National Quilting Day giveaway!

I'm always up for a party--especially one focused on quilting! This coming Saturday is National Quilting Day, and SeamedUp is hosting an NQD Sew-In with giveaways and all sorts of other fun. I'm ready to play along!

Feel like spring? I'm offering a one-yard cut of a happy, vibrant focus print, with four coordinated fat quarters to get you started! Or, if you want to break them up and use them in five different projects, that's fine by me. I just want these fabrics to find a good home.

The focus fabric is "Fondly Flowers" by Laura Heine for Kings Road. This is no longer available--so you want it in your stash! (The fat quarters have no selvedges so I can't identify them for you, sorry. But they're also great stash-builders.)

You can enter for the giveaway several times. Here's how:

1. Leave me a comment on this post describing what affect the changing seasons has on your quilting. Do you start using different colors? Do you start making placemats for picnics? Do you hurry to get all your quilt projects done before summer so you can hang out in the back yard as much as possible rather than being on your sewing machine? Do you go on a fabric diet so you can fit into that fat quarter before summer? (Tee hee.) For those of you in the other hemisphere where things may be starting to get cooler rather than warmer, the same question applies, just in reverse. How might you be switching quilty-gears now as you start to look towards winter months?

2. Leave me a comment that you have subscribed to my podcast, "Quilting...for the Rest of Us." (Subscribe through the podcast page or through iTunes.) Already a subscriber? Just let me know. It'll count!

3. Like the Quilting...for the Rest of Us Facebook page and leave a comment here to let me know you've done so. Already liked the page? Just tell me!

4. Follow this blog and leave a comment here to let me know you've done so. (You'll see some follow options on the right of this post.) Already a follower? Just tell me!

5. Friend me on SeamedUp! I go by sandyquiltz there, so seek and ye shall find. Already buddies with me on SeamedUp? You know what to do.

(I also hope you will track me down on Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads, and just about everywhere else in cyberspace. I go by sandyquiltz everywhere I hang out. I'm not including those in this drawing, though. Just 'cause.)

Winners will be chosen randomly using the random number generator. Be sure you are NOT a no-reply blogger when you leave your comments. Make sure your email address is on your profile, or in your comment itself. I'll need to know who you are and what your email address is in order to contact you if you win the giveaway. Any anonymous postings will have to be automatically disqualified since I won't be able to be in touch with you.

Be sure to check out the SeamedUp blog post for more giveaway fun. And join in their Twitter party on Saturday, March 17th. I know it's also St. Patrick's Day, but you can always wear your Irish while sitting at your sewing machine!

My giveaway will be open from the time of this posting on Monday, March 12th, until midnight (my time, Eastern U.S. time) Sunday, March 18th. I'll draw the winners on Monday, March 19th. Looking forward to sending out some fabricy-love to someone somewhere!

Slow Quilt Monday--A Spring in My Step

I heard the birds singing this morning.

OK, so, yes--I've been hearing certain intrepid birds sing right along even in the darkest days of winter. Our yard backs up to woods so we're never entirely without birds even on the coldest days. A peep here, a cheep there. Not much, but a reminder that they're around. On the other hand, this winter has been so mild that the robins I've been seeing over the last few weeks are positively pudgy--they've not had a problem finding things to eat this year.

But this morning, there was a slightly different quality to the song. It seems to me, anyway, in my just-emerging-from-my-February-funk-self, that it's happier. More hopeful. Warmer.

Today is our second day in a row of mid-60s weather, after a weekend of snow and freezing rain. I'm just starting to see some buds starting to appear on trees and shrubs (pictured is one of my dwarf Japanese maples). I was checking out my forsythia yesterday. No yellow yet, but a few more days of this--which we're supposed to have--and I'm sure I'll start seeing a little extra color there too.

It'll break our Western New York hearts just a little bit when it snows again, because I'm sure it will. It's not unusual for us to get snow on Mother's Day, frankly, although you get past March and snow doesn't stick around for long. We may whine when we see it, but ultimately it just makes spring all that much more welcome. So I'm definitely a little perkier today--a little giddy, in fact. I can smell spring in the air!

When it comes to slow quilting, I've been poking away at a project I started, by surprise, last week.

I had a whole week to myself last week--sort of a personal retreat. The kids were still away at college, and my husband was out of town on business for the entire week. I missed them all terribly, of course, but it allowed me to set a rhythm for my week that worked for me. Well, me and the dogs. Somehow they wanted to keep being fed and getting to go outside--go figure. In any case, mostly I realized how little TV I watch when left to my own devices. I finished more "Great Courses" lectures, did a lot of reading, and got some more work done on quilt projects. I got just enough social life out of my volunteer commitments and was happy to spend the rest of the week pretty much solo.

