Goodbye Katy, Hello Magnolia

We've moved again! After living in Katy for 1-1/2 years, we moved north to Magnolia, only 6 miles from our son and family, plus we are closer to our daughter who lives in the Dallas area. I probably won't continue this Katy blog, and I'm not sure if or when I will return to blogging. Maybe when all the boxes are unpacked!

UPDATE: After moving again, I started a new blog, My Sew-Called Quilts, and (with no more boxes to unpack) resumed blogging about quilting, recipes, and life. Please join me!

10 Things This Summer

Sherri and Anna have made a list of their goals for the summer and encouraged their readers to do the same. Sounds like fun, so here goes!

1. Number one on my list is to continue on my ultimate lifetime quilting quest, which is to make a quilt for every member of my family. My immediate family comes first, then I will start on in-laws, nephews, and nieces. My grandmother made quilts for all of us, and I want to continue that tradition.

2. Finish my daughter's quilt. I've had the original fabric that she chose since 2010! I have added to that stash and subtracted from it, found a pattern I liked and modified it, then was unhappy with the result, started my own version of the pattern, and was unhappy with that result. Then I arranged the blocks in a different way on my design board, and I can finally say I am pleased with the result. I have put way too much pressure on myself for this quilt that will grace her guest bed. I want to finish it so I can start on the king-sized quilt for her bedroom.

3. Finish my niece's quilt top. My niece (at my insistence) sent me the quilt her grandmother (my SIL's mother) pieced for her but never completed. Unfortunately someone washed it along the way, and now the edges are tattered, frayed, and separated. I took it to my LQS where I was advised to press it carefully, repair as much as I could on the edges before I sandwich, quilt, and bind it. I found some glorious reproduction fabric to back it - a pretty blue print from the Aunt Grace Garden Party collection.

4. Make a quilt for my youngest granddaughter's birthday - in August! I have the main fabrics, in periwinkle prints and a Honey Honey dessert roll, and I will soon choose a pattern for her lap-sized quilt.

5. Design and quilt a wall hanging in a star pattern for my husband. My number one fan was so taken with my first quilt that he asked me to make a quilt to hang in our entry. Sadly he is still waiting. I have looked at several patterns and not found one I like yet, but I did purchase fabric to begin my stash - in cream, blues, teals, and golds. He would like some sort of Texas lone star.

6. Repair my daughter's fiance's blanket. I made Chris a warm blanket for Christmas with Texas Tech-themed fleece. He was so proud of it! His big sweet dog decided to tear out a piece of it, so I need to patch it.

7. Break down and sell or give away some of my yarn. I love to crochet, but I got out of practice the last 10 years. Since I started quilting, I spend far too much time trying to refresh my memory on crochet stitches and not enough time practicing. Even though I whittled down my collection before we moved, I have collected more yarn for patterns I have yet to use them in. The groupings are so lovely and alluring to me, but I need more space for fabric. Notice I said "some" of the yarn; I'm not sure I can give it all up, so I might just pack it up and put it high on a shelf.

8. Clean out the old family photos. Since I am the last of my family of five, there is no one left to remind me who many of the people are in the vintage photographs that I inherited from my Mom. They are taking up storage space in a large guest closet. No one has even opened the boxes since Mom died in 2010, and they have remained exactly where they were placed when we moved into our house last year. Some boxes were labeled and roughly organized by my daughter several years ago, but a big bunch remain loose in boxes.


9. Refinish our fireplace screen. We inherited the black metal screen from my daughter, and it disappears in front of our dark green marble fireplace. I will use copper metallic wax rub on the decorative vines and edges of it to make it stand out a bit.

10. Organize and brighten up my sewing space. I share space with a guest bedroom, with its beautiful white comfort-ed bed with black wrought iron headboard and black beadboard nightstand. When I moved in, I brought a repurposed kitchen table as my cutting table, covered it with a mega-sized cutting mat, added a clamp-on magnifying lamp, put a big Xerox printer underneath it, and put my sewing machine on an old computer table next to it. I added a vintage nightstand to hold my quilting books and sewing machine paraphernalia and made a design board to cover one of the walls. I have an old 23rd Psalm that my Mom embroidered, and it needs to be reframed and hung. Although I love my space, it looks cluttered, and I want it to reflect my bliss, not my disorganization.

Light and Fluffy Banana Cupcakes

"I had some bananas that were going bad, so..."

How many times have you seen that as a preface to a blog post about banana bread or banana cake? Well that was the case at my house a few days ago. My grandkids were coming, and I didn't want to make the usual banana bread (although I have made and blogged about banana bread at least half a dozen times). I wanted it cake-like, and I wanted it to be light, not dense.

My previous attempts at a light textured banana cake have not been successful; then I stumbled upon this recipe (on a blog that is no longer active). It is not only the best banana cake recipe ever, it is one of the best cupcakes I've made. I made it even better by adding cinnamon and nutmeg to the batter.

