Two Birds . . .

Don't you hate it when you are part of a group thing and it gets shut down and you aren't told it's getting shut down and you go to it and it's no longer there?  I had a student in my cooperative learning class several years ago (student goes to school half the day and then goes to work the other half) and she went in to work as she was scheduled and the business had closed.  No phone call, no warning, just shut the doors.  Not even a sign on the door!!  She had been at work the night before.  It was really weird.  That is not what I am talking about specifically, but it relates.  Oh, well.  There was no sign on the door, no advanced warning, just closed.  bummer!!  I really enjoyed that group thingy I was a part of for several years.  Maybe those "doors"  will reopen sometime in the future or something else will come along. 


What is not a bummer though is this fun, wonderful, kills two birds with one stone quilt top I just finished. 

This is my Purple Penny Patch Quilt that I finished this weekend (without the top row showing since this was being held up by two of my students, they don't understand the importance of showing all the quilt!  However, the one on the left did put that edge out over the table corner so it would show, just not the top row.  I started this quilt top as an example of using 4 patch units in a quilt.  I had made two blocks, one had a pink/purple print as the large square and the other had a mottled purple large square.  Two of my little cousins (my first cousins children) wanted purple quilts for their high school graduation.  Well, they have been out of high school for at least 4 or 5 years now and I just can not force myself to make them an all purple quilt.  I had cut about 20 fat quarters and tied them all up ready to make either a Yellow Brick Road quilt or a turning twenty quilt.  I just haven't forced myself to make them.  Purple is not my go to color choice even though I like it, it's just not the first color I think of like soooo many people today.  Anyway, after seeing these two blocks up on the design wall, I thought, "Purple!!!  I can use those fat quarters I cut for a purple yellow brick road quilt to add some zing and pizzazz to this quilt." So, that is what I did.  I only made 12 blocks, (12 fat quarters) and that meant that the top was only 48 X 64.  It needed to be wider.  Of course, I can't do things symmetrical so I cut strips from the remaining 8 1/2" segment that I cut my square from and sewed those together.  Once I got my strips sewn, I planned on cutting that long section to put part on the left and part on the right, but decided to put it all on one side.  Now I needed to cut some more strips to put onto the right side, just not the same size.  Looking good.  However the top and bottom look unfinished, but I don't want to add too much to the length so no piano keys for them, just bricks with a little bit of the leftover keys sewn in.  The top has only one row of bricks and the bottom has two.  Love how this turned out and this will be one of the girl's quilts after I get a purple back (already have the fabric for this) cut out and put together to send off to the quilter.  First, though, it is part of the 4 patch class I will be teaching at retreat in a couple of weeks.  two birds, one stone!  Love it!! 

Just a little news and a recipe

In June, I traveled to Arkansas to give a trunk show and teach a short class to one of my mother's quilt guilds.  The first part of the morning I gave my trunk show and answered some questions before breaking for a pot luck luncheon.  Which,  by the way, was delicious and the homemade bread was awesome!  After lunch, I set up for a small showing of projects with plans to demo a bit and teach some strip piecing techniques. It didn't go that way, but was really wonderful anyway.  After showing some of my strip piecing projects, they all just wanted to look at my projects and ask questions.  They were not really prepared - most of them - for a "class".  However, one lady, pictured below with me and my sister, Paige, came prepared, but decided not to sew.  She was darling and requested that we take a picture with her.  They asked if I would come back and teach an all day class next time.  So, I am looking forward to returning to Arkansas to teach some more quilting in the future.  Don't know exactly when that will be, but hopefully sometime soon.  

 

 

 

One of my strip piecing projects that I took was this string quilt I have previously blogged about here.  Since returning from Arkansas, I have added a large blue border all around.  I was thinking at first that would be all I would add, now I am thinking about adding some gray and green 4 patches.  I still have some of the gray strips and I have some bright green fabric in the same print as the dark blue.  I think I will work on that tomorrow and see where it leads me.   I am not sure I want them all the way around the quilt or if I want them randomly spaced, clustered on the corners or what.  I will just make up a bunch and then play.  

 

 

Earlier this week I tested out one of the recipes I have copied down from the Internet - probably from Facebook - for easy lasagna.  It was fast, easy and tastes wonderful.  Here are the simple directions for making this fantastic lasagna. 

 

Ingredients:

1 jar prepared pasta sauce (I used a jar of Putanesca sauce I got at Big Lots and had in my cabinet - I think this made the dinner since it has great flavor with the olives and capers)

1 package refrigerated ravioli (I used Buttoni cheese ravioli in the smaller shape, but used a large package)

Mozzarella cheese grated

Parmesan cheese grated

frozen spinach, thawed and all the water squeezed out

 

Now to assemble.  Put a little bit of the pasta sauce in the bottom of  a 9 X 13 pan.  (You could probably use a 9 X 9 pan and make more layers.)  make one layer of the ravioli - do not overlap.  Pour a little of the sauce over the top and cover with half the spinach and mozzarella cheese, do another layer of the ravioli, sauce, spinach and cheese.  End with a layer of the ravioli and sauce. Be sure you have enough sauce to do this top layer because it's important to cover all the ravioli so it will cook and soften in the oven.  Cover the entire dish with the Parmesan cheese and cover with foil. 
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake about 10 more minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.  Let set for a few minutes on the counter before serving. 

 

I hope you enjoy this as much as I have enjoyed eating on it.  I have put some in the freezer to see how it likes to freeze.  I figure it will be okay since all the ingredients can be frozen.  You could change it up just by changing your sauces and your ravioli.  I think the next time I make it I will use a vodka sauce and a meat filled ravioli in the large squares.  Enjoy!