Staying Busy

While trying to keep my hands and mind busy between doctor appointments, I did manage some progress on my postage stamp quilt.

I completed the sub-cutting of the strips on Tuesday evening.  Whew!  My rotary cutter was smokin’.

Then yesterday morning I pieced together six of the forty-eight blocks that will make up this quilt.

I just love the colors in both these lines of fabric and am hoping to make a dent in the mountain of remaining strips today.  It is turning out to be not so daunting a task as I initially thought it was going to be.  Actually, I love piecing squares together, especially where precision is involved.

When making a cup of tea last evening, it occurred to me that I never shared with you these lovely gifts that were sent to me by Elzaan, all the way from Mauritius.  Both Mr. Painted Quilt and I like our tea so the two varieties of tea and mug rug were very much appreciated.   The sheep softie fit in quite nicely with the rest of my flock.

Thanks again, Elzaan and please forgive my oversight.  The tea was delicious!

Candace and I have enjoyed an on line friendship almost since I first started blogging close to three years ago.  Just recently she shared  with us her finished Winter Wonderland quilt which you can see and drool over here.

I love all of Crabapple Hill’s designs but this one really caught my eye when I first saw it a couple of years ago.  Redwork and pieced blocks…does it get any better than that?

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Well look what showed up in my mail box just the other day!  Not only did Candace send me the pattern but she also included some red and white fabric to get me started and the remnants of the two-strand Aurifil  thread that she used for the stitching part of her quilt.

I was fascinated by the thread so I had to try it out straight away.  Two strands of thread come off the spool together which eliminates the step of having to divide strands.  The weight and performance of the Aurifil is divine and...

It was L-O-V-E at first stitch! 

I immediately sent an email off to Candace to ask her about on line sources which she gladly shared with me.  

Laura at LC’s Cottage was a pleasure to deal with and my order should be winging it’s way to me as I write this.  Not only did I place an order for 2 spools of the redwork thread but I also purchased an additional two spools of the black…just in case there’s a blackwork design in the offing.  *wink*

Thanks again, my friend!

Treat yourself to an early Christmas present.  You won’t be disappointed!

P.S.  Is anyone else having a problem getting used to the changeover to Daylight Saving Time?  I am wide awake at 4 a.m.  Perhaps we should have a virtual stitching party?    *yawn*

Monday Musings

I know I said that I would focus on smaller or mini quilts for the next little while but yesterday, these two jelly rolls finally got the better of me.  I gave into temptation and started a full-sized postage stamp quilt.

Way back in March, I saw this post on Carol’s blog and ever since then, the quilting gremlins have been gnawing at my inner conscience, insisting that I make one too.

I couldn’t hold off any longer and yesterday, I pieced together sixteen strip sets, using every strip in both jelly rolls.  The two I used were “Summer’s End” by Kansas Troubles and “Primitive Muslin” by Primitive Gatherings.  Both compliment each other really well.

Tonight I’ll begin the sub-cutting which will probably take me forever…never mind the piecing!

To digress a little, not too long after I graduated from university, I took my first of many trips to Britain.  That was back in the Dark Ages when you could do Europe and the British Isles on $5 a day.  Remember that book?  It was my travel bible.

Having just graduated and not having too much money, I stayed at B & B’s and ate lunch in the local pubs.  It was then that I had my first taste of Cornish pasties and I can assure you, it was not my last.  I can taste the pub pasties now, washed down with a half lager.  Mmmmmmm.

The photo below shows how individual pasties are usually served.  I took the liberty of ‘borrowing’ this photo from the internet.

I used to make individual pasties but they took forever.   All the rolling and cutting of the pastry made it an all day affair.  One day I got the idea to make an entire pie rather than individual ones.

I haven’t made pastie pie in a long time and when Mr. Painted Quilt asked me to make one for dinner tonight, I thought I’d share the recipe with you.  It is ever so easy to make and I promise you that once you give it a taste, it’ll become a favorite in your household too.

First, I gathered all the ingredients.

While the ground beef was browning…

I chopped the onions,

potatoes

and carrots.

The ground beef was then drained.

Next, the carrots, onions and potatoes were sautéed in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil…just until the onions became translucent.

I then placed everything…including the remaining ingredients…into a large bowl…

and stirred until combined.

I then spooned the filling into two uncooked pie shells…

and covered each with the top crust.

I made two pies and froze one before cooking.  These are great to have on hand just in case friends drop over unexpectedly and you need something quick and easy for lunch or dinner. 

An hour later and it was done!   Tonight’s dinner will be Cornish pastie pie with a side salad.  Mmmmm, mmmmm good!

Here’s the recipe.  Easy-peasy and oh so yummy!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Cornish Pastie Pie  (makes one pie)

1 lb. extra lean ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and diced

2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tin cream of mushroom soup

1 tsp ground sage

salt and pepper to taste

2 unbaked pie crusts

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~

Brown the ground beef in a skillet.  While the beef is cooking, prepare the carrots, onions and potatoes.  When cooked, drain the ground beef.

Sauté the vegetables in the olive oil for about five minutes or until the onions become translucent. 

Transfer  everything including all the remaining ingredients into a large bowl and stir until thoroughly combined.

Spoon the mixture into an unbaked pie crust then top with the second pie crust.  Prick some holes into the top crust with a fork to allow the steam to escape.  Bake at 350 F for one hour or until the pie crust is a golden brown.

