Dear Jane 2

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Barb

Monday was Dear Jane Club at Quilter’s Dream and I actually got some pictures of Dear Jane blocks.  Aren’t you proud of me?  Now the blog title will actually fit the content!  Wonders never cease….. and you’re gonna love these little blocks.
 

These are Deb’s blocks.  Deb worked real hard this month and completed 15 new blocks.  Way to go, Deb!

Just to refresh your memory – Dear Jane is a book based on a quilt made during the Civil War by a lady named Jane Stickle.  This quilt is made up of 169 – 4½” blocks – with no two alike!  The blocks are surrounded by a border of pieced triangles too — 52 of those.  It’s a pretty incredible quilt and requires a support group to finish.  If I’m lucky I might finish mine in my lifetime.  I’ve been working on it since the dawn of civilization or about 10 years.

But let me share some more of the gals’ blocks……

These are JoAnne’s blocks completed since last month.  JoAnne already has about 2,793 completed DJ quilts.  She is very addicted and can’t stop making these cute little blocks.  Her current project is going to be all red, white and blue.  She is very glad to have a support group to assist her with her DJ addiction.

These are Sheri’s blocks – including the one she worked on during our all-day stitching day.  Every three months we get together for the whole day and work on our DJ’s.  Sheri’s blocks are all black/white and red – with a splash of orange here and there.  They are quite striking!

Patti has all of her blocks completed AND all of her triangles.  These are the four corner “kites.”  Aren’t they just fabulous?  Way to go, Patti!

This is the block that Donna was working on.  Please notice the fancy, organized carrying case she uses!  I want to be just as organized when I grow up.

This is the block that Jackie completed this month.  Go, Jackie!  You can do it, girlfriend!  (We need cheerleaders to get this quilt finished.)

This is Charlotte’s very first DJ block.  She did a fabulous job!  Only 956 blocks to go, Charlotte.  (Only kidding…..)

Charlotte also showed us these little gems she’s working on.  And just FYI – they are only about 2 inches by 3 inches in size – so you can imagine how small the little sashing squares are!  In case you haven’t figured it out, DJ quilters are a little bit crazy.

Denise finished the binding on this quilt.  No, these are definitely not Dear Jane blocks.  But if you remember from last month’s post about Dear Jane, we allow all kinds of things to be stitched on in this group!

This is the one DJ block that I finished this month.  Don’t even ask what month it was when I started this tiny little block.  It was too far back for me to remember.

I also prepped one block to be stitched on during DJ Club for the next ?? months.

Here are a few of my 110 completed DJ blocks.  I figure if I keep on at the rate I’ve been on for the past year, I will complete the blocks in 24.58 years.  Of course, then I would still have to sew them all together, complete the triangles for the border and quilt the whole thing.  So look for this quilt to be hanging in a quilt show in about 2058.  I sure hope my eyesight holds out.

Just in case I don’t quite make it…. I used some handy, dandy quilting software to actually color in the quilt to see what it would look like finished.   Now doesn’t that make you want to hightail it over to the garage sale to pick up these blocks after I’m gone?  It really will be fabulous when it is finished….. I hope I get to see it!

I better get crackin’……..

Hugs,
Barb

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Motto for a Saturday

Posted on June 26, 2010 by Barb

This is my motto for today…..
 

Don’t you think it’s a good one?  A friend gave me this little sign a long time ago.  I keep it in a prominent place where I will see it often.

Even Boo wanted in on the playing action today….

“What’s that?”

“OOOO – let’s play today, Mom!  I wanna play.  I wanna play!”

However he was not so much in a playing mood last night when Jack and Josh came over for a visit.  You remember them – you met them at Pam’s house in yesterday’s posting.  Jack and Boo are great friends, but Boo wasn’t too sure about that new dog, Josh!

Boo’s hair stood out big when Josh came running in the house.  Way bigger than it is in this picture.  But by the time I got the camera ready, he had already calmed down a bit.

Still he didn’t take his eyes off of Josh.

Except to briefly give me this wide-eyed look.  He looks really scared to me.  Much different than his usual pose for the pictures.

Like this one…… nice, calm “are you done taking pics yet, Mom” kind of look.  But very different from the look he had last night when Josh was here.

