Cobbler & Flannel

We are nearing a change in seasons.  Fall will soon arrive, but for now, we are still enjoying the fruits of summer....literally.   Anticipating the cooler season, my first ever flannel collection, Maple Lake Flannel, is in quilts shops now.  I took many of my favorite prints from my On Maple Lake collection, along with some gorgeous new prints, and put them in autumnal colors for your piecing pleasure.

I have just a few fat quarter bundles left of this warm & cozy collection.  Click here if you'd like to grab one before they're gone!

Very Berry Crisp

You will enjoy smelling the berry goodness  baking in the oven as you sew.  Right now, all of the berries we love are ripe, plentiful and inexpensive.  Here's a berry crisp recipe I enjoy making all year round (you can also use frozen fruit.)

You can print my Very Berry Crisp recipe here.

This week, Debbie and I are piecing my 2020 BOM, called Rachel's Tribute.  I should be able to show you the quilt and the fabrics next week when it makes its big debut at Marcus Fabrics.  

Lovin' the fabrics!  Lovin' the quilt.  Can't wait to show you!!  It's so hard keeping secrets!

Sit outside and stitch a spell....and then....have dessert!  Enjoy.

A Little Summer Baking

Strawberry Coffee Cake Muffins

I come from a long line of bakers.  My grandma and my aunts were all excellent bakers.  I love to cook and especially love to bake.  Probably because I love eating the stuff, and quite frankly, store bought doesn't hold up to home baked.  

Being that berry season is just beginning, I wanted to share this wonderful recipe for Strawberry Coffee Cake Muffins with you.  If you like to bake, you will LOVE this recipe!
They taste like the muffins my grandma used to make.  You can make them with just about any fruit....it doesn't have to be strawberries.  But, I love to make them with strawberries because there are so few recipes that use them.  

The batter is made with buttermilk.  You don't have to use buttermilk but you should.  Something magical happens in baked goods when sour cream or buttermilk are used.  The results are just that much better!  It's worth it.  

Some of the berries get mixed into the batter and then more are sprinkled on top.  The muffins have a delicious crumble topping....oh, what's not to love?!!!

They are absolutely delicious!!!  Recipe makes 12 muffins.  If you don't gobble them up in a day or two, they can be frozen.

Click here for the Strawberry Coffee Cake Muffin recipe and let me know what you think if you make a batch!  

Happy Berry Season!

Winter Means Soup's On!

I seem to be deep into 'design mode' these days and that means I don't have a lot to show you right now.  Bummer!  But...that means there will be lots to share in the coming months.

We've been in the deep freeze here these last few weeks, and with my family, it means warming up over a hearty bowl of soup on those cold wintry days.  If you're like me, you enjoy the way the house smells with a cozy pot of soup on the stove.  

So...I thought I'd share one of my favorite soup concoctions ~ Minestrone!

The thing that puts this soup over the edge are tiny meatballs.  Oh...they are so yummy!!  

Making the meatballs are the only real work in this soup.  One pot is all that is needed for this soup so there aren't a lot of dishes to clean up either.  Win, Win!!

I made my meatballs a bit larger than a marble. They will shrink some when cooked and I just want them to fit on the spoon.  

The rest of the soup ingredients are dumped into the pot.  Even the pasta is uncooked when added and cooks in the broth!  Sweet!!

Garnish the Minestrone with shredded mozzarella cheese.  Better yet is the shredded Five Italian Cheese blend from Kraft.  That cheese blend is truly awesome!!  

Hope that warms your tummy!  Enjoy.

Click here for the recipe.  

I have my Pieceful Pines quilt back from my quilter friend Ronda now,  Oh, the quilting!!  I'll  have photos of the quilting to share with you next time.  

Until then....be a friend to your needle and thread.  

A New Twist On Old Favorite

Several years ago, I was visiting with the staff of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine for an event.  Let me say, these are fun people to hang out with, and we always have a great time together.  For one of the lunches, they catered a variety of salads from a local restaurant.  (Let me tell you, Des Moines, IA has great restaurants!!)  Among the salad offerings was the salad below for which I honestly could not get enough!!  I made a note of what was in it, and once home, began to try to copy the recipe.  It's simple enough and I was successful on the second try.

