QuiltNut Creations

wordless wednesday

2012-02-01T10:18:00.000-08:00

the quilt patch

2012-01-31T23:26:00.000-08:00

Back in November, I noticed in Hamels newsletter that the ladies from The Quilt Patch in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan were coming to do a trunk show and teach a class. I quickly asked Santa for the class for Christmas(thanx Santa!) and waited for the weekend to finally arrive.

Friday morning, a massive power outage shut down our town. A fire at a hydro substation had the hydro company turning off the electricity. Should I mention that Hamels store was a mere distance away from the fire.

This picture is from the backyard at Hamels Quilt Store.

Picture taken from The Quilt Patch

Thankfully, power was restored and the fire was out; the weekend was a go! Friday night was the trunk show.

And the quilt were are making in class,

Our class with Shelley instructing.

One of 3 blocks I completed. The class has A LOT of cutting.

Habitat fabric line

Some of the other blocks

Beautiful arcs

Other goodies I brought home.

I have some sewing to do!

quilt monday

2012-01-30T10:04:00.000-08:00

The boy quilt to match the girl quilt from last week. Originally I didn't plan on making the quilts from the same pattern(yellow brick road), but the first boy quilt I did, I wasn't thrilled with how it compared to the girl quilt so I did this one up.

The two quilts look so different from each other. I wish I had been able to take a picture of the two of them together.

My favorite part is the backing; I love how the quilting shows up.

Quilted with Sprung

I had a fabulous time at my class on the weekend. Come back tomorrow and see what I got accomplished.

snack saturday

2012-01-28T20:14:00.000-08:00

Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups quick cooking oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried cranberries

Beat butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla for 5 minutes. In another bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture 1 cup at a time.
Mix in raisins and craisins.
Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Enjoy!!

tonight

2012-01-27T16:48:00.000-08:00

I'm going to a trunk/mini quilt show at Hamels.

The guests of honor? Shelley and Jeanne from The Quilt Patch.

And tomorrow I'm taking a class with Shelley and Jeanne and making the following quilt.

I have my fabrics cut

and almost all my shapes traced out.

Time for some fun!

card friday

2012-01-27T11:20:00.000-08:00

how is it

2012-01-26T09:12:00.000-08:00

That January is almost over? With last week off because of the snow, it really feels like the start of the new year this week; instead of 3 weeks ago. But still, February is on Wednesday; WEDNESDAY peoples; how is that possible??

Anyways, back to work; have some lovely quilts in right now I am looking forward to quilting up. One of the customers I always look forward to seeing is Kathy. Kathy brought these 3 in; she always picks the funniest fabrics and modern quilt patterns.

How cute is this fabric? I can't decide which print I like more; the owls or the fun circle print. Perfect choice for a kids quilt.

Quilted with Laurie

Kathy made an identical quilt last summer; all lovely flannels.

Quilted with Volkswagon

Kathy took a class at a local quilt store and made this last quilt. The Habitat line is one of my current favorites right now; I'm using it in two different projects. I love this wall hanging.

Quilted with Trailing Vine

Now it's time for me to get to work; have a great Thursday!

wordless wednesday

2012-01-25T10:22:00.000-08:00

i'm still here

2012-01-24T20:18:00.000-08:00

My computer is on it's last legs. I could use my notebook to blog but I hate the picture editing program on it and honestly, just too lazy to figure it out lol. It takes FOREVER to do a blogger post(I've been working on this one now for 45minutes), frustrating!!

I'm also frustrated with my 4patch quilts; they are seeming to take forever as well to finish up. I got the tops completed on Saturday and now I have one left to get the borders on. I will say that they sure look great.

The quilts are identical except for the borders; one pink, one teal, one spring green. The baby quilt also has a spring green border. I have enough blocks to may one more baby quilt; it will have a scrappy border. It will be a while before I'll want to work on that one lol.

I do have something exciting to show you. I asked for a quilt ladder for my birthday this year. Once Jim got it finished, we had the Christmas tree up and couldn't put the ladder up. It's finally up now and I loves it so much.

I love that it's another way to display my quilts in a way that people can see them. Thanx Jim!

Now I think I'll go work on some borders.

snack saturday

2012-01-21T10:37:00.000-08:00

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

1/2cup smooth peanut butter
1/2cup softened butter
2/3cup white sugar
3 eggs
1tsp vanilla
5oz bittersweet chocolate melted and cooled
3/4cup flour
1tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

In large bowl beat 1/4cup of peanut butter, the butter and sugar. Add in eggs and vanilla. Beat in chocolate.
Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt.

Spread in a parchment lined 8x8 pan. By spoonfuls, drop remaining peanut butter over the top. Run knife through the batter to swirl, smooth the top.

Bake at 350* for about 20minutes. Let cool and cut into squares.

card friday

2012-01-20T11:15:00.000-08:00

the calm before the storm

2012-01-19T20:05:00.000-08:00

Overnight and tomorrow morning we are expecting more snow. Yesterday was a mess with freezing cold temperatures and wind. The blowing snow was so bad that most of the roads around here were closed and the city was asking people to just stay home.

Overnight we are expecting more snow and than freezing rain tomorrow. Not looking forward to that. I doubt we will have school tomorrow; it's almost why bother for one day at this point lol.

Today I took a break from my 4 patch quilts and finished up this cutie.

I did a stipple in the white background, echoed inside the star, the hat, scarf and mittens. In the snowman body, I traced the snowflakes in the fabric. Tonight I'll embroider on the *string* that attach the mittens together.

I was fiddling with my computer today and found a special Christmas present that I hadn't blogged yet. Mom and I made 3 Christmas lap quilts for the 3 pastors at our church for Christmas. We spent a Saturday piecing the tops than got them quilted. We both spent Christmas Eve day frantically sewing the bindings to get them finished up.

