String Piecing Day!

Good Thursday evening!

I decided to make another string piecing wall-hanging because they are so pretty, so quick and so easy!  This is unfinished but I wanted you to get an idea of what it will look like.  I still need to machine quilt it and I will use free motion quilting to do so.

String piecing is simply piecing together scraps of different width-sized strips of fabric.

It's a fabulous way of using up scraps!

And we all have strips leftover from adding thin borders, etc. If your strips are too wide, just cut them in half.  

I also like to make my cuts a bit "wonky" for fun!

So first you need to decide what size block you want and I made these 6 1/2" finished squares. 

I keep a box of scraps from which to pull from and then just randomly sew them together. 

I don't try to sew exact 6 1/2" strips - I approximate and make sure they are longer than that slightly, and if they are too long, I cut them as I match them up to sew.  When the width is a bit larger than 

6 1/2" I am finished with that block.  I strip piece as well which helps the process speed along. 

When I've got as many squares finished as I want for the project (this one has 12) I square them up using my handy 6 1/2" square ruler.

For this particular project I also made these quarter square triangle blocks to set them with for some interest and to break up all the busyness.

I hope you get to play around with string piecing soon!  It's therapeutic!

So get busy string piecing and have fun being creative!

Quote of the Day: "To quilt is human; To finish is divine!"

Have a blessed and stringy, strippy weekend! 

~Mary Lou

My Monday Mistake - the Pinwheel Problem..

Good Monday afternoon!

Confessions of a quilter....

I am sharing a common mistake that is made when making a pinwheel block - of which I have made many but somehow continue to do! Yikes!  (in the pic below I had corrected my error)

I am working on a baby quilt and made a bunch of the blocks and was ready to piece together the rows when I noticed that a few of the blocks had "issues" when butted up against each other.
See pic below...

That just should not be!  

The pic below shows the 2 different configurations that are typically done when piecing a pinwheel block.  So the important thing to do is to make sure you're doing them all the same as you piece them...(which I thought I was doing, by the way - but there were 3 blocks I pieced wrong and had to rip out & resew.  

It's not the end of the world, but who wants to have to rip & resew?  Not me!  I want to get the thing pieced and finished so I can move on to another project!

There always one waiting in the wings...  :)

So have a happy Monday and consider yourself warned...

Quote for the Day:  "Monday, Funday - Live, Laugh, Love!!

May your day and week be filled with blessings!

~Mary Lou

Fun, New Quilt Block Tutorial!

Good morning!  Today I'm going to show you how to make the block that is used in this lap quilt. 

This is the block and I think it's a rather clever method that was used. 

First of all, I want to give proper credit to the source I found it in.  

This book below is one I bought many years ago when I worked at a quilt shop.  It's still available on Amazon and it's a wonderful source for using up all those scraps we tend to collect! 

There are directions for 18 quilts plus other practical instructions and ideas.

Here we go:  Finished Block size: 4"

For each block you will cut 2  - 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" rectangles of a light fabric and 2 - 2 1/2" squares of a dark fabric.  Sew them together as above and then stitch the 2 sections together.

Clip the seam allowance in the center so that you can press  the seams away from the squares in opposite directions as shown above.

Now cut a 4 1/2" square of template material (I used thin cardboard that I always keep on hand for templates) Now cut it in half diagonally - as below.

Place the template on the WRONG side of the pieced unit with the corner of the template matching the OUTER corner of each square (you want the red square covered by the template). 

Draw a diagonal line along the long edge of the template and do the same with the opposite corner.

Next cut a - 4 1/2" x 5 1/2" rectangle and place it RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER against the pieced rectangle you just assembled.  Stitch on both of the DRAWN LINES.  Cut between them, creating 2 blocks as shown below.

Perfect points every time! I love it! 

Have fun arranging them in different patterns!

Here are some amounts of blocks for different sizes:

Crib: Dark fabrics           

96 - 2 1/2"  squares

48 -  4 1/2" x 5 1/2" rectangles

Light fabrics:

96 - 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" rectangles

Lap: Dark fabrics

160 - 2 1/2"  squares

80  -  4 1/2" x 5 1/2" rectangles

Light fabrics

160 - 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" rectangles

Twin:

Dark fabrics

280 - 2 1/2" squares

140 - 4 1/2" x 5 1/2" rectangles

Light fabrics

280 - 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" rectangles

Quote of the Day: "Fabric is so addictive it should be a controlled substance."  :) Sew on! Smile on!

Impressive, isn't it?

This beauty is called an "oven pancake". I ordered this at a fancy breakfast restaurant once and fell in love with it!  Then I found a recipe for it in my cookbook and tried it...sooo easy!  Couldn't believe it! And it is much, much less expensive than the restaurant charged!

This is the cookbook I found it in.  It's called "Puffed Oven Pancake".  It's not thick like a typical pancake, though.  The ratio of egg to flour is heavy on the egg side, so it's almost more like a crepe - but puffy.  And though it can be served with syrup it's probably better with a sauce or preserves or the way we were served it at the restaurant - which I absolutely loved - was with lemon squeezed over the top and then sprinkled generously with powdered sugar.  The plus side of that way is less calories! Yay!
I'm always looking for ways to cut down on calories without giving up too much in taste. ;)

I'll include the apple/raisin sauce recipe at the bottom.