One evening I decided to test my need for control. I decided to just start snipping fabric into shapes and fuse it down, not really planning ahead too much. I ended up having a ball with it. It's been fun to watch this project evolve. This picture was taken after the first night. I've now added a lot more flora to it in various places and will keep working on it later today as well, although I've got the borders for my Medallion Challenge project for guild to work on--I want to catch up by tomorrow night's guild meeting.

My daughter got home from college for her spring break on Friday afternoon, and my husband got home Friday night. And I've not made a lick of progress on my quilt projects since. But today is another day and my daughter has a friend coming over, so they will actually prefer if I stay holed up in my sewing room. So I'm trying to get back into a rhythm today that works around other people.

But it doesn't matter. I can smell spring in the air. I'm good.

Donation Quilt Wednesday--Quilts for Kids

You may well have heard about this organization already, and perhaps you've already helped out. If so, great! If not, well, you need to know about it: Quilts for Kids, founded in 2000, has distributed tens of thousands of quilts worldwide. Quilts for Kids transforms discontinued, unwanted and other fabrics into quilts that comfort children with life-threatening illnesses, as well as children of abuse.

You may have a chapter of Quilts for Kids near you--you can check the interactive map on their website to find out. If you work through a local chapter, the quilts stay in your community. If you don't have a chapter near you, just send your completed quilts into the national office and they'll get used where needed most.

You can create a quilt from your own stash--they give some guidelines and offer several free downloadable patterns if you need one. If you work through a local chapter, they may have donated fabrics you could use. If you would like, you can request a kit from the national office--all you have to add is your own batting. (Quilts created from these kits need to be returned to the national office.)

The website highlights that there is a real need for quilts appropriate for teenage boys. So if you think you might have something appropriate in your stash, go for it!

If you decide to do a quilt for Quilts for Kids, please pay close attention to the guidelines--the guidelines are primarily related to health issues so if you don't follow them, your quilt may not be able to be used.

For more information about Quilts for Kids, visit their website at www.quiltsforkids.org.

Carol Doak Mariner's Compass Star block done!

Finally! It's done!

After several ill-fated attempts at a Mariner's Compass block using one book, I finally called it a day on that one and pulled off the shelf one of my beloved Carol Doak books.

Mind you, I've never actually made a Carol Doak block before. But between what I had purchased myself and what I'd inherited from my Mom, I'd guess I probably have most of what Doak has published over the years. I own and use her DVD on paper piecing quite frequently. Her directions are so clear and straightforward, she doesn't leave anything to guesswork. So when I couldn't make it work with the other designer, I decided to give Carol Doak a shot, and it worked. This was so much easier!

First, she did the math for me. Always a plus in my book. Rather than having to try to expand a smaller design to get the size block I needed, Doak's designs happened to be the right size already. Doak also gives cutting lists for each of her designs, so I didn't have to try to figure out what size fabric piece would cover the needed space. Third, her compass blocks are done in square quarters rather than the traditional circles, which just make them easier to handle.

(As a note, I'd already determined my color choices and placements before going to Doak's book. It just happened that I ended up choosing the Africa block from the book, which has very similar colors and placement! I was just looking for something that had roughly the same number of pieces that I'd been doing before so I could use the same fabrics. Go figure.)

This isn't quite a traditional Mariner's Compass block, which is why I refer to it as a "compass-esque" block. Still, I was able to use the same fabrics I'd intended to use the first time around and get pretty much the same effect, so I'm a happy camper.

Isn't that Stonehenge line just absolutely gorgeous? I'm in serious love.

Now, by my next guild meeting next Tuesday night I really should have two more borders done. Maybe three. I forget how many, I'm so far behind now. The first border is supposed to be pieced. My original thoughts were a very complicated applique but the center block turned into such a saga I'm thinking I'm going to cut myself a whole lot of slack and do something much simpler. But that's a problem for tomorrow.

BTW, the picture makes the light green in the center look a little more neon than it does in real life. Everything blends better than it looks like it does. The darker green on the other half of the center also has splotches of purple in it so it really pulls everything together. Mmmm. Stonehenge. Yum.

And just because I could.... I had to make a stop at a quilt shop yesterday and they had these stacks of gorgeous batik fat quarters, so I picked out a bunch in teals, aquas, greens, & turquoises, and paired them with blacks and grays. I'm thinking maybe disappearing nine-patch, but don't hold me to that. Right now they're just seducing me from their stack on the cutting table.

So all that's to say, I've decided I'm sending Fortunate out to my long-arm quilter because I have too many other projects I want to get to!

And also by the way, my sister and niece just came back from a mission trip to Ghana and she informed me tonight that she bought me fabric. Yay! Can't wait to see it!

Back on a Roll...Jelly Roll, That Is...

