Post Office and Quilts

Quilts are ever present at my house.  You walk in the door and there is no question that a quilter lives here.  I even have one hanging in the garage.  My latest "finish" is going to my sister.  I brought the quilt with me to a retreat that she was at.  This was before the quilting was complete, so when I bought fabric for the back, it was with my sister in mind... she loves ladybugs.  I had brought the quilt top with me to the retreat to show what can be done with scraps.  I even used really small scraps to make a border using adding machine paper tape as a foundation.  It is a really cool quilt, I don't blame my sister for wanting it.

Recently I finished quilting a beautiful quilt that my niece pieced.  She did an awesome job, and when I had the quilting done it only needed to be bound to be an amazing quilt project with a neat story.  This all began with a kit won at a guild meeting in North Carolina (Mom), was gifted to the piecing quilter (Daughter) in Massachusetts,and sent to the longarm quilter (Aunt) in Texas. This was a queen size quilt and the top fabric was hand dyed batiks.

This is where the story of this quilt goes awry.  I was really pleased at how well the quilting turned out and wanted to get it shipped back to my niece quickly.  I did not have a Post Office supplied Priority box big enough to fit this quite heavy large quilt, but I used a sturdy box and sent it off from the PO on Saturday morning... quite pleased that it was going to be there on Monday.  I used to think that if you chose to send a package using Priority Mail that your package was handled in a priority manner.  It probably did move through the system quite smoothly for it to make it to Massachusetts by Monday.  What I didn't know was the postman was only interested in dumping a package on the porch in the rain and getting himself back in his truck out of the rain.  Oh yea... he apparently left all his plastic bags at the office or used them up before he got to her house.  Common sense says you would not leave ANY box on an open porch in the rain without putting it in a plastic bag.  It had started raining early on Monday morning and did not quit till 4 pm.  Normal delivery is between 11 to 12... so I would say there was no chance it wasn't raining when he left the package on the rain soaked porch.  The box was totally saturated and fell apart as she opened it. The quilt inside was soaked, and with a white back that was now highlighted with colors from the front side.

The quilt is still awesome, just with a unique story for the next generation to tell their children. The lesson learned here... don't assume that the Post Office is going to take any special measures to protect your treasures. 
I have shipped many quilts and never have I had a problem like this previously.  I contemplated wrapping the quilt in plastic for an extra measure of protection, but opted not to because a quilt in plastic just doesn't sit right with me.  I never imagined something like this could happen.
I have more quilts to ship soon, but waiting to ship them as I have ordered some desiccant packs to put inside the plastic that I will wrap my shipped quilts in from now on.

Best Brownies yet!

Found a new way to take plain brownies to a new level 

This inspiration came about after we were unable to find the new treats we had found at Sam's called Brownie Brittle.

We started experimenting with a Ghirardelli Brownie mix and the pizzelle press.  The pizzelle press was a bust.  The batter was a totally wrong consistency for the pizzelle press and did not show potential, so next I put some parchment paper on my cookie sheet and spread the batter around pretty thin. 

Baked it at 325° as the package indicated, but took a guess at the time because no pan size was close.  I left the pan in for 25 minutes.  These brownies turned out great. 

   

Next batch was not Ghirardelli as Sam's was out, but they did have Betty Crocker.
I basically follow the box directions, except when it calls for vegetable oil, I use coconut oil. 

This second batch we decided to try a slight change and eliminate the cookie sheet. I spread the brownie mix on a sheet of parchment paper the size of my large cooling rack.
This made the brownies about 1/4" thick. 
 

I then slid the parchment paper onto the cooling rack.  The oven was preheated to 325°as usual and baked for 25 minutes.  This helped the brownies to be the same crispness all across with no softer center like those baked on the cookie sheet.

I was questioned as to why I had not added any nuts to my brownies... after I had already spread the brownie mix on the parchment paper.  Decided to try another experiment and chopped about a half cup of pecans and sprinkled them over the batter before I put them in the oven.  These also turned out great.

When I took the brownies out of the oven, I immediately slid the parchment sheet to the counter and used my pizza cutter to score the hot brownies.  When the brownies are this thin and crisp they only crumble if you try to cut them when they are cooled.