Remember the Twister quilt I was working on last week….
Well….here’s its’ baby sister.

I took all the scraps from the large one and cut them to be 4.5″ square.  Then I sewed them together and added 3.5″ borders. 

I put the mini version of the ruler on the intersection just like before.  I cut around around the ruler then assembled the pieces back together. 

I am hoping to get both of them in the quilting machine soon, but life seems to be plotting against me and not letting me sew much lately.

If you want more information about how this Twister quilt began check back to this entry….  I am off to try to get the quilt in the machine before everyone starts wondering what is for supper.

It’s no secret, I LOVE blogs.  I like to see what other people try, projects their working on, and witness talents they have.  Lately I’ve read a couple that inspired me to make this…

Wondering what the “white stuff” is?  It’s yogurt.  Yes, yogurt.   I got the recipe over at Frugal Girl.  I never imagined I’d be making yogurt.  I followed the directions and it’s SUPER easy….and the vanilla version is tasty.  This batch was made with one percent milk and 1/2 cup sugar.  I plan to try to make it with splenda and fruit and see where that takes me.  My mom made yogurt when I was a kid but it always seemed like a huge undertaking.  This was a sinch.

I took my yogurt and started making a yogurt/oatmeal concoction for breakfast that is WONDERFUL….that recipe is over at Iowa Girl Eats.  It’s my new favorite breakfast.  Scroll down the entry to find the recipe.

I’ve also tried some awesome bread from Just Another Hang Up.

I made these yummy bars from jam that I had made over the summer.   I was the biggest jam eater in the family and now that I am watching my weight, it’s not getting used.  This bar recipe is perfect for using it up. 

I TOTALLY apologize to the blogger that posted this recipe….I can’t find the blog again….but here’s the recipe.

Jam Crumble Bars

Crumb Mixture:
1 1/4 c flour
1 1/4 c quick cooking oatmeal
1/2 c sugar
3/4 c margarine softened
1/2 t baking soda
2 t vanilla

Filling 1-10 oz. jar of preserves…use any flavor

Heat oven to 350 degrees.   Mix the crumb ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Save 1 cup for the topping and press the rest into a 9 x 13 pan.  Spread the preserves over the crumb mixture in the pan.  If you keep the preserves a bit away from the edge of the pan, it will be less likely to stick.  Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over the top.  Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool and cut into bars.

My goal has been to use up everything I presserved last year so we’ve been enjoying apple crisp, rhubbarb pie and salsa….with this recipe, I can use up the remaining jam. 

Now I am on a hunt to find recipes to use the applesauce I canned, any ideas?

I just found a blog, Mennonite Girls Can Cook.  I can’t decide which recipe to try first…there are SO many good looking ones.   My hubby thinks he needs to shed a few pounds and has politely requested I bake a few less sweets.  So, I think I am going on a bread baking adventure.

What have blogs inspired you to try?  Recipes, quilting projects, decorating ideas….

I just finished my block for the jelly roll quilt-a-long.   Here’s it is…

I am using a Swanky jelly roll that was sitting in my drawer waiting for inspiration.  I coupled it with a Moda marble fabric.

Do you want to join?  Check out Moose on the Porch for more details.  There is a Flickr group that you can visit and see everyone’s blocks.    A new block will be posted every other Monday through August.  I am hoping to get this quilt finished in time to donate to our music booster raffle in November.

In a previous post, I mentioned that I sometimes purchase notions or quilting tools, only to have them sit in the drawer and never use.  After watching a tutorial at Missouri Star Quilt Company featuring the binding tool, I was willing to chance the purchase with the hope that a binding tool might make my binding look a little better and WOW….does it ever.

Here’s a few photos to give you an idea.  I put two pins in along the side of my quilt that are 12″ apart. 

I cut my binding strips and sewed them together.  I folded the strip in half and sewed it to the quilt, starting at one pin and stopping at the last pin…making sure I allowed 10″ extra on each side.

Using the directions on the tool and watching Missouri Star Company’s tutorial again, I cut the binding and sewed the pieces together. 

I pinned the cut ends in place and sewed.

I turned the binding strips over and sewed them in place.  I honestly, can’t tell where the binding was spliced together…

It was SIMPLE and easy and well worth the cost of $8.95.  Head on over to Missouri Star and watch the tutorial on the binding tool.  I am warning you, Missouri Star has lots of tutorials that I LOVE!  They are quick and fun.   You might find yourself watching several of the videos.

Just to let you know how much I LOVE the binding tool…I am storing it with my rulers because I plan on using it a lot….No back of the drawer storage for this quilting  jewel.

Here is my February Schnibble, Sunday Best.

Mine is made from my scrap basket of 30’s prints, some leftover white fabric from a different project and a piece of fabric from Goodwill on the back!  I think the person who donated the fabric intended to make pink curtains but never finished them….so the would be curtains became a cheap back for my Schnibble.  I added some strips to the back to make my fabric go a little bit further.  I am hoping that I will be able to get another small back out of the same pink fabric. 

I didn’t cut my borders in half as the pattern suggested.  I am donating this quilt to our church youth group for their upcoming silent auction to raise  money for their mission trip.  I thought a baby quilt might sell better than a wall hanging so I needed it just a touch bigger.  I also set my blocks in the barn raising pattern rather than circles.  All in all, I am very happy with it.

I just did a meandering type pattern with hearts for my quilting scheme…It shows up wonderfully on the back of the quilt.

