Ugly Fabric Challenge – Really? Part I

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Barb

Is there such a thing as “ugly” fabric?  I suppose there is.  There certainly are some fabrics that could be considered difficult.  And turning them into quilting works of art can be extremely challenging.

Every October at Quilter’s Dream, we have our Annual Ugly Fabric Challenge.  Customers who participate purchase 1 yard of fabric in a brown bag.  They are required to use at least half of the fabric in their quilt top.  This week they are hanging in the shop.  Customers all week can vote for their favorite!  There are prizes for the top 3 and participation prizes for all. 

I suppose you’d like to see pics of them, wouldn’t you?  That’s why you’re here, right?  Well, I took my camera to work this week and very nearly forgot to take the pictures.  Horrors!  So I had to take them around a class that was in progress.  You’ll just have to cope with ironing boards and class samples.  More about that later.  On with the show!

How clever this gal was in her fussy cutting of the cute animals in this fabric!  Not ugly by a long shot.

The pineapples carry this ugly fabric very well.  The quilter said the fabric spoke to her and said, “Giraffes or pineapples” and she picked the latter.  Very clever.  And please excuse the cute striped fabric in the corner.  The name of the class was “Fun with Stripes” and they were indeed having a good time as I took the pics!

All of the colors in the border and cornerstones (ugly fabric) are pulled out in this pretty, bright quilt.

Another quilt using the cute animals.  And an iron.  In case you needed to see the iron.  The class needed the iron.  And I was too lazy to move it at the end of my hard day at work.  So please pretend it’s not there and humor me.

This one used bright fabrics too – with an “ugly” that you saw before.  This gal actually submitted 6 quilts.  She gives them to charity after the challenge is done.  Great idea!

This quilt is just happy.  Makes it hard to even find an “ugly” fabric at all.

This one uses the same fabric, but what a difference the colors added make!  And no, that couldn’t possibly be an ironing board in front of this one.  Please disregard.

Here’s another with a fabric you’ve seen a few other times.  She added bright colors too – cute quilt!  And how about the cute little skirt one gal made?

How about this one?  “Fun with Stripes” added free of charge.

Did you bring your sunglasses?  Here’s another bright one for ya.

And how about a Christmas Star?  In the library.  Colonel Mustard.  With a knife.  Sorry.  I reverted to playing “Clue” when I saw the library sign.

It took me awhile to find the “ugly” in this one.  It’s the binding.  And it’s repeated a few places in the quilt too.  Great spinning blocks!

This gal bleached some of her ugly fabric.  There are no rules.  And she made it extra hard to find.  I love tiny nine patches.  This one is a crowd pleaser!

This one was made by my friend, Lani, who is living in NEW YORK CITY!  Yep, I’m shouting.  Along with the Pace Picante guys, I guess.  I really can’t find her ugly fabric.  She made all the fabrics look beeeeeauuuutiful!

Here’s another with the same fabric.  Love this maze!

And another with the cute, I mean ugly, pink & green fabric.  Some were definitely more challenging than others.

How about this one?  You might recognize the sashing.  But what fabulous appliqué blocks!

This one uses the same fabric as the little skirt you saw earlier.  The blue fabric looks like it has teddy bears on it, but it’s really little flowers. 

And that’s the end of Part I.  More to come tomorrow!  And if you live in the area, come by and cast your vote!  Although it really is hard to decide.  So many cute quilts!

Voting for them all,
Barb

Posted in classes, quilts | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Pumpkin Pie Cake

Posted on October 3, 2010 by Barb

Last week I showed you pics of a fabulous pumpkin dessert that we had on Bee Day.  And I promised the recipe.  Pat gave it to me so I could share.  But I had to make it to share it.  Pumpkin.  Fall.  Kind of goes together, doesn’t it?  I’m still waiting for that big cold front to come through so I can make my token pot of chili.  It’s always what I want when we get some actual cold weather.  I mean it is October after all.  Couldn’t we have a little bit of chill in the air?  I won’t hold my breath.  This is Texas after all.  But one of these days…..  In the meantime, how about some Pumpkin Pie Cake.  Or as I think it should be called – Pumpkin Pie Dump Cake.

