Happy 100th Anniversary!

Juliette Gordon Low (nicknamed Daisy) was a visionary.

It all began with the first 18 girls that met with Juliette on March 12, 1912 in Savannah, Georgia, and has grown into today’s organization of 2.6 million girl members and over 3.7 total members.  It is the largest educational organization for girls in the world.  Did you know that there was Global Girl Scouting and USA Girl Scouts Overseas? 

The Girl Scout Mission is: “…to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.”  And did I mention that Girl Scouting also includes fun and friendship?  Check out these current merit badges – the first photo from a GS stamp issued in 1987 and the other two were published in a recent Parade Magazine:

Computer Expert, Good Credit, Website Designer, Product Designer, and Digital Movie Maker ...  Pretty cool topics, huh?  Sure didn’t exist when I was in Scouting!!

Juliette expected to model her youth movement on the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides groups that were founded by her friend Sir Robert Baden-Powell in  England, but she went so much further.

This incredible woman thought that girls in the USA would benefit from preparation not only in traditional homemaking skills, but also in skills that would result in futures for them as professional women.  Her Scouts included girls with disabilities at a time when there were not many activities that included them.  Juliette herself suffered through deafness, severe back pain and cancer, but kept on ticking.  What a Woman!

Juliette’s childhood home in Savannah, now known as the Juliette Gordon Low Girl Scout National Center.  It is both a program center and historic house museum where visitors can catch glimpses of the life of a Victorian family.

So, Happy 100^th Anniversary, Girl Scouts of the USA.   I wish you many more years of success.

And as an aside, these are how the stars are growing on the quilty front:

This won’t be the final layout, but more on that later …

Semi-Annual Rant on DST

Don’t forget to reset your clocks tonight …

Daylight Savings Time is once again upon us.

  Clocks are to “spring forward” and we lose an hour’s sleep.

The “battle to fight tomorrow” is that lack

of an hour’s sleep.

Did I mention that I hate DST?!!

‘Nuff said.

If I can stay awake, I’ll be working on more of these:

Walking on Wednesdays

I enjoy walking in and around my neighborhood.  The weather has been pleasant recently (although a little windy at times), but it seems like we might just get an early summer.  That is not good news since our summers tend to be very hot and humid.  These are some of the things I see on my walks:

Water feature at a housing development entrance

Bridge across another housing development's pond

What's blooming?  Don't know, but I'd name them Cat's Paws!

"Cat's Paws" Closeup

And I have done a little sewing.  I made my first ever string block following along with the free Craftsy BOM.  I don’t think I’m cut out for string blocks (pun intended).  I’m too much of a matchy-matchy person and I think (1) I made too many of the strings at exactly the same width even though I was making an effort not to and (2) I had first sorted the strings into more closely matching colors.  What I mean is that although these were meant to be made from green strings, I first put them into brighter, clearer colors vs olives and more subdued colors.  This block was the result of the olives:

Brights in the back, olives in the front

Blocks in Process

Finished Block

So then I went on to make a pair of matching blocks called “Rolling Along” just for fun and that felt better!

Nicely matchy-matchy!

I never got back to making that second Craftsy string block (although it did have an interesting star design).  But I’m glad I tried the string technique, so now I know I can donate those strings I’ve been saving to someone with a clear conscience knowing I’ll never use them!!

Happy 100th Birthday!

Do you know what cookie is immensely popular around the world? And do you know what is considered the world’s best –selling cookie brand in the 21^st Century?  Why, it’s the OREO, of course!

And today is the 100^th birthday of these invincible sandwich cookies in all their tasty glory.  They were originally designed to compete with British biscuit cookies and were introduced in New York in 1912.  Many people twist their tops off, lick the luscious creamy filling then dunk the remainder into milk.  I like to just pop a whole cookie, myself!

While Oreos have been America’s favorite cookie for the last century, they have also been popular in many, many different flavors around the world.  There are green tea Oreos in China, a duo offering of banana-dulce de leche in Argentina and even a blueberry ice cream flavor in Indonesia!