It’s all bound and finished, waiting for it’s debute at the big Schnibble parade hosted by A Quilting Life and Pink Pinchusion.  Head on over there on the 1st of the March to see the parade of Sunday Best Schnibbles.

STOP RIGHT THERE.
Did you notice the changes?  Look along the left hand side.  I added two new pages, Quilts of 2009 and Quilts of 2010.  Give them a click and check out my finishes.  Check out the right hand side….there are pictures of projects I am working on that I hope to move over to the Quilts of 2010 page.  Honestly, I am working on more projects than that….I just haven’t told you all about them yet. 

On another note….Last week I asked you help to locate more of these dishes….

Well…good news….I got an email from pal of mine and she told me about Replacements, Ltd.  If you love the pattern of dinnerware you have but need replacement parts, check it out.  They have a bizzillion different patterns from different companies.  They don’t have my pattern right now, but at least we identified the pattern.  They also put me on a list and will notify whenever they get pieces in.  I am keeping my fingers crossed…

Now I am off to sew….seeing all those photos of works in progress has really inspired me!

Inquiring minds want to know….What is the pattern of the chicken table topper that was under my dishes in the post yesterday?  Rather than answer each individual email, I thought I would just do a post about it.

The pattern is from Suzanne’s Art House entitled Circle of Hens.  If you go to the pattern section, scroll towards the bottom of the page and it will be there.  The table mat is 27″ x 27″.  The picture on the front of the pattern isn’t the best but the instructions were easy to follow and well written.  There are other wall hangings and table runners in the pattern too.

I made mine about five years ago and it’s been gracing my dining room table much of the time since.  I love log cabins blocks and this little topper has several in it.  It’s a fun way to use up a few scraps. 

If you know a chicken lover….it just might be a pattern you want to check out.

It’s no secret.  I LOVE Goodwill.  I LOVE second hand shopping…but, sometimes, it can come back and haunt me. I have been shopping for new dishes, not at Goodwill, but in actual stores.  Nothing has really “tripped my trigger” unitl I saw these.

 I’ve thought about Fiesta wear….but then I would have to decide which colors….I’ve contemplated many patterns, brands and styles.  But, where do I find something I LOVE?  Goodwill.  Of course, there aren’t enough….so now I am on a hunt for more.  The bottom only says…Gibson….I’ve been googling, ebaying, and the like but, I can’t identify them, therefore, I can’t find more.  Any chance anyone knows the pattern or know where I can find more?

I came home from my applique class yesterday with the assignment of making my bias stems and having my applique pieces all positioned by the time I go back to class next Tuesday.  As I was trying to get the stems ironed in place, I vaguely remembered a purchase I “had to have” about five years ago.   I started digging and look what I found in the bottom of my drawer…

… Press Bars.  I had been to demo class and had seen how easily the gal demonstrated making applique stems so I bought a pack….did I applique?  No.  … but just in case I ever decided to applique, I would need them.  So, I bought them.  Did I ever use them….NO.  During the past five years, I almost gave them to Goodwill two different times…but didn’t.

Well, I am proud to say, I finally, after five years, used my press bars….and they are WONDERFUL!!  Here’s how they work.

To make 1/2 ” bias stems cut a piece of fabric on the bias that is 1 1/2″ wide (it must be cut on the the bias to make applique stems that can curve).  Sew a scant 1/4″ seam allowance with the WRONG sides of the fabric together.

Trim the seam allowance to 1/8″.    (Dig through your drawer and find your pressing bars that you bought 5 years ago and forgot you had) Slide the 1/2″ bar into the fabric tube, positioning the seam to the middle and press.  Continuing pressing both sides. 

Slide the pressing bar out.  Press again and Wa-La…you have an applique stem.  It’s all beautifully even and ready to go.

Check out my progress…..

I’m just starting to get the pieces positioned….
I am beginning to think I just might be able to applique!  The technique they are teaching in my class is really very “do-able”.  I’ll tell you more about it next week.

But for now I am wondering what other “well intentioned purchases” that I ”had to have” are sitting in the bottom of my drawer….I seem to remember a tailor tack foot for my Bernina…now what was that for?

When it comes to quilting, I am a piecer.  I am not a paper piecer.  I am not a hand quilter.  I am not an applique girl until this…

I know, you are looking at this photo saying, “but Jo, there is not any applique”.  You are right.  There isn’t any, YET.  I am taking a class today to learn how! 

Another thing I am not, is a gal who takes classes….so this is a real step out of my comfort zone.  My New Years challenge for myself was to try something more difficult, or to learn something I didn’t know how to do….well, when the local quilt shop offered an applique class, I signed up.

This is going to be the Five Cent Fairy Garden Candle Mat in Kim Deihl’s book Simple Blessings (thanks, Judy for giving me the book.  I am finally making something in it!)  She suggests using plaids but I am going with my Civil War reproduction scraps.   

While I was signing up for the class, I saw that they are also offering a hand quilting class on Thursday night…guess what I did?  I signed up for it too.  Two classes in one week, I will be totally out of my comfort zone…doing something I don’t know how to do…in a classroom situation, what was I thinking?  I like my comfort zone!  …But I strive to be a life long learner so here I go into the world of applique and hand quilting.

Are you a life long learner?  Is there something you would like to learn to do?  Join me and make 2010 your year to try something new…we just might be surprised and like it…I hope so because this is REALLY out of my comfort zone.  I’ll keep you posted.

Oh, and did I tell you, I started a paper piecing project?  At least that I am doing in the comfort of my home.  I better stop all of this or pretty soon I won’t even recognize myself.