Here are the players!

Pumpkin, yellow cake mix, sugar, pecans, eggs, butter – yes, two sticks! – nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, salt and hiding behind the butter, evaporated milk.

Did I mention this recipe is really yummy?  Must be the two sticks of butter.

Start with the pumpkin.  Pour in the evaporated milk.  By the way, the recipe calls for a 29 oz can of pumpkin, but the can I found was 30 oz.  What’s up with that?  And for the evaporated milk, the recipe says a 13 oz can.  All I found was 12 oz.  I figure they cancel each other out and ounce for ounce it’s all the same.  Or something like that.

Beat the eggs slightly.  As opposed to beating the dickens out of them, I guess.

And add them to the pumpkin mixture.

Add the sugar.  Notice I switched from a spoon/spatula to a whisk.  I suppose you could put this whole thing in your mixer, but I’m lazy about those things.  And if a whisk will do, I prefer the whisk.  It’s just the kind of gal I am.

Add the spices….. cinnamon, cloves, ginger, salt.  Nutmeg too.  But I prefer to do the nutmeg this way:

Grated, fresh nutmeg.  If you’ve never tried it, you should.  I like to add it to steamed veggies and sauces too.  It’s pretty wonderful and the aroma it gives as you grate it, is worth the price of a microplane.  I’m into those scenty things when I’m cooking.  Easily entertained.

And because it was important to do at least one up close shot, here’s a pic of what the inside of a nutmeg nut looks like.  Isn’t it cool?  Only it’s actually not a nut, it’s a seed.  The things you learn when you do a little research on the internet for your blog!

Whisk everything together (or use your mixer if you’re not lazy like me)……

….until it’s all nice and blended together like this.

Pour it into a 13″ x 9″ pan.  No greasing necessary.

Carefully dump the cake mix on top.  Thus the name “Dump Cake.”  At least in my opinion.

Chop the pecans with your handy, dandy Sudoku knife.  Or is it Sashiko?  Santoku?  Whatever.  I always get those words mixed up.

And sprinkle them over the top with your very wrinkled Shar-Pei dog hand.

Melt 1 cup of butter in the microwave.  Yes.  TWO sticks of butter. 

And pour all the buttery, luscious goodness over the top.

While it’s baking you can whip some heavy cream to serve with the yummy pumpkin.  Because whipped cream and pumpkin just go together.  Trust me.  You could buy Cool Whip, but once you’ve had the real thing, Cool Whip just doesn’t cut it.

Heavy cream, powdered sugar & vanilla.  It doesn’t get any better than that.  And I chilled my bowl while I was making the cake.  Just a little tip for making the whipping easier.

This is my favorite handy, dandy whipper.  Because again….. too lazy to get out the mixer.  And this little baby is a great whipper.

Besides, then cooking can be classified as an aerobic exercise.  Remember you want to not feel too guilty when you eat all that butter.  So whip away!

If I made whipped cream every day, I’d have the skinniest arms in town.  Not.  But look at that creamy loveliness.

Yum.  I could eat the whole bowl.  But that would defeat the aerobic workout, now wouldn’t it?

In the meantime, the Pumpkin Pie Dump Cake has come out of the oven.  And although Pat put the whipped cream on top of the whole pan like this:

I preferred the single serve, spoon the whipped cream on top method.  Like this:

Yum.  Double yum.  Maybe even triple yum.

And because I was impatient and couldn’t wait for anything to cool before I served it up, in about 2 seconds it looked like this.  And about 45 seconds later it was no more.  But my tummy was very happy.  And full.

And now – ta da!  I’m trying something new.  To get a simple page to print the recipe, click on this site: Pumpkin Pie Dump Cake.  I’ll work on a more serious option later, but just thought I’d try this today.  Very crude.  But should work for printing.  What do you expect at 2:00 a.m.?  Oh, yeah.  Most of you think that’s my best time of day.  Feel free to leave a comment about the recipe option, if you have any suggestions.

