Mis-using my quilting tools again - To Make a Pie

It's the day before our big Christmas dinner.   The turkey will be in the oven early to be ready for our mid-afternoon feast.   So that means my pie has to go in the oven 1 hour before the turkey.   To save time in the morning, today I've made Gesine's famous lattice top pie.  I will freeze the crust until tomorrow. In the morning, peeling the apples and assembling the pie will take about 10 minutes to do.   My little race will be to get it all assembled before the oven heats to 425.    We'll see about that.

You've seen me make these Gesine pies before, but what makes it easier now is using time saving tools.   The most important tool is my see-through quilters ruler.   It's actually a broken 18" quilting ruler that I couldn't bear to part with.   It snapped off years ago and is only 10 inches long now.    But turns out it's perfect for cutting strips for my Gesine pie.   I'm also using a pizza cutter like a rotary cutter to glide along the edge of the ruler.   All this makes the pie crust strip cutting so easy.   Gesine eyeballs her strips and cuts with a big knife.  I tried that with less success than she... the master of evenly cut lattice strips.

My old quilting ruler has a brand new importance and has a special place in my kitchen drawer now.    If you ever need to borrow, you know where I am.   

It's weird to see my quilting ruler
in with all my pie making dirty dishes.

A Slightly Modern Baby Quilt

Again, my friend Margie made a baby quilt just like this one over a year ago.  It's a slightly modern pink/grey/black colors with a traditional chevron design using half square triangles.  I just loved it when I saw Margie's and thought the next baby girl quilt I  make is going to be like this one. 

I finished up this baby quilt this week.  It's for a colleague of my daughter.  She's having a baby girl in early April. There will be a staff baby shower in March and since I won't be here in March, I thought I'd better make it now.  Isn't it cute.  I have a little leftover bit of flannel from the back, so I thought I'd make a tag blankie or two to go with it. 

Do you see my little label?   I have been using them lately, but in the past, I have felt kind of shy to put them on my projects.  In the last year, I seem to have gotten over my shyness and have used them a lot this year on small gifts.       I'll be ordering more labels soon.  Maybe I'll try a different color this time.   

The Start of a Trail Mix Scrap Quilt

I first saw this quilt at our very own quilt show some 4 or 5 years ago.   It's called Trail Mix and it was done by my friend Margie.    She had just retired and moved here from Ontario.   I wish I had a photo to show you because it was marvelous.       It was made from a pattern published in an American Patchwork Magazine, and is now a freebee on their website.    Click here if you'd like to download it. 

It's a large quilt and it will need lots of scraps.   There will be more than 100 six inch blocks and there are 5 block types in this quilt.   I will do one block type at a time.   I'm excited to start this quilt because the pattern has been printed and has been sitting on my worktable for a whole year.   

Yesterday I finally got at it.  With my laundry basket of scraps, I pressed, cut, stitched, and pressed again the first set of 4 patch blocks.   It was the easiest block set to start out with.   There were about 35 blocks.     This week, I hope to get another set of blocks done.   It's the the triple patch block.  It's a lot more involved.    A multi-day effort for the 42 blocks that I need.   I hope to show you the completed blocks next Wednesday.     Stay tuned..

Here's my first set of blocks...

Presenting my Kitchen Sink Quilt

This quilt has been pieced and hanging in my closet for some time.   I  did a check on my blog to see if I mentioned it anywhere and found a reference to piecing it in 2010.   So it's about time it was finished.   Andrea Rennick from Quilti.com quilted this for me.  She did a fun freehand flower motif with fun curls and leaves in the borders.   This is the third quilt she has done for me this fall.   I just love the freehand style of quilting.

Well, everyone loves this quilt.  It's from the book Scrap Basket Surprises.  My sister loves it, and my daughter loves it.    But this Kitchen Sink quilt is staying in our newly revamped spare bedroom.  The kids are loving the new quilt, the new TV, and the new headboard.   It's a very cozy (non-crafty) room.