Friday's Sewing......the benefit quilt

Wow, I have been quiet all week.    I feel like I've been going non-stop since Saturday!   Lots have been going on and I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend, finally.  lol   I spent all weekend helping w/ a charity benefit, had an OB appointment on Monday, an ultra sound appointment on Tuesday and since then I've been stuck in Girl Scout Fall Product paper land. lol   Our big and exciting news is that we found out on Tuesday that we're having a little boy!   We are SO excited!  Even my older children wanted a boy.   I have 3 girls and one boy, so we were due for another one.  lol  So, now the hard part......figuring out a name and the fun part, I can start sewing for him!   I actually made something for Mr. Peanut last night and I'll share that in another post. :-)

For Friday's sewing, I can finally share a quilt that I made last month.   I made it for a benefit and I didn't want to share it until the benefit was over this past Sunday.   This is my first "real" quilt.  I had made three other quilts before this one I'm going to share but they were all the same pattern, a HUGE Ohio Star baby quilt.  So, even though it is a quilt, it didn't feel like a "real" quilt because it used one gigantic triangle.  Plus, I tied them all because I was too afraid to machine quilt. lol   So, this is my first quilt that I actually pieced together lots of fabric and machine quilted on it.   

I used the Stacked Coins Baby quilt tutorial at Moda Bake Shop.   I am so thrilled at how this one turned out and I think I might make one for my little guy.   My 13 old daughter wants one, too!

I used the Spirit Charm Pack by Lila Tueller, which I absolutely love the mixture of colors in it!  Pinks, blues, browns, yellows....so pretty!

And here's the back.....I'm loving how designers are adding quilted elements to the back of quilts!  It really makes both sides so much fun.   I used some pink gingham flannel that I found at JoAnn Fabrics for the backing.   Which, it was very frustrating, because the printing on the selvage edge was very big!   I'd say it was at least an inch thick and the backing was just wide enough, so there is a small part in the back where you can see part of the words, because I couldn't even get it covered up w/ the binding.  

I went back and forth with putting a label on this quilt.  Since it was being donated, I didn't it to seem like I was bragging or something by having my name on it.   But, I asked several of my quilting friends and they all told me to put a label on it, so I did.   I embroidered all of it w/ DMC floss and chose a rainbow, because the decorating theme for the benefit was rainbows.   Ever since the accident,  almost everyone close to Colby, including Colby, have seen rainbows, so rainbows are very special to them all now.  

As far as the quilting goes on this.......I went out and bought a walking foot (the best thing in the ENTIRE world that I have EVER bought!!!!! lol) and just did some simple machine quilting 1/4-inch around the outside of each pieced strip.   Since this was the first quilt that I was machine quilting, I was afraid to try anything more than that.   The original quilt in the tutorial has free-motion quilting on it and I might try that the next time that I make this quilt.  

So, most importantly, the benefit was wonderful.   There were so many people there showing support and it was very touching to be a part of it.   I also did all of the decorations for the benefit, so I spent a couple of weeks painting rainbows. lol  

I'm nice and new to linking to amylouwho's "Sew & Tell Friday's" and Lit and Laundry's "Finished for Friday". I am so grateful and appreciative of everyone who visited me for my first share last Friday.   I haven't been able to sit down and thank you each personally yet, but please know that I am so thankful for all of your kind words about my Autumn Table Topper Quilt.   I plan on thanking each of you this weekend!  I'm looking forward to sitting down tomorrow and looking at everyone's wonderful creations that they have finished up this week!

Take care and God Bless!

di

Meal Plan Monday- Oct 18th-24th

Well, it's been forever since I've planned my meal and it's really been hurting our grocery budget.   I hasn't helped that I'm pregnant and a fussy eater myself. lol   But, I've got to get it back into gear!   I've got 3 months before little Peanut is born and if I don't start getting into a real routine again, I'm going to be in serious trouble.   It's also been hard because my husband has been working late some evenings and my 16 year old son has also been working more evenings during the week.   That leaves me w/ my 13  year old daughter, who is extremely picky and my 3 year old daughter, who is pretty picky, too.  So, planning a meal around them is almost impossible.

But, it's time to jump back into the saddle and there's no better time than the present!  So, I sat down this morning and wrote up our menu for the week.   It was really easy, because I have meals organized by days (Monday-Pasta, Tuesday-Breakdast, etc.) and I also have a card file full of menus organized the same way.  So, I flip through my file cards and pull out a recipe that corresponds w/ each days meal.   I'll try to get some pics of that and explain in better detail soon.  :-)

Menu for October 18th - 24th :
Monday - Spaghetti w/ tomato sauce, Corn, French Bread
Tuesday- Hashbrown Quiche, Fruit Salad
Wednesday- Crock Pot Vegetable Curry, Rice
Thursday- Toasted Veggie Subs, Pasta Salad, Chips
Friday - Salmon-Rice Patties w/ Green Sauce, Provincial Potatoes, Salad
Saturday- Quesadillas w/ Guacamole
Sunday- Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole, Sweet Potato Fries, Salad

I'm going to try to get some pics of some of the meals that I don't have links for yet......so I can share the recipes soon!

