Tuesday 25 June 2013

Some Fantastic Cookies!!

I recently made some amazing cookies! No I'm not being crazy egotistical I found this incredible recipe on Pinterest from A Little Bit Biased, a really fun quilting blog!
They are delicious!!! I know I'm going to be making these a lot!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies


I love making cookies for friends, family and coworkers as a special treat on birthdays or as a fun pick me up on a bad day.  I just know I'll be getting some big smiles when I bring these fun cookies along! 


Check out the fun recipe here and have fun checking out a really fun blog! If you're interested A Little Bit Biased also has an Etsy shop where she sells her quilting patterns Gigis Thimble
Make sure to show her shop some love!

Did you make any fun recipes this week? Has Pinterest increased your recipe repertoire?

Tuesday 18 June 2013

How Fun is Quilting?

Seriously quilting is one of the most fun hobbies in the world!!! I just recently finished taking a 7 week class on quilting and I am so glad I decided to learn! I've always wanted to quilt, and honestly I never really thought I'd learn how.  It seemed way to complicated to just pick up and try and I didn't think to look and see if there were any classes on the subject.
About a year ago my grandma gave me her old sewing machine. She wasn't using it as much anymore and she heard I was doing more sewing and was thinking of buying a new one for myself. She is one of the kindest most wonderful women you'll ever meet and as she had two sewing machines she insisted I take one.
I made a bunch of pajama pants for Christmas gifts and had so much fun doing it I thought I might check and see if there were any sewing classes I could take. In my search I stumbled upon a local quilting store (which I didn't know we had) that offered classes in beginner quilting!
I was honestly giddy! Unfortunately they had just started a round of classes so I had to wait for the next round. And it was so much fun!! I met a group of wonderful women who had all always wanted to learn how to quilt and it was fun to learn with other beginners insuring I didn't feel too ridiculous when I made mistakes!
Here are my lovely fabric choices.
  
These are some of the in progress shots of some of my squares. (Please excuse the picture quality these are all phone shots).  Our instructor decided we would make a sampler quilt so we could learn how to make a number of squares!

Excuse the names of the squares if you call them something different. I've been warned that each square has a number of names.
9 Patch


Double X


Friendship Star


Shoo Fly


Eccentric Star


Jacob's Ladder


Double 9 Patch Variation


Here is my finished quilt top!
(Again sorry for the picture quality this is a phone picture)

Pretty right? Now I just need to add the batting and backing, quilt it and add the binding! This quilt will probably not be finished until the end of summer but I'm enjoying the journey! And I may have already bought a bunch of fabric for my next quilt...
This was so much fun to learn I would highly recommend it to anyone who has considered quilting as a hobby! Or if there's another skill you've always wanted to learn there is no time like the present I'd say! Get out there and give it a try! You won't regret it!!

Tuesday 11 June 2013

A Late Start on my Gardening

Usually when it gets even remotely close to spring my windowsills are lined with little seedlings as I try to get a head start on gardening. But this year I had a vacation planned in the middle of May (it was wonderful!!). My sister was going to be watching the house and dog-sitting for me and I didn't want to also burden her with taking care of my garden.
So I got a bit of a late start on the gardening season but better late than never!! I did have two tomato plants that I grew from seed that survived my vacation and are doing incredibly well! Both are well on the way to supplying me with plenty of delicious home grown tomatoes!


When I returned from my vacation I got started right away! I was busy all week planting potatoes, flowers, cucumbers, beets, squash, peppers and herbs. Check out my pretty little sprouts! (don't mind the fly who decided to photo bomb my picture).



I also visited a couple of local green houses and bought another tomato plant, swiss chard, cucumber and flowers!  My yard is already looking lovely and each day I'm excited to run outside and see what new seeds have sprouted!
Just in case you're interested here are some pictures of all my pretty flowers and veggies!!






This next basket is actually salad mix! It has a couple different types of lettuce and some herbs! Too fun!

 Chard is so pretty and so good for you! 

I hope you enjoyed your little tour through my garden! How are your plants coming? Do you plant for looks, for eats or both?