This is the one I quilted. It was for our senior pastor. We used a fat quarter stack of fabrics so each quilt was similar except for the borders.

quilted with Holly Ribbon

You can check the rest of the quilts out at mom's blog here.

wordless wednesday

2012-01-18T10:28:00.000-08:00

snow day #2

2012-01-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

And the snow continues. Loving this! Today along with the snow, we have arctic outflow cold; currently our temp is -12*C(9*F) and the wind makes it feel like -24*C(-11*F); that's brisk!!

School was closed again today and believe tomorrow will be another snow day as well. And it is oh so very very pretty out!

my camellia bush

I spent the morning squaring up lots of 4 patch blocks and by bedtime tonight, hopefully have at least one of four quilt tops finished.

Unless I get pulled into another Monopoly game marathon that is.

quilt monday

2012-01-16T15:12:00.000-08:00

My first commissioned quilt of 2012. I blogged about the boy one here.

quilted with Folk Heart

I absolutely love this line; so soft and beautiful. Perfect for a new baby girl.

Lily and Will fabric. Yellow Brick Road quilting pattern.

Hope the new mom loves it as much as I do.

snow day

2012-01-16T13:56:00.000-08:00

Even though we live in Canada, where we are(southern part of British Columbia. only 3 hours north of Seattle), we don't see a lot of snow. And when we do get snow, it's wet, heavy and usually melts in a few hours. Until this weekend.

All last week we were hearing of winter finally arriving. Temps here have been warmer than normal(around 10*C which is around 50*F). This weekend we hovered around 0*(32*F) and today it's been -5*C(23*F). And the snow came.

It arrived Saturday; we got about 4 inches and the kids played. Sunday was beautiful; blue skies, a few flakes and the kids played.

We woke this morning to this,

Beautiful huge fluffy flakes. Lots of dry light powdery snow. Just before lunch, we had 10 inches measuring in our backyard. And it's coming down fast enough that our driveway can use another shoveling already.

So it is the perfect day to finish off these little quilties.

I had some free time Friday afternoon at work and got these quilted up. Now all we need is a Christmas tree !

snack saturday

2012-01-14T11:44:00.000-08:00

Chocolate Disappearing Cake

1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4cup cocoa
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/8tsp salt
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups milk

Mix first 4 ingredients. Add the cocoa and mix well.

Sift remaining dry ingredients and add to mixture alternating with milk.

Pour into greased pan (9x13). Bake at 350*F for 25-30 minutes.

Ice as desired.

card friday

2012-01-13T10:23:00.000-08:00

starts and finishes

2012-01-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

In the fall, I was asked to make two baby quilts, one in pink and tan and the other blue and tan. I knew I had to go with Lily and Will for the pink/tan quilt. But for the blue/tan? I had some Pure fabric left but once I had the quilt together, it didn't have the same impact as the pink/tan one.

So a quick trip to Hamels and I had some fabric.

And now I have this

Max and Whiskers Yellow Brick Road quilt

For some reason, I didn't take a picture of the other quilt and it's at work ready for quilting.

There were 3 sweet little babies born into our family last year. And I didn't get a chance to make some quilts for them. One of the babies is now a big sister and I knew I had to get some quilts done. I hit a fabric sale and gathered some jelly rolls and yardage with the plan to make 3 twin quilts.

Well, somewhere along the line I miscounted and I have enough blocks for 4 twin quilts AND a matching baby quilt.

I have top almost completed(borders cut and ready to go) and the other 4 are at 4 patch stage. I see lots more time in my sewing room coming up :)

wordless wednesday

2012-01-11T10:46:00.000-08:00

quilt monday

2012-01-09T11:32:00.000-08:00

The back-up plan quilt for my sister in law for Christmas. You can read why it's the back up plan here. Lucky for me, Erica loved it. And I love it much more since it's been quilted than I did when I first made it.

Pieced from a layer cake of Full Circle. I loved this line online but once I got the fabric, not so much. It sat on my sewing table for months; one night I decided to sew it together just to get it out of my sight lol. And the back up plan was born.

Quilted simply with straight lines, they brought the quilt to life.

Today is my first day back to work. I got so much accomplished last week with my week off; can't wait to show you!

snack saturday

2012-01-07T10:06:00.000-08:00

Apple Crisp

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F Butter or spray with a cooking spray, a 9 inch (23 cm) deep dish pie plate or an 8 x 8 x 2 inch (20 x 20 x 5 cm) baking dish. (Can also make 8 individual ramekins.)

Topping:

1/2 cup all purpose floue

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon fresh or ground nutmeg(optional)

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Filling:

6 cupsGranny Smith Apples or other firm, tart-tasting apple (peeled, cored, and cut)

1 cup fresh blackberries or raspberries(optional)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 teaspoon lemon zest

3 tablespoons white granulated sugar

Topping: Place all the topping ingredients (flour, sugars, spices, butter, oats and nuts) in a food processor and process until the mixture is crumbly (looks like coarse meal) and there are no large pieces of butter visible. (This can also be done with two knives or your fingertips.) Set aside while you prepare the filling.

Filling: Place the apple chunks in a large bowl, along with the berries (if using) and lemon zest. Toss with the lemon juice and sugar. Transfer to your prepared baking dish Spread the topping evenly over the apples.

Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes (20- 25 minutes for individual ramekins) or until bubbly and the topping is golden brown. (If you insert the tip of a sharp knife into a chunk of apple, it should be tender, not mushy.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 30 minutes before serving.

Serve with softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Refrigerate leftovers and reheat before serving.

Makes 4 - 6 servings.

an original. i think

2012-01-06T16:19:00.000-08:00

I have a very large snowman collection. So large that once the Christmas decorations go away, the snowman come out for January. I did some furniture re-arranging before Christmas and as a result, ended up with an empty space on the wall. A big empty space.

