This weekend I made a couple more of the We can do it! Skill Builder Sampler QAL Blocks.
These are pinwheels. I always find pinwheels harder than I expect. There are a lot of seams meeting in the middle and it is easy to get things out of line (like the green pinwheel). But pinwheels always make me smile.
This block is four bow ties blocks put together. I am pretty confident of my skills with this one. I love the octagon in the middle. I have one block to go and I will be caught up to the QAL. The upcoming skills are far less familiar to me and I am looking forward to Leila's excellent instruction.
But much of my weekend was spent being a plum farmer. I have two different kinds of plums ripening now. These small ones are pretty bland eating when fresh so I thought I would try some jam.
It looks nice. This is part of the batch, 8 cups of plums make 7.5 cups of jam. I had to process it twice , and be rescued by my friend, the jam-making angel, but it worked in the end. I added cinnamon, cardamon, fresh ginger and vanilla, after consulting the family cooking expert about how to jazz it up. Turns out, it tastes like apple pie.
This is a small corner of the tree. I think I have about 40 batches of jam to go unless maybe the neighbours love these plums fresh more than we do. I am going to try a bunch of different spice combinations, but the next batch is going to be just plums to see how that tastes.
This tree is full of excellent eating peach-plums. We are all stuffed, the neighbours are stuffed and some are in the fridge, with a lot more on the tree still. We put up danger tape and put garden furniture under the tree to keep away the deer. As I said, plum farmer.
So on Friday I mentioned that this blog was at 99 followers and a whole bunch more people joined in. Thank you for the support. I am hoping to put together a prize for you to celebrate in the next day or two. I had thought it would take a bit longer to hit the 100 mark and that I had more time to decide what to do.
Best,
Leanne
Yummy looking blocks and yummy looking fruit.
ReplyDeleteEspecially like your bow tie block! And those plums - wow! Good luck with crop reduction! :-)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the added followers!
I love your pinwheel blocks....
ReplyDeleteThat tree resembles mine... Very full of plums! Peach Plums! YUMMY! I'm not sure I'll get the last few lbs off the tree... my husband pitted and froze 10+kg of them this past week. I made a batch of jam, and one of plum chutney... Still have approximately 20lbs to do something with tomorrow (and that doesn't include those on the tree!)
your blocks are looking great and I wish I could help you with those plums. I am a jam maker too. My latest was tomato jam.
ReplyDeleteBlocks are looking fab.And yummy looking jam!
ReplyDeleteI love rthe fabrics you are using on this. What is it?
ReplyDeletePlums are my favourite. You could send some over!
Loving your blocks - when making 4 patch blocks Leanne, do you "swirl" your seams? It reduces the centre bulk.
ReplyDeleteMany years ago we had boring yellow plums - made decent wine...hic
Your blocks look great and so does your jam, and Sheila's wine sounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteI love that the bow tie block colours tie in so well with the plums! And the jam looks fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThe blocks look fabulous and the jam sounds very yummy. I like the sound of that combination, funny it tastes like apple pie!
ReplyDeleteYour blocks look lovely, great fabric choices!
ReplyDeleteWhat a treat having plum trees in your garden! Your blocks are really looking lovely together. Jxo
ReplyDeleteLove your bowtie block especially, but they all look great!
ReplyDeleteAs I stroll around the blogs today I notice that a lot of people have WIPs that aren't always related to quilting--and I really enjoy that!
ReplyDeleteI love your quilt projects, too, don't get me wrong, but it's also fun to see summer's harvest take a place beside our stitching and patching. I wish I lived closer so I could take some plums off your hands, as your spiced-up jam sounds delightfully delicious.
Congrats to you on achieving one of your blog goals--that of 100 followers.
Elizabeth E.
http://occasionalpiece.wordpress.com
Congrats on reaching 100 followers! That is awesome! Your plum jelly looks so delicious as do your quilt blocks! I love the fabric that you are using for those sampler blocks!
ReplyDelete