The two borders are stitched on the Quilt Along project.  Their combined width equals that of a block, although they seem a little wider in the picture.

It was quite windy out on the day that I took these shots, so I opted to spread out the top in the living room. The lighting wasn’t the best (at least that’s my excuse), but I didn’t want to use the flash. The colors get really wonky with the flash on.

Wish list—A DSLR to replace my point-and-shoot.

Here’s a closer view.

Adding the borders brought the size up to about 78″ x 65″—so much for being a “small” project! I finished piecing the back this past week and over the weekend I started the basting. While I like thread basting, maneuvering a top this size with boards gets a bit cumbersome, probably because my table is too small. This time I’m using a Gracie hand quilting frame to hold everything together for the basting part. The frame is for hand quilting so this should work, right?? I’ll let you know how it goes.

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These arrived recently. They’re from the Asian Collection by Free Spirit.

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And with cooler weather comes a new apple crop and the urge to bake.

The crust is pate brisee adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe. I added two teaspoons of sugar and used 1 stick plus 7 tablespoons of butter. Don’t ask me why—it just felt right at the time.

I made enough filling for a 9-inch deep dish pie.

8 cups apples, peeled and sliced (Use whatever kind you like. I’m partial to Granny Smith apples for pie, but this one has a mix of Gala and a local variety of jonagold.)
2 Tbls cornstarch
1/3 c brown sugar
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
dash or two of salt

Mix and sprinkle over sliced apples. Give it a stir with a rubber spatula and let it sit while you roll out the crust. Bake in a preheated 450-degree oven for 10 minutes and then turn the heat down to 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. I left this one in for about 45-ish minutes since it was so large.

Cheers!