I'm linking up to "I'm and Organizing Junkies - Meal Plan Mondays"!

Take care and God Bless!
di

Pumpkin Banana Bread

A good friend of mine gave me a large can of pumpkin last weekend and I have been having lots of fun finding new recipes to make with it.   I had a few banana's on my kitchen countertop that needed to be turned into banana bread, so I went searching for a pumpkin-banana bread recipe and I found this one at the Taste of Home website.  It had great reviews, but I still made a little change to the recipe.  I'm not a big fan of baking w/ shortening, unless it's for pastry, so I substituted butter for the shortening.   I also cooked my bread in a bundt pan.  I started doing this a few months ago, when my little "I can do it myself" 3-year old wanted to cut her own bread from the loaf pan.   Having it in a bundt shape is a lot easier for her to slice (with a butter knife, don't worry!) and it has also solved my problem that I was sometimes having of my bread not being totally cooked in the very middle.   I also had to add 10-15 minutes to the cooking time, because the original recipe is baked in mini loaf pans.

This bread is really yummy, but I wish it had a bit more pumpkin flavor to it.  I might add some pumpkin pie spice next time.   But, I will definitely be making it again!

Pumpkin Banana Bread-


1/2 cup butter
1 - 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 - 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar.  Add the eggs and beat well.  Beat in the bananas, pumpkin and vanilla.  Combine the flour baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradual add to creamed mixture.  Fold in the nuts.

Pour into a greased bundt pan.  Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool before removing from the pan.

I hope you're having a wonderful day today....it sure is a beautiful Autumn day here!

God Bless,
di

Show & Tell Fridays - Autumn table top quilt

I am so excited today, because I finished up the Autumn table top quilt that I've been working on the past few weeks.  I used a great tutorial that I found at the Moda Bake Shop and changed it to Autumn fabric, instead of Christmas.   You can read about my adventures in learning how to do free-motion quilting on this quilt here. 

And here it is on my table.......I adore it!

Now I need to find one to make with a Christmas theme!  This is a nice size, too, and would be great for a lap quilt.... more ideas....more to add to my ever-growing "to sew" list..... ;-)

I just recently found a wonderful quilting blog called, Amylouwho, and she is the hostess of "Sew and Tell Fridays".  It's a place for sewers to share what they have been working on and get feedback, share what they have completed, and for inspiration.  I'm so excited to be sharing my finished quilt there and look forward to visiting all of the wonderful blogs to see everyone's beautiful creations!

I'm also linking up to Lit and Laundry and her "Finished for Friday" link party.  It's another great site and there are lots of talented people sharing some great projects!

Take care and God Bless!
di

Apples, apples, apples - a day spent canning

I was so lucky this month to receive a very large tub of apples from a friends apple tree!    Last year, I made regular apple jelly and it was quite an undertaking, so this year I decided to try something a bit easier.    I chose two recipes that I hadn't tried yet from my Ball Blue Book of Canning and Preserving:  Maple Apple Jam and Cranapple Butter.   I must admit that they both turned out really yummy!  And, after spending the morning making the jam, I went ahead and made the apple butter that afternoon.  It was a crazy idea and I sure did regret it by that evening, but it takes a good 3 hours for my canning pot to come to a boil and I figured that since I had had that pot all ready to go, I might as well can up all of the apples that I had.  Wow.  What a day.  I stood and peeled, cored and chopped over 12 pounds of apples!  My hands and feet were killing me, but I'm still glad that I went ahead and made everything in one day.  I also had my little 3-year old helper, so it took me longer than normal.  She was helping me put the cut up pieces of apple in the bowl and I came to the conclusion that she puts apples in a bowl the same way I put blueberries in my bucket when I'm at the blueberry patch....one piece in the bowl...3 pieces in her mouth.....lol

Like I said, both of these recipes were really yummy and I hope you enjoy them!  Oh, and just as a quick disclaimer.....I am not a pro at canning. lol  I definitely don't know it all, so please go to the Ball Canning website for all information about canning and help with any questions you might have.  I only know what I know from standing in our tiny, hot kitchen every summer watching my parents can tomatoes, pickles and beets.....lol

Maple-Apple Jam-

makes about 8 half-pints

3 quarts chopped, peeled, cored apples (about 6 pounds)

6 cups sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1 cup maple syrup

Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pot.  Bring slowly to a boil.  Cook rapidly to gelling point.  (I had to add one package of pectin to my pot because I couldn't get mine to gel.  I think this is because I don't have a big enough pot to cook jelly in and couldn't bring the heat up high enough w/o it boiling over.)  As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.   Remove from heat.  Skim foam if necessary.  Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace.  Adjust two-piece caps.  Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Cranapple Butter-

makes about 6 pints

6 pounds apples (about 24 medium)

2 quarts cranberry juice cocktail

4 cups sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

To prepare pulp:  Wash apples.  core, peel and quarter apples.  Combine apples and cranberry juice cocktail in a large sauce pot.  Simmer until apples are soft.  Puree using a food processor or food mill, being careful not to liquefy.