By the way – while I’m talking about Boo, let me point out that he is a very tough photography subject!  Too much black.  Lots of times he becomes a big black blob.  He is quite challenging in the photo taking department.  But I’m learning to cope.  He might someday need a little brother or sister who looks more like Aunt Willadene’s Dolly.  But don’t tell him.  He goes crazy over kittens.  And he’d get that hair-all-standing-out-wide-eyed-look if we had a new kitten.  And the look might stay for weeks.

But I was talking about playing……

So my day started with making breakfast.  I learned this recipe from Pioneer Woman, like many of my most favorite foods.  You can read about how she makes it here or just follow along with the few pics I took this morning.  It’s easy, peasy and one of my most favorite things for a quick breakfast!  It’s called “Egg in a Hole.”

You start with a slice of bread and cut a hole out of it.  I just use a small glass to do that.

Heat up a skillet and throw in a pat of butter.  You knew there would be butter involved, didn’t you?  It wouldn’t be a PW recipe without butter involved.

Add your slice of bread to the buttery skillet and let it sit and soak up the butter and begin to grill for a minute.  Then crack an egg and add it to the hole.  Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top.

After the egg cooks just a bit, flip the whole thing over.  I accidentally broke my yolk when I flipped today, but I didn’t care.  It’s just as good with a broken yolk!  Then, because I love pepper, I sprinkled a little pepper on the back side too.  Cook it for just a minute and…..

Voila!  Quick, easy, delicious breakfast!  Toast and egg all in one!  I usually throw the little round of bread out back for the birds, but today I decided to spread some plum jam on it and eat it too.  After all, I had decided it was a day to play.

So sewing is definitely on my agenda for the day.  And maybe reading.  And probably listening to my favorite Saturday morning radio program, “Wait, wait, don’t tell me” on NPR.  And I might just stay in my pj’s all day.  Dear Hubby is off to the Texas Soaring Association for some fun with his hobby of flying glider planes.  He’ll be gone ALL day.  He loves gliders as much as I love quilting.

So won’t you join me today?  I mean, not here at my house.  But wherever you are…… don’t you think it’s a good day to play?  I’m beginning with some snuggling time with Boo.  Now where is that book……….

Happy playing,
Barb

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Just when you think Bee Day can’t be outdone…..

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Barb

……….. Pam brings in a Chef who serves us with style!

OK – enough is enough.  Pretty soon we will have to bribe the ladies to have Bee Day at their house.  I vote that next month we are served peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to get us back on track.  We have gone way, way too far.  I mean a Chef, Pam?  You have raised the bar way too high.  It’s time for a reality check, eh girls?  But I’d better start at the beginning.  Meet Chef Joyce!
 

Joyce and Pam were working hard in the kitchen when I arrived.  I got there as fast as I could and announced as I entered the kitchen, “Where’s my Cinnamon Dulce Latte?”  Pam, of course, was already on it and had it prepared in a jiffy…….

And it was just as yummy as ever!  I even had an iced one later in the afternoon – after everyone had left except Judy and I.  See what you miss when you leave early?  An Iced Cinnamon Dulce Latte could be my new favorite drink.  Especially during this hot Texas summer!  But I am getting way ahead of myself.  And I know you want to see all the food of the day!

 

This was breakfast!  Sugary scones and some fancy cakes….. and also these……

Ham and cheese scones.  I must have this recipe!  Actually Chef Joyce has promised all the recipes for us, but I’ll have to post those later.  In the meantime……

Don’t you want a bite?

I cleaned my plate.  It’s just the kind of supportive gal that I am.  Wouldn’t want to hurt the Chef’s feelings by not cleaning my plate.

A crowd gathered in the kitchen………. and watched Chef Joyce prepare all the goodies.  I think they were secretly hoping to get thrown the scraps.

Yummy strawberries….. and

…..all the ingredients for the crepes dessert.  Oh, my!

Here they are being prepared….. I can almost taste them just looking at these pictures again!  So sorry if you weren’t there to taste them too.

And here they are all ready to eat – except for a big dollop of whipped cream on top.  Can you almost taste them?  Wait until you see them on the dessert plate later!  I’m so sorry if you’re reading this before you have breakfast or lunch or dinner.  You’d better stop right now if that’s the case and get yourself something to eat before you continue.  Maybe Pam has some leftovers and you could call her real quick to whip you up a latte and serve you some leftovers.  Sounds good to me!  Maybe I’ll do that instead of writing this blog……. bye!

Sorry.  Got carried away for a minute there.