I had one plain, and it was just sweet enough, moist, tender, and just the light texture I was seeking. And my grandkids loved them!

Light and Fluffy Banana Cupcakes
Made 15 for me

1-1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup melted butter
1-1/2 cups ripe mashed bananas
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cupcake liners into wells of muffin or cupcake pan.

Whisk together cooled melted butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla; set aside. In large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Make well in center and add banana mixture. Stir until smooth but do not overmix. Spoon batter into cupcake liners.

Bake about 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan to wire rack and cool. Spread with favorite frosting, such as this one:

Light and Fluffy Frosting
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1/3 - 8oz package cream cheese (about 3 oz) softened
2-1/2 – 3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese for about 2 minutes at medium high speed. Whisk together sugar and cinnamon. Gradually add sugar mixture in 1/2 cup increments, beating about a minute each time and scraping down bowl frequently. Add vanilla and mix another minute.

Our Baby Girl Got Engaged!

Our sweet daughter Jenni and her boyfriend Chris got engaged last night, and we are all walking on air. Of course they have been talking about and planning to get married for a long time, but there is something magical about the proposal and the ring!

Randy and I love Chris and could not be happier that they are so much in love. They make each other laugh, and that is so important in a marriage.

Of course they do have their differences, but they seem to have a way of resolving them.

Juggling Summer Complete: Things I've Learned

The quilt for my oldest granddaughter was finished one day before her 12th birthday. I love to cut it close! Her Papaw and I joined her and the rest of the family for an early celebration at Saltgrass, and she seemed very happy, not only with her quilt but also her birthday cash.

Since her bedspread is a black and white zebra print, and her current color love is mint, I purchased a fat eighth bundle and a jelly roll of a collection I love - Moda's Juggling Summer, which blended well with all of that. I chose a mint print from Moda's Noteworthy line and a coordinating Juggling Summer print for the backing, and the neutral fabric is White Out, a white dot on white pattern. I pieced the binding from all the black prints of the collection, and it may be my favorite part of the quilt. Black really made all the colors pop.

I named her quilt "Dream in Color", which is my wish for her.

My son snapped this shot of her enjoying her quilt at home.

I employed my walking foot to quilt mainly large zig-zags, straight lines, and squares, with the only curves being in the inner border.

Here are more Things I've Learned during the creation of this quilt:

I learned that pattern instructions are not always clearly written.
I am not criticizing the person from whom I purchased the pattern. I am guessing that it is difficult to write a quilt pattern! In my inexperience, my first glance at the downloaded instructions indicated they would be easy to follow, but I discovered that there were too few illustrations, and many of the directions were vague. It is possible that a more competent quilter would not notice the lack of details. Either as a result of the pattern itself or my cutting errors, I had trouble with the inner border, and I had to add pieces to make everything fit. I loved the pattern, and I was able to figure it out, so all was well in the end.

I learned that I need to slow down and pay attention.
I noticed that as my time ran out, my mistakes became more numerous. I even put my bobbin in the wrong direction once and quilted an entire area before I noticed the funky look of the quilting.

I learned that I am getting more relaxed with machine quilting.
I am not as critical as I was with my imperfect quilting, and I am learning to look at the big picture. People who don't quilt don't see these imperfections. They see the quilt and think you are amazing for making it.

I learned that I love every step of quilt-making.
There are parts of it that I like better than others. For instance, cutting the pieces is not my favorite part, but using a rotary cutter is actually fun for me. There is no part of making a quilt that I don't enjoy. And the sense of accomplishment is, for me, indescribably fulfilling.

Katy the kitty, whose tail is lower left, and Buddy the dog had to see why my husband was holding a quilt on the staircase.

Juggling Summer Lap Quilt

My oldest granddaughter has birthday #12 coming up in a couple weeks, and I am determined to supply her with a quilt!

My choice of fabric was Juggling Summer by Zen Chic for Moda. I had a jelly roll and a fat eighths bundle; plus I purchased a few yards of one of the prints for border interest as well as a coordinating fabric for the back. I just finished sewing the rows of blocks together, and I am loving the way it looks.

The quilt pattern I chose is "Pickup Sticks" by Little Louise Designs on Etsy. It involves setting the blocks on point and adding setting triangles and corners. I have had a few problems with the pattern, but I am still new to quilting and not familiar with setting corners. I found a very useful tutorial at McCallsQuilting.com on Setting Blocks on Point and found the information I needed.

This will be a lap quilt for her. She has a "zebra" theme in her room and loves "mint" colors, so this quilt should fit right in.