To make butter:  Combine apple pulp, sugar and spices in a large sauce pot.  Cook until thick enough to round up on a spoon.  As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.  Ladle hot butter into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles.  Adjust two-piece caps.  Process 10 minutes in a boiling-wtaer canner.

I hope you enjoy and God Bless!

di

sewing - Autumn quilt WIP

I have really had the quilting bug these past few months.....I'm not sure why, maybe it's because I'm nesting or something & the idea of cozy quilts laying around is really appealing to me right now.   I finished two baby quilts last month along with the top of another baby quilt and I've almost finished a quilt to put on my dinner table in celebration of Autumn.   I found this beautiful Christmas quilt at the Moda Bake Shop (which has amazing FREE sewing/quilting ideas all of the time!  I LOVE this site!)   It is a Christmas quilt in the example, but I really wanted an Autumn-themed quilt for my dinner table, so I used the Awesome charm pack by Sandy Gervais for Moda.

I've been quilting up a storm on this one, because I want to have it done in time to have on our table throughout October and November.  Plus, my husband is waiting to use my sewing machine to work on my daughter's Halloween costume.  He's much better at making adjustments and additions to patterns than I am, so he gets to sew up her costume! ;-)

Here's the embarrassing part.  I tried doing free-motion quilting for the first time.  Let's just say that I started with WAY too big of a project to learn this technique!  And, I should have been smart enough to read my instruction manual before starting on this new venture.   

So, I went out and bought a darning foot, made up a quick quilt sandwich and started sewing.  It looked great on the top side and I was pretty excited at how easy it was to actually meander around and sew.  Here's what the top looked like....

It looks pretty good, huh?  Well.......then I tuned it over and saw this:

EEK! lol  What in the world is going on?  My thread has eyelashes!

Well, after a lot of heartache tweaking all of the buttons on my machine (which is only a few because I have an old Viking!), Googling, and hair pulling.........I got out my sewing machine manual.  Wow.  I should have done that first!  Turns out I was turning a knob that I thought was the upper thread tension and it actually adjusted the height of the feed dogs.  I NEVER knew I had that option! lol  Plus, I forgot to put the stitch length to zero.  So, after I used the correct knob for the feed dogs and set my stitch length to zero, things started working pretty well.  I am still having some minor issues with tension.  If you look closely at the back of my quilt, you can see my upper thread pulled through a bit and there are a few places where I have very, small eyelash action going on.  But, I prevailed and did free-motion quilting in all of the blocks of the quilt.  I decided to not attempt to do it on the entire quilt....I'm not ready for that! lol  So, I stitched 1/4" around the outside of each block and I think it looks pretty good!

There are lots of great video tutorials out there on free-motion quilting and this helped me out a lot, because I am a very visual learner.   I also found this great blog called "Sew Inspired" that was extremely helpful, because she uses a regular, ole' sewing machine like I have, has lots of pictures and great advice.

Here it is so far.....all quilted and waiting for the binding (which I hope to work on tonight):

and here is a close-up of  my attempt at free-motion quilting:

Hopefully this quilt will be finished in the next day or so!  Then it's on to my next project.......finishing this one up which will be a gift for a dear friend!

Take care and God Bless,

di

Finally back and Frosted Banana Bars.....

Well, it's been forever since I've shared anything here. Lots have happened, some not so great (actually quite terrible) and some awesome.....isn't that life? I'm hoping to get back into posting here. I'm finally getting my creativity back and have lots of projects that I'm working on.

But for now, I'll share with you a recipe for an awesome dessert bar that I made today. This is one of those recipes that copies went around of when I was working several years ago. We used to have big pot lucks for lunch a couple of times a year and these bars were made one time. They are so good and I had some bananas sitting around that desperately needed to be turned into something yummy, so this is what I made. I hope you enjoy!

One quick note......this is supposed to be baked in a 15"x10"x1" baking pan and I don't have one, so I used my baking dish that was a bit smaller. Needless to say, when the 25 minutes of cooking time was up, my bars weren't even close to being done. I ended up cooking them at least 15-20 minutes longer. So, if you are using a smaller pan, be sure to add some time and just keep watching them until they are done. :-)

Frosted Banana Bars:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

Frosting:

1- 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

3-3/4 to 4 cups confectioners' sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add the creamed mixture. Stir in bananas. Spread into a greased 15"x10"x1" baking pan. Bake at 350F degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool.

For the frosting, in a mixing bowl beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Gradually beat in enough confectioners' sugar to achieve desired consistency. Frost bars. Store in the refrigerator.

Yum.