Quilting Friends are the Best!

On Monday evening, five of my best-est quilting friends and I got together for what I thought was going to be a casual, girls-night-out dinner.

Well it was that...and M-O-R-E!

I was the last one to arrive, not because I was late but because...as I was soon to find out...they had a surprise for me.

Just recently, I celebrated my one year anniversary of being cancer-free.  Not a huge milestone, but a significant one nevertheless.  Both Darlene and Gail...two of the gals in our quilting sisterhood...are also cancer survivors and can relate as to how each and every day is truly a gift after fighting the disease.

And speaking of gifts, this is what was presented to me at our dinner gathering.

     
A friendship quilt!  

I was caught totally off guard.  When I realized what it was and it's significance,  the tears just started to flow, not only because of the sentiment attached to the quilt but because of the thought and effort that went into making it.

Here is my initial reaction...caught on camera.  It's a good thing there's no sound.

All the blocks are individually signed by my friends.

Here is Darlene's block...

Debra's block...

Nora's block...

Gail's block...

and Rose's block.

Aren't they all gorgeous?

Can you imagine my reaction when I saw the label on the back of the quilt?

If you guessed that I lost it again, you guessed right.

Darlene's Mom hand quilted it which made it even more special.

If there is any doubt in your mind that quilting and blogging friends are the best, doubt no more.  

My deepest and most heartfelt thanks once again to Darlene, Debra, Gail, Rose and Nora.  You gals are the best...and I am blessed and honored to have you as friends.

More this and that

Another week has flown by and when this happens, it usually means that I've been busy...which I have been!

Just yesterday, I finished making the 48 log cabin blocks required for the next step of Darlene's mystery quilt.  Darlene posted detailed step-by-step instructions complete with photos of the way she makes her log cabin blocks on her blog which you can read about here.  

I've never made log cabin bocks this way but I can tell you that from here on in, this is the ONLY way I'll be making them!

Now I just have to sew them together and attach them to my flimsy which is growing with each passing month.  Here it is hanging and waiting ever so patiently on the back of the door in my studio.

One of our NSLQS (not-so-local quilt shops) is housed in the same building as a grocery store, gift shop and clothing store.  When I went in there the other day, there was a box of hangers in the entrance marked "help yourself"...which I did...to six of them!  

I love these hangers to hang not only WIP's but also my mini quilts until I find a home for them.  Here are a bunch of them which are now hanging on the other side of the same door.

These hangers are the kind that don't leave marks and I find that hanging them is better than folding and stacking them which always results in fold lines.

After a cold and wet Spring, who would have thought that we would be wishing for rain.  We've had three weeks of beautiful sunny weather but that also means that we've had no rain either during that time.  Brush fires have been imminent nearby and that is not a good thing.  

Thankfully there is a nice steady rain falling this morning and Ollie and Frankie have dozed off while listening to the pitter patter of raindrops on the roof.

I don't know about you but one of my least favorite things to do is to fill bobbins.  

My friend Diane (no blog) told me about some 100% cotton pre-wound bobbins that she ordered from Superior Threads.  They were recommended to her by the gal who does her longarm machine quilting and she loves them.  I knew that there were pre-wound bobbins with polyester thread but wasn't aware that cotton ones were available.  

Since I only use 100% cotton thread in all my quilts, I decided to give them a try.

I was a little concerned that they wouldn't be suitable for my Bernina but they work like a charm and I'm thrilled with the quality.  There are two series available, the "L" and the "M" and you just have to check to see which is the one suitable for your brand of machine.  I use a lot of ecru thread when piecing so that's the color I decided to go with although they are available in a multitude of colors.

Here's the link to Superior Threads if you'd like to check them out.  I'll definitely be reordering more when these are almost gone.

Yesterday I was invited to attend a trunk show hosted by La Guilde Acadienne de Clare, a quilt guild located on the French shore of Nova Scotia, about 60 miles from where we live.  Joan Tufts, President of the guild and I met yesterday and exchanged hugs for the first time.  Joan has written a great post about it here.

While there, I purchased some 100% wool batting which is my absolute fave! 