Betty enjoyed her breakfast a lot.  Can’t you tell by that smile on her face?

Sue has a story to tell……  a passionate story about headaches…. we hope she has solved the problem!

Not sure who this is, but she joined the party too.  I think perhaps when Pam is having a hard time understanding something, she puts this on and blames the color of her hair.

Recognize Pam in this one?

Pam and Susan remembered our days in Alaska.  Perhaps one day I’ll remember to tell you all about that adventure!

 

Cindy is always photogenic.  One day I’m going to take a bad picture of her on purpose and put it in the blog.  Alas, I think that is an impossibility.  She always has a great smile on her face!

 

Moms love to come to Bee Day and this day was no exception.  Here are Cindy & her Mom, Donna…… and Sue & her Mom, Gretchen.  Moms are always welcome in our Bee!

Lynn has a wonderful story to tell about Uncle Ed.  You must hear about it.  I just might have to take a blog trip to Lynn’s house soon to get pictures and explain the story of Uncle Ed.   Lynn is our Ebay Guru.  If you ever need to buy or sell anything on Ebay and need advice, Lynn is your gal!

We all got a tour of Pam’s house and that included her fabulous back yard!

Suzanne got to hear about Pam’s Adventure of Being Locked Out on This Balcony while the house was under construction……. before the railing was installed too – scary!  Thank goodness for Good Samaritan neighbor, Brian, who came to her rescue.

Remember how I told you the birds are well fed at Susan’s house?  Well apparently when they are done eating at Susan’s house…….

…. they can fly on over to Pam’s and get fed again!

Isn’t this a lovely crepe myrtle corner?

And another beautiful tree here too!

This basil plant played a major role in the lunch we had – you’ll see that later…..  Doesn’t this plant look yummy?  Well, it does if you’re a basil lover like I am!

 And these pretty candles adorned the dining room table for lunch!

But before we ate, it was time for Show ‘n Tell!
 

Karen started us off with this beautiful batik quilt that she just “threw together” AND had quilted (by Claudia) since last week!  It’s made with blocks from the Saturday Sampler at Quilter’s Dream last year and she only used 6 of the 12.  So she can make another quilt next week!  That Karen is one fast stitcher…..  and it turned out great!

Sue O showed us her quilt that she made from the challenge fabric last year.  But wait!

She made two quilts!  Apparently she just got them back from her quilter, so they weren’t in the exhibit we did at the Shop.  Not to worry…. you get to see them here on the blog!

Sue has also been working on a Baltimore Album quilt in a class with The Appliqué Society group.  This is one of her partially completed blocks.  Can’t wait to see this whole quilt, Sue!

Remember Susan’s obsession with wool?  These are her wool blocks spread out over her lap.  It’s tough to get Susan to hold up her blocks and hold still for a picture  She apparently needed to discuss these blocks with Lynn at the time of the picture.

See how blurry she is?  Remember what I said about holding still?  Just not possible.  And this is proof of her latest cotton obsession…. Cotton Theory – the quilt-as-you-go technique.  For those of you who asked on the blog after I posted about that class, we’ve added another class on Wed, the 30th!  Just call Quilter’s Dream if you’re interested in signing up.  Susan might even come and cheer you on!

What?  No quilts to show, Cindy?  Cindy’s Show ‘n Tell was her Mom – and she told of all the quilting classes she and her Mom have been taking together.  What fun to have her Mom here to take the classes with her and quilt together!  I know they are both loving it.

Sue H has sections of tumbling blocks that she’s been working on by hand since the hand piecing class she took.  She says it’s a great carry-along project to do on-the-go!  And if she wanted it to be even easier….. she’d use Inklingo to get the stitching lines on the fabric for stitching.  You can read all about that here (this link’s for you, Cindy!)

Betty made this one.  Doesn’t it look snuggly?

And this is the back…… it’s Trash to Treasure fabric!

Judy had some lovely pinwheels with great embroidery to show.

And I took this table topper right off my kitchen table to bring and show the gals.

I also showed this one, but I didn’t make it.  You’ve seen it before when Susan showed it.  When I pulled it out this time, Susan said, “What’s that doing here?”  I tried to convince everyone I had just whipped it up, but they weren’t buying it.  (And I’m stitching the binding for my friend, Susan – that’s why I had it along.)

Jules makes quilts that are just spectacular and way out of the league of some of us in the group.  But we can drool and dream, can’t we?

