Just Another Hang Up: February 2019

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Christmas Chickadee Quilt...

At first when I finished the top of this quilt I was a little disappointed. I thought it looked waaaay too busy with all the small prints, but I have to say it is growing on me. I finished it the other night and decided I just might keep this one for myself...

When you look at all the fabrics up close, you notice that there's a lot going on, but when you give it a little distance, the inspiration fabric (gray background with berries) turns into a soft gray and melts into the background...

I used the inspiration fabric for the back of the quilt as well, and put a strip down the back of coordinating fabrics to make it big enough.

A leaf and berry pattern was used for the machine quilting. The pattern is more noticeable on the lighter fabric at the bottom of the picture below. This reflects the leaves and berries on the fabric...

It just goes to show that pretty much anything goes when you're quilting. Some quilts might be a little easier on the eyes than others, but putting colors and patterns together is part of the fun!

Have a wonderful day!

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

My "Swedish" Quilt...

When my mother would tell us stories about her grandmother, she always called her "my little Swedish grandmother." My mom's grandmother was petite and immigrated from Sweden when she was a young woman. She passed away before I was born, so I never got to know her. Her given name was Amanda, but I'll always think of her as my mom's "little Swedish grandmother."

According to my genealogy and dna, I have a big chunk of Swedish dna in me, which explains my love for anything Swedish. Beautifully designed Swedish furniture, dala horses, and Swedish meatballs are just a few things from Sweden that I adore. So, when it came to making a quilt for myself, I naturally gravitated to some Swedish folk art fabric by Rebecca Reck...

It checked so many boxes for me as far as color {I adore blue and white} and design, so I knew this would be the inspiration fabric I'd use for the quilt I made myself. {I'd made a quilt for every member of my family in 2017 for Christmas, but I never made one for myself.} I ordered some and yesterday I finally finished it...

I wanted the folk art fabric to shine, so I paired it with two neutral smaller scaled coordinates and a blue and orange border.

I chose a fluffy, swirly cloud-like design for the quilting, and it turned out so pretty...

For the back of the quilt I used fabric that was left over from the front of the quilt. I love to use this pattern because it uses almost every scrap of fabric!

This quilt reminds me of my mom's "little Swedish grandmother," which makes me think of my mom, which makes me love it all the more.

It's turned into a c-c-c-cold snowy day in Massachusetts, so there's definitely going to be some snuggling on the couch in this blanket tonight!

Monday, February 11, 2019

BAM-ana Corbread...

Last night we had some friends over for dinner, and I made enchiladas and cornbread. I've always used mashed bananas in my cornbread recipes because it not only adds a little bit of heavenly banana flavor, but it also adds moisture. {Some cornbreads are soooo dry.} I've tweaked the recipe over the years. Yesterday I used a little cake flour, and it was delish. I also use more almond milk than regular these days, so that is reflected in the recipe. I love serving this with honey butter that I make myself. Just beat 1 cup of butter and honey to your taste (around 2 - 3 tbsp.) in an electric mixer till it's light and fluffy. Yum! The cake flour gives the cornbread a wonderful texture, but if you don't have cake flour just use all-purpose.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
2 cups cornmeal
2 cups unflavored almond milk (or milk)
2 ripe mashed bananas

1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
7 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until batter is smooth. Pour into prepared baking dish.
3. Bake in a preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.