Showing posts with label Crafty Garden Mom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crafty Garden Mom. Show all posts

Saturday, December 3, 2011

History Quilter Podcast Episode 17 Log Cabin Blocks & Quilts

Six weeks has just flown by...so without further wait..Episode 17. Hope you enjoy!

Big shutout to Tanesha from the Crafty Garden Mom blog & podcast as I won a giveaway from her blog in honor of her birthday back in October.  She was so generous to Fed Ex me a copy of Modern Log Cabin Quilting: 25 Simple Quilts and Patchwork Projects by Susan Beal after my first giveaway book was eaten up by the USPS.  Thank you again Tanesha!

Please visit Susan Beal's blog at westcoastcrafty.wordpress.com  to see how creative she is.

New quilting podcasts to me - super fun and worth a listen.  You can find them on iTunes.
Lazy Daisy Quilts hosted by Daisy.
The Quilting Pot hosted by AJ.

New food podcasts to me.
Taste Matters with Mitchel Davis.  Note to Debbie...you will luv him.  :)
A Taste of the Past with Linda Pellacio.  I've only listened to the 1st of 82 episodes.

I spoke about one handmade Christmas gift project I am about to embark on.  I am going to make the Little Man quilt pattern for my nephew from Camille Roskelley's Simplify book for Christmas.  Many different orange and black fabrics are on the design board for this quilt as he is a San Francisco Giant fan.
photo from www.Stashbooksblog.com
I also spoke about what I made for Thanksgiving dinner - go here to see what I made.

Have a great rest of your Saturday!
Susan

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Kahlua Brownies & a Quiltspotting

Happy Tuesday everyone!

First I'll start with a Quiltspotting and I'm giving full credit to Tanesha from the Crafty Garden Mom podcast and blog for coming up with that term.  She spoke about quiltspotting in Episode 19 - go give a listen if you haven't discovered her yet.  

By the way quiltspotting reminds me of Tastespotting - love that website.

So my Latte Quilt has been spotted in Houston, TX at Quilt Market!    
Latte Quilt at the Hoffman Fabrics booth
Thank you to Marilyn Pond of Marilyn's Maze who visited Houston over the weekend and so thoughtfully found my quilt and sent me a photo.  I was so touched when I saw the photo and noticed that the folks at Hoffman Fabrics had attached sign to the front giving me credit for the design.  

Now on to the Kahlua Brownies.  I made these with the intention of enticing my fellow soccer teammates to  attend a Friday night game we had a few weeks ago.  Don't know if it was truly my brownies, but we had 14 players show up that night  - for all of you not initiated in the world of soccer - that means three substitutes!  Hard to win games with tired players when not enough players show up.  


This is a three layer bar which is very rich so cut accordingly.  The original recipe is called Chocolate-and-Sherry Cream Bars and I believe came from Fine Cooking Magazine.  A quick Google search came up with the same recipe but with no credits to Fine Cooking.  I have adapted it to my taste with Kahlua.

Kahlua Brownies
1 cup butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
4 slightly beaten eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
4 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup half-and-half or light cream
1/4 cup Kahlua
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate 
2 tablespoons butter
4 teaspoons Kahlua

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Either grease or lay down parchment paper into 13x9x2 inch baking pan.
2. First layer: In a medium or large saucepan melt the 1 cup of butter and the unsweetened chocolate over low heat.  Remove from heat and stir in the slightly beaten eggs, granulated sugar and vanilla until just combined.  Stir in the flour.  Spread in the prepared pan and bake for 20-22 minutes - you don't want to overcook it.  Let this layer cool.
2.  Second layer: In a large bowl beat with an electric mixer the sifted powdered sugar and the 1/2 cup softened butter.  Slowly add the half-and-half and the 1/4 cup of Kahlua.  At this point you could add in the walnuts if you wanted a crunch to balance out the super sweet second layer.  I do not.  Spread the filling over the brownie crust and chill in the refrigerator until firm.
3.  Third layer:  In a small saucepan melt the chocolate pieces and 2 tablespoons of butter over low heat.  Stir in the Kahlua until smooth.  Drizzle this third layer over the chilled filling with a spoon or enrobe the entire layer.
4.  Cut into bars and enjoy!  Best if enjoyed at slightly colder than room temperature.

Linking up the Debbie @ Tuesday at the Table and Fabric Tuesday @ QuiltStory.

Enjoy your day!
Susan

Monday, August 1, 2011

Checking In

On the soccer field, checking in is a move that offensive players should make when the ball has the possibility of being thrown in to them.  Those strikers/forwards/midfielders should be moving around the field near when the thrower is, in order to field the ball and ultimately score a goal.  A static player is of no use to a thrower as they are unlikely to receive control of the ball.  So what's my point?

I'm checking in by moving around the internet quilting world: sewing/quilting, tweeting, reading blogs, commenting and now posting a blog post.  I'm ready to field the ball and move it down the field to score.  I have not defined what the equivalent of scoring a goal in soccer is to the quilting world, I just know that I want too.

After almost a week of minimal sewing I was able to get back into the swing of things this morning to work on some projects.  My super cute nephew Nick just turned five and so I made him a pillowcase out of San Francisco Giant colors.  My siblings and I were all born in the Bay area and although we were all raised and live in Southern California, they remain die hard SF Giant and SF 49er fans.

Pillowcase for Nick
Yesterday I listened to Episode #14 of the Crafty Garden Mom podcast and when I was about 10 minutes into the episode, convinced that I needed to let go of the Summer Sampler Series and be happily content with what I had accomplished.  Tanesha of CGM is an excellent speaker (she belongs on NPR) and her pep talk about how we should not be intimated by quilt bloggers whom are very prolific or have skills above and beyond our own and that we should give ourselves a pat on the back for what we ourselves, accomplish.   Her pep talk was just what I needed to move forward.  This morning I sewed the four blocks of the Summer Sampler Series together to make myself the perfect table topper.
Yet to be named table topper with backing fabric on the side.
After my WIP Wednesday post last week where I had taken a photographic inventory of my quilts in progress, I went fabric shopping to find quilt backs.  I found fabric for the back of Italian Sorbetto and Sliced Coins and I also picked out a darling dot fabric for the Dots Swap hosted by Debbie of A Quilter's Table and Rachel of Snippets of Sweetness.  

I just this minute ran to the front of my house to get the mail and I had another envelope with a dot fat quarter!   So much fun reading the return address (the traveler in me craves far away places), carefully opening up the envelope and gently pulling out the contents inside.  This is my first swap and I'm already hooked.   My envelopes are ready and will be mailed out tomorrow.

~Posts coming soon:  A wonderful gift sent to me by Debbie of A Quilter's Table and my visit to the Long Beach International Quilt Festival.~

Enjoy the remainder of your Monday,
Susan