Quilted Texas A&M Pillow

The idea for this pillow came from the blog of Crazy Mom Quilts She made giant pillows for her sons, and I liked them so much I decided to make one for my grandson's 14th birthday. His parents are both graduates of Texas A&M, and he is an avid Aggie fan, so the choice of colors was easy - maroon and white, with accents of gray. Did you know Pantone created a custom "Aggie Maroon" in 2007?

His Grandpa and I had the pillow waiting for him (along with a card with cash) when he arrived with his family to celebrate. He was very happy!

Fabric choices were very limited at both Hobby Lobby and Joann's, which surprised me since I live in Texas. If I had planned ahead, I probably could have ordered fabric online. I used a maroon print and a maroon and gray print with A&M logos, and a maroon Kona cotton and gray solid cotton. I had a pillow case from IKEA in a gray and white print that I incorporated with some solid white.

I used gray fleece on the back to make it extra comfy in the winter.

I quilted the top, sandwiching it with a piece of muslin. For the quilting, I used my walking foot and chose "stairs" as illustrated on Petit Design Co's blog - a great resource for machine quilting with a walking foot. I sandwiched the fleece with a maroon backing (although it won't show) and quilted it in a simple grid.

To make it easy to remove for washing, I installed a separating jacket zipper. For the facing surrounding it, I pretty much winged it, leaving the teeth visible because I liked the look. I found a pillow form at Joann's and it fit beautifully.

The next photo gives an indication of the size, which turned out to be about 27" by 27". Katy couldn't look at the camera because she was busy bathing.

For the pattern I simply cut out 6 blocks each of the 6 fabrics, placed the 5-inch blocks on my display board, and shuffled them until I found a pattern I liked. I pieced the alternating blocks together, then sewed the rows together. I'm not sure there is a name for this pattern - it looks a little like Trip Around the World, but I am open to correction.

One of my next projects will involve Moda's Ruby by Bonnie and Camille. I was attracted to this fabric, not only because I love the mix of reds, aquas, corals, grays, and greens, but also because Ruby was my Mom's name, and I want to make something in her memory.

I purchased my first two pieces as end-of-bolts from Lonestar Quilting. When I received them, I immediately fell in love and started looking for more pieces of the line. I found them at Sweet Pea's Quilt Co, which is in Sand Springs, OK. Since I grew up about 30 miles from Sand Springs, and I have relatives living there, that made my purchase all the more special. Sweet Pea's shipping was very fast, the fabric was wrapped in paper closed with a lovely wax seal with the initials "SP", and coupon for $5.00 off my next purchase was included!

Audra's Iris Garden Complete: Things I've Learned

The lap quilt for my daughter-in-law's birthday is complete! I detailed fabric (Audra's Iris Garden) and pattern (Two Block Delight) in this post. I named her quilt Garden of Dreams, a combo of the fabric name and my DIL's love of a very infrequent nap. I delivered it to her when we met them for dinner Friday night, and she seemed very happy. My son sent me an iPhone photo of her later that night, wrapped up in her quilt.

My patient husband held it on our staircase for my photo attempts at front and back views.

I attempted to capture the colors and layout in various spots in our house, but my photos don't show the vibrant colors of this quilt.

I am still keeping the quilting simple, as I have not yet graduated to true free motion quilting. I use my walking foot for "waves", and I am fine with it for now. I found many ideas for FMQ using a walking foot at this website.

I used my Janome DC3050 stitch #47 for the corner blocks - a nice little connected flower. And for the binding I tried another tutorial I found on Amy Smart's blog Diary of a Quilter. I loved the ease with which the binding went together this time, and the mitered corners were a snap. Hers will be my go-to method from now on!

Here is the label, which I hand embroidered.

As I stitch and quilt, I contemplate. I don't always write down my "a-ha" moments, but here are a few things I learned this time around:

I learned a new word for quilting mistakes - "organic". I have to laugh every time I see this word. I realize there is a very sincere meaning behind the term, but to me, it's a nice way to say "I'm still learning."

I learned that good thread is really good. I used some fabric store quilting cotton for the piecing, but for the quilting I used a thread called Putty from Angela Walters 6 spool pack for Superior Threads. I purchased the 6-pack from her at Houston's Quilt Festival during her free motion quilting class. I still haven't learned much about thread, but I know this one seemed silky, strong, and well, "like buttah".

I learned that my Grandmothers made great sacrifices to quilt. I quilt for pleasure. I have the luxury of no children at home (OK, I'm not counting the dog and cat), minimal chores, modern conveniences, and lovely free time, not only to create but to enjoy creating. My grandmothers had very few labor-saving devices, limited resources, and rare stolen moments of privacy. Yet they both managed to save scraps and put them together - by hand - to produce quilts that were functional, beautiful, and survive to this day. My appreciation and love for them grows daily. If they were still alive I would ask them so many questions!

Next project: a quilted-top floor pillow for my grandson's birthday Friday!