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Wednesday, May 13, 2020

All the Fabric (and Life!) Crazy!


OLDER fabrics with a Corona Vibe! LOL!

I have been working on Part 8 of our Unity Quilt Along – oh boy!  Just wait until you see it!

I have had a great time pulling fabrics – digging deep into the stash for things that haven’t seen the light of day in years, and incorporating some newer-to-me fabrics that while they not really be from current fabric lines, are adding punch from the stash of friends to this project.

How CRAZY CORONA is that far right fabric??  As it was just small pieces, there is no selvage to let me know who the designer is or when it was manufactured, but it is so perfect – even in the colors I have chosen for this quilt along.

And I didn’t find these pieces until I was working on Part 8 – go figure.

I’ve gathered some stuff together for the backing of this quilt and I can’t wait to share it with you – There are even some crazy block mishaps that I will reveal.  They are being sewn into the backing.  We are keeping it real here!


This bit of yumminess happened over the weekend!

And they are already GONE.

Remember that whole Zoey Jo tummy debacle when she wasn’t keeping her food down?  Well, she is doing better.  We have elevated her dish so she isn’t gulping air with her head down too low for her body.  She is eating with a puzzle dish which also slows her down. 

She still has occasional urps, usually if she gets to running around too soon after she eats.  (Remember that rule when you were a kid that you weren’t allowed to go in the pool until 30 minutes after eating for things to settle?)

In the mean time – she has turned her nose up at canned pumpkin.  She will NOT eat it. She will not eat it mixed in her food.  She will not eat it cooked with chicken and rice.  It’s like the whole Green Eggs & Ham story, Zoey style, only we never get to the ‘I really DO like Green Eggs (canned pumpkin) and ham, Sam I Am!

There was half a can left in the fridge and I knew I needed something to do with it so Sunday – Mother’s Day Afternoon – I was aching to be baking and looked up a recipe for pumpkin cookies.

These are the softest, yummiest, spiciest little morsels!

I replaced the wheat flour with gluten free 1-for-1 flour (King Arthur) afraid they might be a bit dry – but NO. They are SO GOOD.

Glazed Pumpkin Cookies Recipe:

Cookies:
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • 1 ½ cups white sugar
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 1 egg
Glaze
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. 

Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.

To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

Store in an air-tight container to prevent them from drying out.  They will be GONE GONE GONE in no time.

And now I know what to do with the other 6 cans of pumpkin on my shelf!  We had stocked up due to this whole Shelter-at-Home thing.

I’m going to really need to go on a diet when this pandemic is over!



Now that spring is springing -

Slithering things are emerging.


And shedding their skins!

Which I think is completely crazy as we have had temps below freezing in the past week – I hope this guy’s new skin is keeping him warm! (But can you see how proud the DH is over this found skin?  BOYS!  YUCK!)

This black snake skin was found just outside of the Quiltville Post Office – and we are always GLAD to see evidence of them around as they keep the mice and rodent population down.

Did you know they also eat spiders?  Our well guy told us that if there are no spiderwebs in a crawl space, you have a snake to thank for it.

They also keep the poisonous snakes like copperheads away.  I’ll take a black snake any day and treat them as friendly.

I just don’t want to be surprised by one!

In other critter news – Zoey Jo wouldn’t come when called, and I went to find out why. 

Oh, the discoveries of life as a puppy – Click to Play:


I love the way that a puppy will attack every new experience as WOW!  They find the wonder in everything.  It’s “Game On!” all the time.

I need to live life more like a puppy and appreciate the wonder around me.

To get her away from there I had to carry her back up the hill.  She is covered with dirt from head to toe. She needs a bath.  But later.

Today there is mail to go out – blocks to be sewn, life to be lived!

Life is even better with a 25% off sale!

I really DO love May! And to celebrate the beauty of May (with a do-over day today) I am putting all digital patterns in the Quiltville Store at 25٪ off using coupon code DIGITAL25.

This coupon code is good for the entire month, but code must be used at time of purchase for the sale price to be in effect. Don't forget to use the code!
No refunds if you forget, okay?


You'll find everything in the digital pattern section of the Quiltville Store.

Where you will also find the Addicted to Scraps book still at the low low price of $15.99 while lock-down lasts. (June 10th here in Virginia.)

And it comes with a free Wanderlust table runner PDF pattern, so maybe instead of purchasing that one at 25% off in the digital pattern sale, you’d like it for FREE with the purchase of Addicted to Scraps?  No coupon required for the book purchase.

My thanks to those who have shown their support of my small online business during this lock down time – it really helps.

What is up for YOUR Wednesday?


Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Tropical Twist from the Addicted to Scraps book. 
While I have been sheltering in place for the past 2 months the noise of the world that I once considered my normal has been left behind and I have rediscovered myself in quieter circumstances.

I vow things will be different from this point on with how I live and love my life and my family.

I appreciate the little things so much more and this whole craziness of this pandemic has brought back to me what my priorities really are.

While I can't wait for things to be better - The crazy train has left the station and when it returns I will not be jumping back on it.

Are you feeling that way too?


