A New Day...

Words will never convey the feeling I had to see such an outpouring of shared grief, tears, love and comfort from so many people. When I thought I might not be able to carry on, your messages lifted me and helped me move forward.

Thank you to everyone who left a note of condolence, sent a card or gift, or expressed your sadness at Fezzik's untimely death. I love each of you more than you will ever know.

My first weekend without him was the most difficult, but each day gets a little easier. I will never forget my first corgi, and I will find ways to honor his short life. So today, I'm back with you - my friends and fellow bloggers - to carry on from here.
I'd love to be able to tell you that I spent hours in the studio, but I'd be lying. I did manage to bind the Marie J quilt that came back from Kathy. It's a commission that will soon be on its way to a new home.

On Friday of Mother's Day weekend, Handsome and I hooked up the Flying Cloud and (with Kes) took it to a beautiful campground located about 15 miles from home. It was a restful and quiet place, and we had a great time on our "maiden voyage". We're all looking forward to our next adventure, and I look forward to sharing it with you.

Yesterday my friend, Madam Samm and I worked on a new look for my blog, too. A new look, a new day. Thank you, Samm for all of your hard work on my behalf.

Love and gratitude for every one of you.

Another Top Finished, And A Reminder...

I finished the quilt top for the Marie J quilt yesterday. I really love the way it turned out. Seems I never tire of the Whispering Windmills block pattern (from the book, Lickety Split Quilts). Every fabric variation makes each quilt my newest favorite!
I managed to have all of the blocks assembled before stopping to prepare our dinner. This was also the last photo I took in daylight. (The first photo showing the completed quilt top was taken around 9:30 last night after I finished pressing it.)
Here's a daylight photograph of the fabric I used for the inner border as I previewed it against the assembled blocks. I decided to use this to pick up the same golden tan color in the floral fabric.

I'll assemble the fabric for the backing today and then I'll take it up to Kathy and Nora's shop. I beat my deadline by over a week! I'm using the same darker blue print shown in the above photos.

So, what do you think? Does it remind you of sea and sand? I think I'll choose something on the order of waves for Kathy's machine work. You know I'll share the finished quilt as soon as I get it back and bound, right? Right!
I just want to remind everyone that MONDAY, April 25th is our next Memory Lane Monday. I hope you'll have a story to link to the party. I'll have my post up around 10 pm on Sunday to make it easier for you to link up and join in the fun.

I'm On A (Sausage) Roll...

I decided to share my ridiculously simple recipe for sausage rolls with you today. Now, pay close attention because you don't want to miss a single step!

You won't even need a pencil for this, so no need to worry about writing anything down or printing out a long recipe. These are the ingredients: Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (8 per package) - or a package of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry (cut into strips), and frozen Brown & Serve Breakfast Sausages. In addition, you'll need cookie sheets and a serving dish. I also use parchment paper on the cookie sheets. (Who wants to have to do dishes, too? Not I!)
Because I was making sausage rolls for a large group of people, I decided to cut each frozen breakfast sausage in half. (**Do not thaw the breakfast sausages prior to prepping them for the rolls.) Unroll one package of eight crescent rolls. I cut the rolls, ignoring the perforations, so that I used the rolls proportionate to the size of the cut sausages.

Line the assembled, uncooked rolls on a cookie sheet...

...and then pop them into a preheated 400º F. oven for about ten minutes or until golden.

See? I told you. Ridiculously simple.

I came home with an empty serving dish from the guild meeting. Always nice when your hard work and hours spent in the kitchen are rewarded with an empty dish by an appreciative (and hungry) audience. (now I'm really giggling!)

You can serve these with mustard or another sauce of your choice if you want to be really fancy. I usually serve them plain. That suits us just fine.

These were the potholders that I assembled yesterday. At last month's guild meeting, they had a UFO (unfinished objects) sale. I purchased a whole bagful of (52) assembled quilt squares (for only $15.00!). I'm going to turn most of them into a quilt, but had these two left over.

I have to give guild member, Ann, credit for the beautiful block assemblies. All I did was layer the blocks with Insulbrite batting (especially for use in hot - oven - applications) along with a layer of regular batting and a piece of backing fabric. Then, I ran stitching around the inside of each element of the block to quilt all the layers together. The final step was to finish by sewing on the binding and a hanging loop.

I handed them in last night, so there will be one more pair of potholders for sale in the guild boutique at this year's quilt show. I found my pattern for the table mat yesterday (the one I put up for "safekeeping", and then couldn't find!), so I'll be making table mats and aprons to take with me next month to hand in.

I'll share updated Marie J quilt photos tomorrow. See you then!

Back In The Saddle Again...

I'm working on a commission right now. My client saw the Flying Cloud quilts and wants one for his sailboat's bunk. When I showed him these fabrics, he immediately agreed to this color scheme. "Make it up and I'll send you a check", he said. That's how we sealed the deal.

I'm working on a deadline to have all my work finished on it by April 25th, and then Kathy (Sandy's Quilt Shop) will quilt the top for me. Am I odd because I really enjoy doing the last step...the binding? I really do! I know that some quilters actually hate this step, which I just don't understand. I love this final process for finishing my quilts. It's almost meditation for me.

Today, I'm finishing a pair of potholders for the quilt guild's sales boutique, and then I'll work on this - which I'm calling the "Marie J" quilt - until I have to pack up to go to the guild meeting this evening.

After the guild meetings, we always stay longer to visit over snacks. I signed up to bring "something savory" (others always bring the sweets and beverages), so I have to allot some time to make my contribution for the snack table. There are always wonderful little noshes to sample, so I wanted to be sure to bring something nice. I'm making sausage rolls. They're really easy to make and quite delicious. I'll take a few pictures and share my sinfully simple recipe for them tomorrow.

I'm sure that all of the Marie J blocks will be assembled and I'll get some of the border work complete before I leave to meet up with the girls. What are you doing today?