What's In A Name?

Dawn over at Sweet as Cinnamon is having a giveaway if you tell about how your blog got it's name.  Now I have to say my blog name underwent a change from Mamaspark's World to Mama Spark's World.  Why you ask?  Because some folks kept calling me mama's park!  I AM NOT A PARK!  (Those of you that have followed for a long time already know that).

My DD1 has a nickname, it is herself in her dragon form and her dragon form's name is Sparkle. You may remember the small quilt of the purple dragon I did awhile back.  No?  Well then, meet Sparkle.

So when I was trying to come up with a name, DD1 was being called Sparkle so she suggested Mama Spark, mama of Sparkle. That's how the Camel got it's hump my blog got it's name! How did your blog get it's name? Make a post and link up to Dawn's blog. C'mon, inquiring minds want to know!

On to other news,lest you think all I did was apple canning all weekend, I did not! Besides the usual, grocery shopping, Target stop, banking, laundry etc, etc, etc, I managed to make my first block in Moose On The Porch's FQ Star QAL.

I am using Flower Sugar for my fabrics. I am really liking this block.

I also came across a dish towel with a piece of striped fabric that needed to be sewn to it to finish the towel so I did that too.

I did manage to machine sew binding on the chenille blanket and one of the Christmas Tree quilts too! So not too shabby.

Last night I got a call from my son who was out riding our Harley. The bike broke, he needed a tow truck and someone to come and get him and follow him to the dealership and pick him up. So that shot all my plans right out the window. I got back home around 11:30 and toddled right off to bed! How was your night?? ~XOP~

The Traveling Stash

I was reading some blogs recently when I got to my friend Jen's blog.  She has posted about a Traveling Stash.  "What's that?"  I asked her.  Well, it is a HUGE box of quilt related "stuff" that comes to visit you.  You take from it what ever you want and add some stuff from your stash to it.  You then host a giveaway, choose a winner and send it on to the next person!  Interesting.  So I threw my hat into the ring for a chance for the Stash to come and visit me.  I WON!!!  It arrived this weekend.  I took a few pictures of the TS, as well as what I took and what I added.  If you are interested in being the next stop for the Traveling Stash you need have a blog AND  leave me a comment telling me something about yourself and why you would like the TS to come visit with you!

Traveling Stash

There is so much jam packed into this box, I couldn't even spread it all out! Check out Jen's blog for some additional pictures. You will be amazed!

Here is what I took. Some Joel Dewberry Heriloom charm squares, some larger fabrics, some hankies and an apron with the little birds on it.

This is what I added. Some fabric samples from the lines Poodle and McKenzie (totaling several yards of each line) .  I tried to add somethings I would like to take, so please do the same.

To reiterate here are the rules:

1-You must have a blog

2-You may take whatever you want from the stash but you must replenish the box

3-You agree to host a giveaway on your blog and to send the TS on to the winner

So have I piqued your interest??   Well just leave me a comment telling me something about yourself and why you would like the TS to visit your house.  You MUST have a blog so you are able to host a giveaway.  US friends only, please due to shipping costs.

I will choose a winner on Saturday and notify the winner so please be sure I have a way to contact you (ie you are not a No Reply Blogger)

Goodies From Checker

I thought I would share the things I bought while I was at Checker (wholesale distributor).  They had a TON of patterns really cheap so I bought a LOT.  I was thinking about you all though and will most likely do some as a give away in the future.

I got a few books too

Of course the obligatory fabric samples (you can peek at those on my Flickr here)

I wasn't going to buy any fabric I swear, but how could I resist this with all the cats all over it?  I couldn't!  It was a small bolt only 7.5 yards.  So adorable!

I keep leaving this post to go and finish up the apple pie filling, more apple butter and I baked 2 loaves of banana chocolate chip bread too! I am sending a loaf of that to DD2 in NC. DH is going there tomorrow for work and so he is going to meet up with her. I wish it could be me! I really miss her. At least she will have some of my homemade lovin'!

I hope you have had a great weekend, mine sure has been productive! ~XOP~

I Have Apples Coming Out Of My Ears!

I got a couple of boxes of apples for canning.  Seriously, why didn't someone tell me how much work that was gonna be?  I have made 12 jars of caramel apple jam, 6 jars of apple pie filling and 7 jars of apple butter and I am not even all the way through the first box of apples!!  I promised I would share the recipe for the caramel apple jam so here you go.

Caramel Apple Jam

Ingredients

6 cups diced peeled apples (1/8 inch cubes, but I shredded mine)
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon butter
1 (1.75 ounce) package powdered fruit pectin (I used Sure Jel)
2 cups sugar
2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

In a large kettle, combine the apples, water and butter. Cook and stir over low heat until apples are soft. Stir in pectin and bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add the sugars, cinnamon and nutmeg and return to a rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from the heat and skim off any foam. Ladle hot jam into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Adjust caps. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

Here is what my apples looked like as I shredded them with my salad shooter.

