Violets Are Blue...

...and a very happy Mother's Day wish to you!

Yard Work vs. Yardage Work

As much as I love warm weather, I am really missing quilting season! (Notice that I said "quilting season" and not "winter".) There are three quilts in this pile waiting to be finished, but the grass is growing faster than ever and the flower beds are needing attention as well. There just aren't enough hours in a day to do all of the things that I want to do as well as the things that I have to do this time of year! High temperatures are predicted in the 70's along with bright sunshine, so I guess yard work wins over yardage work today.

Look At Them Now...

Three short weeks ago the leaves were just starting to pop open on my lilac bushes. Look at them now...not only do we have leaves, but the bushes are loaded with beautiful, fragrant blooms!

Diets

I have been on a fabric diet since January and trying my hardest to only use fabric from my stash. It's working out pretty well, but I can't say that I've noticed much of a dent in my stash fabrics, even after 4 full months of stitching.
Another thing that I have recently noticed (thanks to a week of very warm weather and the need to break out the summer clothes) is that my waistline needs a bit of trimming too (maybe even more than my fabric stash)!
Yesterday several of my quilty friends and I made a trip to the Lewisburg area to shop at the Lewisburg Farmer's Market and Verna's Fabrics. I did a good job staying away from the luscious looking pies and baked goods and selected only fresh fruits and veggies at the farmer's market, so I'm off to a good start to healthier eating. However, this beautiful metallic paisley and companion fabric by Hoffman California International Fabrics that I found at Verna's was much harder to resist than chocolate whoopie pies. I "justified" my fabric purchase with a "stash busting" quilt pattern, Crazy Eights by Bits 'n Pieces. It uses 8 fat quarters to make the 38x45 quilt top. I think it will be a great pattern for Project Linus quilts and will work well to further trim my stash.
Maybe I didn't do too badly with either diet yesterday after all...I just hope that I can stick to them both long enough to be able to fit all my fabric into the sewing room closet and to be able to wear all of the clothes that are in my dresser!

Another Selvage Bag

Several years ago my sister-in-law gave me a quilted wallet/purse for my birthday and I literally loved it to death. It was just the right size to hold a checkbook, cash, cards and cell phone and all of the pockets and zippers were "in the right place". It could be tucked inside a larger bag, but because it had a strap, it could also be carried alone. I have had several other wallets similar to that one over the years, but none that I liked as much as that first one. I recently came across that old wallet and decided that I could use it for a pattern and make another one just like it! It wasn't that hard to make, but I now understand why Vera Bradley bags are so expensive...just working at minimum wage, labor alone would be more than $50 for this wallet! It would have been faster and maybe even cheaper to buy a new quilted wallet, but Vera hasn't discovered selvages yet!

Pinwheel Gone Awry

This is Dear Jane block A-1, Pinwheel Gone Awry, which seemed like a good block to try and get back into my Dear Jane project because it has obviously gone awry as well! It's been weeks since I have even thought about Dear Jane, let alone put together a block. There are just so many other quilting projects that are distracting me and not enough time in a day to do them all. I am starting to think that I need to trim this project down to a more manageable size and make a wall hanging or throw size quilt otherwise Jane may become a UFO!

Coffee House Coffee Cake

This recipe may not be the best thing for a low cholesterol diet, but a little coffee cake every now and then never hurt anyone!








Coffee House Coffee Cake

Topping:

1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Cake:

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.

Make topping by combining flour with brown sugar, butter and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Mixture should have the consistency of moist sand. Add chopped pecans.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add this dry mixture to the moist ingredients a little bit at a time. Add milk and mix well.

Spoon batter into a 9x13-inch baking pan that has been buttered and dusted with a light coating of flour.

Sprinkle the crumb topping over the batter. Be sure the topping completely covers the batter.

Bake cake for 50 minutes, or until the edges just begin to turn light brown and cake tests done. Cool.

Wet Paint And Little Feet

Look what I convinced the lil' cowboy's mommy and daddy to let me do! It wasn't that hard...all I had to do was promise to make them a little artwork wall hanging too. It was an interesting process that just took a little fabric paint, some muslin, three adults and one squirmy baby. I think we all all had blue paint on us before we were done, but we ended up with two sets of nice baby foot prints to use for the wall hangings. We found this perfect cowboy boot fabric at Needles Quilt Shop to use for the border, so now I just need to get stitching!

Happy Trails

Happy trails to you,
Until we meet again.
Happy trails to you,
Keep smilin' until then!

What a wonderful time we had with our lil' cowboy and his mommy and daddy! You can tell by the blurry feet in the photo that the little guy is never still and he did his best to keep the rest of us on the move and off the computer this week. This morning the lil' cowboy and his family saddled up and headed home, so somewhat sadly, I now return to my sewing room and my regular blogging schedule.