Here's the recipe:

2 tablespoons butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place butter in oven-proof skillet for 3-5 minutes - till butter is melted..I used an iron skillet.
In a bowl beat eggs well till combined.  Add flour, milk, and salt.  Beat till smooth.  Immediately pour into the hot skillet and bake for approximately 25 minutes or till puffed and browned.

Meanwhile, prepare the Apple-Raisin sauce. Sprinkle pancake with powdered sugar and cut into wedges. Serve with sauce. Serves approx. 6

Apple-Raisin Sauce:
In a skillet combine 2 large cooking apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced; 3/4 cup apple juice or water, 1/3 cup raisins; 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon.  Simmer, covered, till apples are just tender. Stir together 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water.  Add to apple mixture.  Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly.  Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Stir in 1 tsp butter.  Keep warm. Makes 2 cups.

Enjoy!

Quote of the day:
" I think careful cooking is love, don't you? The loveliest thing you can cook for someone who's close to you is about as nice a valentine as you can give." ~ Julia Child

Christmas Projects finished!

Good afternoon! I hope you've had a lovely Christmas season thus far!  I haven't posted in awhile and the pics I am including here below show why...I make most of our Christmas gifts for our family in the form of quilted items and baked goods.  The "Joy" item is a tablerunner and/or a banner that I found a free pattern for online.  Very easy and I love the way it turned out!

   

I also made a tablerunner set with matching placemats in a stripe. And below is a small table topper that was fun to do using simple half-square triangle sets. You can arrange them in a million different ways for variety!

 The black, gray, white items are a tablerunner with matching place mats that a friend wanted for her daughters to give her for Christmas.

 And these are log cabin coasters or mug rugs (unfinished in this pic) 
I haven't done any log cabins in ages and really enjoyed working with them again. They also make really cute tablerunners. These were made from 1 1/4" strips - very small! But if you cut 2" strips or larger you can make a project that will go together much quicker!

 Buckeyes are a perennial Christmas favorite at our house. They take a lot of time, but it's so worth it! It just doesn't get any better than peanut butter & chocolate! (as you can see below, I had to "test" one...it's the least I can do for my family to make sure they only get the best!....)  ;)

 And this is the sampling of nearly every Christmas cookie or candy I made this year - ready to go on the table for part of our dessert. I made the easy Eaglebrand Milk fudge, snickerdoodles, 7 layer bar cookies, and 2 types of chocolate bark. One with white chocolate on top of dark, and pistachios and craisins stirred in, the other with broken candy canes. Easy, easy, stuff and it all freezes well!  So I don't have to make it all at the last minute...a huge plus!

 I also make cinnamon rolls for gifts for everyone's family, but did not get a pic of those this year.

Below is a mug rug I made several of to give as small gifts.  I also made some with snowmen - but somehow didn't get pics of those, either...one can only do so much, right?

The Key is to enjoy the Holidays and not get crazy over what doesn't get done. I do hope that you were also able not to stress over it all!

Christmas quote: "Christmas is the spirit of giving - and may it last all the year through!" ~me 

Christmas wall-hanging

Good morning!  It's December 1st already - are you going crazy yet??  I'm not quite there, but I'm certain it's just around the corner.  I can begin projects and list-making and shopping (mostly online) weeks and even months before Christmas and yet I'm always looking for last-minute projects to finish! I must be addicted to the rush of the deadline....or something...

 I designed this star block wall-hanging from adding to an Ohio Star and wanted to share it with you - it makes a lovely block for a wall-hanging or table runner. (It probably has been around for decades, but I was just playing with fabric and didn't follow a certain pattern and this is what popped out!...well....not exactly "popped"...you'll see how in the pics & tutorial. Hopefully, I can remember what exactly I did...) :))
Finished size: 16" square

Here we go: Cut 2- 3 1/4" squares of a light fabric and cut corner to corner to make 4 triangles. These will be the points of the Ohio Star portion of this star block.

 Cut 2- 3 1/4" squares of a contrasting fabric  and sew together into the sets to the right..
Now sew 2 of these sets to each other, making the quarter-square triangle sets. You will have 4. They should be 2 1/2" squares. Set aside for later..

Cut 4 - 2 1/2" squares of your darker contrasting fabric and one light 2 1/2" square for the center of the star.
 Sew together in rows to make the Ohio Star block below.

   

Ohio Star

Next, cut 4 - 2 1/2" squares of the light fabric. Draw a line from one corner to another.  Cut 4 - 6 1/2" squares of the dark fabric. Place light square over one side of the dark and sew on that line, corner to corner. Do the same for the other side as below.  Make 4 of these units.

   Now sew 2 of these units to the

Ohio Star block top and bottom as below. Then sew 2 dark 2 1/2" squares to the ends of the other 2 units and add on the sides.

 

Next cut 8 - 1 1/2" x 10 1/2" strips of the dark fabric and 4- 1 1/4" x 10 1/2" strips of the light and sew together as below.  Add the side strips first. Cut 4- 3 1/8" squares for the corners and add to top & bottom strips and sew on last.  Bind and add tabs to hang on dowel rod - or you can sew on a sleeve on back for the rod to slip through.

 

   And there you have it! Hope you have fun creating your own stars!

Quote of the day: Christmas is not so much about opening presents as about opening our hearts.