More About The Last Post--

First, about the Jack O'Lantern quilt. Ratherbquilting left this comment:

". . . I assume you drew up the faces yourself? Surely you didn't hand applique all that just since Friday night. Please say it's machine appliqued. . . ."

Nope, I didn't hand applique the faces. I didn't exactly machine applique them either--not in any traditional way. What I did was pin the quilt and outline quilt the pumpkins and the squares they are in. Then I used black felted wool for the eyes and mouths and just sewed them on as I was quilting. Extremely fast and easy! That was my real goal with this quilt--to make something cute and quick. With all the applique and quilting I've been doing recently, I was Jonesing for a fast, pieced project.

And drawing out the faces? Nope, not that either. I just went at a piece of wool and cut. Kind of like when we carve real Jack O'Lanterns and just start hacking away with a knife. Most "mistakes" could be fixed easily or just left "as is."

Now, my question to you--should I post directions? I can tell you cutting sizes and post a few photos if anyone's interested. My quilt will measure somewhere around 38" square when it's finished, but a four patch of pumpkins--rather than a nine patch--would look equally cute and would be even quicker to make.

Second--the zucchini nut bread, which also drew its fair share of comments. I took a photo of the loaves this a.m.

If you haven't had zucchini nut bread and think it sounds weird, try it. You really don't taste the zucchini much. Want the recipe? Let me get out my old, tattered, stained, much used sheet of binder paper and share it with you. I'd like to tell you it was grandma's recipe, but I might be lying. Truly, I can't remember where I got it, but I've made it many, many times over the years.

ZUCCHINI NUT BREAD

3 eggs
1 cup of oil
2-1/2 cups of sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
3 teaspoons of vanilla extract

First grate the zucchini--you'll probably need two to three zucchini. Set the grated zucchini to drain on a couple sheets of paper towels. Now preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two loaf pans.

Now, in a medium/large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix lightly but well.

To the wet mixture, add:

1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons cinnamon
3 cups flour

1/2 cup nuts (I like nuts, so I add about 1 cup of walnuts. I like them kind of chunky too so I don't chop them much--I just break up the halves a bit.)

Mix until well blended. Pour into prepared pans and bake about one hour or so--use a toothpick to check for doneness.

I love this stuff spread with cream cheese. Yum!