Well, that just won't do! I spent some time going through some quilting magazines to see if I could find something that I could whip up quickly and get on the wall and nothing. Than I had an idea of something. I started pulling some scraps and began cutting. And in the end, I ended up with nothing close to what I had originally planned(isn't that always the way? lol).

It's not very big, about 45 by 50ish. The snowflakes are what I was supposed to put on Mom's Christmas present.

I couldn't be happier with it. So simple; just randomly sized strips sewn together. I than measured the wall space and decided how big the border should be and cut the strips shorter. I love the borders on just the two sides. I just have to decide now if I want to bind it in white of the snowflake border print; I'm leaning toward the print as I am simply in love with it.

quilted with Flurry

This is also my first quiltie finish of 2012. I would say I'm off to a pretty good start.

card friday

2012-01-06T08:36:00.000-08:00

wordless wednesday

2012-01-04T11:16:00.000-08:00

christmas cards

2012-01-03T09:04:00.000-08:00

This year marked a first for me; for the first time, all my Christmas cards were made with Stampin Up stamps. It wasn't planned that way, it just happened.

I love this stamp. You can't see it in the picture but I added some glitter to the snowflakes in the antlers. So simple and pretty.

This one is based on a card I saw in the Stampin Up catalogue. It was my warm-up card and I think it turned out fairly decently.

I also made these cute gift tags.

This card I'm not happy with. We were playing with the Simply Score tool at stamp club to make this next card. I cut my paper too narrow and was determined I would make it work. It may have if I had used enough adhesive and the rosette stuck properly to my card lol.

I think it's still a cute card, even if it's wonky lol.

The boys are all back to school today; I find it weird that we started back on a Tuesday. It's feeling like a Monday and I think my whole week is going to be a day off lol. For now, it's back to the sewing room!

lost and found

2012-01-02T16:42:00.000-08:00

Remember a few weeks back I posted looking for a pattern I had seen in a magazine? Well, I was cleaning up my sewing area today and guess what I found?

I'm leaving it in my, asap basket so I can have it ready for THIS Christmas :)

quilt monday

2012-01-02T11:38:00.000-08:00

I love this. The simplicity of it I found so striking. I took a jelly roll and just sewed the strips together then quilted it.

Once it was done, I trimmed it down to fit our dining room table. I think it took me longer to bind the quilt than it did to piece and quilt it.

quilted with Holly Ribbon

And I love how it matches with my Figgy Pudding quilt. The hint of turquoise is my favorite.

end of the year wrap-up

2011-12-30T13:41:00.000-08:00

Was going through my photo's and realized I have a lot of customer quilt pics that I haven't shown yet. So grab a beverage, sit back and enjoy!

Pieced by Anne

Pieced by Audrey

Pieced by Rose

Rose also did this photo quilt for her grand-daughter.

And these two cute SunBonnet Sue quilts

Floral Meander

Winter White

By Donna; I love this panel

Winter White

Pieced by Gail

quilted with a simple meander

Laurie

Folk Heart

Pieced by Shirley. The flattest stack n whack quilt I have ever quilted!

Autumn Leaves

Pieced by Gerry

Winter White

Gwen's beautiful cat quilt.

quilted with a meander

Pieced by Margaret

Folk Heart

quilted with a meander

Pieced by Pat

Pieced by Myrna

Pieced by Barb

I absolutely love the backing for this quilt.

Sadly, I failed in recording the name this customer quilt.

Autumn Leaves

And lastly, this beautiful custom quilt by Judy.

block insets

shell border

*whew*! I told you December was a busy quilting month lol! Hope you enjoyed the quilts as much as I enjoyed quilting them.

whirlwind

2011-12-29T12:23:00.000-08:00

How was everyone's Christmas? We had a great holiday here. As busy as it can be, I do love it all. The family get togethers, the dinner parties, the food, it's all fun! But now all the out of town guests are gone, the leftovers are mostly eaten and it's time to relax for a few days before the hustle and bustle of work and school take over again.

Christmas 2011

Yesterday I finally got reacquainted with my sewing machine; oh how I have missed it. And the fun we had!

I finally got the borders on this baby quilt.

please ignore the water spots

It's been finished since July and just sat waiting and waiting for the border. Now it's finally finished and all in good time as we had a new little one enter our family just before Christmas.

Never up, mom's Christmas present that I gave up on getting completed before Christmas.

The pattern called for the quilt to be in reds and greens. Mom is not a red and green person; regardless if it is Christmas. I thought if I pieced it in her colors(I raided her batik fabrics to make the quilt); I could still pull it off.

This is the quilt from the magazine

I tried mom's quilt with the snowflakes and it just doesn't work. And I love the quilt without so it is done. Now how to quilt it. Any ideas?

Next up, Dad's quilt. The idea of this quilt came about 3yrs ago. I had the fabric all shoved into a plastic bag in my quilt kit bin and each birthday and Christmas since, I have said I would finish(start lol) the quilt. This was the year!

Sadly, I used the main focal fabric in a different project and I didn't have the pattern anymore so I sort of winged it. I had the quilt together, was sewing the final border on it last night when I realized, I could make it a wall banner so I ripped it apart, turned some blocks around and now we have this.

Can't wait to get this quilt so Dad can hang it in his music room.

I traced out some Santa wallhangings that I was planning as giving as gifts. I completed 2, the other 3 were just traced. I got those finished up; now just to blanket stitch them.

Aren't they cute? Here's one of the finished ones.

Lastly, a winter wallhanging for work .

He's been cut out since the beginning of December and now all ready to be quilted. And we can finally take the autumn wallhanging down lol!

Whew that was a long blog post! Enjoy the rest of the holidays, see you next year!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T10:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2010

I won't be around much next week; planning on spending it relaxing with friends and family.

We wish you joy and happiness this holiday season.

