Canon's Graduation Quilt in David Butler's Parson Gray Curious Nature

Warning:  This post is very picture heavy !   I finished Canon's high school graduation quilt this weekend and Katie helped me get it all documented in pictures.  We went to Unity Village in Lee's Summit yesterday and got some beautiful pictures in between rain storms.  The cloudy weather made for some great picture taking!  I really wanted to make sure this quilt made a statement as being "all boy".  So many fabrics are too feminine to make a great guy quilt.  When I discovered that Amy Butler's husband, David was coming out with his own line of fabric prints, I started frantically searching the Internet trying to find them.  Needless to say, so were many other quilters!  These prints were flying off of the shelves at online fabric shops.  Between Hawthorne Threads and Etsy shops I was able to accumulate all the prints that I wanted. Below are the prints I chose............

I also found a pattern on Etsy that I purchased in PDF format to make this quit.  After I got all my blocks cut out, it was time to get really organized and start sewing the sets together...

After all my sets were completed I moved to the living room floor where I had a big enough space to lay them all out and rearrange them until I made sure no two patterns were touching each other.  After I got them all lined up I took the first row back to the sewing machine and then Riley did some rearranging of his own.........

Guess this little stinker wanted them in a different order!  This is what the bichon does every time I work on the floor.  It's a battle I can't win and it's too entertaining to put a stop to it!

Once all the blocks were sewn together I went back to living room floor to sandwich the three layers together...........

All these pins went into securing the quilt.  Approximately 400 of them !

Riley does not like the feel of the safety pins, so he stays a quiet observer up on the couch!

I used a meandering free motion quilting technique.  I'm guessing this part took about 6 hours on my machine.  I kept the right side rolled up while working and I started at the top and worked my way down in about 5 inch sections at a time..........

I had three fat quarters left over that I saved for the binding.  I cut it at 2.5", folded it in half, sewed to the front and hand stitched to the back of the quilt....

We found this old park bench at Unity Village that really worked good with the colors of nature in the quilt........

Another shot inside a stone pavilion..........

Here's a shot of the back of the quilt..........

and a close up of the front............

These fabrics are also very soft and were easy to work with.  I'm really looking forward to seeing what other prints David Butler comes out with in the future.

Canon with his new quilt.......

I had a busy winter making this quilt and a quilt for my niece, Madison, who is also graduating from high school this spring.  Click here to see Madison's string quilt in Amy Butler prints.

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My Friend, Where'd You Get That Silly Grin

My friend, where'd you get that silly grin?

Has it been always there above your chin?

And I would do anything for you...

I'd do anything for you, for you and that silly grin



My friend, where'd you get them big ole ears?

Man, them ears go on for years and years.

And I would do anything, I'd do anything for you

For you and that silly grin

For you and that fuzzy chin

For you and them big ole ears

For you and all years

You are my friend

Lyrics from DOG TALES on PBS every Saturday

Love that show !!!!

Dogs In Corners

Dogs love corners and this dog is no exception.  Since he is now king of the sectional couch, he has claimed the corner as this throne....

It's so funny to watch him get comfortable in his corner.  He circles and scratches and maneuvers in many directions before getting it just right.......

He claimed his territory and he does not share it !

Peaches and Cream Corn Salad

Corn salad made with peaches and cream fresh corn!  So good and perfect for a warm day!

I used 5 ears of corn.  Boiled for a few minutes then transferred to ice water for a couple of minutes.  Small fresh tomatoes, one small vidalia sweet onion, 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons vinegar, salt and pepper.  Combine it all together and add some fresh basil....

It's a keeper of a recipe!  So good !  Scroll down to see who I have linked to this week.....

Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

Since discovering almond flour, I'm trying to use it whenever I can.  I found a recipe for almond flour chocolate chip cookies that was calling my name.  Click here to see where I got my recipe and to get all specifics.

I creamed the sugar and butter together..........

then added the egg, then added everything but the chocolate chips.  When that was all mixed up I hand stirred in the chips (Hershey's Special Dark are my favorite)............

This recipe only made 8 cookies, so you might have to double or triple it.  I doubled the chocolate chips to cure my chocolate craving...........

I baked them for 14 minutes and this is how they came out of the oven.........

Very good..... Different than flour but I liked the taste of them.  Always trying to find a healthier way to get my chocolate fix!  Click here to the get the recipe.

Three Envelope Chuck Roast With Brown Gravy Mix, Ranch Dressing Mix & Italian Dressing Mix

Last Sunday for Easter dinner I made this roast in a Reynold's cooking bag.  So easy!
All you need is one package of the following:
Brown gravy mix
Italian dressing mix
Ranch dressing mix

Sprinkle some flour in the bag and place your vegetables in the cooking bag first, then put roast on top of veggies.  Mix all the packets of seasoning together and stir in 1/2 to 3/4 cup water.  Pour that over the meat and close up the bag.

Cut 6 small slits in the bag around the tie area and pop in a 350 degree oven for a few hours and it comes out very tasty !

And you get ready made gravy in the bottom of your cooking bag!

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Oreo Ice Cream Cake

So.........when I'm not trying my best to eat healthy.........and it's a holiday, like Easter, I might get a craving for something really good that is not that good for you.  This Easter, it was Oreo Ice Cream Cake.  Everyone loved it !!  This recipe is easy but does require some time.  You will need:
one package of Double Stuf Oreos
one half gallon of ice cream (you choose the flavor)
one jar of hot fudge sauce
one tub of Cool Whip

Put half the Oreos in a Ziploc baggie and take out some aggression out on them.  I've lost my rolling pin, but this hammer worked quite well!  Spread the crushed cookies in the bottom of your dish and top with all the ice cream.  Either soften the ice cream in the microwave or let it sit out on the counter for a while.  You will need it to be "spreadable".

After the ice cream is in place, put the serving dish in the freezer for 20 minutes.  After that hardens, warm up the hot fudge sauce in the microwave per instructions on the jar and spread over the ice cream.  Put back in freezer for another 20 minutes.

Take out of freezer and cover the fudge sauce with all of the Cool Whip and then crush the remaining Oreos and sprinkle on top.  Put back in the freezer until time to serve.  We took it out while eating dinner so it could soften up some.  AMAZINGLY good !!!

Scroll down to see who I have linked to this week..............