QBOTMC News - Widower's Choice Block, Quilting Tips and Double Choc Mousse Cake
Published: Tue, 03/14/17
Phew! We hope you've had a great week. We're back from our quilt retreat, and boy did we get
some sewing done!!! Most of what we did will be in our Bumper May Mother's Day Online
Quilt Magazine, but between us, we managed to make 2 quilt tops and about 8 smaller projects.
And there's still more fabric left!
I just need to calm down again now, and finish off these projects, as they still need quilting
before I can take pretty photos and write up the patterns.
Just see what you can get done in three good days of sewing!
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This week's block is quite a striking geometric style block. The Widower's Choice Block looks
great laid out in a grid, and you can click the link below to download the block and see what I
mean.
http://www.quiltblockofthemonthclub.com/download.php?file=widowers-choice-block.pdf
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"Here’s an excerpt from Dawn Cavanaugh's lesson about muscle memory from the APQS Longarm
Certification Sponsored by Fons & Porter course she teaches, that I couldn’t resist sharing.
Here are her observations about practicing and a few techniques so you can start building your
repertoire of machine quilting motifs:
'Very few people in the world actually enjoy “practicing” anything. Most of us simply want to
“do it”. Practice seems like such drudgery and a waste of valuable time when you could be
doing the real thing instead.
However, it doesn’t take long before we become frustrated with the quality of our stitches, the
smoothness of our curves or the straightness of our lines if we haven’t invested the time to train
our muscles to perform the way our brain is telling them to perform!
To be a successful quilter, you must make your muscles remember what it feels like to make smooth
curves, flowing lines, and graceful shapes over and over again. The best way to practice this is by
repeating a single design shape multiple times until your mind and your muscles work in tandem
together. If necessary, use the ruler (and fabric marker for the fabric) to draw reference lines to
help you space the shapes more evenly.
Doodle. You can develop muscle memory by drawing as well as by quilting. Use a white board
and dry erase marker to practice drawing shapes “to scale”. Concentrate your practice on only
one shape at a time to speed up your quilting prowess.
Steal any free moment you have to doodle! Doodling improves your muscle memory and
hand-eye coordination. Keep a white board and markers beside your chair when watching TV
and doodle during your favorite program. The more you draw, the more your muscles will
remember when it’s time to actually quilt!
Employ the “Power of 10”. Repeat a pattern ten times right on top of previous drawing lines
or stitching lines. Drawing or quilting over the same lines over and over etches the motion
into your brain and your muscles so that motion eventually requires very little conscious
thought–it’s almost instinctual.
Test. After drawing or stitching a shape 10 times, it’s time to test your muscle memory. Wipe
the board clean or move to a new section of the fabric and try it again. Compare your stitching on
this new section to when you first started your practice. Are your shapes better? Good! Still need
work? Practice 10 more times and test again.'
Once you’re happy with your motif you can start experimenting with the stitch, or drawn,
direction. Do yourself a favor and give this method a try, you might be surprised by how
much it improves your machine quilting."
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It's time to start getting ready for Easter too, so why not try this out first...
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake
Ingredients
175g (6oz) plain chocolate biscuits/cookies
85g (3oz) butter, melted
400g (14oz) dark chocolate, chopped
600ml (1.25 pint) thickened cream
1/4 cup coffee-flavoured liqueur
Cocoa powder, to dust
Method
Step 1
Grease a 20cm/8in (base) springform pan. Line base and side with baking paper. Place cookies
in a food processor. Process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add butter. Process until
combined. Press mixture over base of pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Step 2
Meanwhile, place chocolate in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir
with a metal spoon for 10 minutes or until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Cool for 10
minutes (the chocolate and cream need to be at similar temperatures or they will not mix well together.)
Step 3
Using an electric mixer, beat cream and liqueur until soft peaks form. Fold cream mixture into
chocolate. Pour chocolate mixture over base in prepared pan. Smooth with a spatula. Cover.
Refrigerate for 3 hours or until set. Dust with cocoa. Serve.
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Keep an eye out for this week's bag pattern arriving shortly too!
Until Next Week - Happy Quilting!
Regards,
Jody & Annette