Merry Christmas.

card friday

2011-12-23T11:41:00.000-08:00

3 days to go

2011-12-22T13:40:00.000-08:00

And I'm putting away the unfinished gifts and just going to enjoy the rest of the pre-Christmas excitement. I met up with my friend Andrea earlier this week and I gave her this wreath

The colors are perfect for Andrea's house. I used a different shaped wreath this time and I love how it looks so full and dimensional. These make such great gifts.

wordless wednesday

2011-12-21T10:04:00.000-08:00

back-up plans

2011-12-20T15:01:00.000-08:00

I had a wee little accident yesterday involving my travel mug of tea and my sister in law's quilt. Should I mention that the quilt is white? *sigh*. A few treatments of Grandma's Secret Spot Remover didn't work. Bleach didn't work. So I abandoned the quilt and went to my back-up plan. I was going to finish this quilt originally for Erica because I didn't think I would have the white one done. But I got the back-up plan quilted(bound it last night and popped it in the mail this morning) and mom surprised me with the news that she got the tea stain out of Erica's original quilt so I will get that finished up and mailed off to her in the new year. Yay for moms!

In the end it all worked out. I got a phone call from Hamels yesterday; they had one more quilt, could I possibly get it done?

quilted with Laurie

The pattern is a Coach House Designs pattern. Barb has a book coming out in the Spring; mom and I quilted all the quilts in her book. One of the quilts I did was chosen to be on the book cover; so exciting!

quilt monday

2011-12-19T10:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas holidays; love them! We all slept in this morning; except for Jim. He's working until Wednesday than off the rest of the year. I finished 2 Christmas presents off last night and am heading over to work today to quilt the third. I'll have to show you a sneak peek before it gets mailed off tomorrow.

Here are the teacher gifts for this year.

Smaller than I had expected but that was good since it took no time at all to get these cuties appliqued and quilted up.

Happy Monday :)

annnnnnnnd it's a wrap!

2011-12-16T17:22:00.000-08:00

I got the last two customer quilts done this afternoon and that wraps my year of quilting-woo hoo! I am shocked I got them all done and on time even! To celebrate, a friend and I made these little cuties this afternoon.

tutorial can be found here

I added this

subway art printable here

I love how it ties into my new Christmas colors this year.

don't take a picture on the piano when someone is playing the piano.

card friday

2011-12-16T07:55:00.000-08:00

wordless wednesday

2011-12-14T15:56:00.001-08:00

quilt monday

2011-12-12T10:07:00.000-08:00

I was hoping to have a new Winter quilt finished to show you today but I spent the weekend doing our Christmas cards(they are DONE!) so not a lot of sewing time. I did sneak in some time Saturday evening but that isn't finished yet either lol.

So another table runner to show you. I have two more in the works then I am finished with my table runner craze. At least I am hoping to be finished with them!

quilted with Bountiful Feathers

I just realized that I never got a picture of the runner all laid out. Sorry! It's a disappearing 9 patch using a charm square pack of Grace. Love that line!

Today is the start of my last week at work for the year. And a long week it will be. If all goes well, knock on wood, I'll be finished all the quilts right on time for Friday. Than it's time to enjoy some time off!

snack saturday

2011-12-10T11:20:00.001-08:00

Cranberry Cheesecake Bars

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 (12 ounce) package White Chocolate Chips
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14 ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (14 ounce) can Whole-Berry Cranberry Sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
Combine flour, oats and brown sugar in large bowl. Add butter; mix until crumbly. Stir in morsels. Reserve 2 1/2 cups morsel mixture for topping. With floured fingers, press remaining mixture into prepared pan.
Beat cream cheese in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and vanilla extract; mix until smooth. Pour over crust. Combine cranberry sauce and cornstarch in medium bowl. Spoon over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle reserved morsel mixture over cranberry mixture.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cover; refrigerate until serving time (up to 1 day). Cut into bars.

card friday

2011-12-09T15:51:00.001-08:00

quilting along

2011-12-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

Things are going pretty smoothly at work(knock on wood lol). I have 13 quilts to wrap up customer-wise by the 16th. Totally do-able right? lol

Here's a few of my recent finishes.

I love this flannel one of Sheila's.

Quilted with Blowing in the Wind

Pieced by Florence

quilted with Floral Meander

Pieced by Anita

quilted with Falling Leaves

Pieced by Susan

quilted with Surf's Up

Pieced by Sharon

quilted with Dancing Daisies

Pieced by Beverly

quilted with Cotton

And finally, this stunning bargello wall hanging by Sherri

quilted with a meander

I love how the bottom is uneven. And using a metallic gold thread was the best choice for quilting. It stands out on the quilt but doesn't take away from the quilt itself.

Now I have four quilts to finish in the next 3 days for one of my favorite customers; one being a custom quilt. Wish me luck!

wordless wednesday

2011-12-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

it makes perfect sense

2011-12-06T13:40:00.001-08:00

With Christmas 19 days away(ack!) that I would start not one, not two but THREE new Christmas quilties for me lol.

Two of my three projects.

Should I mention that I haven't even started any Christmas quilting or even begun my Christmas cards?

quilt monday

2011-12-05T10:23:00.000-08:00

Made from some leftover Grace jelly roll strips and a few random pieces from my stash. I really like how this turned out.

quilted with Bountiful Feathers

batiks

2011-12-04T18:23:00.000-08:00

I have a love/hate relationship with batiks. I love the colors, designs. I don't like the feeling of the fabrics, the waxy smell you can get when ironing them.

I've made three table runners in the last few weeks with batiks. You can see one posted here. This purple one I made for another friend for her birthday.

quilted with a free-hand water stitch

You can probably guess that her favorite color is purple lol.

The second runner I have yet to decide what to do with it. There isn't anything wrong with it, it just doesn't do anything for me.

If I make this pattern again, I will increase the size of the squares. I had to make my seam allowance very narrow and still some of the circles got nipped in the seam.