This is what it all looks like when it's cooking, YUM!

 And the finished product!  You can see the one I diced on the left and the one I shredded on the right.  Way less work to shred using the salad shooter, I heart my salad shooter!

I also made 7 jars of apple butter and 6 jars of apple pie filling. Here is what the pie filling looked like when it was done

While I'm at it let me share my Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe here too. I made it for the baby shower and everyone was asking for the recipe (sorry not pictures)

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 large packages of Cream Cheese, softened
1 large or 2 small cans of chicken, drained (like the tuna cans)
1 cup Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing
1 cup Sour Cream
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Franks Red Hot Buffalo Wing sauce to taste (probably ~ 1 T)

Stir cream cheese until blended. Mix in chicken, dressing, sour cream and cheese. Add wing sauce and mix completely. Pour into oven safe dish and bake about 10 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until bubbly.

Serve with tortilla chips and celery.

Now, that's about enough of that. My domesticity ends there! LOL. I do have 4 more pecks of apples to deal with tomorrow. I managed to get the binding sewn on my chenille blanket now for the hand work. DH took me out for dinner since I had been slaving away over a hot stove all day, hahaha. Hope you are having a good weekend so far. Mine is drowning in appley goodness! ~XOP~

What Do You Do On Your Day Off?

Well, let me tell you what I did today!  I got up around 6:30 and Cori (Crazy Quilt Girl) came and picked me up, then we went to pick up Quilting Queen.  We were headed to Checker to pick up some stuff Cori had ordered.  I bought a few things but it is too late to take any pictures so you will have to see them tomorrow.  I thought we would be going out for lunch but we ran out of time!


You see I had a dentist appointment at 2:30 to put on my permanent crown and it is 30 minutes away.  BUT...before I left for the dentist I had to stop at the grocery store to get some of the ingredients to make Buffalo Chicken Dip and wrap a baby shower present and eat lunch before I had to leave.

We saw these amazing rows of Kona while at Checker.  I really wanted a bolt of each one!

As it turned out we stopped for the ingredients I needed for the dip, then my friend dropped me off at home around 1:30. I made the dip, wrapped the gift and headed out. Stopped for a quick bite on the road, and went to get my crown put on. Off to the baby shower. That pretty pastel chenille blanket? That was the baby gift along with some burp pads I made a long time ago. She loved the blanket!

Isn't she just so adorable? While at the shower the wife of one of the post docs in my lab expressed her interest in learning to quilt. I would be so thrilled to be able to help her, but she is expecting a baby and has a 4 year old so I'm not sure how much time she is actually going to have!

Several people have asked me to share a tutorial for the Chenille blanket. If you are interested, you can check out my tutorial for it here. I have had several people ask for the Caramel Apple Jam recipe. I will try to take some pictures tomorrow when I make another batch and I will post about it, with photos and the recipe soon.

I have a LOT of other stuff to share with you so I will stop for now and continue tomorrow.  ~XOP~

Chenille for As Far As The Eye Can See

I have been a chenille making fool!  I finally finished the blanket for the baby shower I have to go to tomorrow!  I have only used bright colors in the past but I love how the pastel came out!

Although the colors are not true in this pic.

They came out better in the up close photo though

I used yellow for the base then green, blue and pink flannel. The top color is predominant, isn't it? I have three more to do for gifts then 2 Halloween ones just b/c I think they will be cool! Those are going to have to wait though. I have one finished and waiting for a baby, now I know where it will go, then I basted another girly one last night so can begin sewing soon. The third one is in progress. Here are a few sneak peeks

This one is kind of a secret so I have to just show a little peek of it.

Tonight I am going to try making the apple pie filling and canning it and also caramel apple jam. DH is going to help me so it should be a fun filled night at my house!! LOL ~XOP~

100 Quilts for Kids

YIPEE I got both of my quilts finished!!  I put a little stamp on them so anyone who knows will know they were made by me.  Wanna see them?

Little Flower

Farm Tumbler

Here is the little stamp

These two beauties will be on their way to Margaret's Hope Chest (hopefully on Friday) for the 100 Quilts For Kids.  Please consider making a donation to your local charity for a child and join in the fun!

I am working furiously on a second chenille blanket. Got the first one all finished, popped it in the wash last night and the dryer this morning. Will take pics tonight. The second one is kind of a surprise, I can show you some peeks but not the whole thing until it goes to it's new home! Then I just found out 2 more people in the lab are expecting! I have one chenille done and put away, so just one more of those for gifts, but I got stuff to make 2 Halloween ones (so dang cute!!)

