done, she was thrilled to know that she was wrong.

Lastly, a sneak peek at my next project. Thankfully it has progressed past this stage. Not much but some! 

wordless wednesday

snack saturday

Churros

• 1 cup water
• 2 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 quarts oil for frying
• 1/2 cup white sugar, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water, 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, salt and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in flour until mixture forms a ball.
2. Heat oil for frying in deep-fryer or deep skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Pipe strips of dough into hot oil using a pastry bag. Fry until golden; drain on paper towels.
3. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon. Roll drained churros in cinnamon and sugar mixture.

card friday