I simply ditched this quilt, anything else would have been too much on it.

This isn't the last of my table runner addiction. Stay tuned!

snack saturday

2011-12-03T10:53:00.001-08:00

Source

Cranberry Lemon Scones

375 mL (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
125 mL (1/2 cup) cake flour
60 mL (1/4 cup) sugar
10 mL (2 teaspoons) baking powder
250 mL (1 cup) dried cranberries
60 mL (4 tablespoons [1/2 stick]) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
180 mL (3/4 cup) low fat buttermilk
1 large egg
30 mL (2 tablespoons) lemon juice
15 mL (1 tablespoon) lemon zest
Egg wash (Beat 1 egg with 5 mL [1 teaspoon] water.)
Raw sugar, to garnish

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and cranberries. With a pastry cutter or fork, blend in butter until it’s pea-sized, being sure not to overwork the dough.
In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, lemon juice and lemon zest. Gently fold into the flour mixture until moist crumbs form.
Transfer mixture to a large piece of plastic wrap. Use the wrap to gather the crumbs together, then press the dough into a 2.5 cm (1”) thick disc about 12.5 cm (5”) in diameter. Peel away plastic wrap. With a sharp knife, cut the disc into 8-10 wedges.
On the prepared baking sheet, arrange scones 2.5 cm (1”) apart. Lightly brush with egg wash and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and serve.

card friday

2011-12-02T09:09:00.001-08:00

wordless wednesday

2011-11-30T11:20:00.000-08:00

christmas cards

2011-11-29T10:52:00.000-08:00

Last week at stamp club we focused on Christmas cards. And made me realize that I really need to get working on ours lol.

I love this cute little card. The stocking are just too adorable!

quilt monday

2011-11-28T10:09:00.000-08:00

Back from a fabulous weekend and jumping right into the final Christmas push at work.

I made this cute disappearing 9 patch runner for a friends birthday.

Sorry for the crazy pictures. I took them way too late while in a hotel room lol.

She loves green so I raided mom's batik stash and came up with these. I've been having a lot of fun lately with batiks; I'll show you more later this week.

Quilted with Paisley Max

awol

2011-11-24T17:15:00.001-08:00

I'm off for a girls weekend away and I did not have time to schedule some posts; my apologies!

Have a wonderful weekend and happy Thanksgiving to my American readers.

wordless wednesday

2011-11-23T10:30:00.000-08:00

can you help?

2011-11-21T21:29:00.001-08:00

In the past year, I found a cute Christmas tree wall hanging. It was appliqued and had woolen ornaments appliqued onto the tree. I know I read about it on a blog; possibly an Australian one? It was published in a magazine; I thought it was Fons and Porter but after going through my stack, I can't find it :(

Anyone know the pattern I am referring too? And if so, can you point me in the right direction please?

quilt monday

2011-11-21T15:45:00.001-08:00

And I was oh so close to finishing the binding before packing up all my fall decorations to bring out the Christmas ones lol.

snack saturday

2011-11-19T10:43:00.001-08:00

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Squares

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups icing sugar
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

In a saucepan, melt together peanut butter and butter or margarine. Add the icing sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Blend together. Pour and press into a 9"x13" pan. Melt the butter and chocolate chips together. Spread the mixture on top of the squares.

Put the squares in the refrigerator to firm up.

To serve:
Take them out of the fridge and leave them at room temperature for a while before cutting so the chocolate doesn't crack.

card friday

2011-11-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

continuing with the Twilight theme

2011-11-17T16:48:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I was given 4 cards. Each card represented the covers of the four Twilight novels. I knew I wanted to frame them but I wasn't sure how I wanted it done.

This past winter, I got a coupon in the mail for a popular craft store; they were offering their framing services at 50%off. What a bargain! So off I went with my precious cards to have them framed. I knew it would be a wee bit pricey; the cards were an odd size.

I picked out the nicest(and cheapest) frame, a mat; I wanted simple colors to make the cards pop. The employee rang in my selections, discounted it then stunned me with the total. Even after my 50% off, the total was still in the triple digits.

But I went ahead with it. And even though I spent a small fortune, I feel it was worth it. I love how they look.

Sorry about the crocked picture! It's late(preposting this Wednesday night) and I'm all wired up on peppermint mocha lol!

Now it's time to head to the airport, pick up my bestie and go watch a movie!!

it's today! it's today!!

2011-11-17T11:59:00.000-08:00

I feel like a kid at Christmas. Not only is Breaking Dawn part 1 opening tonight, my bestie arrives just before to spend the weekend so we can watch the movie together.

So much excitement!!!

wordless wednesday

2011-11-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

how fabulous is this?

2011-11-15T10:44:00.000-08:00

One of my friends made me the bestest best gift for my birthday. I had an idea she was up to something and she got me good!

You may have noticed that I am a Twilight fan( 2 more days until Breaking Dawn!! WOO HOO!). Anyways, Cheri Lynn got me the best gift ever.

She found a wooden box and repainted it.

And inside I found these,

Hand-painted Twilight wine glasses.

There are 2 that say Twilight in black. The others have each book title in white then the symbol for each book on the other side. I LOVE them!!

One of the best gifts ever to add to my Twilight collection!

quilt monday

2011-11-14T17:47:00.001-08:00

I love love LOVE this quilt. I can't decide if it's the fabrics that I love so much(based our recent home renos on this fabric line lol) or the cross-hatch quilting.

