No Global Warming Here

After surviving a long, cold, snowy winter I’ve been looking forward to summer.  That’s right, I’m still waiting for it.  Yesterday when I washed the sheets I took the electric blanket off the bed.  I hadn’t been turning it on for the past month or so but it still added some warmth.  Since it’s almost July I thought we could get by without it, but I was freezing even with a quilt.  This morning the outside thermometer reads 62.4 degrees. 

For the past couple of days it has been cloudy, rainy and dreary.  I WANT SUMMER!!

To take the chill out of the house I baked a peach tart.  Last week Aldi had peaches (and plums and nectarines) on sale for 15 cents each.  I bought more than we could eat fresh thinking that I would bake something so this morning I got busy. 

I kind of followed the Peach Tart recipe from A Southern Soul.  I placed the baking sheet in the oven while preheating to 350F.  Then I combined four large peaches peeled and sliced in a mixing bowl.  I added 1/4 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.  You can add more or less flour depending on how juicy your peaches are.

I rolled one thawed puffed pastry sheet onto parchment paper then slid the parchment paper onto the warm baking sheet.

I rolled the edges slightly to give it a little lip so the filling wouldn’t run over so easily then dumped the filling onto the puff pastry and spread it out.

Then into the oven at 350F for about 30 minutes.  When it came out of the oven I drizzled a little honey over it and brushed it over with a pastry brush to give it a little sheet.

It looks pretty good for such an easy tart. 

Some of Jen’s friends from Madison came up for the weekend to go to Country USA—wet, wet, Country USA  :(   and they are still asleep downstairs so I can’t go down to my sewing room.  Yesterday I quilted a couple of small quilts for Quilts Beyond Borders and I’m just itching to get down and sew the bindings on.  Hopefully I’ll have some quilting show and tell this afternoon!

Technorati Tags: weather,home,recipe,baking

Easing Back into Real Life

On Monday we returned home from our trip to France.  It was a wonderful vacation and it was so nice to spend some time with Bryan, Laura, my mom and my aunt.  I took about 1,000 pictures and will post some of the best ones after I edit them all.  That will take awhile but it will be fun to re-live the memories.

I’ve only managed to sew a tiny bit this week.  It’s been hard to get back into the swing of things so I worked a on the Road to Llano quilt from Patchwork Times.  I was all caught up on this quilt before I left but it’s moving along quickly and now I’m several steps behind.

All the sub-units were assembled so it was easy to sew the blocks together for Step 4.

When I saw Step 5 it looked kind of difficult.  Fortunately everything went together pretty well.  The real test will be when I get to Step 6 and sew these units together to make the setting and corner triangles.  My fingers are crossed that they fit!!

This may be all I finish for the next few days.  Some friends of Jen’s are coming up from Madison for the weekend and I need to get all my sewing stuff put away so they can stay in the basement.  Plus, I’m still catching up on laundry and other household chores that were neglected the past two weeks.  It’s so hard to sneak in quality sewing time…sigh…

Technorati Tags: piecing,Road to Llano

Kitty TV

We have a little goldfinch in our yard that just loves to torment our cats.  He sits outside on the window ledge and just pecks and pecks at the window.  He comes by several times a day and it makes the cats go crazy. The bird is probably pecking at his reflection in the glass completely oblivious to the cats but it has certainly provided stimulating entertainment to their otherwise boring routine.  Unfortunately I scare the little goldfinch away when I walk in the room to take a picture but I did manage to snap a couple.

This time of year is so busy for these cats.  Keeping an eye on all the birds, bunnies and squirrels is a never ending job.  It’s pretty entertaining for me too!

Technorati Tags: home,cats

Half and Half Quilt Instructions

This is a great stashbuster quilt.  It finishes about 60” x 76” and the blocks and outer border are constructed entirely of 2-1/2” x 4-1/2” bricks.  It is so easy to cut and piece--you’ll have it finished in no time.  Okay, let’s get started.

You may cut your bricks from 2-1/2” strips of fabric (jelly rolls) or from yardage.  Basically for each block you need eight 2-1/2” x 4-1/2” rectangles; half in one fabric and half in the other.  So you can use strips as small as 2-1/2” x 18”.  You will also need 1/2 yard for the inner border and 5/8 yard for the binding.

The inspiration for this quilt came from a stack of fat quarters I had in the cupboard.  This line is called A Day in the Country and it’s by Fig Tree Quilts.  I used these 16 fat quarters.

