The Green Monster

My sewing machine has gone green lately, and I don't mean from an environmental perspective. I hadn't counted on the ink transfer from the new phone book pages that I am using for the foundation piece,s but they were really making a mess of my sewing surface, so I cleaned it up and did a quick fix job with my trusty painter tape to protect it. If nothing else, this will keep me focused on finishing the blocks quickly to avoid any residue from the tape. I keep checking, and so far, so good. Poor thing - looks a little beat up, doesn't it?

This quilt is to be used as a sofa throw so it won't be as large as some. I've cut 32 more foundations and I'm thinking that might do it. If I do 5-6 a day I could be done in a week. Did 7 the other day so that's a good start.

I'm still playing with layout options too. I'm wondering about a herringbone pattern....guess I should lay all of the options side by side and see who wins.....M

Another Rhubarb Recipe to Love

Happy Canada Day, everyone - 147 and  counting! It started out rather dull and gloomy and changed to thunderstorms early in the day so a day outdoors was not to be. That gave me the perfect opportunity to try a new rhubarb recipe, and it is fabulous.

Remember this beautiful cookbook (Butter) that I got from Stephanie for Christmas? Well, it has been on my bedside table for a couple of weeks now; I curl up with it at the end of the day and pore over the recipes (is that sick?). Nightly I would change my mind as to what had to be made first, but the recent heat spell has quashed thoughts of heating up the kitchen.

Today I threw caution to the wind and decided it was time to try the Sour Cream Rhubarb Pie. My, my, my... this is a delight and definitely on the 'make again' list.

It was still slightly warm after sitting on the counter for a few hours and everything about it was yummy - crunchy cinnamon topping, creamy custard filling, just enough rhubarb and flaky pastry.

I had fresh pastry and a jar of homemade mincemeat that I'd gotten from Bunny, one of the gals who is part of the quilting crew from the church, so I also made a couple dozen mince tarts. I know it's not the season for them but it just seemed like a good idea. Bunny can't be 5 feet tall, is 85 if she's a day, and is very much a going concern. She gave me this jar when I picked up my quilt a while back and I wanted to make sure that it got used. Delicious.

Before any of the baking started I had been playing with my Sea Glass blocks.

I've got 48 made now and wanted to see them all together.

I switched up the layout a little bit so it's more a zigzag than radiating white diamonds and I think I prefer it this way. It also gives me a little more leeway in terms of how wide & long I make it - the first layout meant that I was always adding 2 blocks if I wanted it wider or longer. What do you think? Do you have a preference?....M

Sunday Morning

I was up early and enjoyed a lovely, quiet start to the day, stitching a little on Minnie and sipping my coffee.

We're getting together with our friend Ann at Betty's for brunch and having Strawberry Shortcake (first fresh berries of the season), so making biscuits was next on my list. I love buttermilk in cakes and recently found a recipe for Southern Buttermilk Biscuits so I decided to give them a shot.

So glad that I did. I used my food processor and they took no time at all, and they are de-lish (yes, I tested one - couldn't risk the possibility of poisoning someone, could I? :) The neat thing about this recipe is that you can freeze the unbaked biscuits and bake them as needed; could be dangerous...luv fresh biscuits!

Back to Minnie for a few more minutes and then it's into the shower and off to brunch.....M

Sea Glass

I laid 20 blocks for the String Quilt out on the floor and left them there for a few days to get a good feel for how it would look and two things came of it.

After several trips by it I realized that it could do with a little less grey. I had been including at least two strips of grey in each block and just got the feeling that it was becoming more grey than I wanted, so I'm making several blocks of just blues.

The second good thing is a new name. String Quilt is fine, but a tad on the technical side, don't you think? From here on in it will be called Sea Glass. The soft blues & turquoises remind me of a hand full of sea glass, and it sounds much prettier than String Quilt.

I've got a pile of blocks that the foundation papers need to come off of but I think I'll sew a few more and then do a larger batch....M