Shop Hop is here...

Due to the craziness of Shop Hop, I unfortunately don't have a project to share. I do have some reflections of what's been going on at the shop. Hope to see you!

Happy hopping and my your bobbin always be full!

What's Cookin' Wedneday... Chocolately Puff Pastry!

Today's 'What's Cookin' Wednesday' is a quick and easy dessert or treat you can throw together any time! Perfect for dessert or a treat with your after noon tea!

For this recipe you will need:

1 pkg of Puff Pastry
1/2 cup chocolate chips or chocolate squares
Powdered sugar for dusting

First thaw out your puff pastry according to the box. Next roll out your dough and then slice into squares.

Next take some chocolate and place it in the middle of each square and fold and press your dough. Press well with a fork or the dough will "puff" open and not enclose your chocolate.

Place your treats on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes, or until they are 'puffed' and golden brown. Then sprinkle with powdered sugar!

Enjoy!! Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!!

Meet Stash Dasher Dolly Hale...

 

Each month we feature one of our wonderful "Stash Dashers" and this month it's Stash Dasher Dolly Hale. Dolly is a wonder! We all joke that she must quilt 23 hours of the day! She's a little like the 'energizer bunny' of quilters. Each month Dolly brings in a load of quilts that she has quilted, she's amazing!!


Dolly has been quilting, 'seriously' she says, for a little over three years. Dolly was more able to focus on her quilting after she retired from teaching. Dolly was a teacher for 43 years! During her last several years of teaching Dolly made approximately 25 rag quilts of her students hand prints. I can imagine how wonderful it would have been to be one of Dolly's students and to receive such a charming gift! Dolly shared with us how fun it is to run into the parents of those students now.

Dolly's generosity knows no bounds! Since she's always quilting, she has loads of projects to share. She has made several quilts for soldiers at Christmas, made several quilts for auctions and makes many, many baby quilts for Hugs, a quilting group that collects quilts for children.

Dolly's oldest quilt that she has yet to finish is about 45 years old.  It is a king size cross stitch. She recently found it and hopes to finish it some day. 

If Dolly doesn't have a sewing machine near her, she always has her embroidery handy. She's always working on something. To say she truly enjoys quilting is an understatement! As I said before, Dolly is a wonder and we are blessed to have her as part of our community of quilters!!

Here are some of Dolly's favorite works...

 

 

 

Doesn't she do lovely work! We hope that you are inspired by our Stash Dash ladies, we are!! Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!

What's Cookin' Wednesday... Quickest Scones ever!

Each third Sunday of the month we host a tea party at our Hand Embroidery Club. One of the standards of our menu is this super quick scone recipe! OK ladies, here it is!! Enjoy!

For this recipe you will need...

2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp of baking powder
1 1/4 cups of Heavy Cream (note: it only works with HEAVY cream, not whipping cream)


In a mixing bowl mix your dry ingredients until everything is evenly distributed. Then add your cream. The key to any scone or biscuit recipe is to NOT OVER mix. When the dough begins to come together squeeze it with your hands to form a ball.

Once you get your dough into a ball pat it into a round and start cutting wedges. 

For the tea party I make two rounds out of each batch to make smaller scones. I then take some cream to brush over the dough and dust with sugar and bake. I bake them on parchment at 425 for 12 minutes. Just keep an eye on them since every oven is different. This recipe is so versatile you can add anything you'd like from sweet to savory. Enjoy!

Happy stitching! May your bobbin always be full!

Yellow Brick Road Quilt...

Have you ever wanted to do something to use up some of those fat quarter? I do, so that way I can make room for MORE!! This quilt goes together so quickly you could do it in just a few short hours! When you purchase the pattern it includes dimensions from a crib size to a king and it really showcases prints that you love.

This is the season for babies, graduations and all sorts of reasons you may need a quick gift. I found myself in just this predicament, so this was the perfect quilt to whip together. I made mine out of our lovely Rose Cottage fabric line by Clothworks.

For the size I'm making you need 12 fat quarters... You begin with cutting all your fat quarters into strips, 2 at 6 1/2" x 21 and 2 at 3 1/2" x 21 mixing them up as you go. Then you sew the 6" ones to the 3" ones and sub cut.

 

 

You continue sewing and sub cutting until you get your final blocks. You will end up with 3 sets.

 

 

 



Once you have your 3 sets, you just lay them out turning each block as you go. When you get them the way you like them sew the rows together! That's it! I'm adding borders to mine and then I'll be done. So easy and fun!

Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!

What's Cookin' Wednesday...Easy Chicken Salad!

Now that spring is finally here... well today it felt more like summer (80 degrees at my house), I'm always looking for quick and easy meals that won't heat up my house! Today's 'What's Cookin' Wednesday' meal fits the bill. I love the magazine Eating Well! They have great healthy meals that are quick and most of the time all my family likes them. Even this meal, all but one child ate this salad. I call that success!!

I changed up the recipe a bit, due to the ingredient I had on hand. Here's what I did!

First I chopped up the lettuce, I used iceberg since that's what I had. Then chopped up the tomatoes, cucumber, olives and chicken. I omitted the red onion since I have picky eaters and I wanted them to at least try it! Then sprinkled the cheese, made up the dressing and tossed! Voila, there you have it a great quick dinner for a warm summer day!!! If you have cooked chicken on hand you could whip this up in minutes!! Click here for the full recipe...

A great quick meal so you can get back to sewing!! Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!!