Back to Work

I've really slacked off this summer on both my Dutch Treat and Dear Jane blocks but believe it or not today I have two of each to show!

Dutch Treat Kaleidoscope

Dutch Treat Test Pattern
Dear Jane Battlefield--machine pieced


Dear Jane Stephanie's Snowflake--paper pieced

Saturday was a busy day..Spent several hours helping with taking in the entries for our guild's quilt show next weekend. Not sure of the final number of entries, but I believe we have over 180 quilts this year. I was helping type the information for the booklet so didn't get to see them all, but the ones I did see were amazing. There is even a Dear Jane quilt that I can't wait to look at in more detail. It's going to be a great show! Friday I'll be helping with the scribing for the judge while Tom helps with hanging the quilts after they are judged. Saturday and Sunday we'll both be working at various jobs. It's my favorite time of year!

Morning Breezes & Another Dutch Treat

Tom finished the binding on his wall hanging a couple of days ago. He bought this kit in Golden, Colorado at a shop across the street from the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. Didn't he do a great job? I'm so proud of him.

He still hates doing binding but he kept at it and did it well. He plans to make at least two more of these with different fabrics.

I completed another Dutch Treat last night. This one is called "First Date".

Dutch Treat

Two more Dutch Treat blocks done.

Valentine

Family Tree

17 more to go!

Happy Anniversary

I'm a couple days late in sharing the joy of our second son and his wife celebrating 20 years of marriage on Tuesday.

They were the first couple to be married in the new gazebo at the county courthouse in 1989.


Everyone looks so young...............
At 10 years they asked Tom to perform a renewal ceremony.

The years have passed so quickly. We celebrate their love and commitment and wish them many, many more happy years together.

Block Source

I've had several people ask me about the pattern for the quilt I just finished. At first I couldn't remember where I found the pattern. I knew I had drafted the block to the size I wanted in EQ. I finally figured out I saw the block on Quilter's Cache. It is shown as a 12" block here. My blocks were 8" finished. That means the smallest squares were 1" finished. As you can see on the QC website there are many different ways to set the blocks together.

I'd love to see what some of you come up with if you decide to make a quilt with this block. I may do another one day as I really like the way this one turned out.

Happy quilting and thanks for all the nice comments.

Finally Another Finish

Two days of quilting hours on end and 5 hours of sewing binding on and it's done! Still not saying who this is for and it will be awhile before I divulge that. It's hard to get a good picture of the whole quilt. It's 77 X 89".

I love the fabric I used for the back. Very subtle floral.

It's in the washer. Still needs to be labeled.

Can't believe I only had one finish in July and now this will probably be my only August finish. But it feels good to have this particular one done.

Progress

Been kinda quiet here...except for the steady hum of my Juki. Making progress on my "Flowers" quilt.

Popeye I'm Not

I still maintain I don't like cooked spinach. But over and over again I find recipes with spinach that I really like..make that love! This week I've eaten more than a little spinach and plan to have more tonight.

Tuesday I made a batch of Spinach Bars to take to the covered dish lunch prior to the Town & Country Quilters meeting in Joplin. It's a recipe I've had for several years but I hadn't made it for awhile. They sure tasted good and I have to remember to make them more often. They make great snacks throughout the day.

Yesterday I tried a new recipe for a veggie lasagna. In the past I've made spinach-lasagna roll-ups, a recipe of my own creation. Those are good, but this new recipe with more veggies is totally awesome! I made a big pan and we'll have left-overs tonight. I also froze four single servings that we can pull out for an easy lunch some day when we're quilting or just not wanting to cook.

So I'm still never going to be a fan of eating plain old cooked spinach. But man this is good stuff!

Spinach Bars
3 eggs
1 stick margarine, melted
1 cup flour
¾ lb. Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
1 pkg Original Hidden Valley dressing mix
2 pkg. frozen spinach, thawed & drained

Beat eggs together; add flour & dressing mix. Stir in margarine. Add cheese & spinach (batter will be thick). Spread in 9/13" buttered pan. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes. Cool & cut in 1-inch squares. May top with dab of sour cream to serve. May be frozen ahead of time.

