Honoring Women's Rights ~ Week 28

Ocean Wave

 

 

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Week, Grandmother's Choice.

http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com

 

 

This is how I made my block, the instructions

are a bit different from the original.

 

 

Fabric Requirements:

 

Fabric A: White Print

5 - 3 1/4'' squares - Mark a

diagonal line on back.

 

Fabric B: Blue

5 - 3 1/4'' squares

 

Fabric C: Floral

1 - 2 7/8'' square - cut on diagonal

1 - 4 7/8'' square - cut on diagonal

(you will only need 1 half)

 

Fabric D: Coral

1 - 2 7/8'' square - cut on diagonal

1 - 4 7/8'' square - cut on diagonal

(you will only need 1 half)

 

 

Make Half Square Triangles:

Pair Fabric A and B 3 1/4'' squares

with right sides together.  Sew 1/4''

away from each side of drawn line.

Cut on drawn line, press seams to the

Fabric B.  Square to 2 1/2''.

 

 

Quarter Unit #1 - 4 Patches

 

Layout half square triangles as shown and

sew together in 2 rows.  Press seam in row 1

to the left and seam in row 2 to the right.

 

Sew rows together.  Square to 4 1/2''.

Make 2.

 

 

Quarter Unit #2 - Step 1

 

Layout units as shown and sew the half

square triangle to one of the triangles as

shown.  Press to the triangle, trim off the

little dogear.

 

 

Quarter Unit # 2 - Step 2

 

Pin the other triangle and sew to above unit.

(I stress pinning this because it is easy to sew

this to the wrong edge...)  Press to the triangle.

Trim dogears.

 

 

Quarter Unit #2 - Step 3

 

Sew the large triangles to the units and

press seam to the large triangle.

Square to 4 1/2''.

 

 

Layout units as shown and sew together

in 2 rows.  Press seam in row 1 to the left

and seam in row 2 to the right.

 

 

Sew rows together and square to 8 1/2''.

 

Check out everyone's work on Dustin's Flickr site.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/grandmotherschoice/

 

 

I've always been interested in the WAVES,

maybe that is due to my own time spent on

the high seas when I was a Sea Scout as a

teenager.  That's me above, on our boat, The

Seahorse ~ I'm the one with her hand clutched

to her throat...

 

American Homestead can

now be found on Facebook.

Please "like" my page!

http://www.facebook.com/americanhomesteaddesign/

 

See you next Sunday!

~Ellen



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Sorority Girl

 

Back in the olden days, when I was in college,

Greek Life was not a big thing at my school.

Given that I went to school on top of a mountain

overlooking New York City, who would want to

go to a frat party?  We had New York at our feet!

 

But in the many land grant universities across our

country, life is a bit different.  They are often plunked

down in the middle of nowhere, with little to do for

entertainment.  And Greek Life is a big part of these

universities.

 

 

Our daughter joined a sorority this year and

last weekend we visited the house for the first

time for Parent's Day.

 

 

We were pleasantly surprised at how nice

the house was.  There are big rooms to hang

out in with your friends.

 

 

They have a chef and housekeepers and

the food was good and the house is kept

beautifully.  And everyone is so nice...

 

 

I can see why people would choose this

option for living at school.

 

 

 

 

 

Elle's Kitchen: Black Bean/Spinach Quesadillas

 

This is a quick and healthy meal, you may

have most of the ingredients around your

kitchen.  In all honesty, I prefer a mushroom

and Mexican cheese quesadilla but they aren't

the healthiest things to eat.  So, to even things

out, have some beans and spinach every once

in a while.

 

 

Ingredients:

2 cups refried black beans

1/2 cup refrigerated fresh salsa

cooking spray

5 or 6 oz. fresh baby spinach

6 spinach tortillas

3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese

scallions, chopped

sour cream

 

 

Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and

heat on medium-high, add spinach and cook for

about a minute, until it wilts.  Remove from heat

and set aside.

Combine refried beans and salsa in a bowl.

 

 

Spread 1/4 cup of bean/salsa mixture on

a half of each tortilla.  Top with spinach and

cheese.  Fold tortillas in half. Wipe pan and

heat over medium high, spray with cooking

spray, place 2 quesadillas at a time in pan and

cook for 2 to 3 minutes each side (do not burn).

 

 

Cut into wedges and top with sour cream,

cheese and scallions.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Storm Saturn

 

I admit, it feels quite silly to have a rather

small snowfall be a named storm.  This one

is called Winter Storm Saturn.

 

 

For us, the snow started at dusk last

evening.  It came down in big flakes

and covered everything very quickly.

 

 

We were home safe and sound and

spent the evening cuddled up in front

of the fireplace, drinking hot chocolate.

Every hour or so, we'd check on the

accumulation.