This is what I want to do with my Oreos:

Don’t those Mini Cheesecakes look yummy?!!

Here’s the recipe:

OREO MINI CHEESECAKES

Ingredients:

19  Oreo cookies, divided

2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

½ cup sugar

½ cup sour cream (ok to use lite or reduced fat)

½ tsp. vanilla

2  eggs

Instructions:

HEAT oven to 350°F.

PLACE 1 cookie in each of 12 paper-lined muffin cups. Coarsely chop remaining cookies; set aside.

BEAT cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each just until blended. Stir in chopped cookies. Spoon into muffin cups.

BAKE 20 min. or until centers are almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours.

REMOVE cheesecakes from muffin pan; discard paper liners. Serve cookie-sides up.

Make Ahead:

Wrap each cheesecake with foil; place in freezer-weight resealable plastic bag. Freeze up to 3 weeks. When ready to serve, unwrap cheesecakes; refrigerate 4 hours or until thawed.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/oreo-upside-down-mini-cheesecakes-130632.aspx

 

Quick and easy for your next gathering or potluck.  No, you can’t eat them all yourself (or maybe you can - I could)!!

We Remember Dr. Seuss

dr seuss+birthday pics on Sodahead

There really is a Dr. Seuss.  We remember him fondly on his birthday today.

Theodor Seuss Giesel was born March 2^nd, 1904 and died in 1991.  Theodor had a varied career before settling on and illustrating 44 children’s books under the name Dr. Seuss.  Many of us grew up knowing all the words to many of his books – can you remember Hop on Pop, Green Eggs and Ham or the Cat in the Hat?

He wanted to teach children how to read, but in addition to reading, Dr. Seuss wanted to teach children how to think, without resorting to propaganda or preaching to them.  Recently, the Robert Kaufman company released a fabric line featuring The Lorax.  One source is the Fat Quarter Shop.

In this book, the Thneed company pollutes the environment, destroys the Truffula trees and drives away the Lorax and the animals. The fabulously popular whiskery character, the Lorax, speaks up for the trees that have no voices of their own.  Consequently, the Lorax became famous in the environmental conservation movement.

Of course, there was backlash from logging and oak flooring groups in addition to others.  Dr. Seuss responded to criticism about the book by saying, “The Lorax does not say that lumbering is immoral.  I live in a house made of wood and write books printed on paper.  It’s [the Lorax book] anti-pollution and anti-greed.”  Good words to live by.  Let’s all be a little more conscious of waste and how we can conserve our natural resources.

I would love to make a child’s quilt using Dr. Seuss fabric, but alas!  I am in a self-imposed, fabric-buying moratorium temporarily.  Maybe someday!

Have you visited these Dr. Seuss sites?

http://www.catinthehat.org/memorial.htm

Check out the remarkable Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield, Massachusetts.  The many amazing bronze sculptures were designed and created by Dr. Seuss’ step-daughter, Lark Grey Dimond-Crates.  Dr. Seuss was born in Springfield.

http://www.drseussart.com/

This site presents the art of Dr. Seuss.  Many of these works are as fantastical as his works for children, but with richer color palates and entering into an adult’s world, while maintaining outlandish creatures in other-worldly settings.  Very cool!

2012 NEWFO Challenge Update

I’m ALMOST keeping up with my NEWFO Challenge goals!

·         I did get my Craftsy February blocks done and

·         I did get a UFO quilted and

·         I did get a UFO top put together and

·         I did get a NEWFO top made.

But I did not get to quilting either that NEWFO top or the finished UFO top.  But there’s always March!  Hop on over to check out the NEWFO Linky posts and see other participants’ progress.

These are my photos of the projects listed above:

Craftsy Feb Blocks

UFO quilted

New Scrappy Top from a Block Swap

New NEWFO Top with interesting border

My NEWFO for March is to complete a quilt using homemade bias tape and with a Celtic Knot design.  I posted about it here.  I meet with my Quilts of Valor group tomorrow, so I should be able to start on it this weekend.

