Have A Holly Jolly Tree Skirt!

It's the end of November,

and I no longer feel even the least bit funny about

stitching up something Christmas-y every month!

This month I finished a bigger project...

the Holly Jolly Tree Skirt!

I used the awesome pattern by A Bright Corner on Etsy.

Here's Andy's pattern cover,

featuring a Christmas tree and everything.

{My tree is NOT up yet.}

For my version,

I used fabrics from Kate Spain's In From The Cold collection.

I chose 6 prints for the front of the tree skirt.

{Little Ginger photo-bombed me, under the table.}

At the end of the day,

I had my tree skirt top all pieced together.

Here it is, spray-basted and ready for quilting.

After another day,

I had the tree skirt all quilted,

and the binding was even finished.

On the back, and for the binding,

I used a red and white snowflake print

from the same fabric line.

{I'm so glad I have some yardage left over to make something for myself.}

I really love that cookie print,

reminding me of family cookies from Christmases past.

And these cocoa cups look like the ones my great-grandma

used in her restaurant...in my mind's eye, anyway.

{OK...her cups were solid white with green stripes,

but they were the same shape as these cups.}

The little label on the back will remind Val that I made this,

just for her.

It was easier than I expected to attach the binding

to all of the angles of the giant hexagon.

I chose to make ties from the binding fabric,

but you could use ribbon, too, as the pattern suggested.

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Stop by soon for a wrap-up of my

Christmas projects from 2013.

Apple Dapple Cake for Across The Pond Sew Along

Remember that I picked APPLES

for this month's Across The Pond Sew Along?

{Okay, I didn't actually pick any apples, but you know what I mean...}

When I chose APPLES,

I planned to share one of my favorite

apple recipes with you,

and now...I give you Apple Dapple Cake.

My grandma gave me this recipe many years ago,

but I never tried it until about 10 years ago.

Now it's one of my favorite cakes in the whole world.

{Sometimes Grandma knew me better than I knew myself.}

I LOVE that I've still got my recipe card, 

handwritten by Grandma herself.

I miss her every day!

Are you ready for some Apple Dapple Cake pictures?

{I can't resist including my Quilty Fun apple blocks!}

Here's all the stuff you need for the cake part.

{There's also a yummy topping that I'll show you how to make.}

I like using my vintage Pyrex bowls

for making old-fashioned goodness in my kitchen.

Look how many apple slices

I got, just from those 4 MacIntosh apples!

Here's the recipe,

so you can try it yourself.

It's very easy to make

and my husband pronounced it DELICIOUS!

Apple Dapple Cake

Cake Ingredients:

4 cups thinly sliced apples

1 cup cooking oil

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

3 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

Optional:  1 cup chopped nuts

Peel and slice the apples and set them aside.

In a large mixer bowl, combine oil, eggs and sugar.

Add baking soda, cinnamon, flour, salt and vanilla,

and beat until completely blended.  Batter will be thick.

Fold in the sliced apples, mixing into the batter.

Pour the cake batter into a greased 9 x 13" cake pan.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes at 350 degrees,

until edges are golden brown and a toothpick tests clean.

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup milk or cream

1/4 cup butter

For topping, combine ingredients in a small saucepan

and melt them together over low-medium heat.

Bring to a boil while stirring,

and allow to boil for 4 minutes.

Pour topping over warm cake.

Lastly, put the cake pan, with topping, on the upper shelf in the oven,

and broil to let the topping bubble, just for about 1 minute,

or until it turns golden.

Remove from oven and let cool at least partially,

before serving.

Tastes great warm or at room temperature,

with or without creamy vanilla ice cream!

Enjoy your apples this month,

and show us what you've made in the Flickr group.

By the way...
did you notice my mug rug, serving up the apple cake?
It's actually a little bit bigger than a mug rug...
more like a placemat, or a mini quilt.

This little quilt is available for sale here in my eamylove shop on Etsy.
Even the back shows off the elaborate quilting.

{I love the pear green backing, Dandelion Girl by Fig Tree Quilts.}

Quilty Fun - Courthouse Steps

I'm having more Quilty Fun

than one person ought to be allowed to have!

This week's sew along block is called

Courthouse Steps,

and these are my finished blocks.

A little disclaimer:

I took a whole bunch of pictures of my blocks,

and I want to show them all!

I've given the Quilty Fun book a rave review already,

and this sew along only adds to the long list

of reasons why I love this book so much.

The Courthouse Steps block

is kind of buried deep within the book...

it's just one minor component of a bonus project.

For the Quilty Fun sew along,

this classic little block is brought out to play

with all of the other blocks that were featured

in the original row quilt.

{It deserves a bigger role, don't you think?}

Once a week, making just a couple

of blocks, is a such a fun way to sew along...

and I really appreciate that fact that there is a

Christmas break included!

I hope you'll think about joining the

Quilty Fun sew along,

if you've got the book!

Earth Tones and Ricrac - A New Heart Mug Rug

One of my most-viewed posts in this blog

is Be My Valentine,

featuring this heart-shaped mug rug.

I showed that mug rug to my friend Sharon,

and she asked me to make

one for her, using earth tones.

{Here's what happened...}

I pulled out some pretty green and brown prints

from my substantial stash.
I used Modern Meadow from Joel Dewberry,
including several shades of Herringbone prints.

Using a fabulous technique from the Quilty Fun book,
I used 8 different prints to quickly piece together
a patchwork swatch. I backed it with Pellon 987F fusible fleece,
and then quilted it in a crosshatch design.

I really {heart} ricrac...
I chose this milk chocolate brown ricrac
trim to outline the edges.

On the back, I used the focus fabric,
highlighting a beautiful tree.

The little eamylove label shows
I made it just for Sharon.

I think I need to make a Christmas version next.
Now where's my Cherry Christmas bundle?

Spring and Summer - Reversible Mug Rug

Do you remember when I showed you

my reversible mug rug,

with one side decorated for Autumn...

and the other side ready for Winter?

Ummm...I bet you also remember that I only

showed one side at a time,

rather than both sides in the same post.

This time I'm going to have mercy...

I'll show both sides today!

Let's get going with Springtime tulips,

featuring yet another block

from the Quilty Fun book by Lori Holt.

I used two of the tulips

without any sashing between them.

I chose some of my favorite Bake Sale prints,

also designed by Lori Holt.

I really love the solid green fabric

for the leaves...very lifelike!

A little bit of quilting around the edges finished

the flowers off sweetly and neatly.

For the Summer side,

I turned to my other go-to designer...

The Patchsmith!

This time I used the Ice Cream Sundae Mug Rug pattern.

Nothing says summertime

like a cold and creamy ice cream sundae, right?

Some fresh fruit tops it all off,

and I really {heart} those red cherries!

My mug rug came out kind of large,

so I added a straw to the sundae...

and now it's more of a SODA!

I live in western Pennsylvania, where a soda has ice cream

and pop, mixed together. 

{Over in eastern PA, where my sister Susie lives,

you don't get any ice cream with your "soda".  It's just plain POP!}

;)

My Cath Kidston mugs look so adorable with both sides,

don't you agree?

I think I'll be making more mug rugs from these designs,

one at a time, some other day...

while I dream of sunny seasons.