Rubber Ducky

I have decided baby quilts are the way to go.  Maybe they don't provide instant gratification, but they certainly are faster to make than a full sized quilt.  The baby quilt I am making is coming along nicely.

 

After a lot of peeling, placing

 

and ironing, I placed all the squares and tried to arrange them so that they mix of colors and duckies looked randomly placed. 

 

This was not easy and every one I placed meant two others had to be moved.  I finally got it as close as I could to what I wanted and then started to sew. 

 

 

Next I had to put a small inset border. I found a totally cute yellow fabric with tiny black dots and I like that it is sewn in such a way as to be attached on one side only.

 

After that the last of the aqua border was cut and sewn.

 

The top is FINISHED.  Now to the sandwich making.  This is what I call getting all the pieces together for the quilting process.

 

The back of the quilt goes face down on a table.  Smooth it out and tape it in place.

 

Place the cotton batting on top and smooth that out.

 

Then the recently finished quilt top is placed and smoothed.

 

Start at the center and pin the whole "sandwich" every few inches, smoothing and flattening as you go.  Sit down when you can.  This takes awhile and it can hurt even young people with GOOD backs!

   

Cut most of the excess away, leaving an inch or two around the edges, and start to quilt.

After The Storm

 

I recently read the latest Linda Castillo book.  She is one of my favorites authors and I look for her latest book each year.  I hate it when an author takes more than a year to finish a book.  Don't they know I am waiting impatiently?

Castillo writes a series about a former Amish who is also Chief of Police in Painter's Mill.  That is a blessing and a curse when dealing with the local Amish population.  She can speak Pennsylvania Dutch and understands the culture, but a lot of them don't trust her because she left the church and even some of her family still shuns her.  When she comes around as a detective, they are obligated to speak to her.

I recommend starting with Sworn To Silence, Castillo's first book in the series.  It helps to see the progression of her character development as Burkholder works her way through some traumatic events in her past that lead her to leave the church.

After The Storm takes place after a tornado roars through Painter's Mill.  During the clean up a body is found.  The Amish are generally a peaceful people, but they have the same human emotions and fears of all people and someone is trying to stop Burkholder from discovering the truth about the dead body. 

At the same time the investigation takes place there is a disruption in her personal life as she and State Agent Tomasetti hit a bump in the road.

I prefer a novel to have some emotional depth and not just be a police procedural.  Castillo excels at this and her books never disappoint.

Quilt Progress

I've been working on a baby quilt.  This one has rubber duckies all over it in different fabrics.  Once again I am going solo, without any expert help, so there are times I have to cut new squares or waste material in other ways.  I always try to buy extra so I don't have to match fabrics from one store at another.  Now that I make scrap fabric baskets, I don't mind having the left over bits and pieces of fabrics.

 

The rubber duckies are appliques, so I bought some clear plastic to cut out templates.  The only kind they had was with a grid, but that made it easier to see when then templates were on the counter.  They were pretty easy to cut.

 

I ironed some fusible interfacing on to the fabric.  On the wrong side.  You know, after you do it on the RIGHT side and say a bad word. 

 

Then I traced the duck parts on the paper and cut them out.

 

The small blue squares are placed in the corner of the light green and yellow green larger squares and then sew on the diagonal.

 

Cut off the excess and press to one side.

 

You have to peel the paper backing off the cut outs.  Place the glue side down on the squares and iron them in place to glue them down.  I ironed one duck, one wing, one beak and one eye on each square.  Try to make each one a different combination.  One set of duck parts is backwards and one of the duck tails is different.  So maybe the baby can play., "One of these things is not like the other..."  What do you mean you never watched Sesame Street? 

 

The pattern called for hand stitching the edges of the ducks parts with a blanket stitch.  I tried it and didn't like the way it looked. 

 

I also worried about little finger picking at the edges and lots of machine washing and decided that machine stitching was the way to go.  In some places I had to do one stitch, turn the fabric and do one more.  For the whole thing.  But it was still faster and better than the hand stitching and I like it. 
 
 

I need to do 18 squares for this quilt.
 

Friskies Pull and Play

I saw this toy advertised on television.  It sounded like a fun treat for the cats.  So I bought one.

 

It came with wiggly, edible (for cats, at any rate) strings that you peel and insert in the top.  The base is weighted and you can fill it with cat treats. 

 

It looks kind of like a Weeble.  You remember, right?  "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down."  There is a small opening where the treats will fall out if rolled around on the floor.

 

The cats were very interested and ended up eating all the wiggly strings.  I have to hide it in the pantry for now.  When the dog came back in he was too interested.  He could destroy it in one chomp.

 

They can have it again when RJ goes outside with Lee.

Lemon Raspberry Tartlets

I like to make a different baked treat for each morning we have guests.  We recently had a wonderful couple who were staying for three nights.  They had scones the first morning, chocolate croissants the next and I needed something new to fix for the third breakfast.  I found a recipe for berry and lemon curd tartlets and they sounded perfect.  I just LOVE Pepperidge Farm!

Lemon Raspberry Tartlets

Pepperidge Farm puff pastry
lemon curd, 1 teaspoon per tartlet
raspberries, 1 per tartlet  (or three small blueberries)
1 egg  for an egg wash
powdered sugar for dusting

 

Get the puff pastry from the freezer and allow to thaw until you can unfold the pastry.  You want it to be very cold and stiff.  Dust the counter with flour to prevent sticking and preheat the oven to 400°.

Place parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet on a cookie sheet.

 

You need two circle cutters for this.  One slightly smaller than the other.  I was able to get 4 circles from each pastry strip.  Cut the inside of each circle with the smaller cutter, but don't remove it..  I placed the circles on the silicone (or parchment) and then made my second cut. 

 

Be very careful not to cut the silicone.  I had to use a blunt end of a wooden spoon on a few circles to release the pastry from the cutter.  Be very careful not to press on the pastry too hard.  It will affect how well the tartlet shell rises.

 

Whip up an egg with a Tablespoon of water and brush it over the circles. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until tall and crispy brown.  Remove and let cool completely.

 

Take a sharp paring knife and gently cut around the inside circle.  Press the inner circle down to make a little pocket inside the tartlet.  This is where you will place a bit of lemon curd. 

 

I used purchased lemon curd and added a fresh raspberry on top. 

 

I also tried a few blueberries on top.  It made for a prettier presentation!

 

Dust with powdered sugar.

 

I also served fresh fruit with heavy cream whipped with a bit of sugar and vanilla extract. This kept our guests busy while I made the omelettes.

 

They were a hit with our guests who described them as "not too sweet and the flavors are nicely balanced." when asked for a review!

I have an idea to make this with Nutella and raspberries or strawberries.  Or both.  I can't wait for my next guests, so I can try it out for them.

Ashley

This can't be comfortable.

 

Can it?

 

Basket!

I found a fabric at Jo Ann's that I thought would be great for a basket.  I found a pretty faux turquoise embellishment that matched the fabric.  Some glue and thread and I was in business.

 

This time I made an oval base.  I placed tape to mark where to start and stop the bending to make the sides of the basket.

 

Mmm.  Maybe a little taller.

 

I made handles on this basket.

 

I sewed the embellishment with invisible thread this time.

 

I like this one.  Maybe a Christmas gift.