I have been working on Quiltmaker’s (and Bonnie Hunter’s) Christmas Lights Quilt over the last few months. It was a mystery quilt which made it lots of fun. Gracie is giving you a sneak peak of mine…..Hopefully I will get it on the frame tonight and get it quilted.Â
You can learn more about this quilt at Quiltmaker and you can see other finished Christmas Lights quilts at Flickr.
It’s no secret, my family loves desserts. Most popular at our house is undoubtably cake. This works great because I have a fascination with making Bundt cakes. Rarely do I ever make a cake in a standard cake pan. I am not sure why…but I think it’s because I have a special memory of growning up and making Bundt cakes with my mom.
Imagine my joy when I found out that the Food Librarian was featuring 30 days of Bundt cake recipes! Since I discovered the Food Librarian’s blog two weeks ago, our family has been enjoying all sorts of new Bundt cake recipes. Pictured is Apple Cinnamon Bundt Cake. We also tried the Peanut Butter and Jelly Swirl Bundt, Banana Chocolate Marble and the Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt. All of them were to die for. In fact, I can say they are the best tasting cakes I’ve ever had.Â
We even improvised the Peanut Butter and Jelly Swirl Bundt by leaving out the jelly and putting milk chocolate chips in. Then we drizzled a chocolate frosting….oh it was wonderful…tasting a lot like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
I am still searching for a Bundt chocolate cake with a tunnel of coconut in the center. That’s the one my mom made. I am guessing her’s came from a box mix…but I am confident that if I keep searching I’ll find a recipe from scratch.
Over the weekend, I finished up my second Nine Patch Quilt Along. A while ago, Amanda Jean from Crazy Mom Quilts, sent out the challenge for everyone to make a second quilt. I loved my first one…so I accepted the challenge and made another.
This time, I added the last outside white border which I didn’t do last time. This time I quilted it using an all over design.
I am planning to donate this quilt for our kids’ mission trip fundraiser.Â
About a week ago, my daughter Kelli and I went to the Alco store that is about an hour away. We found out that they have fabric for $3.99 a yard. We were skeptical about the quality of fabric but were pleasantly surprised. The backing fabric for this quilt is from Judie Rothermel’s Charleston line and was only $3.99 per yard!!Â
All of the fabric at Alco is flat fold fabric. The disadvantage is that the largest piece of fabric is only 5 yards long. This piece was only four yards but I used the left over blocks to make large enough for the back. What a steal though…$16 for a quilt back…..WOW!!   I ended up purchasing fabric for several backs and some other pieces too. They had a lot of Civil War Reproduction fabrics and that is very appealing to me. I even found some fabric that was 108″ for $3.99 a yard and bought muslin for fifty cents a yard. I’ll use that for the back of wall hangings. It was a great trip. I LOVE a good bargain.
There are Alco stores throughout the central United States but not all carry fabric. If you are planning a trip, you might want to stop at an Alco and take advantage of the great fabric deals. I would suggest calling ahead to see if your Alco handles fabric and prepare yourself to dig around to find the great deals.
This quilt makes it my second finished project for the Joy in the New Year Challenge! Ya-Hoo!!
Being I confessed part of my “sins” yesterday, I thought I would confess another today.Â
I am addicted to the Missouri Star Quilt Company’s Deal of Day. Today, that is a good thing because They are giving away a FREE Snippets by American Jane Turnover!
WOW!! I haven’t been a turnover fan…I have never tried turnovers partly because I just don’t like triangles…partly because I have yet to find a pattern that has convinced me to try them. If you go over to Missouri Star Quilt Company to snag your own FREE daily deal, check out the tutorials. The stack and whack one is my favorite. Wouldn’t that make an awesome donation project or a quick easy baby quilt? ….I know, I know, I am supposed to be working on my UFO  Joy in the New Year Challenge….I promise…I will finish at least one more item on my list this weekend.