I call it ......Summertime Caesar Salad

My family loves it!!  It's really a summery twist on a classic chicken Caesar salad as it has fresh strawberries, pasta and walnuts.  You may not think this is a great combo, but you'd be wrong!  If you like Caesar salad, you will LOVE THIS!

It's very easy to make and keeps in the fridge a couple of days.  Simple and refreshing.  

Click here for the Summertime Caesar Salad recipe.  

The recipe makes about 6 servings but you can easily make it larger or smaller depending on your wish.  

I hope you enjoy it!  I'm having some leftovers from last nights dinner tonight which means I can sew a little longer today.  My July projects are coming along nicely.  

Hope you are stitching a fun summertime project or two.

Be well....

Enjoying Summer's Bounty

Crossroads quilt by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts

This is one of those times when there's a whole lot going on in my studio, but it's for future work that I can't show just yet.  It will be this way thru the month of July.  So, what am I to do for blog posts during this time?  Share a great recipe!

Now that the summer berries are ripe, delicious and inexpensive, I've begun making some of my favorite foods using them. Yesterday, I made a batch of Strawberry Coffee Cake Muffins.  
Oh, so yummy!!  I originally found the recipe a few years ago on Pinterest, but I have no idea who the original source is.  

The recipe uses 2 cups of fresh strawberries, but I feel the batter is adaptable to fresh blueberries or fresh peaches.  I like that you can use either regular milk or buttermilk.  I have made them both ways and feel that buttermilk is just a little tastier.  Buttermilk and/or sour cream in a baked goods recipe does something special to the batter, but if you don't want to buy buttermilk, you won't be disappointed.

I thought I would show you how the muffins look in progress.  Half the strawberries are folded into the batter, and the other half sprinkled on top.  Then, the crumb topping is added.  Be still my heart!

They are moist, delicious and full of berries.  I'll bet a mix of strawberry and blueberry would be great as well.  

Click here to print the Strawberry Coffee Cake Muffin recipe.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Click here to order the Crossroads Quilt Kit!

Enjoy summer's bounty!  It's gone too quickly.  

Craving Something Sweet?

I'm a baker at heart.....always loved baking....always loved enjoying a few cookies.  I think it's part of the creative soul to bake,and create something yummy....and to cook, too.  For some of us, anyway.  So, the other day, I awoke a little earlier than usual to find time to bake a batch of these cookies.  I haven't had them in a long time and I've been craving them lately for some reason.  Why question why?  Just bake a batch!

They are Oatmeal White Chocolate Craisin cookies.  They mix quickly, bake in 9 minutes and don't require lots of bowls or dishes to clean up.  And....they're delicious!  Choose any variety of Craisins....I happen to have cherry craisins in the house, but regular cranberry, blueberry or pomegranate will work.  I'm not usually a white chocolate fan, but really enjoy them in this cookie.  I originally found this recipe in my quilt guild favorites cookbook.....aren't those 'favorites' cookbooks the best?

Click here for the recipe and make a batch for yourself.  Hope you enjoy them!

Be well....happy stitching!

Summer Favorites

After surviving one of the most dreadful winters on record, we are trying hard to hang onto summer as long as we can.  I know it's the same for a lot of you!  We entertained a bit over this long, holiday weekend, and I thought I'd share a couple of the desserts I served that are perfect for a warm summer night!  (Or, quite frankly, any 'ol time!)

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries with Cheesecake Filling

I took this dessert to a party last weekend, and served them again at my house this weekend.  Both times, they were a huge hit!  Best thing is they're really easy.... here's how to make them.

(Click here for a printer friendly, downloadable recipe for Chocolate Dipped Strawberries with Cheesecake Filling.)

 Clean and hull 24-30 fresh strawberries.  Try to get them as large as you can.  I placed them upside down on paper towels to dry.  It's important to have dry strawberries.  

Cut a slice off the bottom making them flat so they'll stand when filled.  Place them on a cookie sheet lined with either wax paper or parchment paper.  

In a double boiler, melt half a bag of Ghirardelli 60% Bittersweet chocolate chips.  

Place them back on the wax or parchment paper.  When all have been dipped, place the cookie sheet in the freezer for 5 minutes to quickly set the chocolate.

