Yes no quilting photos today. I made these pancakes yesterday morning and loved them – thought I would share. I like waffles and pancakes – not real often but about once every week or two I make some up. I keep the ones we don’t eat in a zip lock bag and then just heat them in the microwave when I want them. I quite often use the same recipe and make waffles instead. I got this recipe out of the “Taste of Home” Cookbook. It is chock full of recipes, many that I have never tried. I would like the book for the desserts too but I try to not make many desserts anymore so feel it would be a waste of money and too tempting if I had it! (now I see when I put the link in here that the dessert book is on sale for less than half price — no I am not going to order it – I will resist!)
Brown Sugar Oatmeal Pancakes
Brown Sugar Oatmeal Pancakes:
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons quick cooking oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
Mix it all up and make your pancakes 
this makes about 12 pancakes the size shown in the photo. I like these pancakes with butter and home made apple butter spread over the top. Mike likes them with syrup.
Everyone have fun quilting today. I plan on working on the Dutch Treat quilt and knitting. Oh by the way — I decided to unravel the shawl I was making and make a simple sweater instead. I felt I was catching on to the knit/purl routine good enough. I found a very simple pattern on line and I’m going to give it a shot and have made good progress on it already!
Ok I am ready for next year – I have my projects all figured out. Some are to be started some are to be finished. Right now this is it – now will other projects creep in without me meaning to do that? Are any of you making up a list of projects that you want to work on? Going through what you have started and deciding what you will work on and plan on finishing in the upcoming year? How many projects do you have to work on? I know a lot of quilters call their unfinished projects “UFO’s”, I have rarely used that term – I guess that term to me indicates that you don’t know what the project will be. I always know what the quilt will be as I do not start making blocks just to try out a pattern. I don’t participate in starting quilts in workshops or classes giving me a quilt top that I really don’t want to make but do because it is part of a class. I tried that a time or two when I was in the quilt guild and found I didn’t like started something just because the group was doing it. I don’t think you should have to do that to feel like you are part of the quilt guild. I prefer working on my own I guess and I am dropping out of the local quilt guild once again as I find it just isn’t a good fit for me.
I rarely have this many unfinished projects – but they all have names, the tops are all complete so I know what they are.
4 quilt tops waiting in line to be quilted. I made all of these this year although the Dutch Treat quilt had been started in 2008 and just finished this week as you all know. From left to right - "So Charming" not quite twin size - a little too short for that. "Baltimore Bliss" same goes for this one. "Flying Geese" table topper size, and "Dutch Treat" table topper size. And of course on the frame is the "Christmas Baltimore Album". I have been busy this year - the only one of these that is machine pieced is the flying geese (and the blocks of the Xmas quilt are machine pieced but appliqued by hand), the rest of these are all by hand.
The quilts that I intend to work on this coming year – some are started, some are to be started:
4 projects, the book shows the "Little Brown Bird" quilt - this is a Baltimore Album quilt and will be appliqued by needle turn method and will include some embroidery and paint. The "Pineapple" blocks are six inch paper pieced (I hate that method but wanted to make these small squares to use up scraps so I will work on it off and on) it is totally made of scraps and all I have done are those 4 blocks, The "Insanity Revisited" red/cream is all by hand and a little more than half of the blocks are made, I hope to finish all the blocks this coming year. The other project with the gray and white fabric will be a quilt using the box of Moda Sampler squares. These are the only projects other than quilting that I intend to work on this upcoming year -- I think that should keep me busy - we will see That should give me enough variety to keep the A.D.D. child in me happy and content.
Dutch Treat pin basted last night, I had some batting scraps that I only needed two pieces basted together to have a big enough piece. I even got 2 of the blocks quilted last night after we got the Christmas Tree decorated. I thought I would get the smallest quilts quilted first and then move to the two that are child size. I will be working on the Christmas Baltimore Album at the same time - just hopping from one project to the next.
I finished the Dutch Treat table topper – I had briefly thought of adding a border then decided no – it did not need it. It is 32 x 36 inches and that is the size I want for the table.
32 x 36 inches it will have the darker fabric for the backing and the binding. This is a far cry from the 169 reverse applique blocks that I had planned originally to make but I am glad that I decided to just make this smaller version and be done with it. If I ever decide to try again the book will be on the shelf with the rest of them. I use all but 2 of the applique blocks that I had made - I will most likely put those two on the back some where to use them.
In between other things I pick up the knitting now and then and knit/purl a row or two before I set it back down. I am beginning to be more comfortable with purl stitch although it still doesn't flow as easily for me as the knit stitch does. This will be a shawl when it is finished.
Tomorrow I will post photos of all the items to be finished in the year 2010 – I don’t really think I will get done but I must control myself not to start more projects than the ones that I have planned in my head and on the shelf already started. There is enough here to keep me busy for two years easily – now if the magazine companies would just quit showing me so many more ideas for quilts I would be fine – and all the on line sites available too!!! Really 2010 has to be the year to get some things finished – I will be quilting two quilts at a time all year – one on the big frame and one on the hoop!