Veggie Lasagna

2 C. chopped fresh or frozen broccoli
1 1/2 C shredded or julienned carrots
1 C chopped green onions ( I used yellow)
1/2 C. chopped sweet red or green pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 C flour
3 C milk
1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 1/2 C small-curd cottage cheese
1 C (4 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 C shredded Swiss cheese
12 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained

Saute' the vegetables and garlic in oil until crisp-tender. Remove from heat and set aside. In a heavy saucepan, whisk the flour and milk until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat; add 1/4 C. Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Cook 1 minute longer or until cheese is melted. Remove from heat and stir in spinach. Set 1 cup aside.

In a bowl, combine the cottage cheese, mozzarella and Swiss. Spread 1/2 cup of the spinach mixture in a greased 13 X 9 X 2" baking dish. Layer with four noodles, half of the cheese mixture and vegetables and 3/4 cup of the spinach mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles, reserved spinach mixture and remaining Parmesan cheese.

Cover and bake at 375º for 35 minutes. Uncover; bake 15 minutes longer or until bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. 12 servings

I used a blend of cheeses..Parmesan, Romano, asiago, mozzarella. An awesome vegetarian dish!

Let me know if you try either and like them (or not).

Quilting Qua

I learned about a great new quilting resource yesterday. Quilt Qua has links to everything quilting related. Be sure to check it out, enter her giveaway, and think about adding your blog to her list.

Piles of Quilts & A Reminder

My friend, Cynthia, has judged the Iowa State Fair for many years. This year they had a record number of quilts...800+. She and one other person judge all the entries in a single day! I can't imagine. You can read about it and see some pictures on her new blog .

Speaking of quilt shows, my guild's annual show is Labor Day weekend. On the final day, September 6, we'll be giving away this gorgeous quilt made from vintage Dresden Plate blocks.

It's 90 X 109" and there are two matching pillow shams.
It's been hand quilted by members of our quild. Donations are $1 per ticket.

I know I've posted pictures before and I'm repeating myself, but I just want to remind anyone who would like a chance to win this beautiful quilt that time is running out. If you are interested, email me for my snail mail address and get your tickets before it's too late!

Cruisin'

I've made a bit of progress on my Dutch Treat project in the last few days and have four new blocks to share:

Queen of Spades

Fan
Hurricane

Deer

And Friday's mail brought me this lovely block from Micki in Ireland. The center fabric and harp print sparkle in representation of the Emerald Isle.

Guild meeting tonight. Our speaker had to cancel due to illness and I'm disappointed as I was really looking forward to her trunk show. But one of our members has stepped into the breach and will talk to us about relaxation techniques and helps for stress-free quilting. Thank you, Mary Bess, you saved the day!

A Cowgirl and a Puzzle

I received the cutest siggy block yesterday from Pat in Texas. Check out her little cowgirl yelling "Yehaa"! Isn't she adorable?

And I finished another Dutch Treat block Wednesday night. This one is called Jigsaw.

Back to working on my "Flowers For..................." quilt.

Hope you all have a nice weekend.

Dutch Treats

Still not a lot of quilting or sewing going on, but I have managed to do two more Dutch Treat blocks.

This one is called Orbit

And this is Paisley

I now have 24 more left to make. Slow and steady...................

Siggy

It's taking awhile to get back in the swing of things. Why does it always seem like you need a vacation to recover from a vacation? Yesterday we were both tired, although only Tom had a legitimate reason after driving nearly 500 miles on Wednesday alone. The only TV we watched for a week was during two nights in motel rooms. I only checked email two or three times. Catching up on snail mail, email, and news seems to take forever.

One of the nice surprises waiting for me when I got home was this siggie from Jocelyn in Florida. It has beautiful embroidery. Thanks, Jocelyn!

Happy 20th Birthday, Caitlin!

We arrived home from Colorado last night....just in time to wish our youngest granddaughter a happy 20th birthday! Those years have flown by! Caitlin, we love you and celebrate all that you are and all you will become....

A daughter....









Little Sister....

granddaughter....

great granddaughter and great-great granddaughter!!!!!!!!!!!

A niece....

goofball....

Miss Ponytail....

youngest cousin....

and a clown.

Did I mention Goof Ball?

Sweetheart....

baker....

generous spirit....

quilter....

aunt....

graduate....

wife....

and always, Daddy's Little Girl....

Wishing you many, many more roles to fill in the years to come.