Friday, May 27, 2011

It has been a month since my last post.... where does the time go???  I have quilted a few quilts on the longarm, but my focus has been more on my hand applique project.  I have finished all 12 blocks for my Country Cousins quilt and made the decision to hand quilt these blocks using the "Quilt as you go" method.  Of course I still plan on using hand applique in the borders, but I will continue on to that part of the project once I have all the blocks hand quilted.  I took a picture of the layout I plan to use, but it was with my phone, so I do not have one to post here at this time.

I went to a quilt retreat in North Carolina in early May.  I got to spend almost a whole week with my sister.  We had a great time, it was a beautiful, well equipped quilt house and the weather was perfect.  My friend MaryEllen flew with me, so there were two of us from Texas in the Great Smoky Mountains.  Maggie Valley is pretty nice and the ride we took into Gatlinburg gave us some really awesome views.  MaryEllen and I would like to make the trip to North Carolina again, back to some really great quilt shops and the great house, but next time we are taking a car.  Airlines create too many limitations on what we can take, and how much we can bring back.

I had the ladies here at my house for our Thursday quilting group.  The lady who typically has it at her house was not available, so I am the alternative when we can't have it at her house.  Everyone usually brings their own lunch, but I made a yummy key lime pie to have with coffee. It is super simple... and not officially a "key" lime pie, but it works for me.


(Key) Lime pie
1 can reduced fat sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs
1/2 cup lime juice  -  about 4 limes should be enough
1 T lime zest              for the juice and the zest
1 graham cracker crust
Preheat oven to 350.  Whip the milk and eggs until smooth.  Add the juice and zest.  Pour into crust.  Bake for 15 minutes.
You can also do this with lemons instead of limes.