This One’s for Suz

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Barb

And for Kaye too, while we’re at it.  Suz because she’s my good friend and she finally subscribed to the blog.  And Kaye because she accidentally unsubscribed and we spent the whole day trying to figure out how to get her back.  We were both exhausted when it was all over.  If you can get exhausted by just emailing.  So this one is a test for their email subscriptions.  Why?  Because I like them!  M-O-U-S-EEEEEEEE. 

For those of you not old enough to remember The Mickey Mouse Club, I apologize for those last lines.  I just couldn’t help myself.

I decided to get a jump on Retreat Food last night.  Melissa at The Compass Centre feeds us so much that we all gain 10 pounds in 4 days and think we will never want to eat again.  But for some strange reason we all bring snacks of our own to put on a snack table for all to share during our retreat.  As if we will starve or something if we don’t have lots of extra snacks.  If you saw the food they feed us there, you’d know how really crazy it is to have a snack table.  Nevertheless, a snack table we must have!

So last night I made these for retreat:

Funky Frito Fruckies.  The name and the recipe came from my friend, Judy.  Thanks, Judy!  They are great!  Not sure about the name though.  I still haven’t figured out what it means.  But I thought I’d share them and the recipe with you today.  For those of you not going on retreat.  So you can make some and eat along.  It’s one of those great sweet & salty together kind of snacks.  And chocolate.  Yum.   Like chocolate covered pretzels. 

The ingredients are simple.  And a little bit strange.  Sugar, corn syrup, peanut butter, Fritos and chocolate bars.  Salty & sweet.  Yum.

Put the Fritos in a greased jelly roll pan.  The recipe calls for a 10½ oz bag, but my bag was 14½ oz.  Do they even make 10½ oz bags?  What’s up with the measurements in recipes lately?  I had the same problems with the Pumpkin Pie Dump Cake a few days ago.  I think it’s a conspiracy in the food industry to confuse us all.  And I can be easily confused.  So I just dumped them out until the pan was mostly covered.  It’s a precise measurement.  Not.

Put the sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan and bring it to a boil.

See how nice it boils?  While you’re waiting for it to come to a boil you can unwrap the chocolate bars.  And I have a confession.  The recipe calls for 11 chocolate bars.  And I only had 6.  But before you go accusing me, it was not because I ate 5 of them.  Just sayin.

So I used some chocolate chips too.  They worked just fine.  It’s a very forgiving recipe.  Isn’t that the best kind?

After the sugar/corn syrup comes to a boil, dump in the peanut butter and remove it from the heat…..

…. and stir it until it becomes smooth and creamy.

Then pour it evenly all over the Fritos.  Or as evenly as humanly possible.  Which for me wasn’t very even.  You’ll probably do much better.

Then lay the chocolate bars all over the top.  I suppose if you actually have 11 bars, you’ll be able to cover the whole top.  I just filled in with chocolate chips.  Chocolate is chocolate after all, right?

The heat of the syrup will soon melt the chocolate and you can spread it around.  Then you have to wait and let the whole thing cool.  I was impatient and put it immediately into the fridge.

After it cools it will look like this.  The recipe then says to “break it into little pieces” which didn’t work so well for me.  I sort of tore it into pieces.  Somewhere along the way I decided to get out my handy, dandy Sudoku, Sashiko, Santoku knife and cut it into little squares.

Here’s what it looked like when I “broke” it into pieces:

And here’s the “cut with the handy, dandy knife” squares.

And exactly 4 seconds later this is all that was left.  *burp*

Now go make some right now so you can eat along while we’re at retreat!  Here’s a link to an easily printable recipe:

 Funky Frito Fruckies

By the way, I also went shopping yesterday and gathered together things for my Secret Sister at retreat.  Wanna see?

You didn’t think I’d actually show you, now did you?  After all, it’s a secret.  But all the little goodies are in the bag.  So you are seeing them.  Sort of.

