Plink!

There is a sound that I love.  Plink! a few times a year, when the fig bush at Mom's is producing abundantly, I gather figs and make preserves.
Plink!
That is the lovely sound that the jars make when they seal after the water-bath canning process.  I have it down to a science now and all the supplies are ready to go.

For several days, I picked the first figs that were ripe.  They were cut up and put in containers.  The first few went into the freezer for storage. Then I got a rather nice bag full so I knew it was time to just suffer the heat and get into production mode.

Using some of the frozen and the 1.3 liter container that I had from that last bag full,  I started early in the morning.  (Before it gets so hot!) It has been in the 90s all week here in Alabama.  I started the fig mixture cooking and filled the big canning container and started it getting hot - It has to be boiling to insure that the preserves seal and stay good for at least a year.

Today I chose to make Orange Spice Fig Preserves.  So in addition to the ingredients called for in the Faux Strawberry Fig recipe I used some cinnamon and ginger along with a splash of almond flavoring.  Of course I used orange jello to replace the strawberry in the original recipe.  The magic is that you can use any flavor gelatin that you like. (Mine was a "Jell-O" clone -store brand.)

I got eight lovely half pint jars that went into the canner in two batches.

You can see the fig seeds and fibers in the preserves.  It has a nice texture and this batch tastes delicious.  These jars started sealing (Plink!) before I even finished the second batch.

There was less than one jar left in the pot, so after it cools down a bit, it will go in the fridge for immediate use.

Of course I had to scrape the remainder from the pot - and lick the "spoon." So I know it will be delicious.  Yum!

When you prepare food, you can be creative.  When this started years ago (2011) I just used the basic strawberry recipe.  But my creative brain said "You can make them any flavor that you want! Try it." So I did.  I have made orange, grape, pineapple, lime, lime and grape mixed, wild berry, cherry,  chocolate cherry (add cocoa to the mix - it is amazing!) and probably some others.   Oh yes, pickled peach (add spices to peach jello such as cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger) and Lemon Ginger.   Seriously, the possibilities are almost endless.  Can't find the flavor of gelatin?  Buy plain gelatin and add a drink mix flavor to it.  Yes, it works, I have done it.  But I find it easier to use the available gelatin flavors.  And since it uses two boxes of gelatin/jello, you can mix flavors and create new ones. (Grape and lime for example.)
Be creative with your cooking.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

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String Along - A Top is Born

After sewing ninety of the 6 1/2 inch string blocks, it was time to decide on a layout and just go with it.  I really liked the Four-patch that I had auditioned with the four similar blocks. So, I decided to use it as part of the design.  It is the only part that is different from the diagonal layout of the quilt.

I really love the way it looks.  There are so many different fabrics with only a few that repeat in a fairly consistent manner.

One fabric that is only in the quilt once showed up in the perfect place.  I promise that I didn't play this at all.

Can you see the yellow with the spider in it to the right of the diamond?  It is like the spider is crawling to the "web" created by the diamond.  That made me grin a lot when I saw it.

*** Cool hint: Save those triangles that you trim off when doing corners....they are  perfect for this type of block!

Now I have two quilts that need quilted pretty soon.
Have a great week.
Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

String Block Update

Even though I have a cruddy little cold,  I have been making a few string blocks.

Those are stacks of 10 but there are more than that now.  My best guess is about 85 at this point.

I tried making four that are very similar but not identical.

The color is truer in the top photo.  

The lower one has all the matching corners turned in. While the upper one has two in and two out. I am thinking that these would make a great pillow cover - or at least the center for one.




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Happy Happy, Joy Joy

I am really happy! I finished binding the bright lap quilt. It looks really good. I am not the least ashamed of my free motion quilting. The binding is all machine sewn but it still looks really good.
Here are the pictures. I flipped up one corner so you can see the pieced back. It is simply wide stripes in varying widths- Tan, fuchsia, aqua, fuchsia, then tan again. Enjoy!

More Scrappy Blocks

Last night I figured out how many more blocks I need to finish the quilt top. So I did some piecing this evening after work. I confess that some of these were already done. Some I finished last night ---and yes, I have a few more to make. And since I am doing this one quilt as you go, I have part of it already quilted. Yaaay!

The real joy in making the newest ones was having the scraps from Barb to add to my own stuff. Wow! It worked so well together. I rambled on last night so tonight I will cut it short and show you. Do notice that I did some of the blocks at wonkedy angles just for fun.