Quilting, Piecing and Apple Pie

You are probably asking what does this star block have to do with Apple Pie? It doesn't! But later on with that. This evening I completed free motion quilting another block with feathers (or feather like on this block) and cross hatching. The picture is dark so it is difficult to see the stitching in the star. The center has a fan, a design that The Quilted Pineapple's used on one of her fabulous quilts. To get a better idea of what it looks like check out her blog here. I love how she adds one more layer of thin batting with an existing batting to achieve a trapunto like appearance.

I learned another new tip while working on this block. Use a dot of  Fray Check to lock those thread tails. Ingenious!

By the way did you know that all white marking pencils are not equal? I received a recommendation to try Pat Campbell's White Marking Pencil. Until it arrives the markings will be made with soap.

First of all I want to say thank you to another Charlotte Quilter who is also a member of the Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild, O'Quilts.  On her blog she took pictures of her Granny Smith apples she picked from her tree. I have one too but was quite certain that I didn't have any apples worthy of being picked. Most looked like they had rotted on the tree due to all the rain we have had. Yesterday, it was such a pleasant day and I had gotten up early and completed all my work for my clients. Hubby and I were sitting outside sipping on our coffee watching all the critters (bunnies, squirrels, and birds) and looking at the apple tree that for the first time had apples galore on it.

As you can see I ended up with a very large bowl full of apples. Since I had my work done I thought I would make an apple pie! I used a different crust recipe and ended up piecing the pie dough together. The crust looked a bit like a pieced quilt block. My apple pie was NOT great looking but it was great tasting! The test was seeing hubby smiling walking down the hallway with a bowl full and a mouthful as he made his way, and commenting good apple pie.

But the bowl was still full to overflowing so I took enough to offer to the FLAWs (Former Ladies At Work) since we were meeting for breakfast today. I had one taker who took a bag home with her.  After breakfast with the FLAWs I came home and prepared 2 quarts of apples for freezing leaving a half bowl full. Maybe I will squeeze in one more pie tomorrow using a different pie crust recipe. If you have one that is a winner please let me know!

~Remember the expert in anything was once a beginner~ Now I ask how long does one have to be a beginner before they can be considered an expert?  Back to practicing.

Quilt hugs,