finished my first quilt

Charlotte's toddler quilt is finished!! It's about 56x70. Made with Moda fabric, Oz. I absolutely L-O-V-E it! It turned out so perfect.

successful quilting

WOW! I'm am totally excited right now. I just finished stippling my FIRST quilt, the toddler quilt for Charlotte. It is far from perfect but I am very happy with the results. We had no puckering and it looks very, very chic. I can't wait to put the binding on and wash it. Charlotte is going to really enjoy the quilt. I have faith in myself to finish the two twin quilts I started. I picked up my sewing machine yesterday and could hardly wait to use it. YES!!

Here's a closeup of the stippling.


Here's the front:


Here's the back.


AND....

I finished sewing the top of the hexagon quit, aka grandmother's flower garden. Turned out nicely!!

coffee table trouble

This evening Charlotte climbed on the coffee table with no assistance. Her goal: looking out the window at the bird feeders. Next it will be the couch. I smell more trouble...

c is for cookie

Oh no. It's my fault. I bought the frog cookie jar. Charlotte now stands under the counter where the cookie jar is located, points and says 'cook' 'cook' just like a hard C sound. She knows the Fig Newtons are in there. That's what we give her for cookies. They are expensive, but at least I can consider them a food. If we say no, she pretend cries. Oh no. She knows where the cookies are...

hot summer daze

Today Grandma, Charlotte and I took the Griffin and Zoe to Pike Lake to swim. There's a great little spot that the locals can bring their dogs to and let them swim away. Of course, the dogs loved it! The water was much needed on this warm almost summer day. When we were finished, we thought Charlotte should get a chance to splash in the water on the beach. She basically dove right in! Charlotte loved splashing in the water and picking up rocks. We'll definitely have to come back here all summer long. We got a State Park sticker, so that just might be the case...

Fudge Supreme Brownies

A few years back, my mom bought me the The All-American Cookie Book. It is amazing! I can't believe how great every recipe I've tried is. So far, my husband's favorite is the Fudge Brownies Supreme recipe. After making it the first time and discovering how dark, fudgey and irresistible these were, I've been making them for all our friends and family. If I haven't made them for you, be sure to let me know and I will!

so fudgy

You have to make these the day before you plan on serving them. They get better with age and need to chill overnight. When you bite into one, a little is all you need. I use dark baking chocolate, mmmm. Seriously, you need to try this recipe...


Nancy Baggett's Notes- These are the ones! The moistest, fudgiest, most succulent brownies ever. No frosting, no fruit, no crunchy munchies of any sort to distract from the mousse-like texture and the deep, full-blown chocolate flavor. A friend commented that if great fudge were baked, it might taste like these brownies. If you feel strongly that brownies should have nuts, you could add some walnuts to these. However, the effect will be similar to eating nuts in a chocolate mousse.

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
5 oz bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semi-sweet chocolate or dark!!, broken up or coarsely chopped
2/3 cup all-purpose white flour
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened American-style cocoa powder, sifted after measuring
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8 inch square baking pan, or coat with nonstick spray. Line the pan with aluminum foil, letting the foil overhang two opposing sides of the pan by about 2 inches. Grease or spray foil with cooking spray.

In a large, microwave-safe bowl, microwave the butter and chocolate on 100-percent power for one minute. Stir well. Continue microwaving on 50-percent power, stirring at 30 second intervals. Stop microwaving before the chocolate completely melts, and let the residual heat finish the job. (Alternatively, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter over lowest heat, stirring frequently being very careful not to burn. Immediately remove from heat.) Let cool to warm.

In a small bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt and set aside. Stir the sugar and brown sugar into the chocolate-butter mixture until well combined. Add the eggs and vanilla, and stir until sugar dissolves and the mixture is well blended and smooth. Stir in the flour mixture just until evenly incorporated. Turn out the batter into the baking pan, spreading to the edges.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 28-33 minutes, or until the center is almost firm when tapped and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean except for the bottom 1/4 inch which should still look moist. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let stand until brownie is completely cooled. Refrigerate until well chilled.

Using the overhanging foil as handles, transfer the brownie to a cutting board. Carefully peel off and discard foil. If desired, cut away and discard any overbaked edges. Using a large, sharp knife, cut the brownie into 12 bars, wiping knife clean between cuts.

Store in an airtight container for up to three days, or freeze for up to a month. If freezing, leave brownie slab whole and cut into bars when partially thawed.

P.S. From me to you - enjoy!

WIP: color wheel quilt

I have my third cabin quilt idea and I've started gathering the fabric. A lot came from my stash of reminants. This is the inspiration for this quilt. Crazy Mom Quilts is also from Wisconsin, how fun!

Each block will be a quilted block made up of different sized squares. I'm not going to pattern that part so each one will be unique. This will be a fun one. I"ll have to find a crazy print for the backside. Final size 68x90 for a twin bed.

making hexagon progress

I am finally making hexagon progress on this quilt my mom started over 30 years ago. The pattern is 'grandmother's flower garden' and I totally messed it up. But now that it's almost completed, it looks great. I'm working on putting a white border around the flowers. I might even put a solid color one too (that matches the back) but I haven't decided. That decision would mean yet MORE hexagons. My fingers hurt from hand quilting, but this looks so wonderful. Almost brought tears to my mom's eyes. This is a very generous lap sized quilt. You can click on the photo for a little larger picture.

success!

Tonight I basted Charlotte's toddler quilt. I used the new bating and the new curved basting pins that I picked up last week. I have to say, I think it was a total success! When I get my sewing machine fixed I'l be able to start quilting it. I'm sure a twin size is still going to be hard, but this gives me a little more confidence to begin the quilting journey. This quilt is going to look awesome! All I have to do is pick out some thread and some binding material to finish it. Keep your fingers crossed...

let's explore some more

With Kevin up north again, Charlotte and I spent the weekend at Grandma's so we didn't have to be home alone. After the rain ceased, the sun finally came out on Saturday so we spent some time outside cleaning up the garden beds. Charlotte just loved being outside again and exploring in the woods. She thows stick for the dogs and was putting the weeds into the garbage bin. What a great little helper. This little girl will do great things someday and no doubt always have a love for nature.

broken

So, I went in to learn how to use my sewing machine but somehow broke it before I got into my lesson. I tell you...I have all weekend to sew and I'm taking a quilting class tonight. Bad time to be without my machine. That will teach me, again, not to hurry so much. At least I left it at a place where they can fix machines! Hopefully they'll have it before the weekend it up. Charlotte and I might be taking a road trip.

Take time to slow down...

toddler quilt top finished

I have the top and the back of Charlotte's toddler quilt finished. Next week I'm starting my first quilting lesson in Cedarburg. This is going to look GREAT when it's completed.

enjoying the sunshine

With the beautiful days we've been having, Charlotte and Mom have been playing in the yard getting it ready for mulch this weekend. She loves playing in the dirt and getting messy. I also got a new camera so I had to give it a spin. It's FANTASTIC! Here's my sweet little girl...(unless of course she's crabby or tired)...

Note: We were playing with markers so that's why it looks like she has a little blue on her face, it's marker.