Happy Leap Year Day!

What will you do with your extra calendar day this year?

By Nancy Lucas for http://leapyearday.com/content/celebrate-spin

I was planning to take a class today, but unfortunately it was cancelled.  I don’t really need the class because I once made an easy Christmas table runner with pre-made tape in a Celtic design.  It came from this book:

And looked like this, only I made mine with Christmas fabric on the outside:

I can’t locate the pic of mine right now and the runner is in a Christmas box that I’m not going to drag out to photograph it.

I had wanted to take a class called Celtic Hearts to learn to make my own bias tape – that pre-made stuff is expensive!!  And I thought I’d get some more Celtic designs because I like them.  I think I can figure this out on my own with little trouble.  My book has instructions for that and I had already bought the bias tape maker for the class – the kind that adds the Steam-a-Seam 2 onto the back for you.  And I have started to search for designs on the web and found plenty, but classes with other people are fun and the instructors usually have great tips to facilitate the process.  I’m bummed but I will persevere.

I did find this free design at Fons and Porter’s site that includes a stencil pattern.  I think I’m going to start with this.

I’ll not be making this entire quilt, but I may make some Celtic Knots and some Cobblestones.  I'll keep you posted!

Blatant Plug or Good Idea?

Happy National Pancake Day!

Yep, since 2006 the well-known breakfast chain restaurant, IHOP, has been sponsoring National Pancake Day.  Today (Feb 28, 2012), guests at their restaurant can enjoy a free short stack of pancakes and the only request is that participants consider leaving a donation to the Children’s Miracle Network or other designated local charities.  I'm thinking IHOP had a Good Idea.

I am familiar with the Children’s Miracle Network and their hospitals throughout the USA through the Quilts for Kids organization where I make frequent donations.  I was excited recently when I saw that a quilt that I had sent to them was posted in their website’s gallery with a lovely comment about its simplicity and colors.  Click this link to see my quilt I called Hawaiian Party.

And would you like to know what the world record is for stacking pancakes?!  Andy Wrobel stacked up 60 pancakes up to about 2 ½ feet to take over the Guiness Book Record.

Andy is in Melbourne, Australia, and cooks up his pancakes at a restaurant called the Pancake Parlor.  The stack eventually collapsed but I’ll bet a good time was had consuming the structural components ... Yum!

How the Quilt Got Butterflies

The subtitle of this post should be “Read the Directions”…

The quilt top that I have been working on with the cute “cats in the tulips” fabric is from the book “What a Novel Idea” by Pat Sloan.  The picture on the cover is the top that I am making.  See how well the border fits and the lovely triangle in the corner where the borders meet?

Pat Sloan's Book Cover Quilt

Well, that only happens if you read the directions and you square up your half-square triangles to the size given.  The cutting directions give you over-size pieces and I missed reading that step.  So each of my side borders was either too long or too short (depending on how many squares I tried to make it fit).  I ended up with corners that looked like this:

So what’s a body to do?  Unsewing that many squares was just not in the stars.  I thought about putting a green square across the orange corner square (like a snowball corner), but I went a different direction.   I decided to take my corners as they were, add satin stitch antennae and add appliquéd butterfly bodies.  Voila!

Bugs in the fields of tulips with the cats.  Gives them something to chase.  So this top is finished, but unlikely to get quilted this month.  Even with Leap Year, not enough days in this month!

I’m taking a class on making Celtic Hearts and making bias tape this week.  Should be fun.  Watch this spot …

A Little of This and That

I think one of the absolute BEST things about living in the good ol’ USA is the Public Library.  I and my family have always been big patrons of libraries.  We haul out books by the dozens, treat them with respect, then go back and exchange them for more.

