Vintage Propeller Quilt Top

My First Quilt of 2011 finished, we'll the top at least! Vintage Propellers by Connecting Threads. All in good part to most of my blocks being completed by my quilt group.

I love how simple mistakes will change the course of a quilt. After mis-measuring my border fabric: Maywood Studios "Just Makin' Conversation" (see below) I was left wanting about 12" of fabric. I was so mad at myself!  As I was going thru my stash and thinking up every conceiveable option, I decided to add propellers to the 4 corners to complete my border. I had just enough "Maywood" fabric to make my propellers, {fhew!} and I think it turned out better than I had originally imagined.

Even though I initially wanted my borders to be yellow or purple, I decided on blue because of the little cats in their red and yellow clothes. I like how all three colors tied the whole quilt together. Plus, I must have baby blue on the brain, because I generally don't decide on blue when pinks, reds and greens are options.

Hatch Family Chocolates ~ Field Trip Friday

Over President's Day Weekend we took a day trip to SLC. Having lived in Salt Lake when my husband and I were first married visiting and hitting our favorite spots is a must. The weather was cold and raining but we stopped by Hatch's Family Chocolates to warm up with some hot coco.

If you've never been Hatch's it is a must!! They have the most delicious Hot Chocolate: milk, dark or half and half ....you'll never go wrong. I personally am not a hot chocolate fan, but I love Hatch's. I image it tastes like the chocolate river in Willie Wonka's Factory: warm chocolate flowing down to your tummy with deliciousness. If I were Augustus Gloop I would have jumped right in!!

They also sell hand-dipped chocolates, carmel apples, coffee, espressos, ice cream and other sugary confections you can't live without.

Hatch Family Chocolates

390 East 4th Avenue

Salt Lake City, UT

11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

From their purple checker board floor to their light and airy seating, Hatch's is a great place to sit, stay and hang out. I love that they are open until 10 p.m. perfect for popping in for a treat after hours. 

Ever been? Love it? Let me know!

Vintage Propeller Quilt

It has been beautiful the last several days and I am taking full advantage, by taking my photos out of doors. I have been hard at work and finished sewing all my blocks together on my Vintage Propeller Quilt. Picking a border is tricky with so many great colors....I can't just pick one!

Aebleskivers How-To ~ Mid Week Munchies

Aebleskivers How-To

Ableskivers are a family favorite at our house. Warm little puff balls of pancake goodness. Click here for my so simple, make in less than five minutes batter.

To make Aebleskivers you need an aebleskiver pan. Typically they have seven holes to make the balls and are cast iron. I bought mine at a local grocery store around Christmas time, but I know they sell the at William Sonoma and other specialty cooking stores. Mine Retailed for $19.99. *Make sure your pan is generously seasoned and heat your pan with a generous amount of grease. (cooking oil or shortening)

Step 1: Fill holes with batter. I try and get my batter to be level with the top of the pan. This makes a fluffy soft round ball when cooked. Allow batter to cook in this position for about one minute, it will really help to cook the ball completely through and form its shape. *I like to get my pan really hot and heat up the oil, then I turn the heat down to medium to cook the balls.

Step 2: Get yourself this handy tool. A long shish kabob skewer with a point. This is perfect for turning the batter.

Step 3: Once the ball has browned on its first side (see photo 2 above) start turning the aebleskiver quarter turns; cooking on each side. Takes about 30 seconds, per turn. Each turn allow a little more of the batter to "spill" out of the ball, cooking against the cast iron.

Step 4: Once ball has completely formed, continue to flip ball for 30 sec. - 1 minute helping it cook thoroughly.

Perfectly cooked inside!!! Add your favorite topping: powdered sugar, syrup, jam, preserve.

*****Linking Up:

Skip to My Lou

Quilt Love

I've had the itch to start quilting again {post baby} but finding the time has been harder than I anticipated. It seems like every time I sit down to start quilting the baby decides his nap is over or when I have a few  minutes a million other things need to get done {shower, laundry, dinner, homework}.

