Mini Wednesday

I'm back!!! I really needed that break but am happy to be back in Blogger-land and to share my new favorite mini with you.

As you can already surmise, this one will be a windmill. Lately, I've been fascinated with them.

I tried out a cloudy background but didn't like it one bit.

This is much better.

Stringing all the tiny pieces is time consuming but rewarding. Mr. Cowboy came in to watch me which was nerve racking!!!

All done and happy!!! The reason for the changing color is some of the photos were taken during the night or under my Ott-Lite.

Photos of the Week

With over 12" of rain in a week's time, my yard is filled with mushrooms.

Below are some of my favorite views.

In a few days they will all be gone but for now they're fun to look at.

Opposites Attract Challenge Blog Hop

Marian from Seamstobesew has done it again! What a wonderful challenging blog hop this is. Two, no more than three colors in a mini quilt.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Schedule for today......

You are here at Ravelly1

Mary Mack's Blog

Tea Time Creations

123 Quilt

Sew Many Yarns

Make sure you visit all the bloggers to see all the great creations they've done!!

The fantastic give-aways....

First, there's the $25 gift certificate from The Fat Quarter Shop. You can really find some "wonderful-ness" there for sure!!!

Then, there's a stupendous give-away from DJ Inkers of their Kids All Year CD. How exciting is that!!!

Details on how to participate in today's give-aways......

Just leave a comment mentioning your two favorite colors!! That's all it takes to be considered. Marian will announce the winners each day on her blog. So please do check in with her.

Now, back to the main event.....

I took up the challenge, dug into my stash and came up with two unlikely fabrics.

I've had these two in my stash for many years, can't remember or imagine why I purchased them in the first place.

I chose a quick design block which consist of two and three inch strips.

Here, I've sewn and cut four blocks just to see if my idea is going to work. I like what I see, so, onward!!

Sixteen blocks later I can see a secondary design along with the spinning star design.

Next, I added a border.

With pins, a choice of thread, my trusty adhesive spray and a backing fabric, it's time to get this mini quilted.

I decided to stitch around the star design.

All done & bound!! A 17 inch square mini quilt I've named " Cosmic Spinner Dance."

Finally, I'd like to show you all a little quilt that I designed but never quilted years ago. It measures 24" square. Maybe I'll get it quilted soon but don't count on it. I'm already eyeing a new project.

Don't forget to leave a comment mentioning your two favorite colors. BTW, my two very favorite colors are shades of Green and  shades of Gray. I'm mad about them.

Squash Pickles??

Yep, you heard correctly.

My mom found & saved the following recipe from the East Texas Farm & Ranch Living section in one of our local newspapers.

I immediately went out to our local farmers market and purchased some fresh squash.

Ingredients:

• 10 cups sliced squash (I used the goose-necks)
• 2 medium bell peppers, chopped 
• 4 medium onions, sliced 
• 1/2 cup salt 
• 1 four Oz. jar pimentos, diced
• 2 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon celery seeds 

Instructions:

• Mix squash, peppers, onions & pimentos in large pot. Pour salt over the top & cover with water. Allow to sit for a couple of hours.
• Drain water off of squash mixture & add remaining ingredients. 
• Place on stove & bring to a boil.
• Remove from heat and ladle into hot, sterile pint or quart jars. Make sure to leave 1/4" from top of jars.
• Process as recommended by canning instructions. 

This one is just out of the boiler & is extremely hot. I made 6 pints and 1 quart. Can't wait to taste a jar in a few days time.

Smoothie, Yummm!

I have a Ninja blender & have been enjoying smoothies as I'm losing weight. This recipe is quick, healthy & delicious. 

Juice of 1 lemon 

Zest of the lemon

1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries

1/2 cup orange juice

One 6oz cup of favorite yogurt 

A couple cube of ice

Blend for 30 or so seconds

Enjoy!

Bargello! My First

I went on the Internet searching for a design for another donation quilt for Hands2Help

 and ran across a fantastic tutorial video about how to make a simple bargello without all the fuss over yardage, numbering and basicly ..... over thinking everything. Above is my finale,machine quilted and bound which measures 47 1/2" by 49".

I chose fabrics from my stash and even managed to throw in the color "blue" which I don't usually use at all. I couldn't believe how easy it was from watching the video, to choosing the fabrics, which BTW I added an extra fabric right off the bat. I've hardly ever followed, to the letter, a pattern.

This is what I call, one block. I made four block all together.

Here I've sewn the fabrics together then into a tube and then cut accordingly.

Here's a close-up of the fabrics I chose.

The following video was my guide into the world of bargello which I will be visiting again very soon!

Mini Wednesday

The design of a lily from Clipart

Fabrics from my stash cut into 1 1/2" squares

This is really small but I'm forging ahead.

Lily parts cut out with Steam-a-Seam fused to back.

Lilies together on non-stick pressing sheet

All finished & bound. It measures 8" by 9". 

I stitched in the ditch so the squares pop out. I used mono thread which I really don't like but in this case it worked well.

I've named it "Stained Lilies."

Berry Pie

This is a pic of the berry pie I baked last night. There's nothing left of it this morning I'm happy to say because if there was even a slice of it I'd be scrafing it down....hehehehehe.