Stay tuned.  Only two more days until Retreat begins.
Hugs,
Barb

Posted in food, retreat stuff | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Almost Retreat Time

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Barb

JSS Retreats are to die for.  Food, quilting, friends, food, laughter, sewing, food, no sleep, food, fun, creativity and did I mention food?  Retreats are actually what got me started blogging.  And created this blogging monster that I am.  It was at our last JSS Retreat that Pat asked me at midnight one night, “And tell me again why you are not blogging?”  She was the straw that broke the camel’s back, the icing on the cake, the last man standing, the final word.  And I came home from retreat and started this blog.

You see, I had always been the “Roving Reporter” at our JSS Retreats.  Reporting faithfully all the happenings via email for those who couldn’t attend for one reason or another.  Then I would spend time uploading pics to some website for all to view.  So it was appealing to me to be able to do the pics and emails all in one place.  And my email list grew at every retreat.  “Please include Aunt Lizzy on the emails.  She wants to know about our fun times” were words I heard often.  Well, it wasn’t always Aunt Lizzy, but you get the idea.

And so the blog was born.  On April 29th, 2010, just after I returned home from our retreat 6 months ago.  For those who might be interested in stats, there have been 107 posts, 707 comments and, as of right this moment, 17,260 hits.  Seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating 10,000 hits with a giveaway!  Apparently I had a lot more to say than just at retreat time, didn’t I? 

So now reading about retreat is your responsibility.  I like that!  You have to remember to go to the blog and look for new stuff.  I don’t have to remember to email Aunt Lizzy or anyone else.  But you can email her.  In fact I’ve made it easy with an added button at the very end of each posting in the “share this” section.  Click on it and send the blog link to Aunt Lizzy.  You can share it on your facebook page too.  And you can subscribe on the button over there →
as 50 people have done!  But again.  Your responsibility.  I just get to write, include pictures in the writing and have fun.  And this is the first retreat where I’ll be blogging all the latest as it happens.  Oh, my!  A blogger’s heaven.

I overheard a former retreater earlier this week say, “Barb never gets any sewing done at retreat.”  What?  She must have forgotten about this quilt…..

Nevermind that it came along to 328 retreats before it finally got finished.  Nevermind that one gal came in to the quilt show last year and when she saw it hanging, she turned to me and said, “Who finished it for you?”  How rude!  I finished it my very own self to surprise the JSS gals.

And what about this quilt?

I had to finish this quilt top totally in secret because it was my brown bag fabric that ended up being for Peggy last year at Christmas.  But that’s another story for another blog.  And I was supposed to be writing about things I sewed at retreat.  Obviously this quilt wasn’t one of those things because I had to finish it in secret.  Oh, well.  I’m just sure there was some sewing happening for me at the last retreat.  Would someone please remind me of what it was?

I always have good intentions.  Even this time.  My 43 existing projects are all packed and ready to go.  I plan to sew one seam on each of them.  In between blogs.  My niece, Janna, would really like to see her T-shirt quilt before she reaches her 90th birthday.  Shhhhhhh.  Don’t tell her that I’m taking it to work on at retreat.  Oh, wait!  She reads the blog.  My life is an open book.  I can’t do anything in secret any more.

So get ready for some serious blogging on this site next week.  Well, not serious blogging.  In fact most of it will be quite comical.  But you know what I mean.  A lot of blogging.  Unless the wireless connection in the middle of the cornfield breaks down.  Horrors!  I can think of nothing worse to happen.  Wait a minute!  Perhaps then I would get some sewing done?  Nah…… because I am so committed to keeping you informed that I would be driving all over the countryside looking for a wifi hotspot to be able to report in.  Remember Oshkosh?  Starbucks and I are great friends.  And there is a Starbucks close to the retreat.  Close being a very relative term when you’re in the middle of a cornfield.  Close is like 30 miles away.

We leave on Sunday.  So get ready.  Get your popcorn and Dr Pepper (this is Texas!) and be prepared for pictures and stories.  And don’t come hungry.  I’ve warned you.  There will be food pictures that will make your mouth water.

