part 2> charming baby quilt

Cutting out the 3.5x3.5  tilted squares from the block baby quilt turned out to be a bit trickier than I had originally planned. The first template I made (out of clear plastic) didn't include an orientation arrow or a number to show which side is correct, so the first 3 squares I cut were wrong - there was no fixing them - I had to cut and sew the top row all over again.

 So, learning from my mistake - I made a clear template that included an orientation arrow and a number so I could tell I had it turned right and oriented right. Much better! (I didn't take a picture of the mistake - sorry).

I had to carefully label each block with the row number and block number. (example row 3, block 1 would be 3-1). There were 11 rows of 9 blocks each so the quilt wall came in handy (a cheap vinyl table cloth tacked to the wall with the backside out). So, I would cut out a few rows and then get tired of that and start sewing the blocks together. Going from cutting to sewing and back really helped break the monotony.

These pictures show how the cut pieces fit together. Look at the orange fabric and you see the top of the pinwheel.

The picture to the left shows the quilt wall during the process. You can start to see the pinwheel pattern coming together.

The picture to the right shows what was left after cutting out the blocks - so much for the idea of creating a cathedral quilt. I will however keep the 2 inch scraps for smaller blocks or applique on other projects. Nothing goes to waste in this quilters room.

Final product! What do you think? Leave me a comment.

Charming Baby Quilt

Baby Quilt  before the cut up;-)

I am making a baby quilt for a coworker who has overcome a year of trying to get pregnant and is now about to have her first little one! I am so excited and happy for her and her hubby. It is nice to have seen the whole romance, marriage and subsequential baby - a very unique story. Anyway, I wanted to make something I haven't ever tried before and this little charm quilt was just the ticket.

The instructions are from "Back to Charm School" by Mary Etherington and Connie Tesene - a new book from my crafter's choice book club.

The first part is just making charm squares (5"x5") from 10 different fabrics (8 blocks of each fabric). Then piecing them together in 10 rows of 8 blocks each then add the pink border. This is as far as I have gotten. Next, I get to cut wonky 3.5" squares out of this quilt and carefully keep them in order (99 blocks) and they will get sewn back together in 11 rows of 9 blocks each row. It will make a pinwheel or blocky puzzle piece looking quilt. I will (of course) be posting pictures of the process and of the final product.

Someone asked me what I will do with the rest of the 'cut-up' quilt - I was floored! I hadn't thought about that, but it does seem a waste to discard it. They suggested putting another fabric behind it to make a cathedral quilt. I may do that, or I may applique some owls or large flowers over the holes.

Homemade Trail Mix

A co-worker had a bag of white yogurt covered dried cranberries and asked me to try one.  It rocked my world! But I wanted to do my own version with supplies from my pantry. My first batch just had CRAISINS ( a half a bag that was left from when my daughter and son-in-law lived here) and a half a bag of white chocolate chips. Well, it was a success and I was totally hooked!


A side note : I never liked craisins (dried cranberries) before paring them with the white chocolate.

As you can see in the picture, I also added almonds (with sea salt) in layers in a large jar. Try it, I bet you will like it;-)

Marshmellow Fondant

I decided to experiment with a simple sounding recipe for marshmellow fondant:
1bag mini-marshmellows
2tbs water
4 cups powdered sugar
1tsp vanilla

The marshmellows and water go into a medium bowl and microwave on high for one minute. Stir with a rubber spatula until all the marshmellows are melted - can microwave for another 30 seconds if needed.
Then it said to add the vanilla, stir, then all the powdered sugar at once. The video I watched showed the person mixing by hand but I used my stand mixer with dough beaters and it worked out very well. Once all the sugar is incorporated then you can knead it on a powdered sugar covered counter until it is not sticky and will not take any more powdered sugar. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest a few hours on the counter.

 This took all of about 5 minutes! The last time I tried homemade fondant, it took hours and did not turn out at all - it ended up in the trash can. This is so  liberating! It is fun and easy to work with, it tastes great, and it looks wonderful on the cake. It can be a bit sticky at times, like when you are adding color. It does dry out after a while, but it can be reheated in the microwave to make it easier to work with. I am in love with this stuff. It really opens up the door to creativity! Did I mention it tastes great?