With a mixer, combine an 8 oz package of softened cream cheese, 1/3 cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla until smooth and creamy.  Place in a pastry bag (or zip loc bag with corner cut) and pipe the filling into each strawberry.  

Garnish each with 5-6 mini chocolate chips and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Easy, isn't it?!!

Caramel Apple Grapes

Most of you probably know about these bite-sizes bits of yum, but just in case some of you don't know about these little treats, you really need to try these, too.  If you like caramel apples, you'll love these because, unbelievably, these three ingredients taste just like eating a caramel apple!  

(Click here for a printer friendly, downloadable recipe for Caramel Apple Grapes.)

Wash and dry a bunch of green, seedless grapes.  (Make as few or as many as you'd like!  Be warned, you can't stop eating them!)  Melt some vanilla almond bark either in a double boiler or in the microwave.  Spear each grape with a toothpick, dunk into the melted almond bark, and roll in chopped peanuts.  Set on a serving plate and refrigerate.  That's it!  Tastes just like a little bite of caramel apple and the perfect pairing of salty and sweet.  Yum, yum, and oh so refreshing enjoying a cool dessert on a warm summer night.  

One more thing I have been enjoying this summer is this delicious Blushberry iced tea from Tazo.  When Lynne and I were visiting the Patchwork Garden Quilt Shop in NY, shop owners Joan and Bev served this wonderful iced tea. Now, to know me is to know I am an iced-tea junkie, and am very particular about my iced tea, too.  Has to be fresh brewed.  This is delicioso!!  Hard to find, but Target has it in our area.  

So, thanks for visiting my blog, and I hope at least one of my summer favorites piques your interest.  Give them a try while summer is still here.  

Fall is by far my favorite season, and while I look forward to it, I'm not hurrying the seasons along.  

Enjoy your day off and hope you do something you love!

(Hhmmm, like eat and sew?!)

Tastebud Detective

Several weeks ago, my hubby and I visited one of our favorite chain soup & salad bar restaurants.  You might like eating there too...they have really sweet veggies, especially tomatoes, and a soup bar suitable for a plantation (wink, wink).   Anyway.....

One of the featured salads that day was a wonderful salad with the yummiest creamy lemon dressing.  The greens were very simple...only five ingredients:  romaine lettuce, spring mix greens, Craisins, blue cheese and chopped walnuts.  Mixed together with that wonderful lemon salad dressing...well, it was a bite of heaven on a fork!

I became a little obsessed with trying to replicate that lemon salad dressing.  So, I set about playing detective with lemon dressing recipes.  This was one of my trials.  Four dressing recipes mixed with romaine.  My husband was a taste tester, too.  

At the last minute, I decided to make the fourth with a recipe variation of my own, and it ended up to be the winner....a dead-ringer (and a lucky guess!) for the lemon dressing at the restaurant.  In this case, while I love Craisins, I substituted fresh blueberries.  I think strawberries would be great as well.

If you'd like to give this salad a try, click here for the recipe.  It's easy to make and very refreshing.  Hope you enjoy it!  

Sewing Room Clean-Up

Last week, I finished a project that Deb and I have been working on since last summer.... not continuously, but here and there in between projects.  You know the J O Y that comes when you sew that last seam?!!  I'd love to show you, but it must remain a secret for now.  Hoping it won't be too long until I can share it with ya!  In the mean time, the creative mess that is my sewing room has got to go.  I can no longer stand it, so over the weekend, I began the sorting, folding and pitching.  I don't mind the mess while I'm working on a project (well, I do, but I've learned to ignore it!).  Afterward...I've got to get organized.  It's like erasing the chalk board in my head, allowing me to begin anew.  I already have fabrics on the design wall for the next quilt, a Journey Five quilt, and will share the progress as I go this week.  

In the meantime, I have a wonderful recipe to share with you.  This recipe came to me by way of Jeanne Horton of The Country Sampler quilt shop.  She posted it on her blog a long time ago.  I printed it shoved it in a file folder to make "someday".  Well....I'm so sorry I waited so long!!  

This is the most delicious frosting recipe I've ever had.  It's really easy to make and absolutely over-the-moon delicious.  I topped it on a batch of brownies, and would be wonderful on a cake or cupcakes....anything.  My kids thought it was just fine to eat in a bowl all by itself!!  Click here for the recipe.

