A Springtime Sampler

Here in Colorado the blossoms are 

starting to appear on the trees,

and the tulips look especially colorful
this year.

Spring is officially here.

When the seasons change,
it's nice to also change the quilt that's our the bed.

One of my favorite quilts is 

this wonderful applique sampler.

The pattern is by Lori Smith

called 

Love Always.

88" X 88"

 I finished it in 2008.

The fabrics are a Fig Tree line by Moda
called Yuletide Jubilee.

Reds and greens don't always
say Christmas
especially if the greens are more of a

spring green.

Most quilters have done a sampler quilt

one time or another.

 Samplers are a delightful way

to learn new techniques,

pace yourself,

and have the opportunity to make

lots of different blocks without making a 

whole quilt with only one design.

I enjoyed appliqueing the simple,
soft curved pieces of the blocks.

You can see I used a fairly limited palette.

The blocks were framed perfectly
with the half square triangle borders and

 then framed again with the sashing strips.

My machine quilter, P. Raymond,
did a fantastic job, interpreting each
block individually and including accents on the appliques.
It definitely added to the
beauty of each block.

I used a wool batt in this quilt,

but that's a good thing.
 The nights can still be pretty chilly here.

Just like each individual block that
works together in a sampler,

each new sign of spring

 brings the beauty and sweet smells
of the season to it's fullness.

Weather Update:
At least 3 inches of snow
is predicted for the Denver Metro area
on Mother's Day!
So much for spring!

Until Next Time-

A Cinco de Mayo Treat for the Co-Workers

The Cupcakery

is always looking for a reason

to start baking.

 made us think of 

all the wonderful flavors you might find
at a fiesta.

We decided on cupcakes 

full of lime and tequila flavor

 to represent

 the classic margarita cocktail.
 We knew the co-workers, as well as the bakers,

would certainly enjoy this one.

We began with our basic classic

vanilla cupcake, but

added plenty of our two special ingredients,

the lime and tequila.

We even brushed a bit more 

of tequila on the top of each cupcake
when they were still warm from the oven.

One trick to keeping your cupcakes
moist and yummy is to not

over bake them.
Cupcakes are not that big and can
 be easily left in the oven too long.
A few moist crumbs clinging to the toothpick
will insure that the cupcakes will be perfect.

The cake should be springy,
not wet looking or jiggly.

The vanilla butter cream frosting 

needed to include

the lime and tequila as well

 

to combine that sweet and tart flavors
of a margarita.

With lime zest and
a sprinkle of salt
the cupcakes were ready for
our mature audience.

These cupcakes ended up being
muy bueno for
the staff's Cinco de Mayo fiesta.
It made us happy

to share our cupcake for dessert
and, of course,
the co-workers were happy too!

Until Next Time-

Persistence

Just like Running Man

and his races, I have been

persistent in my own way.

Granted, it doesn't involve running 50 miles,

but it does consist

 of completing small stitches each day!

My grapes are done for the 

 Noah and Matilda Album quilt.

The good thing is that it 

didn't turn out to be the 

"Grapes of Wrath" block

 

 after all,

 despite their size.

 Also the  Di Ford's Mystery Quilt

being published by Quiltmania

surfaced once again.

When the second part of this quilt was

published, there was some concern about 

making the pieced border fit.

I decided to sit back and wait

and listen to the findings of other quilters

 and then move ahead.

I'm glad I did.

I picked up several good tips from

some very experienced quilters.

I had originally planned on

 gridding the background fabric 

and then appliqueing the

circles onto it.

Then when the background square was

stitched into the border,

the applique would already be done.

With many quilters having

 difficulty in getting the border to fit,

I decided that I wasn't  going to do all

the applique and then

possibly have to  redo it, if

there was some problems.

So I cut it apart,

carefully sewed the border pieces,

and then appliqued the circles.

The border is going to fit fine.

And I'm glad I waited.

I discovered that

my original basted circles were

not very well centered.

I left a couple in place to show you 

how off I was.

I would have been really irritated with myself

if I had appliqued them ahead, stitched the background

in place and discovered that the circles

 were so far off center.

In the meantime,

I persistently searched for one more

fabric for the triangle pieces.

Finally,

after looking one more time in the stash.....

It's so great to have a stash!

 Wish I could have sat and stitched

and completed all of this without issues,

but as you can see,

persistence does pay off,

no matter what race you're in.

Until Next Time-