Design Wall Monday-New Project

I held out as long as I could.I borrowed a Accuquilt Go cutter from a friend and bought a tumbler cutter. I got the idea for the quilt from Elizabeth Hartman. She has a really cute free pattern on her site, called the New Wave Quilt.

I bought a few 1/2 yard pieces to supplement colors I already had. I like the colors I chose, and I have enough cut to make one more top. I played around with using black for the sashing, but decided I liked the white better. I may do the next one iwth black sashing just for a change.

I only have two rows done so far, but I've taken a picture and played with it in Paint, so you can get an idea of what it will look like when it's done.

To see what others are doing, check out Judy's blog.

Hand Made Gifts

A little departure from quilting for a moment. Judy L is asking, what we're making for folks for Christmas. I generally make baked goods, but the fun part is that I put them in Chinese take-out boxes that I've decorated. I bought a bunch of them, so I don't have to make them. They're available at some restaurant supply stores, but if you want to make your own, here is a small pattern, you can enlarge.

One of the favored items I put in them is caramel corn. It's yummy and a recipe from my father-in-law.

1 cup butter, 2 cups brown sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup light karo syrup, 6 quarts popped corn (put into a 250 degree oven). I  use a foil turkey baking pan, because I don't have a large enough roaster to hold all the corn easily.

Melt the butter, stir in the sugar, karo syrup, and salt. Stir constantly and bring to a full boil. Turn to low, let it boil for 5 minutes with no stirring. Put it in a large pot, add the baking soda and vanilla--it will foam up. Pour over the popped corn, stir well. Bake it form 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes to make sure all the corn is coated.

I've added nuts to the mixture after it's in the oven; you could also think of other yummy things to add, but the caramel is so wonderful, it really doesn't need much else.

When the 1 1/2 hours is up, spread it out on waxed paper on the counter top to cool, then bag and give away.

Which Banner

Everyone who has commented has liked the banner with the leading better, so thank you all for you input and that's what I'll be doing. Now I just have to get the last couple of elements done, and I'll be good. I need to add the cross and the "aurora" around it. I bought some silk I thought would work, but maybe not. I'll sew it together and see what I think once I look at it.

Design Wall Monday-Banner Progress

Slow progress, but I still like it. I decided that instead of moving from light to dark in the sky, I would keep it one color and just add clouds. I like the way it is looking. I need to decide if I'm going to add "leading" to make it look like stained glass. What do you think? The one on the right I just drew lines on in paint, but it gives the idea of leading. I have 1/4" bias tape to use if I want. The top bit is going to be one both along with an outline of some sort.

See what other people have on their design walls by checking Judy's blog.