QBOTMC News - Corn and Beans Block, Shrinking Quilts, Chocolate Cookies and Leafy Green Tote
Published: Tue, 09/25/18
We hope you've had another great week this week. As things are winding down for
school holidays again here, I'm struggling to get cracking to get things done that I really
wanted to before I had kids home for two weeks again. I have a few days still left this
week, so it's head down and tail up, and see what I can finish...
Mum (Annette) and Dad are finally planning a trip down to see us too in the next few
weeks, so school holidays aside, we might even manage to get some new patterns
written up for you as well. This also means that I'd better have a big clean up of my
quilting cabin too.... :(
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This week's block is another 'oldie, but goodie'. Please click the link below to download
the Corn and Beans Block and see some ideas of how to use it in a quilt.
http://www.onlinequiltmagazine.com/members/content/f/id/686/
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And here's our final instalment from Penny Halgren:
"The Shrinking Quilt
One of the most disappointing things that can happen to a finished quilt is that it shrinks – a lot!
A quilt may shrink somewhat by not pre washing your fabric.
That common mistake was covered in our first lesson. This mistake is about not pre-shrinking
batting.
Improvements have been made in batting over the years, and depending on the brand you purchase,
pre-shrinking may not be necessary at all.
Polyesters do not shrink. If you choose to use a polyester batting, you have no worries about
shrinking quilts!
Some quilters choose to use cotton or wool batting, which may shrink to some degree. Using
100% wool batting and planning to wash the quilt at all is not a good idea.
If you wash and dry a quilt made with 100% wool batting, it will shrink so much you will not
recognize it when it comes out of the dryer.
Cotton batting with a large portion of polyester will not shrink as much as 100% cotton, but will
shrink some.
The quilt I made with 80% cotton - 20% polyester batting without pre-shrinking the batting was a
disappointment when it was removed from the dryer. The outside shriveled and was completely
out of shape. In addition, in the places on the quilt where there was little quilting, the fabric gaps
away from the batting like little parachutes without strings.
To avoid this:
If you are using cotton or cotton blend batting, you should pre-shrink the batting. This is easily done
by soaking the batting in warm water (do not agitate the batting in your washing machine). After
about 15 minutes, spin it to remove most of the water, then put the batting in your dryer with low
heat until it is dry. Try not to get the batting too hot. I generally let it run for 10-15 minutes and
check it.
When you remove the batting from the dryer, it may have some wrinkles that can be easily ironed
out with a low heat iron. Or lay the batting out on a flat surface and let it air out for a short time.
Often, the wrinkles will just disappear."
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Super Duper Chocolate Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups of soft butter
2 cups of sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped Macadamia nuts (or any other type of nuts)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
(Tip: You can omit the nuts if desired, but they do make the recipe much better.)
Method
Cream together the butter and sugar, then mix in the eggs and vanilla. Blend the dry ingredients
together (including cocoa) and mix this into the butter and sugar mixture. Add the chocolate chips
and nuts. Place teaspoonfuls of this mixture onto a cookie sheet that you have greased.
Bake at 350° for eight minutes or a bit longer. Be sure not to over bake. These cookies swell up
while cooking but will level out as they cool.
Cool these Super Duper Chocolate Cookies on the sheet for sixty seconds or so, then remove
to a wire rack.
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And finally, our bag this week is a smartly casual tote, and you can make yours to suit Spring, or
Fall, as you choose.
Please click the link below to download our Leafy Green Tote.
http://www.onlinequiltmagazine.com/members/content/f/id/687/
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Until Next Week - Happy Quilting!
Regards,
Jody & Annette