And maybe, just maybe, I’ll even get a little sewing done.

Off to finish packing,
Your Faithful Roving Reporter

Posted in quilts, retreat stuff | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Just an Ordinary Day

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Barb

Well, sort of.  Ordinary, I mean.  Except for one pretty special customer.  Not that all the customers aren’t special.  But it isn’t every day that you get to sell fabric that will become a baby quilt for a celebrity baby.  I mean movie star celebrity.  And I thought it was pretty exciting.
 

This is the pretty fabric.  Picked out by the Grandma to the new baby who is expected in early December.  Grandma is the one making the quilt.  And you can’t tell from this picture, but the white fabric has little music notes on it.  Because the baby’s Daddy is a musician.  And the Momma is a famous actress!  You know her as Calleigh in CSI Miami.  Her real life name is Emily Procter.

I made the Grandma promise to bring in pictures after she visits California in December to see the new little one.  And I hope she’ll share the finished quilt with us too!  Because it is certainly not an every day occurance to pick out fabric for a baby quilt for a movie star.

And if Emily and the new baby ever show up at the shop with Grandma, I’ll be sure to let you know.

Ugly Fabric Challenge Update!

Here are the two cute bowls that I forgot to show you in the previous blogs about this challenge:

Aren’t they cool?  I just wanted you to see them.  I thought you needed to see them.

By the way – the winners have been chosen.  So here are the results.

First Prize!  And this quilt was inspiration for the baby quilt mentioned above.  Grandma intends to make a scrappy nine patch similar to this one.

2nd Place.  Turns out many thought that this fabric made great pineapples!  So maybe it’s good she didn’t go with the giraffes?  But I heard that one customer thought that if you took off the pineapple tops, you’d have turtles.  This fabric just speaks.  “Pineapples, giraffes or turtles.”  It’s talking fabric.  Even if it is ugly.

3rd Place.  Apparently many thought these little ruched flower centers were very creative.  And the fussy cutting on the feather “ugly” fabric was creative too.

Also – here is the sign that was displayed.  With as many of the ugly fabrics used as we had swatches for – we ended up not having pieces of all the fabrics included.  But this is a good sampling of them.

It’s amazing each year to see what everyone makes out of these “challenging” fabrics.  And they are definitely inspiration to us all!

And I close today with this picture of how I’d like to be sitting this evening in front of the TV…..

Hot dog in flatbread, sun chips, diet Dr Pepper and the Rangers.  Feet up on the couch, kicked back, relaxing.  But I can’t!  I have a class to teach.  And seeing how the new T-shirt that I wore both Saturday and Sunday did not have a good effect on the outcome of the games, I will not be wearing it today.  In fact it’s in the bottom of the dirty clothes hamper.  I hear that superstition is a part of baseball.  And I’m all about doing my part.  Even if it means buying a new red t-shirt.

Go Rangers!
Your Newest Fanatical Fan

Posted in just stuff, quilts | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

As American as Mom & Apple Pie

Posted on October 9, 2010 by Barb

OK, I admit it.  Sometimes I can be a bit fanatical about things.  Things I wouldn’t normally be fanatical about.  When I first started quilting, I think Dear Hubby thought it was a fad that would wear off.  Twelve years later he doesn’t think that any more.  I even asked him about it once.  He agreed that he thought I’d grow out of it.  Boy, was he wrong.

But right now, today, I have something new to be fanatical about.  It’s feeding my need for fanaticism for the time being.  And I hope that it continues for awhile.  At least through October and possibly as long as ’til November 4th.  Because I can even sew while I feed this one.  Have you guessed what it is?  Here’s a hint…..
 

Need another hint?  How about this one…….

Or even………

My friend, Suz, guessed correctly from just the title of the blog today.    Because she’s fanatical about baseball all the time, not just in the playoffs like me.  I wait until the big games before I get excited.  I did it a few years back with basketball too.  When the Mavs were in the playoffs.  There’s just something about playoffs for me that turns me into a fanatic.