I'm hoping that if I whine loud enough, one of our NSLQS will order it in.

I'm going to be using some of it while putting the finishing touches on June's First Friday Freebie, along with the flying geese pictured below.

Edit:  Judging from some of the comments that were left on this post and from emails that I have received, for those of you who might be new to my blog, I publish a free design/pattern on the First Friday of March, June, September and December.  These are what I refer to as my First Friday Freebies.  There is a link to all of them that I have published to date on the right sidebar of my blog. 

The next one...which I made reference to above...will be released on June 7th, which is the First Friday of June.

And last but not least, I'd like to share my recipe for the best-est, richest, tastiest and yummiest bread pudding ever!

I had some leftover on-the-stale-side dinner rolls so I decided to make some this morning.

Here it is before going into the oven...

and 45 minutes later after baking and adding the sauce.

Bread Pudding

2 C granulated sugar
5 eggs, beaten
2 C milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 C cubed stale bread
1/2 C packed light brown sugar
1/4 C (1/2 stick) softened butter
1 C chopped pecans
1 C raisins

Sauce

1 C granulated sugar
1/2 C (1 stick) butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 C brandy or 1 tsp brandy extract (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a 13" x 9" x 2" pan.

Mix together sugar, eggs and milk.  Add vanilla.  Pour over cubed bread and let sit for 10 minutes.

In another bowl, mix and crumble together brown sugar, butter, pecans and raisins.  Sprinkle over top and bake for 35 - 45 minutes or until set.  Remove from oven.

Sauce

Mix together sugar, butter, egg and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir together until sugar dissolves.  Add brandy or brandy extract and stir well.  Pour sauce over pudding.  Let set about 10 minutes.  Serve warm or cold.

Have a great day and...

Happy stitching!

We're Divorced!

Some marriages are made in heaven.  Sadly, this one was not.  

It grieves me to say that Husky Henrietta and I have parted ways with no chance of reconciliation.  She has been returned to her original home and I'm hoping that her next relationship will be happier than ours was.

I tried and I tried to fall in love with Henrietta but came to realize that even with all the bells and whistles, she and I kept on having issues that I could not get used to nor did I feel that I should have to with this caliber of machine.  

I have always been a Bernina gal but never realized how wonderful a machine they are until I actually tried to sew with something else.  I was not prepared to compromise features that I took for granted with my fifteen year old machine and settle for something that would not only slow down my sewing but add "unnecessary" steps to perform what I deemed as simple, ordinary tasks on my Bernina.  

Please don't think that I am dissing Husqvarna machines because that is not my intention.  I think that if one learned to sew on a Husqvarna...or any machine for that matter...then that would be their groundwork for a perfect marriage.  I learned to sew on a Bernina and have since learned to appreciate that their product is exceptional.  The shop where I purchased Henrietta gave me a full refund because they knew that I was not satisfied with it and witnessed the issues I was having with the machine first hand when I went for follow up classes at their shop.

And now for the good news.  On Wednesday when I went for my bone scan (no results as yet), we had three hours to kill from the time they gave me the dye injection until the actual scan time so Mr. Painted Quilt asked me if I would like to go to the Bernina dealer to check out their machines.

  
Did you for one minute think I would say no?  *wink*

This baby...a Bernina 550QE...will be coming home with me in two weeks or less.  

The shop where we purchased it has to order one in and I was told that it would take that long because it has to be shipped from the Bernina warehouse.  I would wait even longer if I had to because this is really my dream machine and I'm thrilled to bits.

I'll still use my Bernina 1080QE for my grunt-work sewing and to lug to and from guild meetings and sewing get togethers because there's not a thing wrong with it.  It has never been serviced and works as well today as the day I bought it back in 1997.

Hopefully this will be my one-and-only-ever divorce because it was not a pleasant experience.  

Happy Stitching!

Happy Scrappy Spring BOM - Row 2

It's May 1st so that means that the second instalment or Row 2 of my Happy Scrappy Spring BOM is available for you to download.  Woo hoo!