 

 

Today I took a snow day ~ well, really a

snow morning.  I slept late, I bundled up

to fill the bird feeders, visited the neighbors,

took a few pictures of the snow.

 

 

On the way home I saw a robin which

reminded me Spring is not far off (hopefully).

Better get back to work...

 

 

 

 

 



Dixie Diary ~ March

Shouting Yankee Doodle

 

 

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

2013 Block of the Month, Dixie Diary.

 

 

Fabric Requirements:

 

Fabric A: Light Print

2 - 7 1/4'' squares - Mark a

diagonal line on back.

 

Fabric B: Blue

1 - 7 1/4'' square

 

Fabric C:  Red

1 - 7 1/4'' square

 

Fabric D: Gold

1 - 6'' square (for applique)

2 - 1 1/2'' x 12 1/2'' strips

2 - 1 1/2'' x 14 1/2'' strips

 

 

Make Half Square Triangles:

Pair Fabric A squares with Fabric B & C

squares with right sides together.  Sew 1/4''

away from each side of drawn line.  Cut on

drawn line and press seam to the darker fabric.

Square to 6 1/2''.

 

 

Layout units as shown and sew together

in 2 rows.  Press seam in row 1 to the left

and seam in row 2 to the right.

 

 

Sew rows together and press seam open to

reduce bulk.  Square to 12 1/2''.

 

 

Sew a Fabric D 1 1/2'' x 12 1/2'' strip to each

side of block.  Press seams to the outside.

 

 

Sew a Fabric D 1 1/2'' x 14 1/2'' strip to the

top and bottom of the block.

Square to 14 1/2''.

 

 

Applique a star or heart as desired.

 

Check out everyone's work on Dustin's Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/civilwarquilts2011/

 

American Homestead is

now on Facebook.

Please "like" my page.

http://www.facebook.com/americanhomesteaddesign

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Honoring Women's Rights ~ Week 27

Grandmother's Dream

 

 

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Week, Grandmother's Choice.

http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com

 

 

This is how I made my block, it is different from the

original instructions.  I'm a quilter that says "why?"

to Y-seams ~ I don't like them and try to come up

with ways to avoid them...

 

 

Fabric Requirements:

 

Fabric A: Light

4 - 2 1/2'' squares

 

Fabric B:  Blue Print

2 - 2 1/2'' x 3 1/2'' rectangles

1 - 2 1/2'' x 8 1/2'' rectangle

 

Fabric C:  Red

4 - 1 1/2'' x 2 1/2'' rectangles

4 - 1 1/2'' x 3 1/2'' rectangles

8 - 1 1/2'' squares - Mark a

diagonal line on back

 

 

Place a Fabric C 1 1/2'' square in the left corner of a

Fabric B small rectangle with right sides together.

Sew a thread width above drawn line and press to the

corner.  Trim back 2 layers of fabric to 1/4'' in the

corner.  Repeat process to right hand side as shown.

Square to 2 1/2'' x 3 1/2''.  Make 2.

 

 

Repeat the above process to each end of the Fabric B

large rectangle.  Square to 2 1/2'' x 8 1/2''.

 

 

Make Corner Units:

 

Sew a Fabric C 1 1/2'' x 2 1/2'' rectangle to the left

side of a Fabric A square.  Press seam to the outside.

Sew a Fabric C 1 1/2'' x 3 1/2'' rectangle to the top of

unit and press seam to the outside. Square to 3 1/2''.

Make 4.

 

 

Layout 2 corner units and a small Fabric B rectangle

unit as shown and sew together.  Press seams open

to reduce bulk.  Make 2.

 

 

Layout 3 units as shown,

 

 

and sew together, press seams to the outside.

Square to 8 1/2''.

 

Check out everyone's work on Dustin's Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/grandmotherschoice/

 

American Homestead is

now on Facebook.

Please "like" my page!

http://www.facebook.com/americanhomesteaddesign

 

 

Thanks for visiting.

See you next Sunday.

~Ellen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Leaving the Nest

 

It has been a long, cold winter here in the

American Midwest.  I have been cocooned

in my studio, hibernating from the blahs of

winter...  In two months from today we will be

 hiking up to castles along the Rhine, walking

 through the tulip fields in the Netherlands

and strolling along the cobblestones in Paris.

 

And I need to get ready.

I set today as the day I would start my training

for our European journey, I thought, it will be

March, certainly the weather will have improved.

Haha.

I was wrong, it was grey and cold and snowing.

 

Not a great day to leave the warm nest of my

home and venture out to the woods.

But I did it anyway and feel better for doing so.

 

At least, I am fairly certain that by the time I

leave for my European adventure it will be

Spring ~ and it can't come a moment too soon

as far as I am concerned.