101 Meals in 10 Minutes or Less

Oh, yes! This is my kind of cooking for this time of year and at this time of my life! Enjoy!

Wall of Antique Doll Quilts

I'm not the only one who has fallen in love with the idea of having a wall full of doll quilts. This photo is from Collecting American Country . Now all I have to do is find a blank wall and start making doll quilts!

Aprons

I collect many things. Fabrics, vintage rick-rack, patterns, books, buttons, charms, beads,--all sorts of things. One collection I've been working on most recently is my apron collection. I collect apron books, apron patterns, and best of all, vintage aprons. There are some on Ebay, but they're expensive. The best place to find them is thrift stores. And if I can't find ones I like, then I can always make some.

Little Song Birds

The little song birds are back. I've missed them.I think they were gorging themselves in the grass seed fields these past few weeks and now that harvest is almost done, they've come back to the gardens in town.

Summer Cake

A friend gave me this recipe years ago and I use it every summer. The original recipe used black plums but I've made this with peaches and with apples. The cake is rich and easy to make. The recipe calls for using a springform pan, which is fine if you want to make a presentation cake, but if a homey cake is all you need, use a heavy, round cake pan. This cake is nice with a little dollop of whipped cream or, when it's still warm, with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream. The bad part is that it takes an hour to bake, but I usually bake it early in the morning or while baking something else. Wrap it well and it will keep six months in the freezer. Here's the recipe:

Summer Cake

Preheat oven to 350F.
Butter and flour a 9" springform (or plain round cake) pan.
Cream: 1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter

Add and beat until the consistency of tiny crumbs: 1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Add and beat: 2 eggs
Spoon into pan, spreading evenly.
Place cut side down on batter: 8-12 plums, halved.
Combine and sprinkle over plums: 3 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Bake 1 hour. Serves 8-10

Library Books on Hold

The library limits me to 25 holds and I always have all my slots used up. Of course, John uses some for CDs and DVDs he wants (putting a hold on them is the only way to get them). These are some of the books I have on hold now:

** Itty-bitty Hats: Cute and Cuddly Hats to Knit for Babies and Toddlers
** Kaffe Fassett's Quilts in the Sun
** Clean & Simple Scrapbooking: Ideas for Design, Photography, Journaling & Typography

Old Sage Pincushion

I am making this pin cushion with hand-dyed wool, cotton fabrics, beads,an antique button, and embroidery floss with a piece of old upholstery fabric for the backing. This is what I've done so far. No, that isn't where the vines will go; I've cut them out but haven't pinned them in the correct spots yet.

Homemade Apple Pie! Yum!!

I baked an apple pie this morning with vanilla, cinnamon, a sprinkle of nutmeg, and dotted with bits of butter. I used a star cookie cutter to make the steam vent. This is one of John's favorite pies.

Pink and Brown Doll Quilt Top Finished! Well....Maybe

I stole a few more hours of vacation time this morning and finished the quilt top. I don't know if I want to add borders or not. I auditioned a few fabrics, but none worked very well. A pieced border, perhaps? An appliqued one? I don't know. I'll set it aside and think on it some more. And now I need to go back to my studies.

Backyard Flowers

I'm going to spend the next couple of hours in my backyard, watering and admiring my flowers. I'll smell the roses, listen to the birds, let the breeze spray back a bit of cool water on my face, and keep an eye out for the wild rabbit that lives nearby. I won't weed!

I love old fashioned flowers best--sweet peas, snapdragons, sweet William, hollyhocks, hyacinths, cornflowers, geraniums, peonies, zinnias, larkspur and the one in the photo above, cosmos.

Recipe for A Hot Summer Day

The first thing to do on a hot summer's day is to take a nap. I did. It was a short nap, but a nap nonetheless. I made macaroni salad for dinner. It's fast and it's good on summer evenings.

Macaroni Salad
Cook up a package of salad macaroni, drain and rinse with cold water.
Add, in any amounts you like,chopped green and red peppers, celery, bread and butter pickles, green onions, cubed cheddar cheese, and cubed cooked ham. These ingredients should equal about the same amount as the cooked macaroni. Salt and pepper to taste. Add enough mayonnaise to moisten.

It's nice with a glass of iced tea. That's it. Not exactly a gourmet recipe, but it'll do.

The photo shows the salad before the macaroni and mayonnaise were added.

Half of the Blocks

I opted for machine piecing on the Featherweight. Well, duh. That's why half the blocks are already done.

I brought a portable fan into my sewing room, which helped quite a bit. I love listening to the Featherweight as it sews. It's like no other sound. It transports me back to when I was six years old and my mother let me practice sewing straight seams. She made an entire set of doll clothes (some sewn and some knitted) for my Betsy-Wetsy doll (remember those? If you do, then you're probably about the same age I am!) that Christmas, made after I'd gone to bed so it would be a surprise.