Did you have enough time to finish Row 1?  If you did, I'd love to see it!  You can upload it to my Flickr Gallery which you can access on the right sidebar of my blog about half way down the page for everyone to admire.

Here are the three photos that make up Row 2.

To upload the PDF file which includes the layout and line drawings, please click
HERE.

I think you'll find that this row will come together very quickly.  Enjoy yourself and have fun while you work your way through it.

I had x-rays done yesterday and I'll be leaving in a few minutes to head about 60 miles up the Valley to the hospital for a bone scan.  Wish me luck and you know that your thoughts and prayers always fill my heart with gratitude.

Happy stitching!

Busy day, busy week!

Once again, another week has flown by.

It's been a week of mixed emotions for me which always seems to happen as the time draws nearer to my six month check up including CT scan and blood work followed closely by appointments with my family doctor and oncologist for the results.  It all starts this Wednesday with an x-ray and bone scan and then another CT scan a couple of weeks later.  The apprehension and waiting is the difficult part.

But on a brighter note, I try to keep both my hands and mind occupied.  We've had such a cold and wet Spring that the yard work is no where near done.  

When I look at photos from the last two years at this time, it would appear that we are about three weeks behind.

Having said that, things have started to green up nicely and the perennials and Spring-blooming trees and shrubs are slowly coming to life.

We mowed the front half of the back forty yesterday.  The back is just too saturated with water to be be able to drive the tractor over it without getting stuck.  

And how do I know this?  You really don't want to know the answer to that.  

It's a wonder I'm still married!  *wink*

It's a gorgeous day today here in paradise.  The sun is shining, the sky is blue and it's a great day for drying freshly washed bedding on the line.

The rhubarb and chives survived the winter in the kitchen garden just outside our back door.  I can't wait for the weather to warm up so that I can put my tomatoes and peppers in.

  
The buds on the white lilac bush... 

rhododendron...

and magnolia...

are becoming larger with each passing day.

Isn't Spring grand?

I finished another mini flimsy this past week to get some practice on my new machine.

I haven't decided whether I'm going to hand or machine quilt this one but it'll probably get done sometime this week.

And no week would be complete without some shopping thrown in for good measure...right?

It was time to replace the 6 year old well-used ironing pad that sits next to me when I sew...

with a new one.

No shopping trip would be complete either without a few yards of fabric to add to my stash.

And how about a couple of new rulers and some thread?

While the clothes were out drying on the line, I decided to make a quiche for lunch.  

I prepped enough for two pies but the first piece was so good...

Now only one remains.

Here's the recipe if you'd like to give it a try.  It's easy-peasy to prepare and is delicious.  I usually serve ours with a salad but we were both too hungry to wait until I made one.

HAM-MUSHROOM QUICHE

4 eggs 1 c. half and half cream 1 c. diced, cooked ham 1 c. sliced mushrooms 2 chopped green onions 4 oz. grated cheese Salt and pepper to taste 2 partially baked 10 inch pie shells Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Beat eggs until frothy. Blend in cream. Layer ham in bottom of pie shell. Sprinkle mushrooms, onions, and cheese on top of ham. Add salt and pepper to egg mixture. Set pan on baking sheet. Carefully pour egg mixture into pie shell covering ham and cheese. Bake 10 minutes at 425 degrees; reduce temperature to 325 degrees and bake 30 minutes or until quiche is set. Serve hot. This will make 2 pies or approximately 12-14 servings.

NOTE: I altered the recipe slightly by first spreading dijon mustard over the entire bottom of the pie shell and also sauteed the mushrooms, ham and green onions in about a tablespoon of olive oil before layering them inside.  I didn't partially bake the pie shells either and they turned out just fine!

Just a reminder that this coming Wednesday is the 1st of May which means that the second of six instalments of my Happy Scrappy Spring BOM will be available for you to download.  I also have a Flicker Gallery that you can access from the right sidebar of my blog if you'd like to upload some photos of your progress.  I'd love to see what you've all been doing!

Ollie and Frankie would like to have a peek as well...when they're not snoozing, of course!

Happy stitching!