As you can see, I’m ready.  And yes, I’m putting my hot dog on flatbread.  It just sounded good today, OK?  Don’t give me grief.  And I couldn’t decide which chips sounded better so I just got both.  I need enough to last, in case there are extra innings or something.

So later today while Dear Hubby is actually serving hot dogs, nachos and other ballpark fare in a concession stand at The Ballpark in Arlington, I’ll be in front of the big screen TV at home.  Glued to the game.  As soon as I get home from work.  I’m recording it so I don’t miss a single pitch.  And I’ll be caught up to “live” in no time.  Have you seen the amount of commercials they have on those games?  A DVR is a very good thing.

I’ll try to get some sewing done too.  While I’m watching.  Replays are a good thing too.  So unless it’s a real nail-biter, I might have some quilting to share later.  But don’t count on it.  After all, I’m a fanatic about baseball right now. 

And I hope to be a fanatic all the way through this:

‘Cause the hometown boys are still in it.  At least as of today.  And as long as they are playing, I’ll be a fanatic.

Go Rangers!
Barb

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Uglies – Part II

Posted on October 8, 2010 by Barb

I mean beautifuls.  Not uglies.  It’s just not possible to make an ugly quilt, is it?  That’s my motto.  All quilts are beeeeeauuuuuutiful! 

Here are more from our Ugly Fabric Challenge.  Be sure to check out yesterday’s post if you missed it and see the rest!
 

Very cool pattern.  I still haven’t figured out the “ugly” fabric on this one!

This gal did a lot of work on hers.  Those colorful centers are all done with 3 dimensional ruching ribbons.  And then she did some special cutting on the turquoise feather fabric.  Here’s another with that fabric so you can see how it was “before”…..

Actually here are two quilts.  The one on the left used the feather fabric.  See how the feathers have lots of white space between them?  That makes you appreciate even more the fancy cutting that the previous quilter did with hers.  Cool pattern on that quilt on the right.   Good job all around!

Here’s a simple solution – just pull the colors out of the ugly fabric and use it for a border.  Set some bright blocks on point and voil!  Instant cute quilt.

Here’s the same fabric with a really cool pattern called “Inlaid Tiles.”  An easy pattern that looks very hard.  Good job!

This gal did some piecing and some applique and some cool dresden plates that combined both.  Interesting quilt!

Christmas anyone?  This gal is ready for Christmas early with this cute wall hanging.

And we received entries of things that were not quilts too – remember, no rules!  Pillowcases, a purse – and a hunter’s star quilt in this pic.  And straws from the cups of the gals who were sewing in this room.  (Not considered entries in the Ugly Fabric Challenge.  The straws, I mean.)

This is the quilt above the pillowcases.  I wanted you to see the whole thing.  Very striking!

Another quilt.  And a bag.  These gals are very creative!

Curves and a bunny.  Did I mention creativity?

This one is hanging into a corner.  Last minute delivery put into the last available hanging spot.  Makes for an interesting picture of an interesting quilt!

This gal wrote out a favorite Bible verse in “ugly” fabric.  Good job!

Two table runners.  The gal on the right was so proud to have a completed project to submit.  It was a stretch for her as a newbie quilter!  Good job!  We love to help newbie quilters at our shop.

There were also two fabric bowls submitted that I forgot to photograph.  Go ahead, JoAnne.  Give me a hard time about that one.  Perhaps the bowls will show up in a future blog.  If I can remember to take a picture.

Hope you enjoyed the “Ugly Fabric Quilt Show” and are realizing with me that there is no such thing as an ugly fabric.  Not if you’re a quilter anyway.  All fabrics can be made into something beautiful with enough blood, sweat and creativity.  Sometimes the blood is even quite literal with us quilters.

Now it’s time for me to “creatively” do housework.  Any ideas on how to train a cat to vacuum and dust?

Hugs,
Barb

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