Start out by cutting 96 sets of four 2-1/2” x 4-1/2” rectangles (a total of 384 rectangles).  You will need an additional 128 2-1/2” x 4-1/2” rectangles for the piano key border, but these do not need to be in sets.

I got 32 rectangles from each fat quarter.  These were factory cut and were almost exactly 18” x 21”.   I cut four 4-1/2” strips from each fat quarter.  You can see there were just slivers left on the sides from the fat quarter. 

Open up the strips and layer them one on top of the other. 

Then sub-cut into 2-1/2” rectangles.

Keep cutting until you have 96 sets of four bricks plus an additional 128 bricks for the border. 

Now for the fun part!  Once all the cutting is finished select two sets of four bricks that look good together.

Sew two sets together along the 4-1/2” side and two sets together along the 2-1/2” side.

Now sew the two units together again along the 4-1/2” side to make a unit of four bricks.  Make sure the fabrics alternate.

Now align the other units on the top and bottom.  For each half, the fabric should be the same along the three sides (top, left, bottom and top, right, bottom).

Sew them together and voila! a block.

Now make 47 more of these.

After all your blocks are made it’s time to set them together.  Make eight rows of six blocks each.  You may set all your blocks the same way, like this:

Or rotate every other block 90 degrees like this:

The advantage to the second setting is that you don’t have to match the seams.  I used this setting for my quilt.  After you are pleased with the arrangement of your blocks, sew the top together.

For the inner border, cut six 2-1/2” strips.  Sew them together and cut two strips 64-1/2” long for the sides and two strips 52-1/2” long for the top and bottom.  Sew the side border strips to the top, press toward the border.  Sew the remaining strips to the top and bottom and press toward the border.

For the pieced borders sew two sets of 34 bricks for the sides and two sets of 30 bricks for the top and bottom.  Sew the side borders on.  Press toward the inner border.  Sew the remaining borders to the top and bottom and press toward the inner border.

Now jump for joy!  Your top is complete.

After vacation it will be time for another quilt-a-thon.  I’ve accumulated another stack of tops and am really trying to finish them right away.

Hope you enjoy making this quilt!

Technorati Tags: A Day in the Country. stash quilt,scrap quilt,piecing,Half and Half

Keeping up with Road to Llano

So far I’ve been able to keep up with Judy at Patchwork Times on the Road to Llano quilt.  This is such a pretty design and I can’t wait to see how it comes together.  I haven’t had a chance to sew Step 4 but hope to get to it later today.  I want to be all caught up before we leave on vacation so I can jump right back in when we get back.

Here’s what I’ve done so far:

Now back to the machine for Step 4.  I’m loving it!!

Technorati Tags: stash quilt,Road to Llano,piecing

DWM: A Day in the Country

Last week I posted a picture of a scrap quilt I finished.  The blocks in that quilt are made from eight 2-1/2” x 4-1/2” bricks—half in one fabric and half in another.  The first time I made this quilt I used lots of cream, light beige, tans and browns so I called the quilt Half and Half.  There probably is another name for this block but I don’t know what it is so I’ve continued calling it Half and Half. 

I came across a fat quarter pack from a Fig Tree Quilts line called A Day in the Country and thought those fabrics would work well for this quilt so I made another one.  Since I didn’t have yardage of anything from this line I made an easy piano key border.  That worked out pretty well.  I used almost every thread of 16 fat quarters to make the top and it measures about 60” x 78”.  If you would like to make one of these, check back in a couple of days.  I’m writing the instructions now and will post them on Wednesday.

Be sure to check out other beautiful works in progress using the links at Patchwork Times.

 

Technorati Tags: design wall monday,A Day in the Country,stash quilt,scrap quilt,Half and Half

Date Night

Jim and I used to go to Barnes and Noble for date night pretty regularly.  It’s been awhile but we wanted to check out some books so that’s where we went.  It’s so nice to get a coffee and leisurely browse.

After drinking the large coffee and looking through a pretty big stack of books, this is what we brought home:

Our trip is now just a week away and we decided we had better do a little planning before we leave.  We had a general idea of things we want to see, but the guidebooks will help with details and give addresses that we can plug into the GPS.  Of course, looking through these books made us realize the vacation won’t be nearly long enough!  Oh well, we take what we can get.