See?  Jules makes award-winning quilts!

Up close of some of those lighthouses……

Aren’t they great?

And this one was made from leftovers!  That Jules is a wonder!

Madelyn was working on this dresden plate with Kaffe Fassett fabrics……

That will become this big quilt in the book!

Suz showed her little quilt that she is donating to the Silent Auction for our guild Quilt Show in September……

….. and then everyone got in on the act to show all the quilts that Pam and Karen have collected so far for the auction!

Suz also made this fabulous batik quilt from a Bali Pop…..

…. and the quilting was quite wonderful!

Tracie’s show ‘n tell was not a quilt (pay no attention to blurry Pam as she breezed by in the background.  If I had photoshop, I’d brush her right out of the picture.)

What a cutie she is!!!!

Tracie also had this cute little pin cushion that she made to show.

Pam completed the center part of her project for the It’s OK Sampler class that some of us are taking.  Cute churn dash blocks surrounded by a double irish chain.  You should remember the irish chain blocks from the Bloggie Awards the other day.

But Pam was most proud of this little bag that she made with Karen’s help……

….. for her new iPad!!!!  Cindy wants to commission Pam to make one for her.

And now some quick pictures of lunch……..

Beautiful and tasty salads with fresh berries, bleu cheese and a yummy balsamic dressing.

But you needed to see it up close, didn’t you?

Baked chicken with basil cream sauce, rice and fresh green beans – YUMMY!

Excuse me while I go get a snack…….

And this was dessert….. cheesecake and one of those yummy fruit-filled crepes.  Notice I had to take a bite of the cheesecake before I could take the picture.

We were joined by…….

…… Jack   (Hi, Jack!)

And his new friend, Josh.

And I close today with Judy’s new fashion statement……..
 

Yeah, Judy!  You get ’em, girl!

And if you made it all the way to here, picture me right here applauding you!  (My computer may never talk to my camera again.  And you might be happy if that happens!)  I now remember why I posted the Bee last month at Suz’ house in two installments and I will be doing them that way again in the future…. with food in one posting and quilts in another.  Unless, of course, the next one is at my house where I will serve you PB&J sandwiches.  If you’re lucky, I might even grill them for ya!  And that will require only one food picture.

And now I’m off to California Pizza Kitchen to meet an old friend for lunch.  All that food made me very hungry.  And although it won’t be as good as yesterday was, they make a pretty mean Thai Crunch Chicken Salad.  If you haven’t had one, I highly recommend it!  And if you leave right now, I’ll see ya there!  But I guess right now in the blogging world is a relative term, isn’t it?

Happy Friday!
Barb

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Challenges, challenges….

Posted on June 23, 2010 by Barb

First of all – how do you spell frustration? 

This week, I spell it   L-A-P-T-O-P   C-O-M-P-U-T-E-R.   I had a couple days of major frustration with my computer this week.  And knowing you were looking for a blog from me made it even more frustrating.  Seems my computer decided it didn’t want to accept pictures from my camera this week.  And what’s a blog without pictures?  Pretty boring, I would think, with just lots of words from me.  And the very last thing I ever want to be is boring.

So Dear Hubby was the Hero of the Day and since his Mom really likes to see pics of him and she reads the blog religiously and was missing it the last few days……

This is for you, Mom!

A big, smiling, Dear Hubby face!  And he has a fresh haircut too, Mom.  And his beard was trimmed short recently too.  (For the hot Texas summer which is here in full force.)  And the funny part of this picture?  I had to wake him up in his recliner to get it.  He was dozing in the chair in front of the TV.  And he said to me?  “Now I can see why all your friends might start running when they see you with the camera.”  Funny guy, isn’t he?  We’ll see how he reacts when he reads this in the morning………

Boo wasn’t too happy to see the camera again either and decided to just leave his eyes shut for his picture tonight.  Just before I snapped it and he closed his eyes, he had that, “Aw, Mom, not again”  look in his eye.  So I think perhaps the two men in my life just might be happy when the camera and the computer don’t want to talk to each other.  Just sayin’.

So to catch you up with the happenings here….. earlier this week I worked on secret projects.  The JSS Bee does secret projects all the time.  Which isn’t very helpful for blogging.  Unless I can get all the JSS gals to not read the blog for a few days.  Do you think I can trust them?  Probably not.  But I really could use some help with the Brown Bag project for this year.  Maybe I should explain.

