HAPPY EASTER AND LOTS MORE!!

HAPPY EASTER! 

By now you know the drill.  The first thing in my house that gets decorated or changed for the season is my hutch.  I find it's easier to start with one big piece of furniture when you're crazy enough to keep doing this!

A few Saturday afternoon's ago I stayed home.  That is rare for me but it was raining and I just didn't feel like doing errands.  I bought some very soft wool at the Quilted Crow in Boxborough, MA recently and ever since have had a really big "itch" to make something with the different colors and patterns.  I haven't had a lot of time to make dolls lately so I decided to spend the afternoon making some bunny rabbits!  I set up a little assembly line of cut out pieces and whipped these guys up.  The great part about being a doll maker is I have loads of little embellishments so I'm equipped with just about anything a good imagination can come up with! 

A few years ago I made the chocolate bunny below.  He's made of velveteen. 

The gold bunny below is a mistake.  He was supposed to be a Prim but he just didn't make it so instead of throwing him out I decided to "guild" him.  I sprayed him with gold paint and let him hang out to dry.  Next year when I resurrect him I think I'll embellish him.  He needs something to break up all that gold.

I have posted the rabbit quilted wallhanging before but I want to zoom in closer so you can see...

just how neat he is.  Someday I WILL bring him to life.  He's too adorable to leave flat on fabric.  He's embroidered and then filled in with crayon.  This is a really fun way to create art.  Best of all if you chose the right motif anyone of any age can do it.

I love rabbits.  I LOVE pigs, frogs, monkeys, etc. etc.  My daughter Susan's adorable boyfriend Luke reminded me how much I love Peter Cottontail when he brought over a book of his father's ancestors.  I readit from cover to cover.  His family roots are in Martha's Vineyard and the Cape.  I love both places so I found all of the information fascinating.  While I was reading about the Burgess family Luke pointed out Thornton.  We all have a story and our ancestors probably had a better one.  Now I'm even more inspired to dig up my family roots.  Maybe someday when I'm retired if I can pull myself away from quilting and doll making I'll try to trace our family history too.  

According to Wikipedia

Thornton Waldo Burgess (January 14, 1874 – June 5, 1965) was a conservationist and author of children's stories. Burgess loved the beauty of nature and its living creatures so much that he wrote about them for 50 years in books and his newspaper column, "Bedtime Stories". He was sometimes known as the Bedtime Story-Man. By the time he retired, he had written over 170 books and 15,000 stories for the daily newspaper column.

"Peter Rabbit Creator, Thornton Burgess, Dies", The Washington Post, 7 June 1965

His story is beautiful.  He was a gifted, talented nice man.  He would be very proud of his nephew.

Below is the wreath I promised to post last time we talked.  I like the look of large wreaths on front doors when a house is set far away from the street.  When I bought the materials for this wreath I didn't have a clue what I was going to do with them.  The flowery bushes are silk which I didn't realize at the time.  After I saw the price it was too late.  I had already decided on them and they were staying.  The burlap bow adds a little country feel and compliments the color of the door.  The berries on the bushes are a dark burgundy, not a bit Christmasy.  When putting this wreath together, I wanted something that would get me through the period between taking the Christmas wreath off the door and spring.  Soon I'll take this down and save it for next year.  Before I make a lot of things I always tell myself when the season's over I'll take everything off and reuse the base.  So far that's never happened.  I thought I would do it with my wine bottle lights and every wreath I've ever made but if they come out even close to what I envisioned I leave them alone.  I probably would never be able to recreate anything like it again.

I can't leave without sharing a fantastic recipe.  Kristen made these bars a few weeks ago and they were to die for!!  All I could think of when I was eating too much was what a great spring and summer dessert.  Now we have to make them again soon! 

Strawberry White Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients

• 24 Oreo Cookies
• 1 Stick of Butter Melted
• 9 oz White Chocolate (I used chips)
• 2-8 oz Packages of Cream Cheese
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 2-Eggs
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla
• 1/2-3/4 cup Strawberry Preserves OR Jam (I used a Smuckers Seedless)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350Last weekend I was at the Arts Expo in New York City.  I have a lot to share but need to give that experience it's own quality time in a future post.
2. Line a 8x8 baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving overhang on all sides.
3. Add Oreo Cookies to a Food Processor or place in a ziplock bag to crush.
4. Add melted butter and mix well.
5. Add to prepared pan.
6. Press firmly to line bottom completely.
7. Add Cream Cheese, Sugar and Vanilla to a medium sized bowl or stand mixer and mix until smooth.
8. Melt your chocolate in microwave heating in 30 second intervals and then stirring.
9. Add all but 1/8 of a cup of your melted chocolate to cream cheese mixture and blend.
10. Add eggs one at a time making sure to blend well.
11. Pour mixture over crust.
12. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until the center of your cheesecake is almost set.
13. Let cool for 15 minutes,
14. Spread your preserves/jam over the top of your cheesecake.
15. Drizzle remaining chocolate over your cheesecake (I used a ziplock bag to pipe).
16. Place in refrigerator for 4 hours.

I love holidays but there will always be a part of me that is sad because I don't have my parents and beloved pets.  I find a lot of comfort surrounding myself with things that remind me of them.  I am grateful my mom saved so many beautiful things for me.  I'm doing the same thing for my daughters.  This is her toaster cover from the 50's.  It is so tiny I can't imagine anything that small toasting bread!  I wonder if the slices of bread were smaller!!  It's beautifully embroidered with that 50's pink - the same color as the poodle skirts and everything else wonderful about that era.  It took a long time to find a frame I thought worthy of it and in the end I'm happy with plain and simple to bring out it's beauty.

One last thing I would like to share.  At quilt group last week Mary Ellen commented on my last blog.  She has been to the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA.  She has been just about everywhere exciting and interesting.  She is a master quilter and her work is gorgeous.  She told us there is a new book out titled The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott.  I'm sure it's a good read because I read her last book The Dressmakers and it was wonderful.

I have lots and lots to share in my upcoming posts so please stay-tuned!