February 28, 2011

Wanna See Something Pretty!

Over on the HGTV Quilting and Needlework Forum we have tons of fun!!  Nickilee hosts a CQ One Block Swap each year and I have participated now for 3 years in a row!  This time Kathy Shaw got my name and I received a box from Alabama today with the finished block in it!!

We were able to talk to the person creating our block once and I told Kathy that I would like a fall block and that I would love for her to put a Saint bernard on it somewhere for my husband.  he had a Saint that lived almost 13 years and he loved her so much!  he still cries for her every once in a while even now 16 years later!  I knew he would love the sentiment and he did!

It is GORGEOUS!!!









February 21, 2011

What's On My Frame!

I am enjoying the quilting process of this quilt even though it is really big in size!!  Sometimes a big quilt can be intimidating but when you quilt fun designs, half the battle is won!

The friend I am quilting this one for has been patiently waiting for her quilt to be finished.  I really hope she squeals when she gets to see it hanging on my stand!

I was only quilting a single leaf in the lower quarter circle with tendrils coming around the sides but my hubby said he thought I should do a mini swag there to mimic the larger one.  I already had this row of the quilt finished and was well into the 2nd row when he made the suggestion.  So, what did I do... yep....can you hear that frog going rippitt rippittt... But I do think he was right... The ripping out of all those stitches was well worth it...

What do you think?

I am linking up with Lee over at Freshly Pieced and WIP Wednesday!

and

Karen over at Sew Many Ways and the Sew Darn Crafty Linking Party!

February 13, 2011

Sunday Morning Breakfast - Alabama Style!

Have you ever heard of chocolate and biscuit for breakfast?  It is an old southern tradition in Alabama!  Some of the restaurants even serve it on their breakfast menu!!  Actually, while we were home for Christmas, we went to Jody's Restaurant and to my delight they had it on theirs so I had me some for Christmas morning!! yum yum! :)  And to top it off, they made it like my granny Ella always made it... dark, thick and rich!!  My mother made this for us on many mornings but she used more water and less cocoa... it was delicious but it was more like milk chocolate than granny's dark rich chocolate!

Granny made hers in an old black iron skillet and my mother had her own pan that she called the chocolate pan.  A few years ago mother was dividing some of the things she knew we kids wanted and when it came to the chocolate pan, she gave that to me.  My brother and older sister both wanted it but mother told them that I had asked way long before either of them had so it was mine!! I got some rather mean looks but I smiled and put it under my arm and walked away smiling wide!!

This was our chocolate pan...Nothing but a cast aluminum pan but loved and loved and loved... if my sister or brother either one comes to stay I will make them some chocolate for breakfast in mother's chocolate pan!  Wouldn't that be nice of me! :)
So...would you like a little lesson on making homemade biscuit??

Start with self rising flour and some Crisco...I like the butter flavor but the regular will do!
Add some good thick cream... Buttermilk is my favorite but I don't "keep" buttermilk in the house because I don't drink it.  But thanks to my hubby's coffee, there is always half and half here!
Stir all of this together until you have your dough.  You don't want it runny and you don't want it so thick that it comes out of the pan like a baseball either. :)
Then we can get messy!!  Sprinkle some flour on your "clean" countertop!  If you are one of those cooks who cannot stand making a mess, then you can lay down some parchment paper...but for those of us who are just plain country, our countertops will do!  Nothing a little soap and water won't clean up! :)
Next, you are going to spoon your dough out onto the flour!
Pat it and prick it and mark it with a B! ha!!
Grab your favorite size glass for cutting out your biscuit shape!
Now lookie here!!  Aren't they so pretty!! 5 beautiful biscuits!
WAIT!!!! Don't waste!!!
5 biscuits now are 7!!!  They are too good to waste!
 
Pop them into a 450 degree oven and keep a check on them until they are golden brown!
While they are baking, clean up your mess! ha!

As they say in the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes".... The secret IS in the sauce!!  And it is this morning too!  This is my choclate gravy just about finished waiting to be spooned over my crumbled up biscuits!!
Doesn't this look delicious!!!  Yes, it is an acquired taste...but don't knock it until you at least try it!

WHAT????  Where is the recipe for the chocolate sauce????... hmmm... That is for next Sunday morning!  Can you wait that long? ha!  And that will give me another reason to cook this again!  Seriously, I don't cook this but maybe twice to three times a year!  But I will cook it again next week just for ya'll!!  What IS a girl to do!!! :)

And for this week's trivia question:

What is a CAT-HEAD biscuit???

The first person who answers this just like my definition of a cat-head biscuit, will win a prize!!

Next Sunday, I will show you the difference in the biscuit I made this morning and a cat-head biscuit and announce the winner, if we have one!!


February 11, 2011

I Pulled A Midnight Shift!!

I couldn't sleep last night so I spent some time upstairs!  I couldn't believe it was almost 1 before I came down!  But look what I had in tow when I did!

These blocks are from a Fat 8th Block Swap that I participated in about 3 years ago that have been lying in a drawer waiting patiently until one day they might blossom into a beautiful quilt! In the swap we all were required to send a Fat 8th of our chosen focus fabric to each person in our group.  The fabric I sent is the leaf fabric and I asked the swappers to please use black in their blocks and any other coordinating color from within the fabric.

So, what do you think?  Isn't it going to be a beautiful wallhanging!
I took another of the blocks and turned it into a candle mat for Kelly Ann's runner-up prize for my blog follower give away!  I really like how it turned out!  I used my Baby Lock and embroidered a sunflower in the middle of the block.  I think it was the perfect finish!
 I will be sending her this Cinnamon candle along with her candle mat.  I hope she will like it!
And yesterday I also finished binding the tablerunner that SewCalGal won during my blog follower giveaway!  It is all ready to ship out to her today!  I am the world's worst ever binder so please do not critique me too harshly. I beg my friend Marie to do a lot of my binding. :)
I am linking up over at HodgePodge Friday!  Go on over and link up something you have been working on!

February 10, 2011

I LOVE Happy Customers!

Doesn't it do your heart good to do something for someone and when they leave your home from picking up, that you feel as energized as that energizer bunny!  Well, that is exactly how I felt today after a visit from Peggy and Winston!!

I made these 2 quilts for them to give to their grandchildren and they absolutely loved them!  They couldn't be any happier!  And that makes me double happy!!

After a sit down over blueberry struesel, coffee and milk and some good conversation and laughter, .... and finding out that Peggy and my hubby are kin and we did not know it... they headed on down the road to more adventures!  I expect to see them again.  They want me to do a quilt for someone getting married!  yay! :)
I quilted the pink and green quilt with Michelle Wyman's Lotsa Ladybugs pantograph  and the blue and brown quilt was quilted using Kathy James's Feather Strippy Bar pantograph!

February 2, 2011

My Latest Crazy Quilting

I am participating in a Crazy Quilt project called a DYB (do your own block) over on the CQI group!  This is the first block I have done of 6 that will be coming my way.

A DYB is different than a traditional round robin in that you make a block with a 6 inch work area for each member of your group.  As the package moves around your group, each person can choose which block they would like to stitch for you.  They stitch the entire block.

This block belongs to Lorrie.  I think I pulled off winter, snowmen and snowflakes pretty well!
This little beaded snowman took forever!  And I LOVE using rick rack for the scarf!  It actually looks like it is blowing in the wind!!

I need to find some more of this snowflake lace!!  Anyone know where I can find it?

 Lorrie cross stitched the snowmen that are in the center of all her blocks.  I wanted to show a close up of that too.