Either way, it's perfection in my books!

snack saturday

2011-11-12T12:07:00.001-08:00

Cinnamon Apple Bread Pudding

1 L (4 cups) cubed whole grain bread(about 4 pieces)
2 eggs
2 egg whites
175 mL (3/4 cup) unsweetened applesauce
125 mL (1/2 cup) skim milk
10 mL (2 tsp) ground cinnamon
125 mL (1/2 cup) low fat vanilla yogurt
1 small apple, cored and diced
Ground cinnamon (optional)

Directions

Sprinkle bread in sprayed 2 L (8 inch) square baking dish; set aside.
In bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, applesauce, milk and cinnamon. Pour over bread and press bread gently into egg mixture. Bake in 190°C (375°F) oven for 30 minutes or until golden, puffed and knife inserted in centre comes out clean.
Serve each piece with dollop of yogurt, apple and sprinkling of cinnamon, if using.

card friday

2011-11-11T09:58:00.001-08:00

Happy Remembrance Day.

it's not very often

2011-11-10T12:59:00.001-08:00

That I have a client request a pattern that I haven't quilted already. So when Donna requested Woodgrain for her quilt, I jumped at the chance.

Perfect pattern for this quilt. I love how it shows up in the borders and check out the backing.

And because this quilt was so quick to do, I got to sneak in one of my own.

quilted with Paisley Max

I thought and thought of how to quilt this runner. I've already unquilted it once. And I love the shape in Paisley Max and need more practice on free-handing it so this was perfect practice. And I love how it turned out.

wordless wednesday

2011-11-09T12:14:00.000-08:00

busy busy busy

2011-11-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

Hamels Quilt store has been keeping me busy(and out of trouble lol) with the last few quilt shows of 2011. Yes, it's almost time to start thinking of the 2012 shows!

Quilted with Bright and Breezy

Quilted with a meander

Meander quilted

Quilted with Laurie

Quilted with Folk Heart

I also want to show you a straight line quilt I did for a customer. 130 inches of straight lining. On decorator fabric. This quilt was heavy when finished. But wow did it look neat!

Too big to even get a full picture of!

Have a great Tuesday!

and the winners are

2011-11-07T20:20:00.000-08:00

Of the fabric stack, Life in a Pink Bunny Suit.

of the cards; Quilt Sue

and the pattern winner is Sallie.

Thanx for entering! Winners, I have contacted each of you.

quilt monday

2011-11-07T09:47:00.000-08:00

Made for a co-worker of Jim's. This is the second baby quilt I have gotten using a Pure layer cake and this Moda Bake Shop recipe(here). I did change the pattern up a bit, so that might be why I have this many extra blocks.

This one I had to straight line; I love the look of it against all the white.

And the fun polka-dot backing; flannel of course!

Now to get the binding done and get this delivered!

I'll be back later to draw the winner(s) in my birthday giveaway. If you haven't entered, you still can here!

snack saturday

2011-11-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

recipe found at The Pastry Case

Don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE

Rocky Mountain Apple Spice Layer Cake

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted room temperature butter
2 2/3 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
6 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/4 cups sour cream
3 apples, shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 tablepoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease three 9-inch cake pans and line each with a parchment paper round. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the molasses, and then the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and ground spices. Add the flour mixture to the batter alternately with the sour cream, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Stir in the shredded apples and vanilla. The batter will be thick.

Evenly distribute the batter among the three pans. Bake until the cakes are lightly browned on top and set. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then unmold and cool completely on wire racks.

Caramel Whiskey Cream Cheese Frosting

1 lb 4 oz (5 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
12 oz cream cheese, softened
2 lb 8 oz confectioners sugar
4-5 tablespoons bourbon whiskey
6 tablespoons caramel sauce (recipe follows)

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and cream cheese until softly whipped and it produces a “glupping” sound as it beats. Gradually add the confectioners sugar until a desirable consistency is achieved. Add the bourbon whiskey and caramel sauce to taste. This makes a lot of frosting.

Caramel Sauce

270 g granulated sugar
70 g water
7 g lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
140 g heavy cream, lightly warmed
90 g diced salted butter

Place the sugar in a pot and add the water and lemon juice/cream of tartar. Make sure there are no sugar crystals along the inside of the pot and that all the sugar has been hydrated by the water. Bring to a boil over high heat until the sugar is a dark amber color. Remove from the heat and add the butter and warmed cream slowly, as the sugar will bubble up violently. If you are nervous about cooking caramel, use a long whisk. Let the caramel cool, then use as desired.

card friday

2011-11-04T07:40:00.000-07:00

A lovely card from my sister in law for my birthday

it's my birthday!

2011-11-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

And YOU get the gift!

Since it's my birthday and I missed my blogversary last week(6 yrs!!!!), I thought why not do a little giveaway?

What can you win? Well, let's start with a variety of cards made by me.

Some patterns,

And this cute stack of 8 fat eights

Simply leave a comment on this post to enter. Easy peasy.

Please make sure I can contact you if you are the winner.

Contest will be open until Sunday evening. I haven't decided yet if I'll do 3 winners, 2 winners or 1 winner. Let's see how many entries we get.

wordless wednesday

2011-11-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

late night sewing

2011-11-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

I should be binding the table runner underneath Gizmo but he looks just too comfy to disturb.

Instead I finished off another Swoon block. The last block is almost finished but I'm feeling tired so I felt I should stop or I would be unsewing.

Then I figured my plan of attack with these.

Nine jelly rolls + 6 meters coordinating fabrics = 3 commissioned twin quilts for Christmas. I better get a move on!

quilt monday

2011-10-31T15:55:00.000-07:00

All custom quilted. I did a loopy meander in the background and lots of details on the appliques.

And straight lines in the borders.

snack saturday

2011-10-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Gingerbread

2/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin(or use fresh)
½ cup molasses
½ cup milk
2 ½ cups flour
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

2) In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and pumpkin; beat 2 minutes.

3) In a separate large bowl, sift together remaining ingredients. Add to wet ingredients; mix well.