The thing is that I haven't sewn in over a year. I rushed. I didn't pin. Oh, bad idea! I had to rip out some seams. Some seams I had to rip out several times. GRRRRRR.

So half of the blocks are finished. And I think I'm working way too hard for a day off. And it's hot. I'm going to get myself an ice cold cherry Coke from the refrigerator, find a mystery paperback to read, fluff up some pillows, and read in bed for a while. Maybe I'll take a nap. Maybe I won't. It doesn't matter. It's my day off, after all!

Fabrics for Pink and Brown Nine Patch Doll Quilt (And a Story)

Here are all the squares, cut out and ready to be pieced. It's an eclectic mix of fabrics: reproduction prints, Robyn Pandolph, Patek/Brannock, and even a batik! I like it! The next decision I have is whether or not to piece by machine (the plus is I'll be using my mother's Featherweight which I love and I've missed using; the minus is that it's going to be over 90 degrees today and it's warm in my sewing room) or by hand (the plus is that I can do it sitting next to an open window or even outside and it's more traditional and the minus is that it'll take longer). Oh, I know! There are other options. I could set up the Featherweight in the backyard with an extension cord and sew under the apple tree.

Oh! That last sentence reminded me of something I read long ago in The Quilters Women and Domestic Art: An Oral History . Wait just a second while I go find the book!

Found it! And I may be studying to be a librarian but my (must be close to a thousand quilt)books are not organized in any particular manner, but are in a huge bookcase in my bedroom. This is what I remembered reading (page 72):

"When a girl was thinking' on marryin', and we all done a lot of that, she had to start thinkin' on gettin' her quilts pieced. The way I done mine was real nice, I think. Papa had laid up a beautiful arbor with the brush he had cleared from the land. It was set up a ways back of the house. Well, I jest went out under that arbor, set up my frame, and went to quiltin' outdoors....

You won't believe it to look at me now, but I married me the finest-looking young man for three counties around when I was eighteen. And I didn't meet him at no dance neither. I don't reckon I would have stood a chance there. These big size tens were never so graceful. They're just good strong platforms for standin' on.

Anyways, what I was doin' was settin' there under that quiltin' arbor one spring afternoon, April fourteenth, just quiltin' and dreamin' a dream on ever stitch and just planning' who might share 'em with me.

And this deep, fine voice says, "Pardon me, ma'am, but I've been seein' you out here ever day for weeks and I jest got up the nerve to come over and speak to you and see what you were workin' on with such care."

Lordy, girl, I married him and, as I recall it now, that was the longest speech he ever said at one time to this day."

Isn't that a wonderful story?

Inspiration for First Doll Quilt

I'm using this antique doll quilt, which is only eight inches square, as the inspiration for my first piece. My patchwork blocks will be one-and-half inch square, instead of the one inch square used here. The quilt will be made up of twelve, nine-patch blocks, set three by four. The quilt top will measure thirteen and a half inches by eighteen inches, without borders. I will need to cut out one-hundred and eight squares.

I'll post a photo of my cut out squares as soon as I've finished ironing, marking, and cutting them out. Yes, I do it the old fashioned way by making a plastic template, marking on the wrong side of the fabric with a pencil, and then laboriously cutting each one out, using my mother's old sewing shears. I do have a rotary cutter but it scares me to death (I've heard and read too many horror stories about women who've cut themselves badly using them) so I very seldom use it.

What Fun!

I missed the deadline for the doll quilt swap but I'll be watching for the next one. Look at the photos of the doll quilts here .

Doll Quilt History

Here is a great website about doll quilt history. There are many photographs here to enjoy and to inspire.

This site is a commercial one, but it too offers information about the history of doll quilts and has photographs of lovely little doll quilts.

Why

I've been a quilter for almost thirty years, but last year I began library school and working in libraries. I have been absorbed in working, writing papers, joining organizations, attending conferences, reading books related to library science, applying for scholarships, studying, and attending classes and have had no time to quilt. I miss it.

I don't want to start a full-sized bed quilt as I know I won't have time to finish it and I'll just get frustrated. Instead I've chosen to make doll quilts. They're small, they're portable, and they can be finished in a reasonable length of time. I can hang them on a wall when they're finished and enjoy them now or put them aside for future granddaughters.

There may be other little items scattered here and there in this blog--a pin cushion, a beaded pin, a doll dress, stitch markers, or altered art. But all the items will be small and will fulfill my need to make something beautiful.

I'll also plan to include other small comforts in my life --aprons, birds, flowers, and recipes among them.