Charming Chatter

Simple Things QA - Time To Stitch More Blocks

Hi girls!  Hope all of you are enjoying the Quilt Along

 
as much as Carol and I are!  Goodness, there are so many pretty versions of this quilt coming together - I'm getting anxious for the parade!!

Here is Mr. Linky so you can show us your pretty blocks for this week:

 

For the instructions for the larger version, visit Carol Here!

This week, we're making the little square patchwork blocks!  We'll be making 24 blocks, all of them will be 4 1/2" unfinished!

Let's Stitch

1.    Gather your 24 background 2 1/2" squares (or your larger background squares if you did the embroidery) and your 1 1/2" multi-colored squares.

2.    If you did the embroidery, you will need to trim your blocks to measure 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" square.

 
(I didn't have a 2 1/2" square ruler - so I improvised.  I used my 4 1/2" square ruler - centered the block, and cut it at 4 1/2" - then trimmed one inch off of each side - ya know what they say - "Necessity is the Mother of Invention :) !)

3.    Lay one multi-colored 1 1/2" square on top of another, right sides together and stitch. 

 
Make a total of 144 sets of 2 squares each.

4.    Set aside 48 sets of the 2 squares each (these will be stitched to the sides of your block.

5.    Take the remaining 96 sets of 2 squares, lay one set on top of another, right sides together, and stitch along the short side.  Then, lay out your block center, and multi-colored borders as follows:

 
6.    Stitch one set of 2 multi-colored squares to each side of your block, and stitch one set of the 4 multi-colored squares to the top and one to the bottom of your block.

 
And - voila!  Your blocks for this week (and for the whole quilt center) are finished!

Love these little blocks - don't you?

Next week, we'll be working on making border blocks and cuting our borders!  Enjoy your stitching this week girls! 

On a side note, remember this quilt top that I had in my "Lonely Quilt Tops Club" - and did a giveaway on:

 
and Mary over at Quilt Hollow won it!  But, she wasn't keeping it, because she wanted to give it to her bloggy friend who had recently lost her young son? 

Well - Mary quilted it up beautifully - and Mary Lou has received it and is enjoying it!  Pop over to Mary's blog HERE to see it!  So made me smile today!

TTFN,

Kelly

 

Perfectly Imperfect!

I started another project for summer (yes another new project - I know right)!  It's called "Little Patchwork Village Wall Quilt" by Rosalie Quinlan

 
and it's just SO CA-UTE!!

Oh, and I've started a new movement for us girls who never outgrew their love of pink!  Are there any other pink lovers out there?  There is redwork and there is bluework - but I felt we "Pink Ladies" needed a little something new:

 
PINKWORK!  I even have a bright pink hoop that I use to stitch!  So, I finished this baby all up, but had a bit of a cutting goof! 

 
I trimmed it too short on the top!  And, while the stitches looked great in the hoop, some of them pressed out a bit wonky on this! 

So, I thought of redoing it - but, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to keep it, the more I wanted to use this beautifully imperfect block in my little patchwork village!  I mean - it is my VERY 1st Pinkwork Block!!!

And, it's just like me - just like my life!  It's perfectly imperfect!!!  Everything is going according to a perfectly divine plan - though things often seem so imperfect!  Sometimes the plan includes tough lessons and things I don't understand - but it's the perfect plan for me none-the-less.

 
You see - it's the blend of everything perfect and everything that seems so imperfect that makes a beautiful life!  It's those seemingly imperfect things that teach us, that grow us, that take exactly where we need to go in life!

And, I think it's what is going to make a perfectly imperfect little quilt - a beautiful little pinkwork, patchwork village quilt - one that is so sweetly loved!

 

TTFN,

Kelly

Reva's Milky Way Ice Cream

This ice cream is a favorite for the Studlies

 
and I love it, too!

The recipe came from Grandma Reva (Studly's father's mother)!  Legend has it she made it pretty sweet!  It was passed down to Studly's mom - who modified it to make it less sweet!  Then, it was passed down to me - and if ya all know what a sugar-aholic I am - you can guess what I did with it!

Here's What You'll Need:

2 Small Boxes of Cook & Serve Vanilla Pudding

6 Milky Way Candy Bars (Plus 2 Candy Bars [optional] for Garnish)

1 Cup Sugar

2 Cups Half & Half

2 Cups Heavy Cream

4 Cups Whole Milk

Pour pudding mix, sugar, half and half, and heavy cream into a large pan.  Cut your 6 Milky Way bars into small pieces, and add them to the pan. 

 

Cook on medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the Milky Way pieces are melted.  Remove from heat.

 
Add the whole milk, stir.

 
Now, pour it into your ice cream maker, and freeze.  Makes approximately 3 quarts of ice cream. 

If you have the freezer that you use ice and rock salt with, you can freeze it immediately.  I got a new freezer that doesn't require any ice or salt

 
but, you do have to freeze the bowl and refrigerate your ice cream mix for 24 hours before freezing.  This freezer holds half of this mix, so I freeze two separate batches.

 
I should note the home-made ice cream isn't like the ice cream you buy in the store - it's soft serve - more like a "Frosty" from Wendy's type consistency when it comes out of the "ice cream" freezer! 

After you've frozen it, and put it in the refrigerator freezer - it will become more dense. Now, if you're like me - and you want it to be more like the soft serve when it came out of the ice cream freezer - nuke your bowl in the microwave for about 7 to 10 seconds and stir!

Studly Jr. likes his with some chopped Milky Ways on top.

 
Seriously good eatin' girls!

Enjoy!

TTFN,

Kelly