Every year in January (at least for the last 3 years) we exchange a brown bag with one yard of fabric in it.  Our instructions are:  1) We can’t show it to any other JSSer and 2) We have to make a quilt top by our December Christmas party.  That’s pretty much all the instruction that we have.  Then we have a big happy exchange of our quilt tops at Christmas and it’s such fun that you almost have to buy tickets to that party.  And it’s very crowded.  All the Moms and friends and sisters want to come to our party.  It’s a big hit!  Judy R and Susan usually have their tops finished by Jan 29th (the day after they received the bag) and I usually have mine finished on December 2nd (the day OF  the party) at about 4:00 a.m.

This year, since I’m blogging, I thought I’d get some help from my loyal readers.  So I’m going to show you my brown bag so you can help me with designing the quilt.  So at this point – all JSSers are instructed to turn their heads and scroll way past the next picture before looking again…… ready JSS gals? Start scrolling…….

Keep scrolling…….no peeking…….

Turn your head…………. and scroll………

Keep scrolling……..(can I trust these gals?)

……………………

……………………………………….

Of course not!  Can’t trust them as far as I can throw them.  You didn’t really think I’d show the fabric here, now did you gals?

But I can show you this fabric…….

This fabric is for another challenge we’ve been doing each year.  Remember the quilts I showed you back on June 1st?  It was the posting entitled “A Special Display of Quilts.”  You can see those quilts and the fabric again by clicking here.  I would love advice for what to make out of this year’s fabric.  But alas, I can’t show you what I’m working on until after the Christmas party!  So along about November 29 – December 2, be expecting lots of blank pictures in the blog.  Because these two projects will be on my design wall.  Perhaps I’ll have photoshop by then and can hide things behind other things and at least give you something to look at.  Because I’m sure by then, Boo and Dear Hubby will not be in the mood to pose for more blog pictures.

Earlier today I failed miserably in the picture department.  A friend (Hi, Brenda!) came over for lunch and I fixed “Summer Stir-Fry” from The Pioneer Woman’s cooking post today.  It was very yummy!  We had a great visit and a fun lunch.  I guess if you want to see pics of the food, you’ll just have to visit PW’s site and see her pics.  Mine looked pretty similar except I added one ingredient.  Close your eyes, Sally!  I added red peppers.  Oh, wait….. I don’t have a picture to show.  So I guess Sally can keep her eyes open this time.  Unless she can’t even stand to read the word “peppers.”  Then she’s in trouble because I’ve already said peppers twice….. make that three times.  Peppers, peppers, peppers.  I love giving Sally a hard time, can you tell?

And tomorrow is Bee Day at Pam’s house.  Yeah!  Lots to blog about when the Bee gets together.  I’ll be snapping pictures right and left.  And word has it that Pam has hired a World Famous Chef to come and cook for us!  OK, maybe it is just a friend who loves to cook and wants to meet Pam’s quilting buds, but maybe someday she’ll be a World Famous Chef.  You never know. And the way I look at it, it’s going to be great to have two Barristas from Starbucks to prepare our lattes for the day.  I plan to arrive early to be first in line for my favorite Cinnamon Dulce Latte.  Maybe I’ll even call along the way so it can be ready when I arrive.  My mouth is already watering just thinking about it. 

But the best part of all is spending the day with the fabulous ladies of the JSS Bee!  I promise a big report with lots of pics afterwards.  Wish you all could be there too!

Hugs,
Barb

Posted in Boo, food, quilts | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Lazy, lazy me…

Posted on June 21, 2010 by Barb

I started to write “Writer’s Block” for the title of this post only that’s really not totally true.  Remember when I told you back on Day One that I thought blogging could take over my life?  Well, does dreaming about blogging and waking up writing blogs in your head constitute “taking over your life?”  Probably so.  The problem today is time. 

Or laziness…. over the weekend I was pretty lazy.  Well, except for all the boring things like laundry and vacuuming, but you don’t want to see pics of that!  And there’s nothing better than a Sunday afternoon nap on the couch.  And waking up to a 16 pound cat laying on your chest.  Aaaahhhhhh, cozy, cozy Boo.

So today I woke up writing blogs in my sleep.  But now I’m off to work.  So you’ll have to stay tuned to see what’s coming.

How’s that for a teaser?

See ya soon,
Barb
P.S.  You might want to check out this recipe today.  Oh, my!  I want some…….now…..

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