Since it is February, I decided to show some LOVE to a few of my "old-half finished" projects before I tackled anything new. Not only would it bring a huge since of satisfaction to finish something in my TO-DO pile, but being half way complete would get me that much closer to finishing before February is over.

I immediately decided to work on my Vinatage Propeller Blocks from {gasp} September 09!! I had nearly all the blocks given to me by my Loch Lommond Quilt Group. I just needed to make a few more in a couple colors {red and blue} and then I was ready to start piecing the blocks together. I am really happy with the progress from about last Wednesday. I am making the quilt 6 across by 8 down, once I put the borders on it should be about twin size. I haven't determined the borders size yet, put I am leaning towards a yellow or purple fabric choice.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Presidents Day and the long weekend!!!

Spudnuts ~ Mid Week Munchies

A couple weekends ago, my husband was out of town and for dinner the boys and I made homemade spudnuts. Since V-day was right around the corner I dug out my heart shaped cookie cutters and made the spudnuts extra festive and added pink frosting.

For the recipe click here:

Carina at The Jet Set

Read the directions, her notes and the comments section they are all helpful. After making them myself her are my own notes:

{I baked my potatoes}

{I added the eggs with the potatoes and beat them til there was no lumps}

{I halved the recipe, and added 6 1/2 cups of flour and still ended up with over 30 spudnuts}

{After cooking, I placed the spudnuts on a cooling rack with a paper towel underneath to catch any (oil) drips}

{Once you get the temp right, cooking the spudnuts goes really fast, have everything ready before you start}

Enjoy, they are delicious!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Wishing Everyone A:

La Caille Winner

Announcing the {2} winners of the La Caille Giveaway

Beth and Heart Baby Home

I just loved heart Baby Homes Answer, so here it is:

"I grew up near La Caille....and I've never even driven through the trees to see it. (doh - how'd that happen)...my brother used to work there....hehe

ok...Valentine's plans....is that this month? Here's the PLAN:

My honey is going to scoop me up and fly us in a private jet to some island near the Bahamas where it's crazy warm. We're going to play on the beach and spend a month soaking up sun and writing a novel together.

We might try to swing by Italy on the way home."

I'll be emailing you shortly. Thanks everyone for participating.

Peppermint Dessert ~ Mid Week Munchies

I am guest posting over at BLOOM today with the perfect Valentine desset. Peppermint dessert has been a recipe in my family since my Mom was little. For recipe and instructions head on over and make it for your sweetheart this year.

Last Day to enter my Valentine Giveaway! Two lucky winners will recieve $25.00 gift cards to La Caille in SLC, Utah. Ohhh, la la.

Valentine for My Sweetheart

I decided to go with  a personalized Valentine this year. My husband and I are celebrating our 10th year of marriage and I wanted something really memorable this Valentine's Day. I know a great local blogger, Melissa, who does exquisite calligraphy and I asked her a couple weeks ago to help me out. I love what she ended up putting together for me. She does commission work and is very reasonable priced. If your ever in need of calligraphy send her an email she is great to work with.

Millcreek is the area we lived (SLC) our first two years of marriage.

picture by Melissa

Don't forget to enter my Valentine Giveaway ends tomorrow! 

Valentine Bean Bag

Remember this Guest Post at No Biggie last Monday? While I was making my garland, my little 5 year old wanted a bean bag. He was so cute. The minute he looked at the hearts he exclaimed: "Lets make a bean bag!" I would show you the original, but it was sacrificed during a game of catch in the kitchen because it landed in a puddle of syrup from breakfast. Alas it went straight into the garbage. I never would have guessed a little bean bag would bring so many hours of fun.

Want to make your own Valentine Bean Bag?

Cut (2) heart shapes. Sew right sides together 1/4 inch around entire heart, minus a 1" opening.

Flip heart inside out. Iron. Fill with rice or small beads. Hand stitch heart closed. To withstand hours of tossing and catching, repeat hand stitching sveral times.

