A Good Week!

It's been a good, fun week. One day we went to Madison, WI and donated quilts to American Family Children's Hospital (UW Children's Hospital). That is always a rewarding trip for me. I took 20 quilts this time. I have more finished but I decided that since I've slowed down a bit, I'd make sure I'd leave a couple for the next trip too.

On the same day, Ray bought a new laptop computer and a monitor. Now we are in the process of figuring out how to move all his photos (RAW format) to the iCloud. This hasn't been a favorite part of my week but it is necessary. I think Ray still thinks he has his own computer expert. Ha!

Earlier in the week, I made a Mashed Potato Pie and it was good! It did not taste like potatoes - it tasted like a custard pie! I saw the recipe on Facebook, I think, and it is from a 1914 Methodist Church Cookbook from Hamilton, OH.

Irish Potato Pie

Unbaked pie shell (this wasn't mentioned in the recipe)

2 c boiled mashed potatoes (leftovers)

1 c cream (I used 3/4c milk and 1/4 c melted butter)

1 c sugar

3 egg yolks

dash nutmeg

Mix well.

Fold in beaten egg whites.

Bake at 375 degrees 50 minutes or until set (Mine took 65 minutes). Watch closely so it doesn't burn - may need to cover with foil. Refrigerate - this is a custard pie.

We also dipped some strawberries in chocolate. I don't ever remember doing this before. It was easy and our strawberries are huge. These are so good!

I have one quilt finish - Whale and Octopus. It's another panel quilt (I think I'm just about finished with the panels - there may be one more.) I sewed the three borders using a chain stitch on the serger because I wanted to try that. Using serger thread, which is lighter in weight, there isn't even a bump where the seam is. I was impressed. 

The quilt finished at 45" by 55". I quilted this with a meander stitch using Aurifil 40-wt #32975 light turquoise thread. 

The back is a tone on tone turquoise water print from my stash. This is another donation quilt.

I am waiting to begin a hockey quilt but my fabric hasn't arrived from Missouri Star. This is the first time that I've ordered from MSQC since the Pandemic when my order took 3 weeks to arrive. I thought things would be better. My fabric, ordered 1/31/24, arrived in New Berlin, WI on 2-2-24. It appears that it left there this morning for Chicago. Yesterday there was an Alert saying "No scheduled delivery date available at this time.". Today there is a message: "Scheduled Delivery Date 2/20/24 by end of day". Today is 2/10/24. My order was sent by FedEx SmartPost. I've been in touch with MSQC and they are doing nothing, saying their hands are tied. I think this will be my last order from MSQC unless they change carriers or I can choose my own carrier. 

I began a bargello quilt with a bundle of 29 fabrics - I decided that this might be fun. I've never made a bargello quilt but I have played with the concept before. After looking at pictures and doing a little research, here is the beginning:

Sorry about the shadows - one of my evening photos.

I think I found an important piece of advice about the seam pressing - Press each strip opposite (seams going inward or outward for each strip).

 

The seams nest well with the pressing. I have an odd number of strips so I have to switch one seam on some pieces as I sew the final strips together. 

I've also signed up to make a mystery quilt, Leap Into the Two-Colour Mystery Quilt-Along. I like Joanne's quilts (Canuck Quilter Designs) and think this will be fun. If you are interested, the link is here. I'm not sure what my two colors will be and I'm toying with the idea of using a print and a high-contrast plain. I do know the fabrics will come from my stash. Guess I'll decide around Leap Day when the first clue is released.

We've been enjoying our spring weather and our snow is gone. I think that means winter will return soon...