And now if we could just get some seriously cooler weather.  Because I’m ready for a big pot of chili.

Happy Fall!
Barb

Posted in food, recipes | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Dear Jane Party!

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Barb

Once a quarter we plan an All Day Stitchin’ Day with our Dear Jane Club at Quilter’s Dream.  This month we proclaimed it a Party!  Everyone brought food to share.  But the highlight of the day was our special guest.  Make that two special guests.  One a famous author.  And the other came all the way from England to meet the famous author.  Up close and in person.  And we all got to share in the fun!

Meet Brenda Papadakis – the author of Dear Jane!  There is no way I can tell you how much fun she is.  She shared so many hysterical stories with us that our sides were splitting with laughter.  Now that’s some laughter when it causes your sides to split.  I wish I could relay them all to you, but I couldn’t do them justice.  We just need to have Brenda come back and share them again so more people can be there.  And actually that might be in the works!  A retreat with Brenda – in January if we can work out the schedule.  So if you’re reading this and are interested, please leave a comment and I’ll get in touch with you about the details!

I’ll just share one story that was one of my favorites.  Brenda has a friend who has been collecting old Tupperware colanders.  Based on her description, I believe they are the ones that look like this:

Apparently this friend and her husband have been collecting them for years.  They have a closet full of them.  Why, you ask?  To drive their kids crazy wondering what in the world they were thinking when they discover the closet after their parents are gone.  One of the gals at our party couldn’t wait to tell her hubby the story.  She was all excited to figure out what they could start collecting for the very same reason!  What did you decide on, Jane?  Can’t wait to hear about it next month!

This is Dot from England holding up her Dear Jane book as JoAnne looks on.  Dot was very happy to meet Brenda.  And we were very happy to see Dot again.  I could listen to her talk all day.  This is her 3rd time to visit our DJ group.  And she is a joy to have around.  We want her to move to Texas!  She would love to comply.  Just don’t listen to her talk and then tell her you thought she was from Australia.  She will definitely roll her eyes at you!  Dot brought all her DJ blocks with her in fancy photo albums so the fabric was very protected.  She’s making hers in Christmas fabrics – you can see a green block in JoAnne’s hand.  I can’t wait to see it finished, Dot.  Come and visit us again next year!

We had loads of Show ‘n Tell at our gathering.  Dear Jane quilts by the thousands.  OK, maybe not quite that many.  Here.  I’ll show you……

This is Sandi’s DJ quilt top.  That’s Sandi and Brenda hiding behind it.  She is almost finished with her triangle borders – I think she only has one corner kite left to go.  You can do it, Sandi!  Finish this one so you can start another!

This is Del Jeanne with her cool teal & pink DJ blocks.  She is not a regular in our DJ group.  She came from Arlington to be with us for our party day.  I hope she will join us again sometime.  Want to come and retreat with us in January, Del Jeanne?  I just discovered she could be called DJ like the quilt!

These are Barbara’s blocks.  She came from Arlington too.  I hope she’ll come back again.

Barbara brought a whole pile of quilts to show us since she’s not a regular to the group.  We hadn’t seen her quilts before.  And I thought you might enjoy seeing them too.  This one she made using a charm pack (5 inch squares.)  Very cute, Barbara!

This one is cute 3-dimensional purses.  Brenda wanted this pattern.  They are all little pockets where you could store things.  Or your granddaughter could store things.  Or in Brenda’s case, her grandson.  She rolled her eyes when she told us that one.

How about this cute one from Barbara’s Jo Morton class?  I love those little quilts from Jo’s Club.

Another one of Barbara’s.  Did I mention she brought a big pile?  But she wasn’t finished yet…..

Love this cool pineapple quilt too.

Nice appliqué on this one.  Come back any time, Barbara.  But if she brings that many quilts next time, I’m going to declare her the teacher.

Deb is a regular who always has a few stories to tell.  She has a big pile of DJ blocks in front of her!

This is Jane’s DJ top.  She’s been adding the tiny border around the blocks in preparation for adding the triangle borders.  Good thing I knew this was Jane’s because you sure can’t see her.  She’s hiding behind the quilt!

