Alice Jane Blue and Orange Marmalade

The good news on the homefront is that I found my stack of Hope's Journey FQs that I originally planned to use to make the Celebrating Mary Brown quilt.  It was pre-washed, pressed, and neatly stacked in my downstairs bedroom closet.  I had been looking for a stack of fat quarters, not a pile of regular fabric.  I couldn't find a stack of fat quarters anywhere - 😜

I'm kind of glad I couldn't find them at first because it made me think outside the box and use my Alice in Wonderland fabric. Also, trying to come up with blocks from way different fabric than the original and a different theme has made me stretch a little and it is a much more interesting project.

I was only able to get one block done on this quilt for the month of November but it was worth it.  I did block # 3.

Kinda crazy, I know.

The reason I have ORANGE MARMALADE on my block is because of a passage in the original Alice in Wonderland.  Alice has fallen down the rabbit hole and she is looking at everything around her;

     "Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next.  First, she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the side of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves; . . .   She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labeled "ORANGE MARMALADE", but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it."


I found a picture of an old pot of Orange Marmalade dated 1862 Great Britain online and tried to copy the shape for my block.  Alice in Wonderland was first published November 26, 1865..

I did the lettering with a black micron pen and then embroidered over it with a single piece of applique thread for distinct but not bold letters.

Please check out the blocks of the others who are working on the Celebrating Mary Brown quilt or quilts of their own choice.

Karen at Log Cabin Quilter
Jennie at Over the hill and running 
Cathy at Big Lake Quilter
Julie at Julie K Quilts
Nanette at Do it right quilter
Jan gets posted on Nanette's blog
Rebecca at Quilting in a Polar Bear Garden
and someone new but I'll have to post her link later.

I made crockpot stuffing for our dinner Thursday.  I just used my regular recipe (no eggs) and put it in the crockpot on low.  It was moist  and crispy around the edges just like I like it.  I won't cook it for so long next time because it was a bit crusty on the bottom.  I think 2 hrs. would be perfect.  I usually stuff the turkey but we were invited to our Son and DILs and were assigned to bring stuffing.  It was a wonderful alternative.

I guess that's all.
Robin

It seems like I am stitching every day but I don't have much to show for it.  If I don't get busy it will be time for the next set of Cheddarback blocks and I haven't finished this months blocks yet.

Block is unpressed

This is my second attempt at this block.  The first one turned out ghastly.  I'm not kidding.  I had to just throw it in the trash.  It is an interesting block to construct.  The border is in 12 pieces.  The pink is really too bright but it's finished and it doesn't stand out too badly with the rest.
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I've been working on the sweet little quilt below.  I was hoping to get it done by the end of November.  I could if I worked on it more this week but with Thanksgiving festivities . . . I don't think I'm going to push it.  I made this little quilt in 2008.  It is past time to have it done and gifted.

Just simple SID with an angle through the square making an asterisk between blocks

I love hand quilting.  I am using white Aurifil #12 with little "Big Stitching".  I wish I could do it all day.  But, there just isn't time to spend it all leaning over the quilt frames.

We got our carpet cleaned this week, a regular turning the house upside down event.  Thanksgiving will be at my son and DIL's house so the only cooking I will be doing is making some stuffing.  I am going to miss the leftovers - the best part.

Here is a sneak peek of my next Alice Jane Blue block.  We don't officially post till the 30th.

Some of the ladies working on this quilt (Celebrating Mary Brown) are marathon appliquers (is that a word?) and they get so much done.  It's not a competition, it is not a competition, it is not a competition.

We were expecting about an inch of snow yesterday and we ended up with over 4 inches  (the storm's name was Dorothy - don't you love it).  Here is a picture where the warmth of the sun on the newly fallen leaf has warmed it up and made it sink into the snow.

                                                                  Kinda cool isn't it?

Well, that's all for now.  Hopefully I'll have more this weekend.

And, as a side note, have you had one of Culver's Pub Burgers?  Oh my goodnes!!!!!  Absolutely yummy!  And no longer available~
Robin

Cooking and Quilting

 This is the piece of apple pie (from the last post) that my husband cut for himself.  There really is a piece of pie under all that ice cream!

I finished my Zip a dee doo dah quilt finally.  The "big stitch" is a little bigger than I would like.  I need to work on that.

I just used random lengths of scraps for the binding and as it turns out all four corners got chicks on them.  It has been mailed to it's destination and I'm moving on.

I put this little quilt on the frames from the fabric line called "Sweet".  I made this years ago and there is always another quilt in the queue that pushes this one aside.

It shouldn't take me very long to quilt as it only has 12 squares.  I'm using Aurafil #12 white and taking little "Big Stitches" this time. I doing a small fan pattern in the borders and just SID in the blocks.  I'm not sure who is going to get this quilt when it is done but I have 2 people in mind.

I finished appliqueing the 20 blocks for my low volume quilt.  I was going to call it "Absence of Heat" but I've changed the name to "Mellow".

I cut all the circles  from the back of the applique and it gives me a whole stack of circles for another project - bonus!

I put all the blocks on my design floor and I think it needs some sashing.  What do you think?

Please click on the picture to enlarge and get a better feel for the fabrics.

It sure is a different mind set with such a subdued color scheme.  I'm used to lots of color and especially lots of contrast.

I've been burning my Apple Pumpkin candle almost every day and it got me in the mood for  Apple Butter Pumpkin pie, one of my favorites.

The filling was quite runny so I cooked it a little extra as you can tell by the picture.  But, the texture of the pie turned out perfect and it is yummy.

APPLE BUTTER PUMPKIN PIE

1 cup canned or mashed cooked pumpkin

1 cupt apple butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 slightly beaten eggs

1 6 oz can (2/3 cup) evaporated milk

1/3 cup milk  I just put in 1 cup of evaporated milk

1  9 in. unbaked pastry shell

Thoroughly combine pumpkin, apple butter, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon.  Blend in eggs, evaporated milk, and milk.  Turn into unbaked pastry shell.  Bake in 400 degree oven for 45 - 50 minutes or till knife inserted just off-center comes out clean.  Cool

From Better Homes & Gardens magazine November 1972

I've been playing Christmas music all week.  I love this pre-holiday time of year.

Robin