Quilt Blocks and Banana Carrot Bread

 This week has been wonderful! Not only have I had enough energy to be able to play a bit in my sewing room and in my kitchen, but the weather has been nice enough to open windows and go for afternoon walks.

Sewing Room Play
 
I couldn't wait to start work on a new block design. I'd been toying with it on paper for a couple of weeks and it was ready for fabric. I was determined to use only fabrics that I had on hand. The pink and soft green fabrics felt fresh and spring-like, so that was my starting point. . The first attempt in fabric was okay, but boring. I felt like it really needed more color. I switched out only one fabric, but the difference is dramatic. Today, I'll begin trying to turn this into something - still not sure what, but definitely something. 

One photo taken in the morning, one taken in the afternoon. The colors change in the light.

I've joined a quilt-along group, "The Splendid Sampler", with Pat Sloan and a number of other designers. There will be 100 blocks altogether - two each week. This is the link:    http://www.thesplendidsampler.com/

I'm not at all pleased with my second block, so I may make it over later on. I didn't notice until I looked at the photograph, but some of my points got chopped off. I definitely need to work on perfecting a number of my skills and this is a pleasant and painless way to do so. I'll have 100 blocks at the end, too. A whole quilt!

Kitchen Play

Bananas were overripe, carrots were starting to get dry on the outside, and my golden raisins were almost finished. What do you do when you have food that needs to be used or tossed? This time I did toss it - all into one recipe, and believe me, this is a keeper! It's sweet and moist and simply chock-full of flavor and texture goodness. 



Banana-Carrot-Raisin Bread 

Makes 2 Loaves

Yum!!

2 ½ c sifted flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 c. mashed ripe bananas

1 c. sugar

¾ c. softened butter

3 eggs

1 c. finely grated carrots

½ c. chopped walnuts

½ c. raisins

1 tsp. sugar + 1 tsp. cinnamon for baking pans

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Grease two 9”x 5”x 3” loaf pans.  Mix 2 tsp. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon. Sprinkle half of this mixture onto the bottom of each pan. Tip the pan to spread the sugar/cinnamon mixture so it coats the bottom and the sides of the pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Combine bananas, sugar, butter, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Stir in dry ingredients. Don’t overmix. Fold in carrots, raisins, and walnuts.

Spread mixture into loaf pans. The pans will be about ½ full. 

Bake at 350° for 50 – 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

 

Wishing you a lovely week with lots of playtime! 

 

"Kitty Craft" Block for February: Challenges and Do-Overs

I've boxed myself into an even tighter corner than usual with this year's B.O.M. As always, I started with a pleasing layout plan. Because I'd had so many requests for cats,  I'd already decided to use them for the theme. Fitting the cats and other items into specific sizes and shapes of blocks is the foremost design challenge.

This month I chose to let two kittens loose in the craft room.  With one kitten up and one down, I was able to fit them into the tall, narrow block that I needed to fill. One of the kittens has crawled into the pencil pot and the other is playing with scattered pencils. A shoofly block and a set of flying geese are the companion blocks.



The Do-Over

Sometimes it takes another person to point out a flaw, and sometimes that flaw becomes so distracting that there's no choice but to start all over. The block was completely finished when a friend pointed out that my pencils were too fat or my kittens too tiny. Or both.   Here you can see the first attempt and the do-over side by side. The pencils are thinner and the kittens just a tad larger in the final block, and I can sleep better.

The Construction Challenge

Pencils. Pencils have points. Colored pencils have colored points. I didn't realize that those colored points would be a bit of a challenge until I tried to hand embroider one of them. It was awful! The embroidery floss was way too thick, and the point looked like a big colored bump on the end of the pencil. As I've said before, my hand stitching leaves a bit to be desired. 

I moved to the sewing machine, and those points came out very nicely with only four or five stitches forward and back. With either method, I definitely recommend that you practice first.

I started at the very tip of the pencil point, inserted my needle, drew up the bobbin thread, and stitched two stitches in place to secure the thread. With a long stitch (stitch length 4) I stitched forward one stitch right down the left side of the pencil.

Now comes the tricky part. You have to back stitch one stitch and finish in the very same spot where you began your stitch. I messed up several times because I had moved the fabric ever so slightly before beginning the back stitch.

After the back stitch, with the needle still in the same location, angle the needle just a bit and forward stitch one stitch. This stitch will be very close to the first, but not on top of it. Continue as with the first stitch, angling each stitch a bit more to the right and always back stitching into that very same beginning point. Four or five stitches will do it.

 

Not bad at all. :)

I'm thinking ahead to March. 

What should the cats be getting into next? 

Oh, my gosh! Sunday is Valentine's Day!

Have a lovely one!

Blessing Undisguised

Someone has been watching over us, and I've had a magical week.

