Been Quiet Around Here

It's been a little quiet around the blog lately, but I've been busy.  BD#2 came home again this weekend and we had a lot to pack into a day and a half!  She finally got all the paperwork done to change all her ID documents to her married name.  We were fortunate that we were able to get it done when she first arrived so we had all day Friday to play.  We went blueberry picking, I came home and made a pie while she went to the beach, we celebrated first Father's Day, and generally had a great time.  Scroll below for my favorite Blueberry Pie recipe.

She asked for something cute to keep her sewing feet and supplies in.  The plastic bag that Janome provided with her machine was pretty lame.  Marcy had this already-quilted fabric up for grabs in her scrap bag at the ECMQG meeting last week, so all I had to do was cut it into a rectangle, add a zipper, sew up the sides and box the corners.  It made a pretty cute bag I think.

Then I had the blocks done for two quilts, and got them put together yesterday when I was feeling a bit down that my girlie had gone home.  This one is a reprise of a quilt I made several years ago that I called "Woodland by the Lake", so I guess this one is "Woodland by the Lake II".  It is a simple Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day Log Cabin.  I have made tons of these quilts over the years.  They are straightforward and fun.  I doubt many modern quilters really realize just how indebted we are to Eleanor Burns.  Her methods were truly revolutionary in their day.  None of the methods that we take for granted today (strip piecing, for example) really existed before she came on the scene.  Thanks, Eleanor, for simplifying quilting so much.

This quilt was "commissioned" by my friend Billie, who is a Master Photographer, and is teaching me photography in exchange for some quilting.  (I love that the quilt looks a bit like stained glass in this photo.)  I am having a blast and learning a lot about photography.  (And the chatting is fun too.)

I also had the blocks {mostly} done for this Neptune quilt for Leona.  Sorry it's hanging sideways, but I didn't want it dragging in the dirt.  This was a really unique pattern, and I had fun putting it together.  The pattern is Snow Globes, by Tula Pink, and the fabric is mostly Neptune, with a bit of Prince Charming added.  The biggest challenge to this quilt was that most of the prints are directional, and it was kind of tricky to get them all going the right direction. 

And, since it's Father's Day, I thought I would share this early-90s photo of the fam.

Happy Father's Day 

to my sweet husband and all the dads out there.  Thanks for all you do!

Betty's Blueberry Pie

For a 9-inch pie
4 cups fresh (or frozen) blueberries
1/2 c sugar
1/3 c flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon-sugar

Prepare pastry (I use Pillsbury All-Ready Crust).  Heat oven to 425.  Rinse berries and stir in flour, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice.  Pour into crust.  Dot butter on top of berries.  Put on top crust, flute edges, and pierce with knife.  Sprinkle with mixture of cinnamon and sugar.  Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until filling bubbles through pierced crust.  Cool and serve.  (Betty says you may want to cover fluted edges with tin foil to prevent over-browning, but I don't do this.)  {Also, I always place my pies on a foil covered pizza pan so they don't boil over into the oven - I hate cleaning up that mess.}

Enjoy!