Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts

Big news on the kid front:

Braces have gotten so cute, haven’t they? By the level of excitement over these, you would think they were fashion accessories (out-pricing anything at Limited Too by a fair margin, but nonetheless…).

I ordered some necessities the other day (do you get panicky when you’re running low on favorite supplies?? I do, I ordered two packages, I was down to shreds and cutouts):

While doing so, I ordered one of these new things:

Speaking of cute! A nice new selection of John James sharps in a cute package. Maybe I should have gotten another pebble with a different kind of needle so I could have pebbles instead of pebble.

And I am currently accessorizing a Christmas table runner:

I have been agonizing over this for two days (better this than the economy…). I wanted to make one using the bright and festive Michael Miller Christmas fabrics. Did you see Kathy Mack‘s GORGEOUS table runner in the Quilting Arts Holiday Gifts mag? Hers is on the COVER!! I wanted to do something similar but taking advantage of the tree and flower shapes in one of the fabrics I was using. I learned the lesson that Kathy already conveyed–putting a few fabrics together in a small project can be quite the challenge. I’m not sure I’ve been successful, but I needed to move on. I’ll show you the finished product when I’m further along.

While I’m talking about Kathy, today is her birthday, go say happy birthday and enter her giveaway!

Finally, here is a tree that appears to be going to jail:

As in, the fall weather we have been having is delectable. Makes me wonder if summer got the memo earlier in the week to move along. It’s been sunny and in the mid- to upper 70s all week. The evenings aren’t even all that cool, just pleasant. It’s been so nice that I am now watering my front lawn because it is very dry and a little crispy in spots.

Speaking of delectable, check out this torte I did not make:

Say it with me, mmmmmmmmm! A little bit of fall flavor despite the summer-y weather–pumpkin crunch torte. Mmmmmmm. Oh, and I just have to say, I’m glad I’M not turning 40…

Check out these cute acorns though (yes, cake decorating always mystifies me):

Only when I was taking the picture did I realize that the acorns are made from chocolate kisses with icing on top! Can’t get over the culinary cleverness. Easily amused over here.

I’ve been amusing myself with some fusible applique today:

It is a little tricky taking a picture of a 24″ block, I must say.

The pattern is called Long Stem Roses by Julie Popa of Sunflower Hill Designs.

I’ll be using it with some of the new Daisy Chain fabrics by Amy Butler. The flower is made with Kaufman Carolina Chambrays. I’ve used these a lot over the last several months and I really like their feel and their gorgeous colors. The warp and weft are two different colors, similar to Kaffe’s shot cottons.

So, there you have it. The day in an acorn shell.

Speaking of which, anyone want a neighborhood full of adorable chipmunks before I post them on Craigslist??? They’re cute, but, gosh, are they loud when they get their network chattering. And I don’t want to know about all the adorable little tunnels they’ve dug in the yard…

I tried to channel my inner Jane Brocket today.

Something tells me Jane never made a batch of flapjacks that looked like this:

I even kind of doubt that this batch would be Jane-worthy:

People. There are FOUR ingredients and one short paragraph of steps. How could I screw this up?? Twice.

I had the secret ingredient:

I found it after only two trips to the grocery. I was under the mistaken impression (purely in my own mind) that this would be in the baking aisle. Hint: don’t forget the syrup section. Who knew that syrup would have its own section…I mean, I understand the maple syrup being near the pancake mixes, but really?

So, for the first batch I used old-fashioned oats. Wrong! And I think my oven runs a little hot. For the second batch, I think my wet ingredients to dry ingredient ratio was off. I did have some quick-cooking oats on hand and that seems to be the right oat for the job, but I definitely should have used less (fewer?) oats. Plus, being an early adopter, I only have the original version of Jane’s book, and the U.S. version has ingredient amounts in words that Americans can understand so we don’t have to look up conversions on the internets. That’s it, I’ll blame the internet… [And I guess I should say I’m a cups and tablespoons kind of girl.]

Both versions are tasty (what? did you think I would pitch them?). The first one is crunchy and the second is way crumbly. I really think that crumbles of the first batch would be excellent on ice cream.

Perfection will have to wait for another day. I’m out of 8″ x 8″ pans.

Let’s see, what else is going on around here? OH, I purchased this lovely pattern from Wee Wonderfuls:

Dear daughter has been waiting for this one! Now maybe someday, Olive from the make-along can have a friend.

It’s pretty sad when you’ve purchased a pattern that amounts to a measly 1.7 MB (my undying admiration for such great file compression!) and YOU DON’T HAVE ENOUGH SPACE ON YOUR HARD DRIVE TO DOWNLOAD IT. I’ve been dumping files left and right from my old work days. Had to keep them on hand should I ever want that kind of job again and thus have the need to prove that I am familiar with what will by then be totally outdated software…because I’m sure it already is totally outdated software. I can rock the Pagemaker!

It finally occurred to me to see if the external hard drive was full. It’s such a foreign land over there. I don’t know if files ever come back from there. Kinda spooky. So, now I’m busy filling up the external drive. 🙂

Finally, I believe I have identified a near-future project using the lovely Urban Garden pattern from Tammy Gilley–lovely patterns that really let the fabrics shine:

I’ll be using Sandi Henderson’s Farmers Market fabrics…er, and a wild and exotic friend:

Every quilt needs a bit of the exotic, no? All righty, I think I have one more post in me before a brief weekend road trip. And I can’t wait to see which Happy Meal toy Pamkittymorning comes home with!