I recently went to a nearby library that has a Master Gardener volunteering to come in for a few hours once a week.  I was able to ask about the orchid that I posted about here.  It is continuing to thrive and is now getting a new leaf in addition to the flower stalk that is growing.  I wanted to ask whether it needed to be repotted and when would be a good time if it did.  All of my questions were answered by a knowledgeable person and for free …  What a deal~!!

And the library that I can walk up to just got in this new quilt book:

I have been trying to get out of the box without much success.  Maybe these designs (with explicit instructions) will help – ok, that’s counterintuitive but it’s a start!  Maybe I can see a Funky Chicken in my future …

I’ve just been dabbling in the sewing room this past week.  I finished quilting the Tam’s Patch quilt that I made with leftover novelty fabrics.  This was the one that I had so much trouble with the thread breaking and I had to rip out a few rows of quilting.  I would really have loved it with the variegated thread, but I guess *done* is better than perfectly undone.  This one will go to Wrap-a-Smile.

And I am joining in a block swap with Mailblocks that has us making 3 sizes of blocks (our choices for the designs) and I have been experimenting to make sure my choices work up properly.  These are the 12 and 6 inch blocks.

Two 12" Fair and Square Blocks

Cathy's Campfire - 6"

Fair and Square is from Quilt.com at this site:

 http://www.quilt.com/BlockOfTheMonth/1997/FairAndSquare.html

And Cathy’s Campfire is from Marcia Hohn’s Quilter’s Cache at this site:

http://www.quilterscache.com/C/CathysCampfireBlock.html

Now I need to get serious about finishing my orange and green cats quilt.

Saturday - A Day to Repent

I went for a walk this morning.  I had to.  You see, I ate an ENTIRE bag of Voortman’s Mini Coconut Crunch cookies in two days.  They were good.  Very, very good.  I enjoyed every minute, except the part where my husband said I was worse than a little kid.  Well, I guess that part didn’t bother me too much because I polished that bag right off.

I have been in Weight Watchers for three years now.  I lost the weight in one year and have been trying to maintain the loss for two years.  The cookie bag counted for 48 WW Points.  The Plan lets you have 49 Weekly Allowance Points that are extra you can use for special occasions.  I felt pretty Special.  But today I went for a walk, so there!

The quilt with the cute kitty fabric is getting its borders put on.  Here’s some progress:

And here are the sandhill cranes that I saw recently.

They are usually found in family groups (the young stay with their parents until about 10 months) or in pairs like these two.  They are monogamous.  Our population of Florida Sandhill Cranes increases in the winter when Northern Sandhill Cranes migrate down from more northern states to winter in Florida.  Yep.  More Snowbirds for us.  Although they are found in fields, pastures and marshes, they do not “fish”  like other cranes and herons.  They eat seeds, grains, berries, insects, earthworms and small lizards, etc.; in other words, a little bit of everything.  Unfortunately, they seem to be oblivious to cars and will cross the road slowly with no thought to their safety.  I guess that means that it’s up to us to be on the lookout for these majestic creatures.

Walking on Wednesdays

Talk about your camouflage!

According to the Florida Forestry Association, this tree is a Sycamore, also called a Buttonwood or Plane Tree.  Its bark flakes off annually in large patches and exposes the nearly white, green or tan younger bark.  The fruit on it is about a 1 inch ball that breaks up in early spring when its small seeds are scattered by the wind.  I didn’t know we had Sycamores in Florida until I starting paying attention on my walks.  This branch with the fruit on it was on the sidewalk and caused me to look around and see where it came from – you can see the balls starting to break up and get fluffy:

Apparently teenage boys are requesting camo quilts these days.  When I make another for Quilts for Kids, I’ll drag out this tree picture to use as a guide in color selection!

But meanwhile, this is in the works today.  I’ve had this fabric with the cats in the tulips for quite a while, so I found a pattern in one of my books and am working up a quilt for Wrap-a-Smile.  I need to adapt the size from the pattern so may slow down a bit tomorrow while I try to remember how to do math and figure that out.

Aren’t those cats cute?!