4) Pour mixture into prepared baking pan; bake 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from pan, and serve.

card friday

2011-10-28T18:09:00.001-07:00

changes

2011-10-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

I made this little runner with my leftover scraps from this runner. I quilted it up a few weekends ago and it has just sat here waiting for the binding. And waiting. And waiting. You see, I don't like how I quilted it. I wanted to cross-hatch it and at the last moment, I changed my mind and did some ditching and straight-line quilting. And I hate it.

So tonight, I am going to rip out the quilting(thankfully there isn't a lot of it), make a new backing and requilt it. And I still might not cross-hatch it. I'll keep you posted.

58 days and counting

2011-10-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

Until Christmas. Scary isn't it?

I'm right in the middle of our Christmas rush this year; quilts going out as fast as they are coming in. I love the business even though it is absolutely exhausting lol.

Here's a few recent customer finishes.

Ciska's beautiful quilt quilted with Bubbles.

Ali's gorgeous flannel log cabin variation.

Quilted with a simple meander and some ditching in the center.

This stunning quilt is by Eileen.

Quilted with Morning Glory.

I love this quilt by Bea. And I will admit that it was painful to slap an allover pattern on it!

Quilted with Flowing Feathers.

I love the backing

A beautiful quilt by Sheila. This one is custom quilted with lots of meandering(appliqued border), cross hatching in the outer border and some ditching in the center.

I love this quilt by Agnes.

Quilted with Folk Heart.

Lastly, Timothy pieced this quilt for a school project. I love the quilt pattern and it is so striking in the red, yellow, black. He did a fabulous job piecing this quilt.

Quilted with Laurie.

Now I've got to get to work and finish some more!

wordless wednesday

2011-10-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

i'm a bad blogger

2011-10-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

I've been spending every spare moment in my sewing room lately. And if I have some free time when I'm not in there, than I'm embroidering. I fully intended to post yesterday but once I sat down to do it, I couldn't get a good picture of what I wanted to show you. I'll just have to save it for later this week :)

Embroidering has taken over here lately. In 8 days I finished up my Birdie Blocks. The last time I showed you my blocks, I was just finishing up June. I have October finished but it's drying so I'll have to get a picture later.

September.
blogger won't let me move it

July

August.
and yes, my iron threw-up on this block too. guess what I'll cleaning once I post this?

I also completed two of these stitcheries.

I'm hoping to add the borders on them today. One is a gift for a friend; she just might get it before she starts decorating for Christmas lol

snack saturday

2011-10-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

Wacky Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract(I've also used mint extract)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup water(or cold coffee)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Sift flour, sugar, salt, soda, and cocoa together into an 8x8 inch ungreased cake pan. Make three depressions. Pour oil into one well, vinegar into second, and vanilla into third well. Pour water over all, and stir well with fork.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Frost with your favorite icing. I usually sprinkle some icing sugar on top or once the cake is out of the oven, sprinkle with chocolate(or mint) chips.

card friday

2011-10-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

Not a card this time but a cute gift bag.

Happy Friday!

today

2011-10-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

Was a good day. No, scratch that, it was a great day. I worked yesterday; I don't normally work Wednesdays and that would explain why this sums up my work day.

yes, it was that sort of day Wednesday

Today I had a custom quilt to do. I planned to work late; tomorrow we have no school and I didn't want to have to come back and finish the quilt if I didn't have too. Instead, I knocked out the pretty quilt in 4 hours and go to go home early. And even better, I don't have to work tomorrow!!

Judy did a fabulous job with this quilt and I had so much fun bringing it to life. I did free-hand loopy stars in the outer border and a loopy meander in the black border. Stippled all around the appliqued snowmen and ditched the stars.

My favorite part,

the pretty ribbon stitch through some of the borders.

When I got home, I debated about doing another Swoon block . Instead I got my Full Circle quilt sewn together. I bought the layer cake on a whim and to be honest, I'm not a fan. I wasn't sure what to do with it so last weekend I just started sewing the blocks together. I finished the top this afternoon and still don't like it.

I'm going to have some fun quilting this and if I still don't like it, I have a few charitable places I can drop it off at. Someone will love it!

wordless wednesday

2011-10-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

have you ever wondered

2011-10-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

Just how far a spool of thread will go? I decided to see how many quilts I could piece off of a spool of Aurifil thread; there is 1300m of thread on the spool. Here's the quilts I pieced.

Pure table runner

Not a Yellow Brick Road table topper

A Jelly Roll Race quilt

Batik Awesome quilt

Awesome Quilt

Disappearing 9-Patch table runner

ZigZag quilt

Another Jelly Roll Race Quilt

Not one but THREE Pure baby quilts

2 Lily and Will 2 baby quilts

Blogger is being a problem and I can't get the pictures of the next few quilts to show up. So we have

The Safari Baby Quilt

ZigZag Quilt

And finally, my Luna Notte quilt.

And how much thread is left?

we interrupt this post

2011-10-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

Been working on and off today on a blog post and I just got the bestest news so I had to blog it right away!

I just found out that this quilt here is going on the cover of Keepsake Quilting!

I am so excited!!!

still swooning

2011-10-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

I spent some time yesterday putting together my second Swoon block. And yet again, the seam ripper made an appearance, ~~once or twice~~. I'm not thrilled with this color combo, I almost wish I hadn't gotten the darker print but I'm sure once I get the rest of the blocks done, it will blend nicely.

and yes, my iron leaked some blech onto my white background *sob*. thankfully a quick treatment of Grandmother's Quilt soap and we are as good as new.

Now here's a trick that Kim showed us.

When you are assembling the blocks and take the 6.5 x 3.5 to make a flying goose unit, before you cut off the excess, draw another diagonal line,

Sew the 1/4 inch from your drawn line and cut.

You will end up with these little hsts. And once you sew them all together, you get a mini quiltie. (let's pretend I've done that part okay? lol) I might work these into the backing of this quilt. Or make something new; decisions decisions.