My surgery on Monday went perfectly, and my daughter was with me almost the entire day. The snow didn't begin until very late, long after she was home with her dad.

Tuesday, while the wind swept blinding snow into deep drifts throughout the city, nurses pampered me and catered to my every need. In between naps I browsed the internet and came up with several ideas for new patterns. I didn't have my sketchbook, so I filled Pinterest with seed thoughts.

A half dozen phone calls or more calmed my panicked hubby, and he and our daughter spent a wonderful, relaxed day enjoying each other in the most meaningful way.

Public schools and city colleges took a snow day, so my grandchildren were thrilled with having a school day when they could sleep in.  My neighbor bundled up and spent hours playing with his new snowblower. He cleared my driveway and sidewalk several times - partly to help out, but mainly just for fun. To top it off, the groundhog didn't see his shadow so winter is almost over!

The snowplow came by and cleaned out street early Wednesday morning and I came home before lunchtime feeling much better than anyone had anticipated. I'll be having two nap days for awhile, I'm sure, but I think I'll have the energy and focus to work in my sewing room next week.

Yesterday, my new stove arrived right after lunch. The floor underneath the old stove was really dirty, but my deliverymen volunteered to scrub it for me before they set up the new one! As I said, someone has been watching out for me this week.

The new stove is so pretty! I didn't chose a fancy glass top because I won't give up my heavy cast iron cookware or my pressure cooker. Since my house is not set up for gas, the stove is very basic with coil burners. I've been promised that the oven will cook evenly, so I'm as happy as can be.

 

Last week slapstick comedy dominated, but this week was all guardian angels and fairy godmothers. February is looking good.

Blessings in Disguise?

My house is clean, groceries are purchased, and I've been cooking and baking like crazy this week. I planned it all out to make sure that everything at home glides smoothly along during my hospital stay and for the first week or two after I get home. I was so well organized with my to do list. What could possibly go wrong?

Famous last words. How did I get trapped in an episode of "I Love Lucy?


One "oops" after another.

Oops #1. Surgery is on Monday. I'm supposed to come home on Wednesday and, as my husband is unable to come to the hospital, my children have been planning to take turns sitting with me Monday evening and most of Tuesday. Now, the weather forecast calls for a blizzard and heavy snow on Tuesday. Eight inches or more, they say. The worst storm of the season, they say. Good grief!

Oops #2. Snow always blows down from the roof and lands right in front of our door and makes deep drifts on our driveway. Ed, who does our snow removal, had surgery yesterday. He'll be available in about six weeks.

Oops  #3. I broke my oven. Honestly. I broke it. It happened like this. I took the blueberry pound cakes out of the oven and turned it off, but, I turned the knob to "self clean" rather than "off". (Why are those two settings right together like that?) Then, instead of hitting "end" to stop the self cleaning, I accidentally hit "start". The door began to lock, so I panicked and yanked it open. I hit "end" again. And again. The oven was getting hotter. So, I raced downstairs and switched off the fuse for the range. After a few minutes I reset the fuse. The oven cooled down, but the lock mechanism for the self-clean is frozen. It sticks out and the door can't close all the way. 

Oops #4. I called the appliance repair folks. With parts and labor charges, replacement of the lock mechanism on the oven is about the same cost as buying a new range! 

Oops #5. I was all done with the second kitty block for the 2016 quilt along. I thought it was a darling block, so I showed it to Shelley, my cat loving friend. "Oh, how adorable," she exclaimed. Then she leaned back and frowned. "Those are awfully big pencils," she said, "or the kittens are awfully tiny. But it's still cute." Oh dear. Back to the drawing board. 

Pencils too fat? Kittens too small? Maybe both.

Blessings in Disguise 

Blessing #1. On Tuesday, I will be in a place with food, electricity, and all the help I need.  My children have promised to stay home and safe if the roads are bad. We have phones to keep the hubby up to date. :)

Blessing #2. My neighbor with the snow blower has offered to help out and clear our driveway and sidewalk of snow! Good neighbors are a true blessing.

Blessing #3. The burners on the stove work fine, so, although baking came to a halt, I made potato-bacon soup and two stove-top casseroles. In the process, I invented a new casserole recipe that my hubby really likes.

Blessing #4. I'm getting a new range! My range is ancient. The oven temperature is uneven and one burner is unpredictable, but I've been putting off replacing it. Delivery is scheduled for Thursday, the day after I come home from the hospital.

Blessing #5. I've started fiddling with the quilt block design a bit today and I'll have some time to work on it tomorrow. The pattern will be delayed until later in the month, but it will be so much better with everything more proportional.

A final blessing - 
Slowly, but surely, we are moving toward spring. 

February, the month of love, is only two days away!!