Here's another thing that I'm a fan of:

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  I mean, come on, who isn't?

I especially love the Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  They have a higher peanut butter to "cup" ratio (actually don't quote me on that.  It just seems like they do.)  But, you can't go wrong with these little guys. 

So if you like peanut butter cups and you like cookies, then you will really be in heaven with this recipe.  Check it out. 

You will need:

1 bag of Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

1/2 cup. butter

1/2 cup peanut butter (I use creamy)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Cream butter, peanut butter and sugars together.  Add egg and vanilla.  Beat well.  Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture.  Place dough in rounded teaspoons in greased mini muffin pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes (I cooked mine for 9 minutes and that was just right.)  Right out of the oven, place a mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cup in the center of each cookie.  Refrigerate until shine from chocolate disappears.  Gently pop out with the tip of a knife.  ~yield: 2 1/2 dozen

I haven't made these for a long time, but decided to make them this afternoon for my scout group (yep, that's right ~ I'm a den mom:)  Someday I'll show you a pic of me in my yellow Scout shirt.  It's hot.  Just kidding.  It is sooo not hot.) 

Anyways, as you can see, my little sidekick had fun helping me prepare the "goods" for our activity. 

The reason I am posting this is because I thought I needed to stop eating them, so I decided to write about them instead. 

So, what is your favorite treat?

Feelin' Figgy

You know I'm a big fan of Fig Tree fabrics, right?  Joanna's fabrics just sing to me.  Her colors are soft, her prints are gorgeous.  Everything Fig Tree just says "PRETTY".  Well, I'm really having a lot of fun playing with my Fig Tree stash on this BOM quilt that my quilt guild is doing this year.  This is what mine looks like so far~

The pattern is by Jina Barney (a local quilt designer here in Utah for Riley Blake Designs - you may have heard of them?)  You can click here for the instructions if you want to tag along on this project.  The pattern is free and the blocks correspond with each month of the year.  For pictures of the finished quilt, check out Freda's Hive (a wonderful blog.) 

I had so much fun making the baskets! 

They basket handles were so simple because of this wonderful little tool -

I used the 3/8" Clover USA Bias Tape Maker.  I have to admit that I was kind of intimidated by this little tool up until last week.  But after whipping out the handles in a matter of minutes, I was ecstatic!  They were a cinch to make, accurate and fast.  I also enjoyed the hand-work that I could take a long with me wherever I went.  It was a nice change of pace.

Anyways, like I said, I'm having fun doing this project.  Partly because of the cute pattern and the gorgeous fabrics but mainly because I'm doing it with my mom.  I'm sharing my stash with her so that we can have some fun bonding time.  I'm so glad we share a love of sewing & crafting together (Hi Mom!)   

One last thing ~ I got a fun little package in the mail yesterday from the generous gals at Moda.  A Layer Cake in Fig Tree form.  Fresh Cottons to be exact.  It's beautiful.  Really beautiful.  

Like I said, that Joanna is amazing.  I hope I can do these fabrics justice.

A Giveaway

I have a dear sister named Cassie.  She is my little sis.  She is beautiful, intelligent, insightful...the list could go on.  She wants to be a freelance writer  and often posts about things dear to her heart on her beautiful blog ~ A Serenade for Solitude.  She's talented in so many ways & crafty too!  She's decided to giveaway one of her lovely bookmarks to one of her blog readers. 

Isn't it beautiful!?!  This one is my favorite, but she's got a couple others you can choose from if you win.  Go stop by, look around a bit on her beautiful and inspiring blog and be sure to leave a comment under her giveaway post.  Give her some good love ~ it's her first giveaway.

A Quilted Message Board

First, I just want to say sorry that a little of my bad mood yesterday spilled over onto my blog post.   I should have known it was going to be a rough day when I had hair dye [that stains] splattering all over my bathroom at 8 o'clock in the morning and then I wasted 45 minutes looking for this fuzzy little guy's "backpack" to return to my daughter's preschool (to no avail).  I felt like such a bad mom because I couldn't keep track of the two (2-piece) outfits, the backpack and the journal that accompanied him home with my daughter on Monday.   We still haven't found the backpack...

Anyways, sorry to vent, but I did complete a project this morning.  Horray!

