Family Jewels

I have always saved every scrap of fabric that I can cut at least a 1 1/2 inch square from.  I use Bonnie Hunter's Scrap Saver System now, but before I had ever heard of her I was already cutting squares and saving them.  I have cut up scraps in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep, or I would take a box of small scraps along with my rotary cutter and a tiny mat with me when we would go camping, or anytime that have a few extra minutes.  It is something that I can do very quietly or I can do while visiting and enjoying the outdoors. I don't really have to think about what I'm doing and can still enjoy working with the fabric and make use of every bit of it. I don't like to waste fabric or time.


During this time, my sister Cheri who is also a quilter, gave me a basket full of small scraps. Oh, what fun it is to have new fabric! She is a great quilter and has an imagination that I can only dream of having.  Her fabric choices were completely different than the fabric that I had, so it was really exciting to work through all those pieces and trim them down to little blocks.


Having this new variety of fabrics gave me an idea-Family Jewels! I came up with a design, drafted it out and paper pieced little diamond blocks, and then alternated the diamond blocks with 9 patch blocks. The effect of the diamond shapes was very good, and almost made this queen sized quilt top sparkle. It took me two years to cut out the pieces and sew them all together, then the next three years to hand quilt it.  While making this quilt, I lived in four towns, moved five times, and completed numerous other projects. I stayed with this project and finally finished it and was very pleased with the way this quilt turned out. I entered this quilt in the Logan County quilt show that our guild has and was very honored to win the Viewer's Choice award.

THIS WEEK'S RECIPE

My 10 year old granddaughter loves to cook and had the opportunity to go to a cooking class a few weeks ago, in which she made a chocolate cake that had no dairy or eggs.  She knows how I have to eat, so she was really excited to share her recipe with me.  I've never been a big cake eater, but I had to try it. I did tweak the recipe just a bit, because I don't use soy milk or wheat flour like the recipe called for. I also didn't have the oil on hand, so I replaced it with applesauce, and added eggs.  It was very good!  It was also much sweeter than I'm used to eating so the next time I make it I will probably use a little less sugar.  This can be made as a cake or cupcakes. It was good warm, but I really liked it better after being in the refrigerator.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 cup almond milk

1 tsp vinegar (white or apple cider)

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup oil or applesauce

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup almond flour

1/3 cup real cocoa

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray your cake pan or line your cupcake pan with paper liners. Mix the milk and vinegar in a bowl and set aside for a few minutes. Add the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla to the milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add slowly to the wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain. Cook for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and add frosting.

FROSTING

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter or almond butter

1/3 cup vegan butter, chilled (optional)

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

2-3 Tbls non-dairy milk

Cream all together with a hand mixer until smooth.

Colossians 3:14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.