The Pitter Patter of Little Feet!

Come December there will be not one, but two new grandbabies added to our family! Our oldest son and his wife are expecting their fourth child during the first part of December and our youngest son and his wife are expecting their first baby on Christmas! That means that this grandmama is going to be very busy over the next few months working on lots of baby things! I'm starting by knitting plain white baby socks in a super soft acrylic/nylon/cashmere blend from Bernat. The pattern is "Kids Socks" and is free online from Plymouth Yarn. These socks are very easy and work up fast...especially in the infant size!

Rhubarb Anyone?

What do you do with free rhubarb? Those who aren't big fans of rhubarb might say 'throw it away', but I would be willing to bet that they haven't tried this bread recipe! This is a very sweet bread and could easily pass as a dessert if served with a little vanilla ice cream. Mmmm!

Rhubarb Bread

1 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together milk, lemon juice and vanilla; let stand for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, oil and egg. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda, stir into sugar mixture alternately with the milk mixture just until combined. Fold in rhubarb and nuts. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Sprinkle this mixture over the unbaked loaves. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.

Not Quite Jane

I am waiting for the delivery of my Dear Jane quilt design software before I actually get started on the quilt, but in the mean time, I wanted to try my hand at stitching one of these teeny tiny blocks...basically just to see what I am getting myself into!

Sentimental Stitches is a wonderful quilting website, blog and online store all rolled into one, which also offers free block patterns that are in the Dear Jane style and size. These midget block patterns come from a depression era quilt that was found in a basement canning cupboard in California. It is a beautiful quilt in its own right!

So here it is...my first attempt at a 4 1/2 inch finished size block! It is Sentimental Stitches Midget Block #8. I am a bit surprised...it actually finished out to be the correct size and I didn't have any trouble with the assembly, but I might also add that it was the easiest block that I could find!

Dear Jane, here I come!

Dear Jane???

I'm not quite sure how it happened. One minute I was at the Quilter's Heritage Quilt Show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania oohing and ahhing over Cindy Garcia's "No Pain, No Jane" quilt and then the next minute I am finding myself being talked into helping to form a Dear Jane club within our guild. The idea was formally suggested at the April meeting and twenty-five guild members signed up to join the group on that evening alone. I do believe that there is something hypnotizing about this quilt that makes otherwise sane quilters go completely insane for Jane!

Welcome to My New Blog!

I'm creating this blog to chronicle my quilting, knitting, favorite recipes and maybe even a little bit of my day to day life.

I live with my husband in a small town in north central Pennsylvania. We are the parents of two grown sons. Our oldest is married and the father of three beautiful daughters. Our youngest son is also married and is currently serving in the US Marine Corps, stationed in Cherry Point, NC.

I have been quilting seriously for around nine years or so, but have been sewing, knitting and crafting ever since I can remember! I find that the quiet times spent quilting or knitting help me through life's most difficult times...it is my therapy.

P.S. The Sewing Susan Needle Pack was given to my by the president of our local quilt guild. How wonderful was that?! Mine is an original, but you can find a reproduction as well as a lot of other fun sewing items at http://www.acmenotions.com/index.html