I got another block in the Jelly Roll Sampler project done (using the book by the Lintott Gals) today. This is the one I started last fall and worked on during my October guild retreat. Got two blocks done then; just got block #3 done this afternoon. They're not hard--just pokey. The project has been sitting in a bin on my shelf since shortly after I got home from the retreat. It's not a high priority project so it kept getting shuffled down the line behind other stuff. I'm going to try to keep poking away at the remaining 9 blocks over the next few weeks as I'm finishing up other projects.

The Mariner's Compass? Deep-sixed. (Going back to the jelly roll project was a bit of therapy for me--Quilt Trauma Recovery.) I'm working on another concept for the guild challenge now. One thing I've learned in years of quilting: When to cut my losses and move on. My theory is that when I used my copier to expand the block it didn't expand both units equally. There is often a slight variation in a copy. Well, what can be just a hair's breadth off for one unit, multiplied by 8, can create real issues by the time you're done. I had the same issue with matching certain points with each unit, very consistent, even though I was dead on that line every time. That says to me there's something wrong with the unit itself as it came off my copier. Too bad--I liked the color combinations. I'm using basically the same color combination with some slight variation in my new attempt, so hopefully I'll be as happy with it. And hopefully it'll actually work this time. Still paper-piecing, just using a Carol Doak book this time and a slightly different approach to a mariner's compass. I think I'll call it "compass-esque." I've got the fabrics figured out, so after I run some errands this afternoon I'll probably start working on that one.

I'm now in week four of my sabbatical and just now feel like I'm getting into a groove. Illness, travel, and the hectic first couple of weeks of taking care of stuff that had gotten put off for months before meant I didn't accomplish as much quilty-wise as I wanted. So I'm struggling not to let myself "feel behind," because I'm really trying to take seriously my goal to accept what I'm able to do as I'm able to do it and not get into mind games with myself over what I feel like I have to get done. But if I don't get called up for jury duty this week (I have to call every afternoon to find out whether I need to show up the next day) I'll have lots of time to make some progress on current projects and play with some new ideas.

Here's to playing with fabric. Yay.

Slow Quilt Monday

"A mind too active is no mind at all."
(Theodore Roethke)

Many days I think my doofus dog has it right.

Eat.
Sleep.
Play.
Occasionally ask for a scratch under the chin.

No self-imposed deadlines to meet. No sense of obligation or overblown feelings of responsibility. No need to feel productive.

"The most potent muse of all is our own inner child." (Stephen Nachmanovitch)

Eat. Sleep. Play.

I think I'll do all three of those this week. And I'll scratch Doofus under the chin in thanks.

Food Friday--6-Week Bran Muffins

I always think of this as my mother's recipe since she made them frequently while we were growing up, but I later found that she'd gotten the recipe from a cookbook our church had put together when I was young. I've also since seen the recipe on the Internet, unattributed, so I don't know where it originally came from. Whoever originally came up with this one, thank you!

They're a favorite for my family-of-birth and were on the table for most holiday meals as well as for just regular-day-eating; when the grandkids started coming along, Mom would make batches of these when she knew they were coming over for the weekend. My niece got married just a few months after my mom had passed away, so for part of her wedding gift, I made a big batch of the muffins for her and her new husband to take on their honeymoon with them and included the recipe so we could pass along a family tradition to a new family. They told me later it was one of their favorite gifts, and my nephew-in-law has joined the ranks of Mom's bran muffin lovers.

Why are they called "6-Week Bran Muffins"? Because you can make up the batter and it will keep in your fridge for up to six weeks, allowing you to bake fresh muffins any time you want. Frankly, I've never had the opportunity to test the theory because I always end up baking them all within a week or so. I do recommend making the batter a day before you want to make them--you can bake the muffins immediately and they're good, but they're so, SO much better if you can wait at least a day and then give it another really good stir. The ingredients meld more. You can also bake up the entire recipe and freeze them...but why would you? There's nothing more enticing than smelling them baking and eating them warm from the oven!

You can make these lower fat by swapping out the oil for applesauce, and you can play with the proportion of egg whites to egg yolks as well. I've done several variations in that respect and the flavor is always good. However, I have found that the result is a bit too chewy for my taste, so I prefer to make them straight-up and just be careful how many I eat. Indeed, you need to be a little careful how many you eat at one time anyway. They are bran, after all.

6-Week Bran Muffins
Yield: approximately 7 dozen

Ingredients:
1 16-oz box Bran Flakes (with raisins if desired)
3 cups sugar
5 cups flour
5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup shortening, melted, or vegetable oil
1 quart buttermilk

Directions:
1. Mix cereal with sugar, flour, soda, and salt in a very large bowl.
2. Mix eggs, shortening, and milk in a separate bowl, then pour into dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
3. Store in covered container in refrigerator and use as needed. Batter will last 6 weeks.
4. To bake, fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full and bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes.

Remember--the batter is better if left for at least a day before baking. But if you don't want to wait, you'll still enjoy the results!