Hope you're doing something fun today!

Cleaning is no fun.......Pam

Sharing Something Delicious

I don't know about you, but I think the best recipes are the ones I get from family and friends.  And...aren't those "Family Favorites" cookbooks filled with the best recipes, too?  Well....I didn't get this recipe from a friend or family member, but....I'd like (as your BFF, ya know!) to pass it along to you because it's a real winner!!

I try to catch Ree Drummon's Pioneer Woman show on the Food Network, and saw her making this salad a week or so ago.  I love to make any salad that isn't your usual garden salad, (however...any salad that I didn't have to make always tastes better!) especially when it comes with an original salad dressing.  So...last night I made 2 new recipes.  First up was Ree's salad, aptly named Apple, Cherry, Pecan & Blue Cheese Salad.  It was fresh, quick and easy....and WOW yummy!  The dressing has only four ingredients and was delish.  It calls for Dijon mustard but didn't taste mustard-y (?) at all.

Click here for the recipe! 

The other absolutely delicious item I fixed for dinner was Lisa Bongean's Pasta Parma. 
OMG!  My family and I love, love, love it!  Our daughter, Nicki, is very sensative to anything too spicy or hot, so I omitted the red pepper flakes.  Super delish!  Click here to go to Lisa's recipe.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

I am enjoying a wonderful spell of "normalcy".  Aahhh....it feels great.  No cramming for quilt market, no overdue projects, just going along at a nice pace.  It won't last forever, I know, so I'm trying to soak it up while I can.  The holidays are drawing nearer by the day, and that always adds much to our "to-do" lists, doesn't it??  Sigh.  Don't get the idea that I haven't been keeping myself busy!  On the contrary....I'm in the process of designing two new fabric lines, creating three new workshop offerings, and have designed six new quilts, and two hopefuls for magazine submissions.  Not to mention collecting ideas and doing historic research for Journey Five.  Oh....and a new sew-along.  From the poll I posted last week, I am amazed that the great majority of you want another one as soon as possible!  I am quite surprised by that!  Sewing production will begin shortly, and as I dig thru my stash, pulling, auditioning and selecting the fabrics for all of these new projects, I will also hit my scrapbag and start making the sew-along blocks.  I'll let you know ahead of time when it will be.

 

Here's a couple of other items.....The next Great Girlfriend Getaway Fall Colors cruise to New England that Lynne Hagmeier & I are hosting is nearly sold out.  If you've been thinking about joining us, you may want to call our cruise director, Bunny, and have her hold your spot.  You can reach Bunny at (815) 715-8483.  You can also read about all of the particulars by visiting

www.travelconnections.co.

 

Also, I have restocked my Heart of the Prairie Fat Quarters and Fat Eighths on my website.  This is your last chance to get them.  When they're gone....they're gone!  Click here to order.

 

The photos of my Forget Me Not sew-along are coming in, and they are just great!!  Allow me to remind you to email me a photo of your quilt, along with the state or country where you live.  Please send your photo by Friday, November 30th, and remember....your quilt does not have to be quilted or bound!!

 

Until next time.....Pam

Very Berry Delicious!

My heartfelt thanks to Pat Sloan and everyone at

American Patchwork & Quilting magazine for inviting me on

the radio show yesterday!  It was great fun!

Also, thanks to all of you, my quilty friends, 

who tuned in and listened, and

for the many, many emails I received afterwards!

Your kind words and encouragement always touch me more than you know!

Beginning Friday, I'll be teaching at

Farm Fest, hosted by The Quilter's General Store

in Rockford, IL.  There are still a few spots open and it's

not too late to sign up!  We'd love to have you join us.

I'll take pictures and post about it next week.

But....for now, I just had to share this with you! 

Summer brings my favorite fruits in plentiful supply....

Berries!  I just can't get enough of them, and

when the prices fall, they're even better!

Very Berry Fruit Pie

This pie is so easy and so super delicious,

I just had to share the recipe with you.

It's loaded with blueberries, strawberries, blackberries & raspberries.

The beauty is that you can mix and match your favorites.

Click here for the recipe.

Thanks for stopping by!  Pam