Bunny Hill is in the House!

The recent quilt market introduced the newest Bunny Hill block of the month applique quilt pattern, A Woodland Christmas.  Have you seen it?

The Fat Quarter Shop and Shabby Fabrics have already announced sign ups for the block of the month pattern and kit program that begins in November.  I thought about signing up, but I decided the colors aren't really "me"--they feel a little similar to Merry Merry Snowmen (which I haven't finished!) and I didn't want a second quilt that had a similar color "feel."

Instead, I clicked over to Bunny Hill to pay a little virtual visit to Anne, and look what arrived today!

I can't start on it until November though.  Why?  Because one of my friends signed up for the block of the month program and I promised I'd do it with her.  That's okay, though--it gives me time to decide what colors and fabrics I want to use.  It looks like my work on applique projects will continue well into 2014!

A Little Applique Prep

Last night I mentioned I had a couple of projects that were close to completion; this is one of those projects.

Remember when my friends and I--there were four of us--did the Bunny Hill Autumn House quilt as a block of the month project last year?  Between us, we already owned or were able to acquire nearly all of the "original" fabrics.  The four of us met once a month to pool our stash and cut the kits.  We had a lot of fun doing that and I think we've all finished--or nearly finished--our quilts.  Well, I'd finished the main part of the quilt but I set it aside for something else that seemed either urgent or more interesting at a time when all that remained to be completed was the border applique.

And it's not like there was a lot of border applique either.  Just a couple of birds and leaves along the top border.

Well, I finally prepped the applique for that border.  Now it's ready for me to work on whenever I'm away from my sewing machine and am in the mood for a little hand work.  Before long, I'll be able to add the borders to Autumn House.

I always find the time after Easter and before fall is the best and most productive time for me to finish the things I've started throughout the year.  How about you?  Is there a "quilt season"?

Almost Done . . .

I've almost finished the patriotic star quilt, but not quite--I still have to stitch down the binding.

I thought I'd "save" the binding, though, for the next time Hubby and I take a little road trip--we have one coming up before long and binding a smallish quilt in the car is very do-able.

When I first added the red and yellow sashing, I thought it might be overpowering, but I quickly decided I like the secondary patterns that are formed with the contrasting colors.

So now what?  What's next?  Perhaps I should piece this month's Schnibbles quilt, but I think I might try to get some applique done instead--I have several projects in progress that really don't need all that much to be completed.  And applique is another good road trip project.  I guess it will all depend on what I'm in the mood to do when I get home from work tomorrow night!

May I Make a Suggestion?

I lit another chicken on fire tonight and it was delicious!  I think the first one was better though, but I used more rosemary with that one.  Hubby prepared this one and he tried putting some of the rosemary sprigs/branches on top of the chicken, which kind of led to more ashes on the bird than the first time.  Not quite so nice, but the ashes wiped off easily enough.

Anyway, I think the cooking fun got me thinking about another dish I made the other day worth sharing--well, maybe I wouldn't want to LITERALLY share the food with you because I want it all for myself (and maybe a little for Hubby) but I don't mind sharing photos and a recipe link.  What is it?  French toast.  But really GOOD French toast.  Trust me.

Upside Down Apple French Toast with Pecans and Cranberries to be exact--Tyler Florence's recipe.  Yum!  Really, the only thing we didn't already have on hand was the Challah bread, and I'd purchased that at Trader Joe's the other day, thinking I'd seen a french toast recipe on some cooking show I might want to make over the weekend.

Memorial Day is coming up soon.  You might need to have some upscale french toast to help celebrate the long weekend.

Two things about the recipe though:  (1) unless you're a professional chef, it's probably going to take more than the 5 minutes prep time the recipe says so plan accordingly, and (2) unless you have an assistant chef or you're an incredibly talented octopus, I don't think it's really possible to stir the caramel sauce constantly while peeling and coring apples.  So do the apples first; the sugar and butter turns to caramel sauce pretty quickly and then you're ready to put it all together so it's good to have the apples ready.

Happy eating!

Pins, Pins Everywhere!

It may just be my imagination, but it seems like my scrap basket is becoming a bit more tame.  What do you think?

As I've finished a few projects here and there, I've added more scraps to it too, so I think I'm doing pretty well.  Of course, there's still a pull out drawer of scraps that I haven't touched--these are just the ones I pulled out of the drawer to start with because I thought the "mood" of the fabrics and colors played well together.

Besides making my weekly alotment of scrap blocks, I did a little pin basting on Sunday.  When I began, my pin box was jam packed with pins.

Some years ago, I found wooden boxes on clearance at Barnes and Noble's so I bought two of them--I've used one as a pin box ever since.  One of the quilts I pinned was the Country Cottages quilt. 

I was thinking, as a goal, about trying to quilt one of the house blocks each evening.  Maybe I'll do that, or maybe not--I'll have to think about it.  In the meantime, the other quilt I pinned and HAVE started quilting is the one I'm making with the blue and white star blocks.  I'll show you more when I finish.

Oh, and Mr. Stitch wanted to say "hi."

Or maybe he wanted to say "turn that camera off and feed me NOW."  Hard to say.  Either way, I've carried out his wishes.

Such Big Plans!

As this weekend approached, I kept thinking about the projects I wanted to work on and I had SUCH big plans to get things done!  So far, though, I played around with the little patriotic star tabletopper I started last weekend.  I sure don't feel like I've gotten very far on my plans--at least not as far as I thought I would.  Of course, in my mind I thought I'd probably finish a couple quilt tops.  How unrealistic is that?!  Sheesh!  Oh, well, at least I'm pleased with what I've done so far.  I'll probably have the project I've been working on ready to show you tomorrow or the next day.  In the meantime, here are my scrappy blocks for this week:

That pink and red block is a little crazy, isn't it?  And I guess I must have been feeling a little green when I made the others.

