My blog has moved!

If you have been following this blog, please go to: www.hazelnutdeux.com and follow me there. I am no longer posting here and all the old posts have been moved to the new blog.

Thanks!

The new blog is up and running!!

I could not be more delighted with my new and improved site! I will only be blogging on one blog now so everything from Reluctant Quilter and Suzan's Little Nest have been moved over to the new site. My posts will all be catagorized to make searching for a particular topic much easier. I know nothing about Wordpress so this will be a learning experience for me as I move forward. So far, so good!

I cannot begin to thank the lovely and talented, Brandy Fishback, for all that she did to make this a reality. It is so easy working with Brandy. Sometimes I think she is a mind reader! If you have any graphic design needs from a logo or a site transfer from Blogger to Wordpress, Brandy is the one to contact. If you need help setting up a Facebook business page or an Etsy storefront, Brandy can help you do that as well. 

Let me know what you think about my new "look"!

My reasoning for moving everything to one blog is that I am more than just the Reluctant Quilter or the lady who makes purses or the crazy lady living in her crooked little house. Putting everything under one umbrella makes it easier for me to blog. I would appreciate your changing your blog reader to the new address and follow me at:

Hazelnutdeux.com

Thank you for all your support over the years! 

Picnic Time! (Also posted to Hazelnutdeux.com)

pic·nic

  [pik-nik] 

noun

1.

an excursion or outing in which the participants carry food with them and share a meal in 

the openair.

Because I am single, my picnic was a little different than many others that you will read about in the hop this week. My picnic was a solitary meal enjoying the beauty of a early evening in the backyard.

For my picnic, I made a small quilt that is perfect for throwing over a picnic table or down on a lawn. I made it with a variety of vintage sheets that I have been collecting for several years. I used flannel as my batting and did a "quilt as you go" method to put it all together. For the backing, I used another vintage sheet which I also used for the binding.

My picnic meal was a lovely piece of grilled salmon topped with pesto sauce accompanied by a side of quinoa salad. The fresh flavors were perfect!

Here is the recipe I used for the salad. It can be found on Allrecipes.com.

1 c. quinoa                                                       1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 c. water                                                         1-1/2 c. cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil                               1-15oz. can of black beans, drained & rinsed

Juice of 2 limes                                                5 green onions finely chopped

2 tsp. of ground cumin                                     1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

1 tsp. salt                                                         Salt and pepper to taste

1.      Bring quinoa and water to boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook until quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed, 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside.

2.      Whisk olive oil, lime juice, cumin, 1 tsp. salt and red pepper flakes together in a bowl.

3.      Combine quinoa, black beans, tomatoes and green onions together in a bowl. Pour dressing over quinoa and toss to coat. Stir in cilantro and salt and pepper. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Thank you so much for stopping by. As a little something extra, I thought I would do a drawing. Please leave a comment and let me know if you would like to be entered. I will be sending out 40 - 10" squares of vintage sheets so that you can get started on your own vintage sheet picnic quilt! (Please remember to include your email address if you are a "no reply" blogger.)

Be sure to check out the other blogs on the hop today:

Sew Incredibly Crazy

How Art You?

Grammie Q's

I Piece 2 - Mary

Pig Tales and Quilts

The full line up of all the blogs participating can be found at Mary's blog.

Happy picnicking this summer!!

***Edited 6/9/14 - Comments are closed***

Picnic quilt for the blog hop

I have started on the picnic quilt for a blog hop. I am using a variety of vintage sheets for this little quilt. I started cutting a couple of weeks ago but since the date of the hop moved to early June, I quit working on the quilt. May is slipping away so I picked up my squares and started working again.

I am making 11" pinwheel blocks using 9" squares of fabric. I am using the HST sewing and cutting technique made famous by Jenny from Missouri Star Quilt Company. Have you tried it? You do end up with bias edges (which I heavily spray starch) but it is so much faster and I am all about fast!

Here are two stacked 9" blocks with the 1/4" sewn around the edges.

Now I just cut across diagonally from corner to corner twice.

Gently roll back the top fabric and press...and hit it with spray starch!

Here is a completed block.

Only 19 more to go!

French General, anyone?

I have so much fabric in my studio that I know I will not use in this lifetime. I am going to part with a lot of fabric and before I start listing on my Etsy site, I thought I would run it through the blogs first.

The info is on Hazelnut Deux. If you are interested, pop on over!

Scraps Giveaway on Hazelnut Deux!

I am having a scrap giveaway on my Hazelnut Deux site. Pop over and leave a comment if you would like a large box of scrap fabric!

Starting "the move"...

I have begun posting only on Hazelnut deux. Hazelnut duex will become my home base and the new header (coming soon) will reflect the changes. Eventually this blog will redirect you there but if you want to pop over and start following there, I would be thrilled!