Dinosaur quilt done and more stash busting...

The Dinosaur Flannel Quilt is finished. You may recall that I am trying to clean out some of my stash. Everything used for this quilt is from my stash.

This quilt is 47" square and has Dream Cotton batting. We aren't having great weather so all photos are done inside. I just finished a Craftsy class - The Secrets of Free-Motion Quilting with Christina Cameli so I decided to try out a few of the designs.

The backing is a blue flannel with darker blue dots. The binding is orange cotton. 

I think the binding really helped bring out the colors in this donation quilt.

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I am still in the clean it out - use it up mode. I decided to focus on blue cotton fabric for awhile. I still have lots of flannel. I went through ALL of my blue fabric and chose my least favorites.  I also grabbed most of the smaller pieces which were some of my favorites. My big criteria was that the fabric was blue or blue and white - no other colors. During the process, I found some other cut up pieces and a leader/ender quilt in progress that got hidden away! Oh my!

I pressed the blues and cut most into 2 1/2" strips. There are over 100 WOF strips. There are a few hundred strips that are shorter than WOF - anywhere from 5" to 30" long. Most are well over 20" long. There are some 2" squares, 2 1/2" squares, 4 1/2" squares, 3 1/2" triangles for HSTs, and some circles. And there are many strings - strips that are 1" to 2" wide and varying lengths.

Here is a photo in the midst of my pressing/cutting/sorting.

During all this, I told Ray that I thought my fabric stash was out of control. I asked if he had anything in his life that was so out of control. With a smile, he said yes - his wife!

In all, I've cut up between 19 - 20 yards of blue fabric. The good part is that I can now close both drawers that contain blue fabric! Of course I have a zillion strips to store somewhere.

I think a Jelly Roll Race Quilt is next up - blue, of course, maybe with a little yellow. Yes, I have yellow fabric...

Will this use what you have phase ever end???

Apple Cinnamon Granola Bars

I found this recipe and had to try it. I have seen a number of granola bar recipes that are similar and I think you can make changes and the bars will still turn out. I used dried apples but I think any dried fruit that is a bit chewy will work.

Healthy Chewy Apple Cinnamon Granola Bars

from Lovely Little Kitchen at http://lovelylittlekitchen.com/healthy-chewy-apple-cinnamon-granola-bars/

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

1/4 cup flax seeds

4 tablespoons coconut oil

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups puffed rice cereal (I used Rice Krispies)

1/2 cup dried apples, diced (I cut up with kitchen shears)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 by 9 inch baking dish by spraying it with nonstick spray and lining it

with parchment paper, leaving excess hanging over the sides for easy removal later.

2. Spread oats, nuts, and flax seeds out in an even layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

3. Bake for 5-8 minutes, watching closely for the oats to just start to brown and become fragrant.

4. In a small sauce pan, bring honey, coconut oil, and brown sugar to a simmer over medium heat. Stir to dissolve

sugar for 2-4 minutes. Remove from heat, add vanilla extract, and set aside.

5. In a large bowl, combine puffed rice cereal, dried apples, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the oat mixture, and pour in

the honey mixture. Stir until everything is well coated.

6. Press into your prepared 9 by 9 inch square baking dish. Use another piece of parchment paper on top to pack it

down and press it into the corners.

7. Place them in the refrigerator to chill for an hour before removing from the baking dish to cut into bars. Serve at

room temperature.

You might want to stop over at Lovely Little Kitchen. She has a number of recipes that sound wonderful.  I'll be trying the Blueberry Muffin Energy Bites soon!

Two dpn cases

I spent some time earlier this week making holders for my double pointed knitting needles (dpns). I just sketched a pattern and it seems to be fine. The fabric was in my stash - in fact it's the scraps from the backing of the quilt Prism that I just finished. I free motion quilted the outside of each case but I don't think you can see it. 

I have needles in varying lengths so I made two different sized cases.

The larger case folded in half (it could be folded in thirds)

is about 15" wide when opened flat.

Here it is with the top flap open. Velcro holds the flap in place. Both cases are made such that the needles don't have enough room to fall/drop out of the case when the flap is closed. This larger case holds needle that are 7" to 10" in length.

The smaller case is for needles up to 6" in length. This is folded in half but can also be folded in thirds.

This case is also about 15" wide.

When the top flap is open, you can see the shorter needles and a pocket near the top. You can also see that I did a poor job of smoothing down the flap.

The pocket is for a needle gauge so I can check the sizes of the needles. The needle gauge shown is fairly large; I have smaller ones around but one wasn't handy when I took the photo.

Now I just need to figure out a way to mark the size for each set of needles. I have some ideas - I just need to find a scrapbooking supply store. 

I haven't decided if I need a way to make the cases stay closed. I don't think it is going to be a problem. I could used velcro or a tie. That will come if and when I decide it is needed.

For now, I love having these needles organized and easy to grab and take with me.

Parfrey's Glen in Devil's Lake State Park

Wisconsin's Devil's Lake State Park is a couple of hours from our home. We left home Tuesday morning under sunny skies with a light breeze and temperatures in the high 50s. The trees aren't changing much in the park yet.

Our first stop was the South Shore picnic area of Devil's Lake. We had overcast skies, wind (not a light breeze), and the temperatures were in the high 50s. It was COLD!