I thought about it earlier today and thought maybe it was time to start looking through the Christmas things to get the house looking pretty for the season. I tend to decorate over two or three days the past 5 years or so and not do it all at once. Also most of the boxes are in the upstairs storage area of the workshop and I’m not going to drag them in here! I will leave that for Mike to do this weekend. He put all the boxes on the porch last year for me and I think it took me a week before I was finally finished – and I don’t put up THAT much –I just don’t rush decorating
Another reason not to rush is that last year I decided I was going to make a new skirt for the Christmas tree – and guess what — I haven’t touched it!! I saved the old skirt and bought some velvet in a dark burgundy and a forest green and I put it aside — for the whole year! My intention was to crazy quilt the skirt with velvet by placing it on top of the old skirt and do a decorative stitch from my seldom used sewing machine – well after putting the wreaths on the door and the fireplace, table toppers on the coffee table and the dining table and some swag garland in the doorway I came in here to the sewing room to get busy on the skirt only to realize I don’t think I have enough velvet. I got started and will run to Hobby Lobby tomorrow to get more velvet. Good intentions – just was too busy on other projects.
I have more of the Dutch Treat finished but still lacking two rows which I might get stitched tonight so if I get it done I will show it tomorrow. I have not decided on a border. I would like to do a reverse applique border for it to match what I have so far — BUT — I don’t know if I want to take the time! I might just do a skinny border sashing of each of the two fabrics. I will decide tomorrow. That last sentence always reminds me of Scarlett O’Hara - “tomorrow is another day” (“Gone with the Wind” will forever be a favorite old classic of mine – the movie is ok to but I love the book and have read it 3 or 4 times over the years).
I didn’t really get very much more done on the Dutch Treat last night or today. I do have half of the blocks used though. I was thinking it would make a square but my math was off and I think it will be more a rectangle. I will work on it some more tomorrow and get it figured out and put more of the squares together.
18 of the Dutch Treat blocks used up - more to go
We are having quite a cold spell for this early into winter, tonight is supposed to get down to 22 degrees! Yesterday there where snow flurries in various parts of the state and to think we went camping last weekend! Sure glad we hadn’t planned it for this coming weekend or a change of plans would have been made. Also good thing Mike got the motorhome winterized as soon as we got home.
Tomorrow I need to organize a little bit in the sewing room it has gotten messy again. How does that happen!!! I just don’t always put things away right away I know – I will try to do better.
by Karen on December 2, 2009
in quilts
Yes I know I have too many things I am working on right now but I want to clear up all the ufo’s before the end of the year – I don’t really have many in the piecing stage actually but I have quite a few waiting in line to be quilted – this one will be added to that stack. I started a quilt called “Dutch Treat” over a year ago. It consists of 4 inch blocks, reverse applique. Tiny little buggers!! I lost interest in it. I really thought I would like it and maybe if I had enlarged the blocks to 5 inches or 6 inches I would still be interested in it. I had 36 blocks finished (I think there are 169 in the quilt total so that tells you how far I got before I lost interest which I don’t usually do) so what I decided to do with them to get them finished is make a table topper with them. Here is what I have so far:
The blocks are all 4 inches finished size. This is a quarter of it put together. I think I will put a inch sashing of each color around the outside edge as a border - that will finish it to 50 inch square. I have so much fabric left over I know I will find something to use it for. I had gotten a bolt of each of these two batiks. (the actual quilt top only consist of the reverse applique blocks with thin sashing in between them and then a border)
In a day or two I will gather all the quilt tops together and take a photo to show you what is waiting in line to be quilted. When I finish this top it will just leave me with the second Dear Jane top to be finished and then whatever I start with the box of moda samplers that I got a couple weeks ago. That will be amazing to only be working on two tops at one time – how much you want to bet it won’t last long and there will be a third one added to that!
Here is one more Dear Jane block from my “Insanity Revisited” quilt:
block 3 from row 9
Now that the “Insanity” quilt is finished it is time to get back to work on the second one and also to spend more time quilting on the Christmas Baltimore Album, which I admit has not been touched much in the last week or so. Last night I got two blocks pieced – the first couple on this row are very easy and only took me about an hour each to piece while I was watching tv.
Row 9 (I) blocks one and two of "Insanity Revisited". I love this cut n' press mat. I have it on my cutting table and use it for pressing most of my quilting blocks that I do. I can't fit a large ironing board in here. The only problem I have had with these cutting mats/ironing pads is that they always warp for me (this is my third one) and so I do not use the cutting mat on the opposite side and it doesn't lay flat and is harder to cut on,
It is very chilly this morning and I am going to wait a little while hoping it will warm up before I go outside to do somethings.
