But I NEED IT!

Only ONE more month to go until we Snowbird South for the Winter…well actually we will be going for the Fall and Winter…Yup we are going for FIVE months this year.…For those of you who are new to my blog, my husband and I load up our 5th Wheel and trade our rainy West Coast Winter in for some warm rays of sunshine!!  We usually find it at ‘The Sands RV Resort’ in Desert Hot Springs in Southern California!

I haven’t been able to show you anything quilty for few days now…it’s not that I’m not busy…it’s just that I have to get things done…like getting my quilting gear organized.

What to pack??  You know how hard it is to pack for a weekend retreat…well try packing for FIVE months!  Then have your hubby says that you need to cut back this year…WHAT?  CUT BACK?? …ON WHAT? 

I have to take rulers…I NEED my rulers!!

I NEED my DMC embroidery floss…

Because I NEED to take some stitchery work…. And what about my perle cotton…I NEED my PC for my wool work!!

Because I finished cutting out all the wool pieces for the Heart to Hand Autumn Quilt…

(Each block is in its own ziplock ready for stitching)…GOT to take this!!

And I go NOWHERE without my ‘ideas’ and future projects bag…

And I NEED to take my projects that I have already started…:o) There’s only a few…

And of course I NEED to take my GO! dies….

Oh and I need to take a tub of wool…I NEED my wool!!

 

What do you mean I still need to CUT BACK?  OK, OK …I will leave my Scandinavian Christmas Project behind….

…or maybe I will just keep it on my lap while we travel…yeah..that’s what I’ll do! 

SEE..it’s not as easy as it looks…is it?  Sheesh….

Have a Fun Friday and Happy Quilting!~P

What Do Quilters Do Best…

..besides quilt that is?…Why it’s EATING of course!!  And believe me, I’m no exception!  I love food especially desserts!  And seeing that no quilting has been happening around here I thought I would share last night’s dessert…

It’s called Lemon Pudding but it isn’t exactly pudding because there is a sponge cake topping that just magically happens on top.  Now it doesn’t look like much~

…but man is it good!  If you like lemon pie then you are going to LOVE this!  Do you see the layers?  The top is a light sponge cake soufflé topping and the bottom is a creamy pudding…and very lemony..

Here’s the recipe~

Lemon Pudding

2 tbsp butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
juice of 1 lemon
grated rind on 1/2 lemon
1 Cup milk
2 tbsp. flour

 
Cream butter and sugar.
Beat in egg YOLKS, flour, lemon juice and rind.  Add milk and then fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.  Pour into a small casserole dish.  Set this dish in a pan of water and bake at 350F until set.

It’s fast and easy…and you have all the ingredients in your cupboard…and you might just have a lemon tree in the backyard!  The hard part is putting the casserole dish into another dish with water in it to bake…but really how hard is that!

      Throw some berries on top…and enjoy!

Delish!

ON The QUILTING BAKE FRONT~  I may not have done much sewing lately but that doesn’t mean that others haven’t …check out this creation by Kelbysews!!  What a great way to use up all those leftover scraps!  Wouldn’t this make a cute runner or table topper to put on the table beside the quilt you just finished!  Love it…and you can download the pattern for FREE over at Moda Bake Shop!  They are always baking up something terrific!!

Have a thrilling Thursday and Happy Quilting!~P

Recess Fun!

Yesterday while cleaning up the Sweat Room…(It looked like a tornado had hit it, with bits of wool and pieces of Steam-A-Seam all over the place!)  ..a BELL went off!  I spotted my newest Thrift Sale find (see yesterday’s post!!)  and Recess began…

Before I knew what possessed me I was getting out my trusty GO! machine and the Equilateral Triangle Die and….

…Presto!  Instant hexagons…I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this die!! 

Ahhhh…don’t you just love RECESS!

  Hope you had fun during your Recess?

Have a Wild Wednesday and Happy Quilting!~P

Three Dollar Thrift Shop Find…

Yes, Santa is alive and well and living in your nearest Thrift Shop…and look at what he had for me!!

I know it doesn’t LOOK like much…

BUT there are a million of each stripped block..plus a stack of left over strips…

Hmmmm…what to do with them??

  Well there is always the old standby Split Rail…perfect to make several baby quilts…throw a little appliqué on the sides…hmmmOr perhaps I can fiddle around and see what the GO! can do with these blocks……I do have that Equilateral Triangle that I haven’t used YET…

Moral of the story…never poopoo a Thrift Shop…you just never know what’s waiting for YOU!!  And for ONLY $3!!

Ohhhh and speaking of WAITING FOR ME…Look what was waiting on my foyer step!! (while I was at Heritage Quilting, Hubby got the call from the Sewing Centre that Jan was all better, so he whipped down to Victoria her pick it up!!  SEW Sweet of him!!) Yup, Jan is back and in the peak of health!  For under $100 I now have a well lubed and oiled sewing machine AND bonus~ out of Bobbin Winding Mode!! Although she isn’t a Janome Horizon (LOVE those machines!) she is ALL mine and ready to turn those blocks into something MAGNIFICENT!!  Yikes!  Feisty isn’t she! 

Hey do you see my Sewing Bag behind Jan…??  It’s the bag that I take to Heritage…

Ohhhh my…a perfect fit!!!  I never thought of making Jan her own chubby bag!!  Maybe a few inches taller…and out of something sturdier…maybe denim or upholstery fabric?  BUT it’s that darn fusible fleece…it’s so expensive!!  (Would you believe that it cost almost $30 just for the fusible fleece to make this bag?  I need something cheaper…but what?….Any ideas out there in Blogland??)

