Daisy's Egg Rolls

Yesterday I attempted Daisy's (of Lazy Daisy Quilting Podcast) egg roll recipe.  It was a minor failure.  Just so you know, spring roll wrappers are not the same as egg roll wrappers.  Spring roll wrappers are very thin and brittle.  'Like eating plastic', according to my son.  I made 3 egg rolls using the spring roll wrappers.  Then I threw them away and ended up eating egg roll filling topped with chow mein noodles for dinner last night.  I stuck the rest of the egg roll filling in the frig.   Fortunately, my husband had a work dinner last night, and my boys were content with leftovers.

This morning I  went to 4 grocery stores before I found egg roll wrappers. I made them for lunch today.   I rarely fry anything anymore because of the mess and calories, but the egg rolls were really good!  Each of my kids ate 4  for lunch.  I made 35 egg rolls then I cut the remaining wraps into strips and fried them.  Yummy!

 

Thanks for the recipe, Daisy!

July Ornament

My on-line stitching group had a Christmas in July ornament exchange this month.  Here's what I stitched for my partner.

 

This is 'A Memory of Williamsburg' by Barbara Jackson for Tristan Brooks.  It is a shop exclusive for Haus Triol in Williamsburg and  came as a kit. What does a pineapple have to do with Christmas?  In Colonial Williamsburg at Christmas, the houses are decorated with fresh greenery and fruit in wreaths and over the doors.  When  I went to college in Williamsburg, and we used to walk into the historic area to look at the decorations. 

 

 http://www.google.com/search?q=williamsburg+christmas+decoration+pictures&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=txH5Uez-Lfej4APP34HgDw&sqi=2&ved=0CC0QsAQ&biw=1093&bih=479

 

  It is charted for mosaic stitch, but I think cross stitch would have worked just as well.  I did the outside green in cross stitch because I found it hard to keep the count right using mosaic stitch. 

 

 I don't anticipate stitching it again, so if anyone would like the chart, just let me know.  If more than one person would like it, I'll draw names.

 

The way I finished this ornament, it can be used as a scissors fob, which is how my partner said she would be using it.   

Goose in the Puddle, Continued

I finished all my Goose in the Puddle blocks yesterday.   I need to find more red shirts or break down and buy fabric to do the sashing. 

 

 

To see more design walls:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/07/29/design-wall-monday-22/

Sleepy Hollow, Week 12; UFO update

We have been watching the first season of Downton Abbey this week, so I managed to get in about 4 hours of stitching time on Sleepy Hollow.  The trees are taking me a long time to do, and I've made many counting errors, but they are just trees, so the errors don't show. 

 

I started stitching the words under the tomb stone, but I don't like the contrast between the linen and the letters. I may rip that out and chose another floss color.  I'm not much for frogging, but what is the point of stitching 'Sleepy Hollow' if no one will be able to read it?

Last  month I made a decided to rid myself of a couple of UFOs I'd fallen out of love with. Here's the post, so you can see the before pic.

 http://sewingoutofmycomfortzone.blogspot.com/2013/06/being-realistic.html

 I sent the blocks to a lady who makes charity quilts, and she made a beautiful top out of them.  I was so stuck on the original pattern, that it never even occurred to me to just sash them.  That's what Sarah did, and her top looks great.

http://www.bloglovin.com/frame?post=1346114431&group=0&frame_type=a&blog=2238674&link=aHR0cDovL2NvbmZlc3Npb25zb2ZhZmFicmljYWRkaWN0LmJsb2dzcG90LmNvbS8yMDEzLzA3L2Nhbi1pLWdldC13aG9vcC13aG9vcC10aGlzLXdlZWtzLmh0bWw&frame=1&click=0&user=0
Scroll down to see what Sarah did with the blocks I sent her.

  I encourage you to pull out the UFOs that are weighing you down and send them to someone who will transform them into  beautiful quilts. 

Green Quilting

I've been saving my husband's old shirts to make a quilt ala Bonnie Hunter.  I got several shirts from my brother and his partner too.   DH is an accountant; my BIL is  a banker; and my brother is a lawyer, so I didn't get much variety in shirt type or color.  I have white, white with blue stripes or checks, blue, and blue with stripes or checks.  That combination would make for a boring quilt, so I went to  yard sales and thrift shops and picked up a few more shirts.  Here's what I have so far:

 

Each block has 64 pieces.  This is Goose in the Puddle from Bonnie Hunter's Scraps and Shirttails II.