I'll be back later today for Quilt Monday. See you then.

snack saturday

2011-10-15T10:01:00.001-07:00

Cheerios* Lemon Dessert Recipe

3 cups (750 mL) CHEERIOS* cereal, finely crushed
1/3 cup (75 mL) butter or margarine, melted
1 tbsp (15 mL) sugar
1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
2/3 cup (150 mL) boiling water
1 pkg (85 g) lemon flavoured jelly powder
2 cups (500 mL) lemon or vanilla flavoured yogurt

Heat oven to 350°F (180°C). Stir together cereal, butter, sugar and cinnamon. Reserve 2 tbsp (25 mL). Press remaining cereal mixture into ungreased 8 or 9- inch (20 or 22 cm) square baking pan. Bake 9 minutes. Cool.
In medium bowl, pour boiling water on jelly powder and stir until gelatin is dissolved. For fast chilling, place this bowl inside another larger bowl that has ice and water in it and let sit for 2 to 5 minutes or until chilled. Stir yogurt into gelatin mixture until blended. Pour over baked layer.
Sprinkle with reserved cereal mixture. Refrigerate 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until firm. Serve immediately or refrigerate until needed.

card friday

2011-10-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

photo shoot

2011-10-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

Last month my friend Sheila came by the studio to take some pictures for us. We got the pictures this week and we couldn't be more thrilled with how well they turned out.

Here's a few of my favorites,

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Time Out

2011-10-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

Today I joined Kim and Andrea for their weekly Tuesday Time-Out sewing day. Today's plan was to work on some Swoon blocks.

I didn't want to make the entire quilt so I settled on doing 4 blocks. And these blocks are huge; finishing at 24 inches.

I got 1 block finished; well almost finished. I will admit to having the seam ripper out a few times. More times than I thought I would lol.

Habitat by Michele D'Amore for Benartex

Can't wait to finish more blocks!

runner love

2011-10-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

I made this runner for a music loving friend. I did it similar to the striped table runners that I am addicted too but I just pieced this one using that manner then I free-handed quilted it with my new love, the water stitch/meander.

should have cleaned the camera lens

I love it. It turned out super cute and used fabrics entirely from my stash.

I'm working on the binding of two more runners; they really truly are addicting!

It's Been

2011-10-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

a fabulous long weekend.

quilted and ready for binding

snack saturday

2011-10-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving

Apple Blossom Tart

PASTRY DOUGH
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup ice-cold water
2 tablespoons cold sour cream

FILLING
5 large juicy apples, such as Fuji or Braeburn, peeled
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup apricot preserves
1 1/2 tablespoons plain bread crumbs
3 tablespoons apple jelly

Make the dough: combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor, then scatter the butter pieces over the top. Pulse the machine 8 or 9 times, just until the butter is broken into fine pieces. Do not over-blend it.

In a measuring cup with a spout, stir together the water and sour cream. Drizzle the liquid evenly over the flour mixture. Pulse the dough for about 8 short bursts, just until large, packable crumbs form.

Dust your hands with flour. Turn the crumbs onto the counter and pack the dough together as you would a snowball.
Place the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and flatten it into a 3/4-inch-thick disk. Wrap it in the plastic and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour
Get out a large, heavy cookie sheet, preferably one that's shiny and at least 14 by 16 inches in size. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit it and set the paper aside. Put the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and place it on the parchment. Dust your rolling pin and the dough with flour as needed to prevent sticking, then roll the pastry into a circle roughly 13 1/2 inches across

Place the dough and parchment onto the sheet, and place the sheet back in the refrigerator. Move an oven shelf into the center position and heat the oven to 375°.

Make the filling: quarter and core 3 of the peeled apples. With a sharp knife, slice the apples thinly -- 1/8-inch thick or so. If a child is helping with this step, supervise her closely. Put the slices into a bowl and sprinkle them with the lemon juice. Toss the slices so they're coated and set them aside.

Quarter and core the remaining 2 apples. Cut them into1/4-inch-thick slices, then cut up the slices into fairly uniform 1/4-inch cubes. Place 2 1/2 cups of diced apples in a mixing bowl. Add 1/4 cup of the sugar, the cornstarch, and the cinnamon, and stir well.

Put the apricot preserves in a small bowl and stir them briskly with a spoon to smooth out any lumps. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and dot it with the preserves. Use the back of a spoon to gently spread the preserves over the dough, being careful not to tear it. Sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly over the preserves.

Pour the diced apples onto the center of the pastry and spread them very evenly across the surface, leaving about a 1 1.2-inch margin of dough at the edge.

On top of the diced apples, arrange an overlapping row of apple slices in a circle, making sure the circle isn't as wide as the diced apples. (This way, the slices won't poke through the pastry when you fold it up.) Arrange a second circle of slices inside the first, then a third circle for the center of the blossom. Put the tart back in the fridge for 10 minutes to re-firm the pastry.

Remove the tart from the refrigerator and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar evenly over the apples. Using the parchment to help you handle the dough, fold the dough in sections up and over the edge of the filling. The dough will form pleats naturally as you make the folds. If the dough tears, just pinch it back together.

Bake the tart on the center oven rack until it's golden brown and bubbly, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. At the 30-minute mark, turn the sheet 180 degrees so that the tart bakes evenly.
Remove the tart from the oven. Heat the apple jelly in a microwave until it melts, about 40 seconds. Use a pastry brush to paint the top of the apples with the jelly. Cool the tart on the sheet for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Makes 12 servings.

card friday

2011-10-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

wordless wednesday

2011-10-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

memories

2011-10-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

Noelle's step-daughters husband died suddenly earlier this year. Noelle took his polo shirt and dress shirts and pieced this lap quilt for her step-daughter.

We went with the panto Folk Heart; this quilt couldn't have turned out more lovely.

Such a beautiful memory for Noelle's step daughter.