Aha!  There’s Jane on the right, helping to hold up Charlene’s rows.  These are the top five rows of Charlene’s blocks.  Last month we saw the bottom rows.  Now as soon as she gets the middle put together, she’ll have it finished!  Aren’t these all just fabulous?

This is Charlotte.  She has a big box of DJ stuff sitting in front of her.  Her sister bought a kit to make this quilt and then decided she did not want to make it.  So she passed the kit on to Charlotte who has also decided this is not the quilt for her.  But you never know.  Sometimes the DJ bug is a bit slow in biting.  And if Charlotte keeps coming back every month…… well, you just never know what DJ block envy will do to a quilter.  Might make her do things she didn’t think she was capable of.  Like make 169 4½” blocks.

Carolyn has only been coming to our group for a short time.  But she bought the DJ book a long time ago and even had it signed by Brenda when she got it.  The bug just took awhile to bite her.

And she does have a few blocks already put together.

Denise forgot to bring all her blocks along and only has the one she is working on – and holding in her hand.   She is moving along well in her Dear Jane Journey.

JoAnne is working on DJ quilt #362.  Or something like that.  This one is red, white and blue and very nice.

This is JoAnne’s “Balancing Act” DJ quilt.  All hand quilted.  It hangs in her sewing room and inspires her to make more DJ quilts!

This DJ quilt of JoAnne’s is made from fabrics that friends brought her back from their vacations.  She calls it “Jane on Vacation” or something like that.

This one is JoAnne’s too.  With just a few favorite DJ blocks.   Didn’t I tell you she had a million DJ quilts?

Sherrill is also working on a red, white & blue DJ quilt.  Her first DJ is finished, basted and ready for quilting.  But now she’s stuck.  So she just makes more DJ blocks.  She does have a completed DJ in which she made the blocks bigger – oh, so much bigger.  They are 6″ blocks.  And very cool.

Sherrill also brought along this little quilt to show.  She won this one in the TVQG Quilt Show’s Silent Auction just a few weeks ago.  Very nice.

Sherrill also brought along her Ugly Fabric Challenge quilt to show and drop off at the shop.  These challenge quilts will all be displayed at the shop next week for customers to vote for their favorite.  And I bet if you play your cards right, you’ll get to see all of them on this blog.  But you need to come by the shop and vote too!

Susan came by on her lunch hour and brought her rows of DJ all in a roll.  We’re glad she got to join us for a short time!

And Jenni dropped by too – just to be inspired and motivated.

Sheri always wears her latest DJ blocks well.  We love to see what she’s doing!

Then we opened up the big suitcase that Brenda brought along and were inspired and motivated some more!  This quilt was made for Brenda by gals on the DJ list.  They decided she was never going to have a DJ quilt of her own unless someone made one for her.  It’s all hand quilted and everything.  And it’s beeeauuuutiful!

Brenda also made this one.  With Baltimore Album blocks woven in with DJ blocks.  And some big appliqué too.  What a great quilt!

We pulled this quilt out and laughed and laughed.  It’s a quilt that the DJ list made her out of reject blocks!  Many were writing to the list about blocks they had made that just weren’t quite right and were going to be rejected from being in their quilts.  So along the way someone decided to collect these blocks and put them together into a quilt for Brenda.  I even sent in a block for this quilt.  And Brenda read for us a little saying on one block, “My middle is crooked, I’m not quite square.  My corner is backwords, but I don’t care.  ‘Cause somebody wants me in U.S. of A.  I’m going to be in a Real Quilt one day!”  It was made by a lady in England.  And Dot knows her!

Brenda also pulled out this appliqué block that she’s working on using the back-basting technique.  Then she was required to explain that technique to everyone.  Beautiful block!

By the way – please notice the small Christmas DJ quilt behind Brenda.  Made by (don’t faint – you who know her) Beverly!  She picked out the setting fabric and border and stitched it together over the weekend just for the special DJ Party!  And it’s quite fabulous!