Note: If you’d like to make two pies at the same time as I did, just double the ingredients.  Also, if you’d like to add more veggies, go right ahead.  I usually add more carrots and potatoes just because we both like them.  Some pasties that I’ve tasted had peas in them as well but I find that they tend to get a little mushy and prefer not to add them.

I’m off to make the salad now and dinner will be good to go.   Then it’s back to the studio to begin the sub-cutting of all the strips.  

I’m tired just thinking of it!

First Friday Freebie #22

Can you believe it’s November already?  Where does the time go?

I finished this month’s First Friday Freebie this past Sunday, a couple of minutes before the lights went out.  We were hit with a wicked nor’easter, the same storm that brought 12” and more of snow to the New  England states.  Thank goodness the moisture that we experienced was in the form of large amounts of driving rain and 65+ mph winds rather than snow.  We lost power for 20 hours and that amount of time without heat or lights seemed like an eternity.

With the Holiday season just around the corner, I decided upon a seasonal design for this month’s FFF which I called Homespun Holidays.

The table topper, mini quilt or wall hanging finishes at approximately 22” square.  It is stitched in the traditional redwork style and is hand quilted.   It worked up relatively quickly and I think that it would make a great gift for a special friend or relative.

Here’s a closer look at the main design which features a festively adorned Canada goose perched on a quilt on top of a mantel, surrounded by a wreath of holly and berries.

I had forgotten about this Victorian toile fabric that I purchased a couple of years ago until I looked in my bin marked “Christmas fabric” and found it neatly folded with the rest of my seasonal fabrics .   Doesn’t it make a perfect backing for this design?

To download the PDF file which includes the instructions, photo and line drawings, please click HERE. 

Thanks for stopping by and as always…

Happy stitching!

Y’All are the greatest!

I’ve landed safely back on earth after floating amongst the clouds for the past week since receiving my ‘comfort quilts’ from Allie and her world-wide posse.  *wink*

They’ve certainly come in handy over the past couple of evenings when the thermometer dipped to almost freezing overnight here in paradise.  My heartfelt thanks again to everyone for thinking about me during these stressful times.

The gal who delivers our mail has been busy lately.  Allow me to share with you some of the many gifts that have found their way here from across the world…literally!

I received some wonderful goodies from Linda who lives in France.

Can you spot the little thimble on the shelf in my studio pictured below?   I’ve tried to highlight it for you.

It is a wooden thimble with a carved replica of the chateau in the town where Linda resides.  How cool is that?

Doesn’t it look right at home with the rest of my sewing memorabilia?

Also included in the package was a sachet that Linda made filled with French lavender which I hung from the door handle to the storage area under the dormer, also in my studio.

Every time I enter, the heavenly aroma of lavender fills the air.

Thank you again, Linda for your wonderful gifts.

You all seem to know me so well.

Stephanie sent me a teeny-tiny pieced log cabin key chain, a Civil War charm pack with 21/2” squares, a hexagon template from Miller’s, a well-known quilt shop in Ohio Amish country and a pattern with three hens representing Rhoda, Ruby and Roxanne…our Rhode Island Red hens…of course!

Perhaps I’ll make a mini quilt using this pattern and allow the ladies to share it in their coop over the winter.  *wink*

Stephanie’s message says it all.  Thanks again, my friend.

My friend Edie (no blog) and I connected quite a while ago and she too knows me very well.  I was so excited when I received this package from her because I just knew it too had to be something wonderful.

I certainly was NOT disappointed!

Don’t you just love this hand made pincushion made from from the softest wool imaginable?  And the pumpkin design?  It doesn’t get much better than this!

You’ve made my heart sing again, Edie.  ♥ ♥ ♥

When this surprise arrived, I was completely taken aback.  Ady from Israel (no blog) knows that I ♥ needle cases. 

The needle case was made using Indonesian batiks which are simply gorgeous. Now I just have to figure out what to make from the fabric samples that Ady included…and it has to be something special, that’s for sure!

Thanks again, Ady!

A short while ago, Kathie was giving away a copy of the “Sew Scrappy” magazine.   I had searched for a copy on our local newsstands but I couldn’t find one anywhere.  How fortunate was I to be chosen as the L-U-C-K-Y winner?

I already congratulated Kathie for making the cover…yep, that’s her scrappy hourglass quilt happily staring back at us…and I’ve decided that my next quilting endeavor is also going to be a scrappy hourglass quilt.

Thanks for the ‘inspiration’, Kathie. (Kathie’s blog is called, “Inspired by Antique Quilts.”)

Slowly but surely I am making progress on my ‘hit-and-miss’ hooked rug.  I’ve only been working on it at our Tuesday hook-ins and haven’t worked on it at all at home.  

So many projects and so little time! 

I’ve always been an early riser but take a guess at what I was doing at 6:00 this morning? 

Doesn’t everyone make chicken soup at that time? 

By 7:37 a.m. (see the clock on the stove?), lunch was ready.

Can you guess what Mr. Painted Quilt had for breakfast?

You guessed it!    (If he reads this he is going to kill me.)

But I put my foot down when it came to Stephanie’s Sour Cream Apple Squares.  I told him that he had to wait at least until lunch time before diving into these.

And just to tease you a little, isn’t this Victorian Christmas toile fabric awesome?  This is the back of my next FFF (First Friday Freebie) which will be released next Friday, the 4th of November.

Now that lunch and dessert are made, you know what I’ll be working on this afternoon.  Next Friday will be here before we know it.

Have a wonderful day!