I started my next Half and Half quilt.  I’ve a fat quarter bundle of A Day in the Country by Fig Tree Quilts for several years and I think it will work perfectly for this project.  I selected sixteen fat quarters and am ready to start cutting.  I’ve drawn out the quilt I’m making in EQ and will have enough fabric from these fat quarters to make an easy piano key border, which is good because I don’t have any yardage for borders from this line.  As I’m piecing it, I’ll write up a simple tutorial so you can make one of these for yourself! 

My fabrics—I’m excited to get started!

Technorati Tags: A Day in the Country,Half and Half,stash quilt,scrap quilt

Another Distraction

Oh the joys of home ownership!  On Tuesdays I typically have a lot of time to sew and I had a project all cut and ready to go.  However, over the weekend I looked up at the ceiling in the family room and there was a little part that looked bubbled.  When I got on the step stool and touched it this happened:

It was then I realized it couldn’t be good. We measured where the hole was then went upstairs and discovered the problem was a leak in the shower in the master bath.  So yesterday the plumber came in this gigantic truck. 

Fortunately, it was just a broken drain in the shower and it wasn’t that difficult to fix.  Now we have this:

Much better. Haha!  I guess it was time to paint the ceiling anyway!

The end result was that I didn’t do nearly as much sewing as I had hoped.  What I did finish though was the Step 1 blocks to The Road to Llano quilt along at Patchwork Times.

I think it’s going to be pretty.  Step 2 comes out on Thursday—can’t wait!

Technorati Tags: Road to Llano,piecing,home

Design Wall Monday: Sunny Side Up

Over the weekend I finished piecing the center of Sunny Side Up and now it is ready for borders.  I have a green and red homespun check for the second border and a red print for the outer (fourth) border and I’ll used the background fabric for the first and third borders.  Too bad I have to work today or I would finish the top!

Be sure to take a look at all the fun projects on design walls using the links at Patchwork Times.

Technorati Tags: scrap quilt,Sunny Side Up

Week 22, 2013: Stash Report and Recap

This week held the promise of lots of free time for sewing but several things came up and I ended up not getting nearly as much accomplished as I would have liked.  The only quilt I finished was the scrappy half and half.  At least I didn’t buy any fabric this week so there is a net loss.  Hope springs eternal though and I’m planning to finish at least two projects this week.

The weekly stash report:
Used this week:  19 yards
Used year to date:  181 yards
Purchased this week:  0
Purchased year to date: 55 yards
Net year to date:  126 yards used

Links to more stash reports are here at Patchwork Times.

I have fabric selected for the Road to Llano Quilt Along at Patchwork Times.  I know Judy said you need three values of one color to make it work but I’m using three different colors.  It’s all from stash so I’ll make it work. Haha!  This is such a pretty quilt and I’m really looking forward to starting it tomorrow.  Too bad I have to work all day!

Technorati Tags: stash report,Road to Llano,quilt along

One Mile Challenge: May 2013 Update

May was kind of a good news/bad news month as far as my personal challenge to sew one mile (1,760 yards) of fabric from my stash. The bad news is that I only finished four quilts.  The good news is that they were pretty big quilts so they used quite a bit of fabric. 

Completed in May were:  Christmas Falling Charms-7 yards, Bright Rails and Chain-9 yards, Scrappy Pinwheels-12 yards and the huge Half and Half quilt I finished yesterday-19 yards.  That’s a total of 47 yards used in May bringing the total to 197 yards.  Only 1,563 left to go! I wish I had finished one more thing so I could have gone over 200 yards used.  I was hoping to reach my goal in 2 years but at the rate I’m going it will be three years.  Oh well, it’s a lot of fabric out of stash—can’t wait to see what I’ll have left!

Here’s a picture of the completed Half and Half quilt.  It measures 94” x 102.”  I’m going to donate it but I’m not sure where yet since it’s so big.  The quilt center was made entirely from 2-1/2” strips out of my scrap bins (see yesterday’s post!!) and all the rest from stash.  This quilt was in my April UFO parade so I can cross another old UFO off that list!

 

I quilted the center in overall crescents and swirls, the inner border with a little wave, and feathers in the outer border.

You can see by this close-up of the fabrics that I used anything and everything in this quilt.  Check out the stripes, the bright blue and the purple fabrics.  Somehow when you put everything together it works. This is such a quick and easy quilt to make I already have fat quarters pulled for another one!  That one won’t be as scrappy.

Technorati Tags: scrap quilt,2013 finishes,charity,UFO