The food was quite wonderful too.  Including these fabulous chocolates that Dot brought all the way from England.  They were scrumptious!

And because I can’t start your day without making you hungry, here’s a picture of my plate of food.  It was all very delish!  And I filled my dessert plate and ate it so fast, I forgot a picture.  Just imagine cinnamon cream cake, brownies and Krispy Kremes alongside Dot’s chocolates.

Brenda and Dot – our two special guests on a very special day.  Come back again and we’ll party some more, you two!

And so you don’t think I’m a total slouch who will never finish her DJ quilt, Sandi grabbed my camera and snapped this picture of me as I was just getting ready to thread my needle.  And I actually sewed 6 or 7 seams before the day was over.  At this rate, I’ll have the quilt done in no time.  Not.

And finally….. here’s the cute sticker that Brenda brought for us all and our motto for the day…….

Happy Quilting!
Barb

Posted in food, quilts | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Rainbows

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Barb

Yesterday’s posting apparently didn’t generate an email to all of you blog followers who have subscribed to this blog.  So I wanted to do a quick post to make sure that it works today.  And I had a picture burning a hole in my pocket.  Or rather I suppose it was burning a hole in my hard drive?  It was burning something somewhere and I knew you just had to see it.
 

I saw this rainbow on my way home the other day and snapped this pic in my front yard.  If you look carefully, you can even see that it was a double rainbow.  It had been a long time since I’d seen one.  A rainbow is always an amazing sight to me.  I understand the science of how the sun shines through the water droplets, etc.  Well, I sort of understand that.  But how it makes itself into that perfect arc across the sky is a mystery to me.  And please don’t try to explain it.  I like the mystery part.

Yesterday’s post was also another milestone on this blog.  It was my 100th post.  In exactly 150 days – the life of this blog so far.  I guess I had a lot to say.  Who knew?  And that’s a rhetorical question.  I really don’t want you to answer.  Please don’t answer.  It could damage my fragile psyche.  I know you are all worried about damaging anything I might have that’s fragile.  Not.  We also crossed over 15,000 hits.  Seems like only yesterday we were having a giveaway to celebrate 10,000.  Maybe my psyche isn’t so fragile after all.

More to come.  We had an exciting DJ Club day yesterday and I have pictures to post.  Complete with special guests.  One all the way from England.  And another a famous author.  And food.  I know you’re surprised.  Can’t wait to tell you all about it.  Stay tuned!

May you find a pot of gold at the end of your rainbow,
Barb

Posted in just stuff | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Quilts & Food – Another JSS Bee Day!

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Barb

It’s that time again.  Another JSS Bee Day!  Once again I am compelled to show you everything.  The food, the quilts, the ladies of the Bee.  It just wouldn’t be right to not keep you completely informed.  And besides, that would mean I’d taken a lot of pictures for nothing.  Can’t let those pictures go to waste, now can I?

This month we were at Pat’s house and she did not disappoint.  Once again the food was fabulous!
 

This was breakfast.  All set out on the dining room table to greet us as we arrived.  Because we’re all about the eating.  All day, if possible.  And aren’t the flowers gorgeous?

I had to play with the camera and take this up close shot of the flowers.  Just because.

And this chocolate cake was sitting in the kitchen waiting for lunch.  Lunch is in the pans behind the cake, but my camera couldn’t focus on anything but the chocolate.  And I’m surprised you can’t see my drool.

Some of us bring stitching along for Bee days.  But some are rebels.  You already guessed that about Cindy, didn’t you?  She’s a rebel with yarn on this particular day.  Don’t listen to her when she tells you that she learned that from me.

I took the liberty of strolling around Pat’s house to take a few pics of anything I found interesting.  And there were lots of interesting things to find!

What an inviting kitchen sink!  It almost makes me want to stand there and do dishes.  Almost.

And this is where all of Pat’s quilting creations are birthed.  In a fabulous quilting room!

Where this cute little button/spool doll presides over her creativity.

And how about this fabulous guest room?  I’m moving in tomorrow.

You can picture me having my morning coffee on the patio overlooking this fabulously landscaped back yard.  Watching the birds and other creatures.  Wanna join me?