I really need to finish a quilt top for a friend that I began so that is priority #1 for the weekend. Need to finish my star block too for the Star QAL at Moose on the Porch. My block will be the fourth one so keep watching for it! I have to write something about myself too, I have no idea what you might like to know. Questions welcome!! LOL   ~XOP~

Weekend Doings

I ended up having a surprisingly busy weekend.  On Saturday my DD1 wanted me to go out and run some errands with her so we did that and one of the places we went was the apple orchard.  I now have enough apples to try making, and canning some apple pie filling and some caramel apple jam.  If they turn out well I'll let you know!  I had to order some Clear Jel to use in the pie fillings, no cornstarch for this mama.  USDA recommends using Clear Jel.  So I had to go online to find and order it.  Looks like that means I make the jam first!  I did share my recipe with Liz and she gave it two thumbs up so time will tell.

I was, of course, watching the Michigan State football game!  We played Ohio State and won, but I missed the entire second half as we were off to meet DD1, her fella and his parents and sister and husband (for the first time).  We went to a local winery (Vintner's Canton Winery) and did a wine tasting.  This place buys the juice and turns it into wine.  Awesome!  They made pretty decent wine too.  You can go and make your own wine there as well and put a custom label on it.  Christmas gifts for this year?  Maybe so!

This was what the fermenting juice looks like when it is fermenting.

There were 9 of us all together. Eric's mom and dad brought snacks and we brought a dessert, since it was his birthday it seemed like we should at least provide the cake! Reces cheesecake, mmmmmmm.

There was a group photo at the end too!

We had a really good time!

On Sunday, Chris was getting ready to be out of town for a couple of days so I headed to the grocery store. After he left it was the old, now what can I work on?! I decided the thing with the most urgent due date so cut up my vintage sheets it was. I didn't realize how many I had amassed over the last few months! Here are a few of them pre-cutting.

It took a surprising amount of time to do that! I needed to make fat quarters(ish) so I did that following In Color Order's great tutorial on how to do that. It sure works well! Now I have 25 FQ's to send off for swap. I cut enough to share some with Quilting Queen and even enough for her to send to swap too!! Unfortunately, by the time I was finished cutting it was too dark to get a good picture of the stack, but I will try to remember to do that tonight. Also of the two (finally bound) quilts going to MHC at the end of the week!

What did you do this weekend?? Was it fun? ~XOP~

PS: Did anyone notice my new header? What do you think?

Houston We Have a Winner!

I am running a little behind but I did the random number generator and Lucky number 11 is the winner.  Sara!!  I sent you an email asking you for your mailing address.  As soon as I receive it I will mail off the Little Apples Layer Cake.

  I have to run, shopping with DD1 and then off to wine tasting with DH, DD1 and DD1's boyfriend's family ( we are meeting them for the first time! YIKES!!)  I do have some quilty stuff to talk about but will do so tomorrow when I can have some pictures to add.  Yep, I finished something last night.

Have a wonderful day!!  ~XOP~

Kitty Knoodling

Is knoodling even a word?  Well, I was going to sew yesterday afternoon and went into my sewing room and saw Aiden and Mosen on the couch like this!

LMAO! Then I sat down to sew and Aiden (the orange one) was purring so loudly, it was almost as loud as my Bernina! Who knows how they can sleep like that?

I hope to have some quilty content tomorrow. I was called down to downtown Detroit for jury duty yesterday so not much to show for the day. Didn't get selected for a jury but had to go anyway. Hope you are having a good day!! ~XOP~

My First Block Swap

I guess that is not technically true but it is my first modern block swap and I am so excited about it.  I have to make 8 blocks from the Geese In A Ring pattern found here.  It is paper pieced.  (I am not a huge fan, but am getting faster at it).  I LOVE this block so much.  I have to make 7 blocks in the colors requested by each person in the group.  Then send them to the swap mama to re-distribute.  My good friend, Jeannette is participating.  We are having fun "choosing" from each other's stash which fabrics we want in our block!

Here is my first block, made for Amy (Calico Cat) in her choice of orange and aqua:

I did so much ripping and re-stitching making this block, but I am happy with the outcome.

When I came home from work yesterday I walked into my living room (sewing room) and saw this

Oh Aiden you are such a big goof! How do cat's do that? She has to be so umcomfortable! YIKES!!

Lastly I leave you with an amazing thrift shop find of mine from late last week.

I thought this little owl pin cushion was so adorable! Now, do any of you know that that hole in the bridge of her beak is for? Glasses? Scissors? Something else entirely? Inquiring minds want to know! ~XOP~