 

20 comments:

  1. I didn't have the crazy life before like you did and this aloneness has about done me in. I'm ready for the old normal where I can be out amidst people (even though they are strangers), shopping, traveling, etc. I don't want a new normal, just life like it was...

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  2. Do I see a little sparkle in that man's eyes as he holds up his prize knowing how many of us followers are scrolling rapidly past his photo? Yes, I have been told of the abundant usefulness of snakes, but YUCK!, and give me a herd of cats anytime to keep the mice and small critters away!
    Have a great day,
    Connie W.

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  3. I am so sure many others are wondering - Will Zoey eat the Pumpkin cookies? Then you would have to make lots more!

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  4. Doesn't take much to excite me! The quilt in your quote is one I've actually made recently!(I didn't go Scrappy and I used neutrals) it has become one of my favorites and I'll be making it again (in neutrals) soon! And I have become obsessed with Scrappy and all things Bonnie!

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  5. My dogs like the homemade dog cookies I make with pumpkin, applesauce, flour, oats, oil, cinnamon. Maybe Zoey would also! (The cookies have to be in the refrig or freezer since they are perishable). I just pour things into a big bowl and mix until the consistency seems right.

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  6. Our dog put her head into a clump of blackeyed susans by our house and lifted it out waiving a skunk. Be careful of what Zoey may find.

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  7. Cookies look wonderful (And healthy)
    What size of can was the pumpkin can?

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    Replies
    1. Recipe calls for 1 cup pumpkin puree. Pick your can size according to how many you want to make.

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  8. Our dogs love pumpkin! But they love our cookies made with them too! There are dog treat specific recipes out there that use pumpkin in them, you might try for Zoey Jo, good luck.

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  9. Ooooh...and I have all the ingredients...Maybe I'll make them and ration them for days when I work hard in my yard and garden instead of cutting fabric...working on "Unity", like I am today... :-D

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  10. I, too, am enjoying the peace and slowdown in my life. I know now that retirement won't be a problem for me in a few years. I'm taking the words of our province's head medical Dr. Bonnie Henry to heart: Be Kind, Stay Home, Stay Safe. Love your blog and the safe place it provides!

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  11. That far right piece of fabric is perfect for the Corona. LOL
    Those cookies do look yummy. I hate snakes. As long as they stay away from me I guess I'll share the farm with them because I know they are out there.

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  12. Just got startled today by a garter snake as I went out to hang up clothes. I screamed, he slithered. I just wish they carried little signs so they wouldn't startle me.

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  13. Love the cookies! They are yummy! Thanks for the recipe. I was surprised I had all the ingredients.
    Hope that wasn't a badger hole!
    We have a resident Gardner snake who likes to slither out in front of you on the sidewalk near the front door. We see him so often we have named him Dave, after a friend that screams like a girl when he sees him (hilarious 😆😅🤣😂)!!!

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  14. I don't live the Crazy Life that you've had with your travel and teaching. I want to be around people again, whether it's family, friends, or clerks, and I want to travel to see grandbabies. I live alone and I like my company, but I am starving for a good friend to talk to two or three times a week. Face to face. Zoom is not emotionally attaching to me. It is actually depressing to me. This time in quarantine has shown me what I desired before quarantine is still what I desire in quarantine. That has not changed except to maybe clarify and make that want even stronger. And I would love to say that I've been doing a lot of sewing in quarantine but I have made a handful of masks is all. I've been working full-time. Just always alone.

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  15. I take a "live and let live" stance on all snakes. Even venomous snakes eat their share of pests that I hate worse than snakes. Rats and mice do damage in attics and spread disease. I will kill (or get my husband to kill) a venomous snake if it shows up on the property, otherwise snakes can come and go in peace. But I live in the burbs, we have yet to see a snake in the yard at this house. Lots of the neighbors have seen snakes, especially if their yards back up to the greenbelt preserve. So I do keep an eye out, since we have a dog and she might stick her nose where it doesn't belong!

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  16. What to do with extra pumpkin??? FROSTED PUMPKIN BARS (Better Homes & Gardens)
    SOOOO VERY DELICIOUS.
    My 9 yr old grandson asked me for the recipe...he loved them so much. NOW a family favorite!!
    (tried to type recipe here but it got too long.)

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  17. FROSTED PUMPKIN BARS

    2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder
    2 tsp baking soda 2 tsp cinnamon
    1 tsp pumpkin spice 1/4 tsp salt
    2 cups sugar 1 (16 oz)can pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
    1 cup vegetable oil (I use canola)
    4 eggs

    FROSTING
    1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
    1/2 cup butter, softened
    1 tsp vanilla
    4 cups powdered sugar

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 10" x 15" jelly roll pan.

    In small bowl, whisk tog flour,b powder,b soda,cinnamon,pumpkin spice, and salt.

    In large bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, and oil. Mix well. Whisk in eggs.
    Fold in flour mixture until uniformly combined. Spread into prepared pan.
    Bake for 20-25 min until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely, at least 30 min.

    In large bowl, combine cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar in batches until combined. Spread on cooled cake. ENJOY!

    ReplyDelete

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