Two For You, One For Me

I've been baking this week. More specifically, baking squares for a funeral. And while I am more than happy to help, I feel as though I'm always showing up with the same old stuff, in part because I tend to bake cookies and cakes more than squares and/or muffins, so my recipe collection is a little wanting. And, just to complicate things a little more, we're asked to bring a pan that measures 9" x 13"; most of mine suit an 8" x 8" pan. Woe is me. Time for a Pinterest search.

It's a little tricky trying a recipe that you haven't made before but I started early and knew that I could bake something else if they didn't work out.

First up were these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies. Oh my! The texture is so lovely, even to the very edge of the pan, and there's no frosting required. They easily received the seal of approval from the Official Cookie Tester because he is a pumpkin aficionado so they will definitely go into the rotation.

I've been baking a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe for years but these are so much faster.

The second batch were these Coconut Butter Bars (photo: Cookies & Cups) and believe me, they aren't fibbing about the 'butter'. I added a few extra tablespoons of flour to the crust because it just looked too saturated and I'm happy that I did. That said, they are very tasty too and also received the OCT seal of approval. I didn't get a pic before they hit the freezer so I am sharing the one that she has on her site.

The third batch (I know, I was only supposed to bake two) was a bonus for me. While hunting through mom's recipe book I found this. Anyone who grew up in our household will recognize the type. It's a page from The Baptist Church Cookbook. This was a go-to recipe book in our house, with fantastic recipes from ladies in our community and growing up I loved these squares. 

It was interesting to see how much less sugar they took when compared to the two recipes that I had just made, particularly the base. It's the crust that I always think of - might be the inclusion of the egg that makes it just a little different. And well, in my book you just can't go wrong with pineapple and coconut. in my book.

When they came out of the oven I was almost giddy.

There might have been a little taste testing at breakfast the next day.

It's only a 8" pan so they get to stay with me. Such a delicious walk down memory lane....M

Maples Leaves and Binding by the Pound

Sandy showed up last week with a lovely little bundle for Quilts for Survivors which included these gorgeous maple leaf blocks. She's right on time because, despite what the calendar is saying, we've already seen a few maple trees beginning to turn.

They are done up in a variety of fall fabrics but she just couldn't figure out what she wanted to do with them, in part because she just couldn't get past the little bit of metallic ink that runs through them, so they have been passed along to Betty to work a little magic.

It's the same block that Roberta and I played with last fall - Crystal Manning's Pumpkin Spice Maples - but she's only used two colours/block. Clever girl.

Don't they make you want to start pulling out your sweaters?

And she also brought a huge bag filled with a variety of bias bindings, all neatly prepped and labelled. There are nine in total ranging from 47 to 101 feet in length, for a grand total of 591 feet! That's a LOT of work.

According to my math, that's about 16 metres of binding per metre of fabric.

I couldn't get over how much they weighed so when we got home I put the bag on the kitchen scale; it's over 3.5 pounds!

This is my fave.

The crew at Quilts for Survivors will be thrilled as they are always on the lookout for binding that is ready to go. As a reminder, if you would like to send QFS prepped bindings they are looking to have them cut 2.5", on the bias...M

Lots of Little Bindings

It's been a binding palooza around here lately!

Motivated by wanting to take my mug rugs with me to bind while on our getaway, I pulled out some binding remnants which I thought might work. I was certain that the pink gingham would be the first to be used but somehow it slipped through the screening process. 

I did have to make one in yellow gingham to finish off the blue rugs though as nothing in the pile worked. There are two and I really like them. Made from what used to be a lavender sachet cover, I just couldn't pitch the fabric so I added a strip of coordinating blue to make them large enough. Easy peasy. Very happy to have found a good use for it.

And I love this green and white polka dot with the yellow braid...

though at some point late in the process I obviously stopped paying attention when I was attaching the bindings to the rugs 😏.

And this is one of the Log Cabin rugs. The other is bound in a dark, rustic red but I don't think that I have a photo of it; you can see a corner of it in the first photo.

This one came together with a few of the tiny four-patches from Scraptastic. I've been incorporating a little of everything into those blocks but that green was just a little too contemporary compared to everything else so I moved them to this project.

A large mauve floral worked nicely with the yellow braids as well.

This was the perfect hand stitching project to have on hand and, thanks to a little help from Jane, all 11 are now finished and ready for Maggie to gift....M

Straight Line Quilting Like a Pro

A free motion quilter I am not but every now and then there are small projects (pot holders, placemats or the occasional table runner) that I'll machine quilt myself. For those occasions, it's nothing but straight lines, and if I want to get really creative, I'll do a crosshatch 😏. 

My mug rugs were piled high and ready to take on our getaway but they needed to be quilted before I could bind them, so that pushed me to switching up my thread and seeing what mischief I could get up to.

The first few were simply rows of quilting evenly spaced lines across a rug, and they looked pretty good.

Then I practiced cornering by following the V created in the herringbone rug mugs.

These little HSTs seemed to call out for a bit more than parallel straight lines.

And then it was time for a little crosshatch.

Feeling pretty good about myself, I ventured into an elongated crosshatch/diamonds, which I really like. All in all, a fun exercise....M

Love Me A Long Weekend

Our August long weekend is always a little bittersweet for me in that you realize that summer's half over, but it's a great chance to kick back for a little hand stitching.

After a fun-filled day with life-long friends on Saturday, Sunday was stitchin' time.

My little basket of Anna Levens hexies has resurfaced so I was busy basting, which always reminds me of Lori Holt from Bee in My Bonnet. She once wrote about paying one of her children five cents for each hexie that they basted for her; this is what 95 cents looks like 😏.

A makeshift needle holder keeps all of my essentials in one place (just love that little acorn print - wish I could find more!)....M

I've Got Busy Friends

While this summer has hardly been at the top of the list in terms of quilt production for me, my quilty friends have been making up for it. Several more flimsies for Quilts for Survivors have come my way, and they are beautiful. I picked up this one, Crossroads, from Jane on the weekend. 

Isn't it fabulous? Those colours! 

She claims to have difficulty developing masculine palettes, but I totally disagree. Apparently this was all in a 'give away' pile.

The solids work beautifully in it and that blue just makes the whole thing pop. She's recovering from knee surgery so it's been a great hand stitching project.

And Anne recently dropped off two beautiful Nine Patches. 

If I'm correct, the blocks were gifted to her by a friend and she's assembled them into two tops. One set has green centres and the other all red centres.

The colour combos are great. I feel that they have a real Amish vibe. This one was quilted by Roberta and was presented to a residential school survivor in our area.

The last one is a finish from Jan, one of the quilters at the church. 

This gal can really churn them out! I love the gingham. The blocks remind me of a Mary Englebright quilt that mom made years ago.

And she's finished it off with setting triangles in a sweet cream print that seems to have strawberries throughout; there's also strawberries in the black border (sorry, the photo isn't the best). So nice to have busy friends that make me look good....M