I've been working on decorating my daughter's new room.  My dad was so sweet and offered to do the painting in there (thanks Dad!) last week.   After a couple coats of "Peach Kiss" by Benjamin Moore, I was ready to tackle this quilted message board project.

I found the frame at our local thrift store for $10.  Although it had a dark brown stain with some gold trim, I thought it had great bones [and I especially liked the detail of the fabric trim on the frame].  So I covered up the fabric with a little painter's tape and quickly gave the frame a few coats of off-white spray paint.

Yesterday I lightly sanded the edges, allowing the brown and gold to show through.  That added just the right amount of detail to break up all of that white paint.  I think it also highlights the great molding too.

For the quilted center, I hunted all over town for a white mattelasse sham that I thought would be a creative & cheap way to get the center part.  Unfortunately I only found one or two that were reasonably priced, but I wasn't in love with the quilting design on them.  After comparing the price that my quilter charges per square inch, I realized that I could have her quilt a custom design on some fabric for the same price as one of the ugly shams would cost.  A few days later I had this quilted panel: 

To complete the project I needed a few yards of this satin ribbon and some decorative pins [plus a lot of jimmy-riggin' to get the quilted center to stay put.  Put this down for another thing I am not - a custom framer-putter-together-person.]

And that's it - my quilted message board on the cheap.

One project down.  Fifty-five more to go. 

Have a great day! 

I'm still here....

I really am.  Sorry for being a blog slacker.  I've just been doing a million projects and unfortunately I don't have anything to show for them right now.  I just need to put some finishing touches on things.  And, I'm waiting on a certain someone to help me hang things, staple gun things, etc.  I wish I was one of those women that could build a log cabin with my bare hands, but I need help if a shelf requires more than one nail.  That's just the way it is around here :) so I'm patiently waiting for the hubby to get a spare minute to help me out.  Also, I've been running kids to and fro and slipping in some sewing in my spare moments.  Today the Little Missy and I enjoyed a walk in the rain.  We enjoyed the new blossoms in sight and...well, to be quite honest it was actually a pretty long day.  Anyone have any advice for how to handle nonstop fighting among children/siblings?  I won't bore you with the other delimas that I faced today, but let's just say I'm glad the day is almost over.

It's not all bad though.  This was just one day.  Spring is here, which means soccer, baseball, bike rides and b-b-q's.   All is good. 

Just wanted to let you know I'm thinking about you, blog friends, and I'll be back real soon.  I promise. 

O.K. This is fun.

Heat 'n Bond.  Zig Zag Stitch.  Playing with fabrics.

This is fun.  That's all I have to say.

Plus, this may or may not be for someone who may or may not be interested in chickens/roosters.  I'm just sayin'.  And if you know who you are, pretend you were never here...

I've had a few people ask if there is a template for this rooster.  Unfortunately I did not design this cute little guy (or girl - not sure which it is).  I wish I could say I did, but I actually found the pattern in a book called "Quilts for All Seasons...and Some for No Reason" by Sandy Klop for American Jane.  The pattern is called Chickens, Cherries and Checks.  I'm having so much fun making it and it's coming along really well.  Wish I could show you more, but it's kind of a surprise for a little sister of mine.  O.K.  so I'm not very good at keeping secrets. .. Sorry!

Sugar & Spice - Americana Style

Land that I love...Stand beside her and guide her...
[I've got "God Bless America" running through my head right now if you couldn't tell.  Something about this picture, I think.]

This weekend I finished sewing the binding on my red, white & blue 30's quilt.  I'm actually ahead of schedule!!!  That doesn't happen very often so I thought it was time for a celebration.  For those of you who want to get a head start
just like me :) on a scrappy Fourth of July quilt - just head on over to
my etsy shop.  For one week Sugar & Spice will be ON SALE for two dollars off
[$6 instead of $8].

The back [just using up scraps]:

I love scrappy quilts. And I love this pattern because it is great for so many different color schemes! Whether it's done in red, white and blues, Christmas fabrics or your little guys' favorite colors - this works! 

[Click here to see the original "girly" version that I made for my daughter, whom the pattern was named after.]

These zig zag edges are so fun on the side of a bed.

Any guesses, which fabrics are my favorite?  Yeah, the polka dots.  Even though they're not "30's" I just had to throw them in.

Now.  If only the snow would melt and the clouds would go away, I would feel like summer really was around the corner...  I can't wait!