Scrappy quilt - a slow work in progress PLUS Blackberry Muffins!

Hi folksies
As you know, I generally have several irons in the fire at once. My mind just works that way. Also, I am a slow quilter. Last November, two sisters who are friends of mine, brought me a few sacks of shirts from their Dear Daddy's closet to make them remembrance quilts with. I have finished one, which I shared a few months ago:

There were some shirts left, so I got busy with cutting and sewing strips and scraps. I have been doing both of these quilts with my own Blondie version of Quilt as You Go method, hand stitching the blocks using some DMC 8 thread for accent. This is what I've accomplished so far:

Really grooving on the scrappiness of joining these shirts together. It is almost done, will most likely work on it some today while watching the infamous Casey Anthony trial. I tell my sister that we are like the old ladies in a Tale of Two Cities, busily knitting while crying for the guillotine. Yep, that's us. Stitch a few, shake our heads and then cry for Guillotine. Betcha didn't know I was so bloodthirsty!

Oh! Almost forgot! The blackberries are coming in like gangbusters! I made some delish Blackberry Muffins by combining a few recipes. Can I say a modest YUM! This is a KEEPER?

Blackberry Muffin Recipe
Gather together:
*2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
* 1 Tbsp baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 2 large eggs
* 1 cup sour cream
* 1 teaspoon milk
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans!)
* 8 Tbsp warm melted butter (1 stick)
* ½ teaspoon vanilla
* 1 tsp lemon extract
* Blackberries, cut in half
* Brown sugar for topping
Now, let's get going:
Preheat oven to 400°F.Line your muffin tins with paper or grease it up
Beat together eggs, sour cream, milk, sugar, butter and vanilla, lemon extract
Combine the dry ingredients and nuts separately. I like to whisk my flour to lighten it a bit. Then join the liquid with the dry ingredients, CAVEAT : Don’t over do the mixing; you want the muffins to be light and melt in your mouth; not tough as Granny's old shoe.
Now you can add the blackberries any which way you want to, but this is how I do it: Since our blackberries are bigger than my thumb, not only do I cut them in half, I add them to the muffins while in the tray. By that I mean, I add some batter, place some berries in, add some more batter and top with a nice slice of blackberry with some brown sugar covering the top of the muffin mix.
Then bake for 15 minutes or so, depending on your oven and also on the size of your muffin tin..
These are soooooo good with coffee. It actually does have a coffee cake taste.

Happy Father's Day

How often do we take the ones we love for granted? I think of this often and always tell my Luscious Man that I thank the Lord for him each day - that I never want to take him for granted, never want to take advantage of him, and each day, I most sincerely mean that I tell him all of these plus, that he is my double portion of joy. The Word of God says that out of your former shame God will give you a double portion of joy. (Isaiah 61:7)

I am thankful that this beautiful man is not only my husband but has claimed my children as his own. The children, now grown, cannot imagine a better Daddy. And not only has he been a blessing to the children and I, he has been an excellent son to my parents. How my Daddy loved him! He would call him his right arm and would tell me quite often how happy he was we found each other.

Now this is also the first Father's Day without my own wonderful Daddy. It is a bitternsweet day, as most "firsts" in the year following a loss. Last year, Luscious and I carried Daddy and Mom to Mabry Mill for Father's Day and we had a wonderful picnic, lots of happy stories from Daddy, and I even got up and flat footed a minute to some great blue grass. This delighted my Daddy as his mother loved to flat foot and taught me how. It was his last really good day.

I don't like to linger on sadness. I have been fortunate to have two wonderful men in my life who are my heros. My Daddy, who taught me to respect myself so that I could respect others, how to hoe a good row, make poor man's gravy, and most of all, Daddy taught me how to laugh at myself. That is an important thing that most don't ever learn. I am thankful to be the daughter and wife of country boys.

God bless each and every Daddy out there. Thank you for loving your wife and children, loving your country enough to stand up for it.

January to June 2011

Here are just a few of the blocks and other assorted thingies for swaps and personal that I have made this year. As you can tell I like color, textiles and most of all fun

The Burly Quilter with a Contest and Gardening

Hi folks
Been awhile once again since I posted. In my own defense, you know that when the weather turns to summer I will be busy in the garden. We have already been pulling some squash for a refreshing break from frozen veggies. What tastes better than FRESH from the GARDEN? The tomatoes are beginning to set their fruit and I can just taste those 'mater sammies! YUM.

My holly hocks and other perennial flowers are showing off again. I am also watching the growth of some Jerusalem Artichokes. I am intrigued by the whole concept of Jerusalem Artichokes. I have a very dear cousin who gifted me with a huge bag of these tubers/roots. They can be dug up and eaten like potatoes or just left to grow and spread like a tall blanket of sunflowers. Oh boy, y'all know I love my sunflowers! Once they get going, I will post some pictures.

I spent a few days last week in the hospital. Seems as if I got severely dehydrated from a horrible stomach virus. I thought I was on the mend when I started seeing all these spots in front of my eyes and fell with a loud thud on the floor, giving myself a concussion.

My head is still a bit sore to touch but the headaches have finally gone bye bye. Poor Luscious. He ran to where I was in a heap and scared the dickens out of him. He said my eyes were open and there was no Blondie in them. For five minutes he tried to wake me up and when I did I was quite upset that he woke me up! When he told me he felt the house shake when I fell, I knew the honeymoon was over, lol. Luscious is a good babysitter, although he tends to hover too much for my taste. He can make a mean bowl of jello and gatorade ice pops.

I have recently discovered a blog by a yummy young fella ~ The Burly Quilter. He is running a contest right now

Go give him and looksie and you may even WIN. I sure hope I do. It might make up for having a new hospital bill.