You can have this room.  Equally warm, cozy and inviting.  We’ll meet on the patio for breakfast.

Pat had to beat on a pot with a wooden spoon to get these girls’ attention to begin show ‘n tell.  Otherwise we’d still be there waiting.  Once these gals get to talkin’ it’s tough to get them to move on to the task at hand.  And it would soon be time to eat again!

Karen brought the book with the story of the necklace to pass around for her show ‘n tell.  And her boots.  You remember from the most recent post.  We got to hear all the details of the events of her daughter’s wedding.  And we were hanging on every word.  What a fun time Karen had!

Karen also brought this fabulous collection of her daughter’s bridal portraits.  What a beautiful bride!

Meet Kay’s show ‘n tell!  I think his name is Grant.  It was good that I snapped a picture quickly.  Because exactly 4 seconds after I snapped this picture, he realized that there was a dull roar in the room from 294 women all talking at the same time.

This is how he looked in all the rest of the pics I took of him.  He was not happy with all these women!  Just give him a few years, Kay.  I bet he’ll outgrow it.

This is Sue’s show ‘n tell.  A new grandbaby!  What’s that you say?  You thought this was a quilting blog?  And all you’ve seen so far is babies, food, guest bedrooms, wedding pics and a little knitting?  OK, OK…. I’ll show you some quilts!

How about this amazing quilt made by Jules?  Does that meet your expectations for fabulous quilts?

And this is Jules with another of her fabulous quilts.

Yet another creation by Jules.  This is about the time that I hid my show ‘n tell.  Who wants to follow an act like that?  Just kidding, Jules!  I really didn’t have any show ‘n tell that day.

Surprise!  This is a show ‘n tell work in progress from Lani.  She wasn’t even at the Bee but she heard there were going to be show ‘n tell pics on my blog and she sent along a few pics I could share with you.  She’s making two patriotic quilts and this is one of them.

Very nice, Lani!  She’s been busy in that little NYC apartment sewing room.

Lani also sent this hat block to Linda.  You remember we all gave Linda hat blocks recently because she’s moving away and we don’t want her to forget us.  Cool NYC fabric background, Lani!

Linda also received this cute hat block from her daughter, Maxine.  She saw the blocks that we made and wanted to join in the fun.  Very clever, Maxine!

Sue O showed us some great embroidery that she brought along to work on.  Very Texas.

Sue H is working on her Baltimore album blocks.  Betty has some hand quilting in her lap and Madelyn is working on a cute dresden plate that I bet we’ll see finished real soon.

Nancy is also working on Baltimore album blocks.

And Davene showed us this great quilt.

And then it was time for lunch.  Yeah!  More eating is always a good thing with this group.

A fabulous corn & bean salad.  It was extraordinarily yummy.

And a nice healthy fruit salad.  Isn’t it pretty?

My plate.  Are you hungry yet?  I’m all about getting your juices flowing to start your day.  Or in the middle of your day.  Or right before dinner.  Or whatever time you’re actually reading this.  The chicken casserole was pretty awesome too.

But this was the show-stopper of the day.  A sort of Pumpkin Pie Dump Cake combo.  Pat gave me the recipe because everyone wanted me to share it on the blog.  But I think it deserves its own day.  I’ll be making this one real soon and showing you the step-by-step easy process.  It might become my new Thanksgiving dessert recipe for this year.  And it might just become my family’s all time favorite.

Notice I didn’t forget the chocolate cake.  I had to have a  substantial amount of both desserts.  Because a skimpy little piece of each wouldn’t have made for a good picture for the blog.  And I’m all about good pictures on the blog.

This cute little devotional book was sitting on the end table in Pat’s living room.  I think I’ll give her a call and see if she has any of that pumpkin pie cake left over and I’ll go try out that guest room.  Put the coffee on, Pat!  I’ll be right over for some pie/cake on the back patio.  And perhaps I’ll read a bit of this little book while I enjoy the birds.

Happy Monday!
Barb

Posted in food, quilts | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments