March Finishes Link Party (ALYOF)

Well,this month is just about shot in the butt!  Once again it is time to link up with Melissa,over at SewBitter Sweet Designs to show off our Lovely Finishes.

First,a recap of my goals for March:

• Finish Tumbler Quilt
• make a "few"items for the bake/craft sale slash fundraiser for Climb for Cancer
• Make some totes for the shop/farmers market

First up International Tumblers Quilt...

Finished!  These photos were taken just this morning,after my shift at the bake/craft sale :)

Although there are gusts of wind today,for the most part is has just been a mild breeze!  We are finally getting a taste of spring!  Which I for one am so ready for.  Mr P. suggested this local picnic spot for the photo shoot today,and I am so glad he did!

Here is a mosaic of some of the items that I made and donated to the sale.

There were also a few dress form pin cushions,and not pictured another baby quilt,five pillows,3 bracelets,and a couple hair barrettes.

My third goal: Tote bags for the shop/farmers market,also finished!  Can I get a Whoop,Whoop!?  Oh yeah,you gotta love it when a plan comes together :0)  This afternoon I will be listing the totes in my shop.

So far that is three for three this year!  That makes me a very happy person ;0)  If I can keep up the finishes (I can do it) this is going to be a super productive year!

How are you doing with your sewing goals this year so far?

Craft sale donations

What has been going on in your sewing room?  Here is what I have been up to lately.

Just monkeying around,with a flannel baby quilt for a sweet little girl.

The back of this one is a scrap piece of fleece.

Who wants to snuggle with me?  This one is for a baby boy.

Since I didn't have any matching fleece the back side of this one is also flannel,just a different print.

A couple sets of burp cloths,with flannel down the center.  Each set has three burp cloths in it.

A few little zip pouches,one is made with vinyl so you can see what is inside.  Which would be great for small items while traveling.

Since there are bound to be at least some ladies or men that quilt/sew another dress form pin cushion.

I decided that it was just as easy to make 4 as 1,so here are the other three!  These are a little addicting,not to mention fun to make!  I also have one in the works for my mom,for either mothers day or her birthday :0)

There are also a few pillows that I am going to donate,but I didn't get any photos of them.  Now I need to get busy with the baking part,as the sale is only a few days away!

Row 13 ~ Spring Tulips

They say "all good things must end" and the bee in my bonnet row along is no exception.  It doesn't seem like that long ago we were starting off on the very first row...

And here we are with the last row,Spring Tulips :0)  Don't you just love them all blooming in spite of the crazy snow ;0)

Not sure about you,but I am ready for spring,whenever it finally decides to show up around here!

This afternoon I brought all the rows out to the living room to decide on the final layout.  After quite a bit of row shuffling,and the much appreciated help and suggestions from Mr. P.  this is the layout we finally decided on!
Now I still have to add the two borders,quilt,back and bind it too.  However,since we are so close to the end of this month,this is going to get set aside.   Not for long tho!  It will be my goal for next month over at ALYOF :0)

I have been pretty busy this past week,with this and also sewing up the things for the bake/craft sale.  Which is this coming Saturday!  Those things will be another post in the next few days.  Now I need to get busy with my last goal,totes for my store!

Last night I sewed up barn # 2,this one is kinda whimsical,so it may become a bag!  If it does,I will need to make another one to take its place in the quilt.

Almond Apricot Muffins

It has been a Long time since I posted a recipe for you,so since it is snowing today,it was the perfect day for baking!

   
                                               Almond Apricot Muffins

Staples needed for making these yummy muffins!  (oops,didn't get the Almond extract in the photo!)

• 3 1/2 cups unbleached  all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. table salt
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 10 Tbs. unsalted butter (melted and cooled slightly)
• 1 cup whole milk,at room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream,at room temperature
• 2 large eggs,at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk,at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped dehydrated Apricots
• 3/4 cup sliced and toasted almonds
• 1/2 tsp. Almond extract

Utensils needed:

• muffin pan
• paper liners
• rubber spatula
• Lg. mixing bowl
• Med. mixing bowl
• measuring spoons & cup
• sifter
• whisk
• egg separator (or you can just use the shell,if you don't have one)

 Place one of your oven racks in the center position and pre-heat to 350 while you prepare the muffin mixture.

        In the large bowl,sift together the flour,baking powder,baking soda,and salt.

                                           Mix well.  I use a whisk for this step.

