Tea, A Drink With Jam and Bread

In a previous post, I talked about a special quilt. It is for my sister, who doesn't read this blog. So I can share it here with you. She collects teacups. She has quite a few and they are lovely. After doing the Penny Sampler Quilt last year, I got the idea to make a small wall hanging of the paper pieced tea cup in 9 variations for her. I started it, with the intention of Christmas. This week, I finished the top.

The tea cups finish at 6.5 inches and I added the sashing to spread them out a bit so each could shine on its own. I decided it needed a pop of color, so I added the cornerstones in the white dot on red. I need to come up with a back, but I think I know how to quilt this. I will wait until it's done to choose a binding.
Here are close ups of the individual tea cups:

I am very please with the outcome. I know she will love it. Have a great rest of your week friends. Talk to you soon.

Last Week of August

So here it is, the last week of August. Summer sure flew by. I have gotten more sewing time than I thought I would, but haven't documented so much of it here. I participated in two SALs this summer, the Kingfisher Quilt SAL and the 100 Blocks 100 Days 2018 on instagram. That one is still going on as a matter of fact.

                    My Kingfisher went from this...

To this...

            And yesterday finally, to this...and I am so happy to be finally quilting it. I cannot wait until it is done and ready to use. I figured out a straight line quilting arrangement that I think will work nicely.

And I now have seven of the Firefly blocks done for this quilt. The deep colors of the fabrics are so different for me to work with. I am amazed every time I look at it.

 And finally there are these little bits of color. I had several mini charm packs lying about with nowhere to go. I didn't want to just toss them into the bin with my 2.5 inch scraps, so I finally came up with an arrangement for them.

 I hand quilted each of them. They were not all made at the same time, in fact, this one was the first one and done a couple of years ago. I embroidered a tiny heart in the one block. Then, when I found the other charm packs, I decided to make more of these.

I hang them, in turns, on my bedroom door for a little pop of color. I have one more charm pack left and it is a Christmas line by Kate Spain, I think. That one is up soon, to be ready to hang up after Thanksgiving. What do you do with your mini charm packs?

Happy Tuesday. Talk to you soon.

Pan Dulce

When I was little, and my grandmother lived with us, she would sometimes make pan dulce. It was a recipe I believe she got from her mother. My great grandmother was Mexican. My grandmother and my Great aunts would all make their version of this recipe. For my siblings and I, this was one of the many expressions of our grandmother's love for us.

 My grandmother always made this by hand, never using an electric mixer, so I do it that way too.

 I make this whenever I feel like I want some, but also, whenever someone in my family needs it.

And by that, I mean that they need a little bit of Granny's family love medicine.

Making bread of any kind is therapeutic for the maker. The kneading of the dough and in this case, the sweet, yeasty and cinnamon smell.

 Recently my youngest sister had a need and she was coming to visit us, so I made Granny's recipe. Since she was here with us, I was able to give her hugs in person as well, but the crowning touch was this beautiful bread, baked with love.

And my whole family enjoyed it as well. Do you have a family recipe that is the ultimate comfort and love food for you? Do you ever just make it to relive the memories?
Have a lovely Sunday. Talk to you soon.

Have You Missed Me?

I have had so many guests here and there was only a little sewing going on. I have been thinking of what to post about for almost a week now. I couldn't quite make myself sit down and do it. I think what makes it hard for me is I need pictures downloaded and edited and then sometimes my computer doesn't cooperate. Anyway, here I am.

So here is the first block of my Firefly quilt. It's the first quilt I have ever made with only solids. I am using Kona cotton for the top. I pulled my color card out and tried to pick colors that were similar to the ones used for the original pattern. I am pretty happy with my choices. Just 15 more blocks to finish. Each block is finished at 17 1/2 inches.

These are some more of my 100 Blocks 100 Days doing the Tula Pink City Sampler on Instagram.

These two are a couple of my most favorite blocks. I am learning how to successfully fussy cut.

And these are the first 3 out of 9 blocks I am making for a special wall hanging quilt. The pattern is from Rachel at Stitched In Color and her Penny Sampler Quilt class that I took last year. I still am not a big fan of paper piecing, but at least I know how to do it and it does come in handy.

So, that's what's been happening around here. I also started another new crochet project, which I will show you next time. Have a great week, and I will talk to you soon.

Still a Busy Summer

I really have been sewing since my last post, but not as much. We have had two weeks of guests here and that means the sewing room is now the guest room. An airport run will happen this afternoon and then more guests this coming week, so I have moved my sewing machine out to the dining room and have been able to do a little sewing.

First, I was able to finish all the overnight duffel bags for the kids. This was the free pattern that had a few issues.

 All different colors so the kids can have their favorites and can easily tell them apart.

 And Trouble the cat was very interested and she fits!

I think these will be great for the kids. I can't wait until they see them.

And I finally finished this. This is the Kingfisher Quilt Along quilt that I did for June and July with Rachel at Stitched In Color and Jodi at Tales of Cloth. I almost left off the red triangles. Many people did, but I am so happy I pushed through on those. I love the way they make the quilt look. They are the same fabric as the small red border.

These are the first 29 blocks in the 100 Days 100 Blocks 2018 on Instagram. Some I love, some I'm just meh about. I don't dislike any of them, so that's good. I am working on arrangements so when the time comes I can sew them all together.

So I have been busy, I just haven't been here much. I hope your summer is going great. I will talk to you again soon, I hope.