Here's the recipe I used:

Pre-heat oven at 325 degrees.

• 2 cups of fresh berries
• 1/4 cup sugar (more if you want it sweeter)
• 1/3 cup melted butter or margarine
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon Allspice
• 1 to 2 tablespoons Cornstarch 
• 1 tablespoon of grape jelly

Carefully fold above ingredients together so as not to mash berries.

Place one pie crust in pie pan and pour mixture into it.

Add second crust on top in any way you please. I did the criss-cross like my grandma use to.

Sprinkle a bit of sugar and Cinnamon over top

Bake for approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours, checking to see if top crust is golden.

Serve alone or with your favorite ice cream!!

Hands 2 Help Check-in

First, I'd like to thank Susan from Confessions of a Fabric Attic for hosting the Hands2Help Challenge again this year.

I've chosen a design, the main fabric and dug into my stash!

Eeeeek! I know, I know! What a mess but from this mess will come a fab quilt!!

Here, I've cut the foundations and pressed a strip of fabric adhesive diagonally.

Next, I've peeled the adhesive strip paper off and placed my "kite" design across the foundation and pressed into place. This is a great way to keep the design from moving around instead of using pins, which I do not like to use if I can help it. 

Next comes the outlining fabric which I've chosen black. Red works well or a bright yellow or whatever you'd like to use. Oh, a directional fabric would be great here, too. I've just given myself an idea. (Stay tuned for that one)

Now, I've sewn strips from my scrap pile on each side of the "kite" shape. Notice I've left two opposite corners free.

This is way I did that. I've used the same fabric on those corners. The block is 12 1/2" at this point.

16 blocks later, now it's all put together, machine quilted and bound. This is one of my favorite designs. I use it often and in many combinations. Depending on the amount of blocks used, the design can grow into all kinds of secondary patterns. 

If life doesn't get in the way, I hope to get another quilt done for the "challenge" but if not, for once, I'm early with a finished quilt which measures 45" square.

Off On Another Tangent!!

"Moth Eaten"
is what I've come up with for my next series of blocks. I'm planning twelve blocks total. As those of you who are followers, you know that when I get something in my head, I'm on a mission to get it done........ Until it comes to the quilting part....sigh!!
I was talking with Mr. Cowboy when a moth flew into the room from nowhere the other day. Of course I had to eliminate it which was not an easy task because said moth was fleet winged. No really, I couldn't catch the little flittering critter. Mr. Cowboy was laughing his head off as I chased the moth around the house yelling for him to help me. Finally, with heavy breathing, a sweaty brow and a near missed fall, I pulled out the big guns. No, not the shotgun, although I did contemplate it, but that would have caused major hole damage. Plus, Mr. Cowboy stood in front of the gun vault thingy. I used Raid, of course!! A can in each hand. I nearly drenched myself before I could take out the moth. I thought I'd need oxygen afterwards.
With that said, here's my first moth, not a block yet because I haven't figured out what I want as a background.

I decided to to the 'death-face' moth from Silence of the Lambs and after surfing the Net I found out what it would look like and drew off my own interpretation. Then I dug into the old stash for possible colors.

Using Steam-a-Seam II Lite or Heat N Bond Lite, I traced off the parts needed.

Next, I cut out parts. Above are most of them. I did have a minor problem with the fan blowing things around.

Finally, here's my moth. I'll think of a background later.

Dessert

"Peach/Apple Delight"

I meant to post this yesterday but was visiting with family. This is a very simple recipe & your family will gobble it up.

Here's what's needed:

• 2 uncooked pie shells
• Deep dish pie pan
• 1 eight ounce to ten ounce can peaches
• 1 can Apple filing but you will use only half of that.
• Vanilla
• Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Allspice
• Butter

NOTE: I am not a measurer. So this is not going to be an exact science.

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

• Spray pie pan with a non-stick spray or rug with butter or margarine and lay first pie shell into pan. Set aside.
• In medium sauce pan, combine can of peaches, 1/2 can of apple filling. The reason I use only half is you only want the flavor and thickening of the apple filling but if you don't mind the overwhelming apple taste use the whole can. Begin to simmer on low heat.
• Add a dollop of butter or margarine. I'm a butter lover so I use butter but margarine works just as well.
• To mixture all sugar. I'd say 1/4 cup is quite enough. (Sugar substitutes work well here)
• Stir, then add, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice and Vanillla. Ok, I can see you're about to panic, so I'd say 1/2 teaspoon of each of these. I love that Cinnamon flavor so I'd add more Cinnamon than the others.
• Stir and add a couple of dollops of butter to that. When butter has melted, pour mixture into pie shell and cover with remaining shell. As you can see from the above photo, I'm not good at sealing the shells together with fancy crimping or fork sculpturing. Sprinkle with Cinnamon and sugar over the top then slice an opening in the middle. This allows pie to bake without overflowing and making a mess. (Ask me how I know this!!)
• Bake for one hour then allow to cool or eat right away with ice cream. That's what my family did right after dinner. They could smell the pie baking all through dinner and as soon as I took it out of the over, they pounced......sigh!!