Plans for hiking and shooting photographs were quickly put on hold - it was too windy to shoot and a little too cold to hike since we were not prepared for cold weather.

We drove around the lake. When we got to the North Shore, we were more sheltered from the wind and the day was much more tolerable. 

We headed to Parfrey's Glen, one of four Wisconsin State Natural Areas within Devil's Lake State Park. The long, narrow, rocky ravine/canyon was more protected. We had a beautiful hike which wasn't the easiest but it was fun.

It started as a nice flat trail

along side a stream.

Ray took pictures...

The trail became very rocky

and many times, we had to ford the stream or walk in it. 

Looking back, the trees were just starting to turn.

As we went deeper into the canyon, it narrowed.

The rocks were getting huge! Can you see the people? Yes, we climbed up and around those huge boulders.

 And there were more...

until all of a sudden, there was a waterfall! This was a wonderful place to stop for a snack. I enjoyed sitting there for a few minutes.

Then we headed back down and out of the canyon

Ray rock-hopped out to this small island to take a photo.

The trip back had some challenges - I can climb up on my belly to get from one rock to another but I couldn't get down that way. The rocks weren't always close to each other so you had to go down facing outward. Thank goodness, Ray stayed close! At one point I had to step down and out to a rock - about a 24" drop. I'm a short person and I have short legs. I still can't believe I made that without a fall! 

Many of the rocks that we were using to cross deeper water were sandy and/or wet so it was easy to slip. Luckily, we made it out of the canyon without incident. We were both tired last night and today I am stiff and sore but that's improving as the day goes along.

It was so nice to do a more normal hike and it was great to be outside on a brisk fall day.

The Prism Quilt is Finished!

I was working on this quilt at a retreat in July. It is paper pieced and I did not have enough paper pattern pieces to complete  it at the retreat. 

The pattern is Prism. I bought the pattern last year - I think in Montana.

The quilt is a little over 62" square. I used an even number of columns while the pattern used an odd number. The quilt has already been washed so it is "puckery". I love puckered quilts.

I used Dream Cotton for the batting and Aurifil thread. All of the fabric came from my stash.

I quilted the white parts with a walking foot. The rest is free motion quilted - the navy parts have large circles and the colored 4-part diamonds have pebbles.

I used orange thread in the bobbin for the entire quilt. Depending on the area, the top is quilted in white, navy, or orange.

The back is orange with a lighter orange dot.

I really like this quilt. I don't need a quilt but I'm not sure I want this one to leave. So for now, this one stays here but may still be donated. I'll see...

Stash Busting

I have to do some stash busting! I mean I am out of room to store fabric! I thought about this and decided to clear out the flannels. Ha! This is going to take a while! I did begin ...

My stash of flannels includes one piece of yellow that is large and has never been cut. Otherwise, every piece has been used for something and I have the leftovers. 

First I took ALL of the dark colors except 2 Christmas prints  and used my Baby GO which I hardly ever use to cut 4 1/2" half square triangles.  Then I cut up the only light piece I had. I also bought another 4 yards of light and cut it up. I have a peck of cut up fabric!

I have sewn a few squares and will get these eventually done as leaders and enders. I know I have plenty for two quilts and maybe more. My inspiration for this quilt is my friend Lesley's quilt, Hugs, at The Cuddle Quilter. I just had to put a few pieces on the design wall and make sure I'd like it.

There was still a lot of flannel left in the flannel drawers so I decided to cut some of the children's flannels into squares. I found the dinosaur fabric was already cut into border pieces. This isn't a favorite quilt but it will work for some child when it is finished. It will be very snuggly.

I had a few blue/green and green elephants and a little green and some blue/green. Again not a favorite quilt but it will be snuggly. Can you see that I didn't have quite enough blue/green for the top and bottom stripes? I think this is the way our grandmothers used to make quilts!

I had just a little of the cute animals so I put this together.

Then I was in trouble because none of the other flannels went with it. I finally decided to use cottons. I will put a flannel back on it. This was going to be the finished quilt but I decided that it didn't look finished.

I had just enough red with one seam to put a piece on both ends.

I  think that's enough stash busting of flannels for this week! I think I used up 15 - 20 yards. Of course I bought 4 yards. Now I have a pile of quilts needing backing and quilting.  AND I have a little room in my fabric storage!

50 Years is a Long Time

Ray and I went to school together beginning in 7th grade. We graduated from Belvidere High School in 1966. That was 50 years ago! This past weekend, we went back to Belvidere, Illinois, and celebrated with many of our classmates; we hadn't seen some of them since our graduation day. We've had just 3 or 4 reunions over the years.. The weekend was great fun!

Somehow the men just gathered and had their picture taken.

It took the women forever and even then many of us were still visiting.

Thank goodness this was a weekend affair - I still didn't feel I had enough time to visit with everyone. There is never enough time!

Since we were 'home', we spent a little time Saturday morning in the park. It was nice when we lived there but now it is a gorgeous place. Ray spent some time taking photos - are you surprised?!! I took pictures too.

Here is a selfie we took at the motel Friday night.

We might have changed a bit in the last 50 years. Here are our name tags with our senior pictures. 

Many of our classmates have faced challenges and health issues over the years. I guess we have too. We all felt very blessed to have been able to spend the weekend together and look forward to gathering again in a few years.