My boys have come up with several fun games to play with our valentine bean bags. After the first landed in syrup I have made several more!! With the cold weather, playing outside is not much of an option. Getting out my boys extra energy now has an outlet with our bean bag games.Here are a few ideas:

• Catch (obviously)  
• Hot Potato
• Juggling
• One Hand Catch
• Hide -n- Seek

Don't forget to enter My Valentine Giveaway for {2} $25 gift cards to La Caille in SLC!

Disneyland Wrap-Up

For my Disneyland Wrap-Up I just wanted to point out a few other great things about Christmas. Disney's Believe...in Holiday Magic night time show is so worth the trip. Camp out and get a great spot. Sleeping Beauty Castle is stunning: the snow, the icicles, the lights! At night when the fireworks are blasting off,  the castle is all a glow, the streets are sprinkling snow and as the finale they play "White Christmas". It is beautiful.

Here is a great video showing Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Better than anything we recorded.

Here are a few other bloggers with great Disney Tips:

Marie: Make and Takes
Kelly: Just Spotted
Lisa: Babes in Disneyland
Ride Max

Have a great weekend everyone!

La Caille Giveaway ~ Mid Week Munchies

*** This giveaway is now closed. Thank you.***

Happy February!! After Christmas and the whirlwind that is, I like tothink of January as a nice break  from all the hullabaloo. Here in Utah, January is full of snowy days, freezing temps and constant winter gear. That is why I love February! Right smack in the middle of winter you have this fantastic holiday where everyone say "I Love You!"  Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday (yes, more than Christmas) so why not celebrate Valentine's Day properly and have a GiVeAwAy!!

I am giving away {2} $25.00 gift certificates to La Caille.

Whether you want to take your sweetheart out for a romantic dinner or get some dessert with girlfriends or even give your GC as a gift. This is one giveaway you won't want to pass up.

I am insane over La Caille. It is one of the most beautiful restaurants in Utah. Located in Salt Lake City, situated on 22 acres La Caille's french grounds and chateau is an experience. The food is delicous and the desserts are to die for, can I just recommend when you go the Beignet Francaise

Details:

2 Lucky Winners, selected at Random.org, will each win a $25.00 gift certificate to La Caille. All you have to do is comment, on this post, telling me your plans for Valentine's Day. Giveaway Ends 2/9/11 @midnight.

Additional Entries:

• Tweet about this Giveaway, include me @artshoppeutah in your tweet {1 extra}
• Facebook this Giveaway {1 extra}
• Become a follower or are a follower {3 extra!}

*make sure and leave separate comments telling all about it*

Good Luck and Happy Valentine's Day
*La Caille has not sponsored this giveaway and has not dontated these gift certificates.

Setting Goals for the New Year

Last year I was all about getting ORGANIZED. I spent most of January de-cluttering our house, getting rid of excess and making rooms work effectively. Only to find out the end of January I was PREGNANT. Unfortunately, I had (literally) just gotten rid of all our "baby stuff", we thought a baby wasn't in our future. Even though I got organized I spend 9-ish months compiling a large amount of "new stuff" for the baby.

So, this year I am staying away from organizing and focusing on GOALS. In January,  we set family and personal goals. I typed the goals out on the computer and now we have them in a 3-ring binder.

Each Sunday, we have (about) a 15 minutes family meeting. In the meeting we review our family goals, and each person reviews their personal goals. We also go over the upcoming week and fill in what each family member has going on: soccer, parent teacher conferences, date night etc. After we fill in the week, we put it on our fridge for an easy reminder.

It keeps everyone on the same page and I am hoping (fingers crossed) I can instill a level of stick-to-it-tiveness (yes, I actually say this word) and a certain amount of follow through with my kids. 

As a family one of our goals is to complete 12 hours of community service. Once the snow thaws.... we will sit down (at our family meeting) and pick a service project. I am really excited to see my kids out of their comfort zones and giving back in some way.

I also jotted down some goals for 2011. Just a few: I want to learn how to make my favorite cake - just like my Mom - German Chocolate Cake. I want to learn to Ski. Quilt more. Read 3 financial books. I really tried to pick things I am passionate about and won't want to abandon after 2 weeks....hopefully reading them once a week is going to help.

What new goals have you set? Abandon them yet?