Sew another PROJECT!!  There is no end to them…:o) 

Hope you are working a great project…and have a long list of projects on the back burner!!  It’s what keeps us young and moving..after all quilters DO live to be 100+!  They have too!!  Too much fabric and too many patterns not too!!  SEW keep stitching! 

Have a terrific Tuesday and Happy Quilting!~P

Will She GO!?

Sew Cal Gal is up to her old tricks…you’d think she would be busy recuperating after hosting the Pet on Parade Quilt Show…but no sirree sir!!  No flies on Darlene!  She has organized an AccuQuilt Fall Blog Hop that runs this week!

        

Here’s the schedule~

Monday, September 26th

• Darlene (SewCalGal) - www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 27th

• Terrie (Bits & Pieces) www.terriesandelin.blogspot.com
• Sharon (Craizee Corners) www.craizeecorner.blogspot.com

Wednesday, September 28th

• Katrina (Sunshower Quilts) www.sunshowerquilts.blogspot.compssst that's me!!

Thursday, September 29th

• Connie (Quilting by the River) www.conniekresin.blogspot.com
• Mary (the Tulip Patch) http://www.tulip-patch.blogspot.com/

Friday, September 30th

• Polly (Polly's Porch) www.auntpollysporch.blogspot.com 

I would have LOVED to have been part of this Hop…’cause you KNOW I’m a huge GO! lover!…but I have a full plate right now…one more ‘job’ would throw me ‘over the edge’!  We leave in 34 days for our FIVE month holiday!!  That’s FIVE months!!  What to take?? YIKES!!  I want to take my whole stash!  Wool and Cotton!!  And…What about patterns!!  What?  Leave THAT behind…NEVER!!  I have to tell you I am a ‘bit’ stressed!!…but in a good way…sort of…

For instance…

My husband just cleaned out the basement to our 5th wheel…see that space on the left?  I think I can squeeze in my GO! and all my dies…?  Some of the Club House quilters have been wondering if the GO! is heading South with us…what do you think? Is it a GO!?  More importantly do you think Hubby will notice…??  He has told me to cut back on what I bring this year…something to do with a weight thing…but geeze-louise the GO! is light as a feather…

…and I figure if I bring just a couple of tops and a few capris and a nightie or two I am set in the clothes department…

So what do you think??  Is SHE a GO!?

Don’t forget to head over to Sew Cal Gal’s to see what she is up to…along with her GO! to friends! This is SEW my kind of Blog HOP!!

Have a Marvelous Monday and Happy Quilting!~P

It’s a FINISH…

… and long before the snow flies too!  Nothing like hanging out on the front porch on a warm Autumn day…

I love everything about this quilt…the colours, the textures and the big stitch hand quilting. The snowman block was taken from a Primitive Gathering Pattern Called ‘Cabin Friends’…you can find the pattern HERE.

But the rest of the blocks I made using my GO! Fabric Cutter and the 1 1/2” Strip die…you can see the tutorial HERE.

   

I started the quilt top well over a year ago…and then it sat in the cupboard waiting to get quilted!  You know how that goes…

I finally hand quilted it using the big stitches and perle cotton.  

   I might have to take this one down South with us this year…because

…I’ve never seen a snowman in the desert before!  And those desert nights can get cool…

Hope you like it too…

Have a Sunny Sunday and Happy Quilting!~P

Fall may be here…

…but you would never know it from our weather…it’s been warm and mostly sunny, nicer than we had in July!…So yesterday we took advantage of this gorgeous weather and hiked up Cobble Hill Mountain. 

The maple leaves are falling mainly because August and September have been so hot and dry…

This looks like a country lane but it is really the beginning of our trail …it’s a fairly steep hill but it’s so pretty in here that you hardly know that you are climbing…when you get to the top of this hill you turn right onto a smaller path that traverses up the mountain.

This is by far my favourite place to hike…It’s always cool and shady under the rainforest…

After an hours hike this is what is waiting for you at the top!  A perfect place for a picnic!  Gorgeous!

It takes over two hours to complete this hike and I love every moment of it!  Ahhh…ain’t retirement grand!

On the Sewing Front~

Although I AM missing Jan (my Janome) I am keeping busy…

I have cut out all the Autumn Quilt Steam a Seam Lite…only to realize that I need more green wool…WAY more green wool!! 

This quilt takes a ton of green wool!  Just look at all the vines and leaves…

So I pulled some neutral wool out of my stash and some Olive Green Gaywool dye and look at what I cooked up…

If you can boil water then you can dye wool!  It’s that easy BUT way more fun!  And I LOVE my new pot…which I found in a FREE box at a Garage Sale…(My motto is..never poopoo the FREE box!!)  This pot is huge…it’s an old wok and perfect for this job!! 

 

Now let me show you the before and after pictures….  Please keep in mind the colours are much deeper in REAL life…

This was a lady’s skirt…

  A sleeve from a jacket…

And here they are together…all of these are a deep rich green…even the middle one and top one…for some reason the camera picked up the lighter tones!

   So now I am all set to iron on the Steam-A-Seam Lite and start cutting out the pieces!! 

Yes, the leaves will be off the trees before this project is done but that’s OK because by then I will be sitting under a palm tree sipping a fruity drink!  Ahhhh…I can see it now….:o)

 

Have a Super Saturday and Happy Quilting!~P