Epic Fail Cake

This is a picture of the cake I salvaged after my homemade fondant was a fiasco. The fondant was too dry and broke apart while I was placing it over the cake. I had to remove the fondant and basically trash it, make more buttercream frosting and re-ice the cake. I colored half the frosting with blue and did a pretty pattern on it. Nothing spectacular but it did taste pleasing. This was for a Wedding Shower of a co-worker and all my co-workers loved it. Just a white cake with almond/lemon buttercream frosting.
I really want to get better at the fondant making but hey, noone does perfectly on their very first try. I will try again once I have recovered (physically and mentally) from this experience. I will also try a different recipe. I have been reading the forums on CakeCentral and most of them talk about Marshmellow fondant. I think I will try that next.

I really hope I can get this figured out before Rachel's wedding day. I really want to do a nice cake for her and Joe. I also don't want to be all stressed out about it because that kind of ruins the big day. More to come....

I'm experimenting with cake decorating and will be making the wedding cake. Rachel and I went last weekend to scope out some possible sites for the wedding/reception. We visited St.James,MO and went to the Meramac Winery (nice atrium area, zero parking), then over to the Three Squirrels Winery (down the same road, a few miles further) and they have a covered deck area but it didn't look very stable, it does overlook the vineyards and they are lovely. Rachel wants an outdoor wedding but an indoor reception so that site won't work. Then after a wine tasting at that winery, we went over to Sybil's and had lunch while we checked it out. The place is really lovely, it looks like a really big house and has plenty of parking, the interior is decorated tastefully and upscale. The rooms are smaller than we would like for the reception but it would work great for the rehearsal dinner. We also went and visited Joe at his work and then checked out a place a block away from there called the Public Brewing House. There is really only parking for about 5 cars (no joke) and it seems a little small and dark - ok for a small and intimate party but not nearly open or festive enough for a wedding reception - some of their beer was palletable.
Anyway, that is an update. Rachel and Joe have been checking out some sites while she is on spring break and she is going to come show me some pictures of a place that is past Meramac Springs Park. It is the site of the oldest building in Crawford County, Missouri and is supposedly haunted.

Life is full! here is an update....

It has been a very long time since I have posted anything. I blame it on the tons of stuff going on in my life.

First of all, my mom is still living with us. Thought it would be temporary but it seems more long term now. I am still hopeful that her Lupus will just spontaneously go into remission and she will be able to function independently some day. She does a really good job of taking care of herself on a day to day basis and she does dishes and cooks which really benefits me (it is nice to have a clean kitchen and the coffee ready for me when I wake up). I actually enjoy having her around most of the time…this is time that I get to spend with her – I get to see her everyday and evaluate how she is really doing (if she was in her own place and I was hearing her over the phone, she could lie and say she is fine just so I won’t worry about her).

Secondly, my older daughter is engaged to be married this August and I just started getting involved in her wedding planning. I have volunteered to make the cake so I shall be very busy trying different decorating techniques – I am starting to use homemade fondant soon. Rachel has her heart set on red velvet cake for the wedding. I am already checking out various websites for ideas and I think I am getting obsessed – I am even dreaming about cake decorating.

Thirdly, work has been riddled with chaos. We have several co-workers with medical problems that keep them absent a lot of the time, we have had a co-worker fired recently and we have two new hires that are in training. That is almost laughable since there is hardly anyone left to train them – we are all having to transition to a new computer system requiring us to go to training during the day thereby leaving just a skeleton crew to work. This puts undue stress on the workers left behind to do the work – they are unsurprisingly stressed, discontent, and really spread too thin. Things are coming to a head and I foresee us losing some of our better and more dependable workers. It really saddens me that the boss can’t see this happening or she does see it and does nothing to ease their burden. Actually she gets upset and takes it out on the workers that normally help out – now they are rethinking that since the only ones that get favor are the constantly absent.

My life is pretty full right now, but I am taking it in stride. Quilting is still part of my life but kind of on the back burner. I have a double wedding ring quilt I have been working on for Rachel but I have no idea if it will be ready for her by her wedding day, possibly by Christmas.