In your medium size bowl (I melted the butter in this bowl and set it aside to cool while measuring and mixing the dry ingredients).

Whisk together the melted butter,sugar,milk,sour cream,eggs,and egg yolk until well combined.

                                                               (like this)

                Take your spatula,and make a well in the center of your dry mixture.

                            Pour the wet ingredients into the well in the dry ingredients.

Using your spatula,fold gently just until the the dry ingredients are combined.  Your batter will be lumpy,this is the way it is supposed to be.

Sprinkle your almonds,apricots,and the almond extract over the top of the batter.  Again,fold in until just combined.

                            Remember,the batter is supposed to be lumpy,do not over mix!

                 Drop by spoonfuls,(I use a soup spoon) into the paper liners in your muffin tin.  Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes,or until the tops are a golden brown.  (this will depend on your oven)

You can enjoy them with or without butter!  I know it probably looks like shortening on my muffin,but it is actually a dollop of coconut spread (you can find it at the health food store)  Yum!  If you try this recipe,I would love to hear what you think of them :0)

Depending on how full you fill the paper liners,you will get 18 to 24 muffins.  (I got 24 from my batter)

ALYOF March Mid ~ Month check in

Yes it is that time again,already!  Are you playing along,and if so,how are you doing?

My three goals for the month were...

1. to finish my tumbler quilt started last summer  (which has been named International Tumblers)

Here it is!  All finished,as of last night!  This and the following photos were snapped off in a hurry today after work as the wind was is still blowing like crazy here.

A closer shot of my first ever FMQ on a quilt!!  Pretty excited about that :0)

The wind just about blew the quilt off the fence right as I was taking this one.  I am hoping to get some much better shots between now and the end of the month.

2. make a few items to donate to the bake/craft sale... no progress on this one but I will be starting on that after this post :0)

3. make some new tote/messenger bags for my shop... also no progress yet,those will be next up after the things to donate.

Linking up over at the Mid ~ Month check in at Sew BitterSweet Designs & also over at busy bee quilts because Jamie is hosting Monday Link Up this week!

LilyPad Splash

Today when I came home for lunch,it was so nice,the sun was shining,the birds where chirping and it was around 60 degrees... After work the sun was not shining,it was all cloudy grey and windy :(  Oh well,the photo shoot took place anyway!

The plan,take the quilt to the river after work and get some sweet shots...

These last two shots were taken at the Steam Plant turned local place for small concerts art shows and many other events.

All around the outside of the building there is modern art works donated by local artists.

Tumblers & LilyPad Splash Progress

Saturday was a snow day here,although it snowed steadily for over half the day it did not amount to more than a couple of inches.  This morning the sun came out and melted what was left away.  Love those spring snows :0)

Most of Saturday I spent taking photos and listing some new things in my etsy shop,and re-listing some that had expired.  So no sewing.  Today after weekly chores I found some time to sew :0)

Here is the progress on my Tumbler Quilt so far this month.  You probably can't tell from the photo,but at that point (when the photo was taken) the rows/strips were not sewn together.  Now they are all sewn together,the length is around 80 inches,while the width of the quilt top is only around 48 inches.

So I decided that it has to have another border on each side to bring it out to around 60 inches wide,when finished.  The Sweet thing is that I was able to FMQ on the strips!!!  Mind you it is not pretty,but I am okay with that,since it was my first time ever to use that technique on anything other than a 18 x 18 practice sandwich square,and that was only one time.

Sorry I didn't get a photo to show the progress on the LilyPad Splash quilt top :(  That is what I decided to call the quilt I posted about here the other day.  All the strips are pinned to the batting,and one has been quilted too.  When the other two strips are quilted and sewn together I will post an update with photos.

Hope you all found some time to sew this past weekend :0)

Green...

Happy weekend everyone! Sorry I have been rather quiet this week.  Would you like to see the project that has kept me so busy?  Yes?

Ta Da!  As soon as the strips were laid out for the photo,Midas decided that he needed to make a quick inspection.

Here it is minus the cat ;0)  I am thinking that it needs another checkered strip at the top and the bottom.  What do you think?  The width is good,so I am going to go with no borders on the sides,but it is pretty square,which is why I am thinking it needs the strips at the top and bottom.

This one is for my shop when completed,there is enough of the squares left over to make another quilt,so I am thinking about how to change up the design for a similar yet different quilt top.  The second one will be for the bake/craft sale.

Any suggestions for a name for this one?  The Frog Prince of Green,maybe?