Scones

Just to show you that I do have a life that includes things other than quilting, here are some pics from this AM. The light is not the best because, frankly, the sun was not up yet. In the last 3 mornings, I have baked 224 Cranberry Buttermilk Scones.

Here is the recipe, which I changed a bit. This is exactly how I made them...

In a mixing bowl, place 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 3/4 tsp. salt, and 2-1/2 tsp. baking powder. Stir to combine. Add fresh zest from 1/2 orange (notice the naked orange in the pics). Cut in 1-1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) of softened butter with a pastry blender. Add about 3/4 cups dried cranberries and mix again. Add 1 cup buttermilk (I used 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice with enough regular milk added to make 1 cup). Stir gently, incorporating all the dry ingredients.

Dump onto a lightly floured counter and knead a few times, adding additional flour as necessary. Roll into a log and divide into thirds (I use my counter scraper for the cutting as well as scraping the counter over and over to remove stuck bits of dough). Shape into a 7" diameter circle on parchment-paper-lined cookie sheets. Brush with milk, then sprinkle with a mix of cinnamon and sugar. Cut (with pizza cutter) into 8 wedges.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 18 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely. Cut again before serving.

This is a bit different from the original instructions, but after making 28 of these (well, not even that many), you start to see time-saving tips and things to generally make it easier.

One of the nice things about these is that they are not very sweet. They are for a ladies' banquet at our church on Saturday. I will have some pictures from that to share with you later.

Off to hand quilt now.

~Joan

So Close...Nearly Finished Row Quilt

It's been a few days since I posted. In the meantime, I finished hand quilting the center on this and decided to go ahead and hand quilt the borders. Since the border fabric is a busy leaf print, I am just quilting straight lines 2- and 4-inches from the inner cream borders. I am nearly finished. Part of one long side to go. I will finish tomorrow, then wash, dry, and photograph the crinkliness!!

Good night.

~Joan

More Spools in the Mail

Here are 25 spool blocks I got in the mail today. They are from Debbie. I love the assortment. Every one is unique. I have one more set coming. It will be all the self-control I can muster to not do anything with these until then!! But I must be patient, right??

This one is my favorite. I love the little shapes in the red fabric that look like hearts. It's beautiful. Check out the snazzy background fabric, too. Cool!

Bull's Eye - The Center is Finished!!

This quilt has so many hideous blocks in it. But it is beautiful in its own way. This would be a great group project because nothing has to match. I want to put on a thin and then a wider border. The problem is finding something that looks good with it!! I'll be auditioning fabrics soon. It measures 56" x 72" right now.

I think it will look so neat after it's washed and the seam allowances are curled up a bit. If you didn't know, this is done raw edge applique. The seam allowances are on the top of the quilt!

~Joan

Good AM From Gatlinburg

This is the last row on my "row quilt". I finished the quilting on it last night, after playing Boggle (which I won, only because Emily was under the influence of Benadryl) and rummy (which I lost, only because Benjamin takes big chances and had lots of luck!).

Remember that the bright yellow stitches are my basting and will be removed.

Here is all that remains to be quilted in the quilt center...the cream sashing rows and inner border. I'll probably be working on that in the van on the way home this AM. Wish me luck...on the way here our 3-hour trip ended up being over ten hours because of closed interstates and SNOW in the mountains.



I have the top-most row finished and most of one long side. Still a-plenty to do, but a fun kind of design. I am toying with the idea of hand-quilting the wide outer green border, but still entertaining the idea of machine quilting it since it won't show that much. I marked the stencil with a Mark-B-Gone marker. Moving along rathery quickly.

This was all that remained of the binding that needed to be hand-sewn to the back. I would have finished it while I lounged in the hotel room alone yesterday afternoon, but I left my box of quilting supplies in the van. I still got some much-needed rest, but no more sewing for me. At least then!!

Notice the seam running somewhat diagonally vertically? That was because of a mistake I made on the backing (and the batting, but you can't see that). Evidently when I was basting the quilt, it was not on square as much as it should have been. Since I am so miserly with materials, I didn't have enough batting or backing to reach the edges of the quilt in all directions. So that created additional work of adding a small strip of batting and backing along two edges of the quilt before it could be finished. Note to self: having an extra couple of inches of batting and backing just might save me an extra hour or two of work.

Bye!

~Joan

Hello From The Aquarium

Our family is taking a short vacation in Gatlinburg, TN. We're off to the Dixie Stampede for supper tonight.

This AM five of us went to Ripley's Aquarium while the rest browsed the downtown shops.

As I looked around the aquarium, all I could think of was God's amazing plan for this ole world. So many fascinating displays. Unfortunately, they don't give God the glory.

Did you know a shark can smell ONE drop of blood from 1/4 mile away? 70% of its brain is devoted to the sense of smell.

Here are Wes and Isaac in the tunnel (under the sharks and fish).

Here are Emily, Wes, and Isaac with the tank behind them that the tunnel runs through. The picture looks very "blue"!

I took this in the underwater tunnel with a sawfish going overhead. Looks like a smiling face on the bottom side. The "saw" snout is used for offense, but mostly for digging up and dislodging food from the sandy ocean bottom.

Here is a lion fish...extremely venemous.


This next picture has the most vivid colors. I wondered...would the jellyfish look as stunning with a different color background wall? These are opposite colors on the color wheel, you know? Amazing!!


Good day.

~Joan

Piecing Completely Finished

The piecing is completely finished! The waving that appears on the border farthest away is an illusion...it's on top of my living room rug, and I didn't smooth it down completely. This measures 67" x 79". I am about to go piece the backing and iron the binding (which is cut already). I pushed this through so I could take it on our long-awaited vacation starting Monday morning. I need support (or therapy!), but I couldn't imagine having so many hours of driving time and evening time in the hotel w/o a hand-sewing project. Are any of you like that?

Gotta go piece that backing! Susanna said she'd baste it for me once I get it ready!!

~Joan