With the addition of these four blocks, I'm officially half way to having the blocks I need.  Just as a reminder, I'm working on the Kim Diehl pattern, Pie in the Sky, from her book Simple Graces.  Don't forget to link up on yesterday's post if you have a scrappy project to show us.  Happy scrapping!

Time for Sign Ups Again!

Thank you for the input about Alaska cruises--it's really helped Hubby and me tremendously in coming to a decision.  It looks like we'll be giving it a try.  What I didn't mention last night is that the cruise was booked for us through my office.  Since the firm first started, they've given their employees a vacation trip of some sort when the employees reach their 10-year anniversary.  In the past few years, some of the firm's employees have hit their 20-year anniversaries, and the partners decided to add a 20-year trip bonus.  I'm one of those 20-year employees and we were offered four or five different trip options.  The Alaska cruise sounded like the best idea to us and here's why:  Hubby's idea of a great vacation is to drive somewhere and enjoy the scenery from the car, stopping occasionally for food and to check out a museum or a shop.  So a cruise sounded much the same except he wouldn't need to keep his foot on the gas pedal!  When we learned, though, that there were no cabins available with views, we worried it would make a big difference to our enjoyment of the trip; it's good to know there are plenty of other public areas on board that are quiet, temperature-controlled, and have views.  Whether we're cruise people or not, I suppose we'll find out, but I guess we can't know until we try it.

Now, it's time again to sign up for Scrap Basket Sunday.  If you have a scrap project to show on your blog, please add your name and blog link to the Mister Linky list below.  Only sign up ahead of time if you know you'll be posting something on Sunday, or you can wait to sign up until you've posted your scrap project.

So Let Me Ask You This . . .

I have a question tonight I want to ask those of you with a lot of experience vacationing aboard cruise ships.  I know nothing about cruises and I'm in a bit of a quandry so I need some input.  First, though, the pattern giveaway!  The winner is . . . Brenda!  Brenda said, "Please enter me in your drawing. Looks like a great scrap pattern."  Brenda, please email me your address and I'll get it mailed out to you.

Now the cruise thing.  Here's the scenario:  Hubby and I have an opportunity to cruise to Alaska--a 7 day cruise.  Hubby is wheelchair bound.  He has circulation problems that mean he's probably not going to be able to hang around on deck for very long without getting cold, unless it's particularly warm out and I'm not sure about Alaska and being out on the ocean, even in the summer.  When he's in large rooms filled with a lot of noise--voices, clatter, etc.--his ears hurt.  We don't really gamble much or drink much.  Given all of these things, my assumption is that we'll be spending more time in our cabin than the typical cruise passengers.  I thought that would work out fine and we'd have a wonderful vacation anyway if we could get a room with a balcony or some type of view, but the closest we can get is an obscured ocean view (actually a very nice view of a lifeboat).  The idea of spending a lot of time for a week in a little room with not much to look at sounds kind of depressing, and as Hubby said tonight, the days when we'd be content playing strip backgammon for hours are long since past.

So maybe the problem is that I just don't know what there is for us to do on a cruise and I'm expecting the worst.  Or maybe my concerns are valid and we should make some other vacation plans.  What has your experience been?  Please feel free to email me rather than leave a comment if you'd prefer.  I appreciate your input--I know that putting my question out to all of you is certain to give me the feedback I need to make a decision.  Thanks!

A Patriotic Little Project

Remember the mini patriotic wallhanging I made the other day using a rejected star block?  I quilted it tonight and hung it in one of those metal table frames.

The star block was made with flying geese blocks that measured 2-1/2" x 1-1/2"; the center square was cut at 2-1/2"; and the corner squares were cut at 1-1/2"--just in case you want to make one too.  The star block then measured 4-1/2".  I cut the red and white strips 1-1/2" wide; the top four strips were cut 4-1/2" long; the bottom three strips were cut 8-1/2" long.  There you go:  a flag!

After that, I cut the yellow border pieces 1-1/4" wide, and the outside border was cut at 2" and trimmed a little after quilting.  I have a couple alternative border ideas in mind; I think I need to make a little hanging for The Wild Child, so if I try something different, I'll be sure to share.  Happy stitching!

A Scrappy Little Freebie

I was visiting Renee Nanneman's online shop, Need'l Love, sometime last week and felt I needed to place an order for a few goodies--I love her fabrics, the Threads books, and the patterns she carries.  AND she has some good bargains too!  When my order arrived, I found she was kind enough to send along a free pattern, Rose Maison, and I thought I should pass it on to one of you.  I think this would be a very good candidate for a scrappy quilt, don't you?

If you're not too challenged by all those pinwheel points and would like a chance to win this pattern, just leave me a comment telling me you want to be entered into the drawing, and I'll draw a winner Thursday evening--come back on Friday to see if your name was picked!  Wouldn't this quilt look stunning with black as the background color and lighter/brighter scraps?  Kind of Amish-ish?

Speaking of black, let me show you what I found--and purchased--over at Need'l Love.  You know I'm a sucker for all things Halloween, right?  I'm looking forward to making this one before long.  Halloween is less than six months away--can you believe it?!

I also purchased a small bundle of black fat quarters--she has some great bundles.  If you hop over there--and you can do that by clicking on the shop name in the first sentence--check out the special offer near the top of the page to the right.  This week it's the Strawberry Threads book for only $10.  I have the book and there are some fun projects--you can see photos of them right there on the website.  So many projects, so little time!