 

To see more design walls: http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/07/22/design-wall-monday-21/

Whatever Happened to Sleepy Hollow? (week 11)

I have been working a little on Sleepy Hollow, but it has been on the back burner.  I had an ornament to do for an exchange, which needs to be sent out by July 20.  I finished it two days ago, but can't show you a picture because I don't want my partner to see it yet.

 A few years ago, I cross stitched every evening for at least an hour while I watched TV.  Then we pretty much stopped watching TV.  I've been spending almost every evening on the back porch on the swing, which is a great place to relax and play words with friends but not a great place to stitch.  Maybe I'll pick up the stitching pace when it gets cooler out.  For now, I'm loving being outside, listening to the frogs chirp and swinging away.

This is what Sleepy Hollow looks like now.

 

Go Big or Go Home Stash Report

I bought 16 yards of fabric this week.  All of it corduroy, all of it for backing.

 Used this week: 0 yards
Used Year to Date:  51.0 yards
Added this week: 16 yards
Added year to date:  64.375 yards
Net Added: 13.375 yards

It's going to take me a while to work through these net added yards, but I can't make quilts without backing, and I don't have anything big enough to use.

Some of it is for my BILs quilt which  needs to be done by September.  I chose orange pinwale corduroy for his quilt.  I completed this quilt  top a year ago in May.

 

This is a Swirly Girls Design called 'Inner Piece', found in Australian Patchwork & Quilting magazine (vol.19 no 4). 'Inner Piece' reminds me of their 'Grand Central' pattern, only Inner Piece uses nine patches, and Grand Central uses pinwheels. This is my 4th Swirly Girl quilt.  Their patterns are very easy to follow, and simple enough that they don't take forever to get done.  They are also good for novelty or big prints.

 

The cool thing about the fabric in this is that it is 3D.  It comes with 3D glasses, so that the spaceships and planets look like they are  hovering on top of the quilt.  I think this will appeal to my BIL who is a computer engineer and believes in aliens (or at least that is what he tells his nieces and nephews). Dwood is also a photographer who travels a lot (China, Japan, DC, etc.) and takes great pictures.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrenbarnes/sets/72157631868359355/

 

 

This BIL is the first in-law to figure out that if you admire my quilting, you will probably end up with a quilt.   My SIL recently said she liked one of my scrap quilt tops, so that one is ear-marked for her. 

 

Some of the fabric I  bought is for the back of my SILs quilt, and I'm hoping to have enough left over from these 2 quilts to back another. To see other stash reports:

 

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/07/14/stash-report-week-28-2013/

Lazy Sunday, Part 3

I finished part 3 of Lazy Sunday last week.  Blocks Y and Z were pretty easy because all the shaded four patches and hour glass blocks were already made.

 

Units 13 and 14 took a lot more time.  Half of them slant / and half of them slant \.  The pattern called for 78 of each.  I used the stitch and flip method and made 2" bonus half square triangles as well. 

 

 

I think these slanted pieces will be used in the border, but with a Bonnie Hunter mystery, you can never be sure. I am also guessing that the blocks will be set on point since she has been doing so much of that lately. 

 

My goal for this quilt is not to make something beautiful, but to use up my scraps.

 

To see more design walls: http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/07/08/design-wall-july-8-2013/

 

In the Black for Now

I've still used more than I've added this week since I sent a couple of UFOs off to Sarah for her charity quilts.  If you have blocks or tops you have fallen out of love with, Sarah will take them off your hands.   I just happened to come across her blog on the internet one day, I don't remember how or why. It turns out she has relatives living within 3 miles of my house. 

To see her blog:  http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/p/hands2help_11.html

 Used this week: 2.5 yards  
Used Year to Date:  51.0 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Added year to date:  48.375 yards
Net Used:  2.625  yards

I've started my first quilt made from recycled shirts.  My brother, husband and BIL all contributed, but most of the shirts are blue, white or some combination of blue and white.  BORING!  I'm hoping to find some other color shirts at yard sales or thrift shops.  My goal is not to accumulate more shirts than will fit in one large tub.

 I don't plan to include shirts in my yardage counts since my reason for keeping track of net added yards is more about keeping my fabric spending in check than it is about keeping the volume of fabric under control.