Quilting and Mexican Train, What Could Be More Fun?

What a fun afternoon we had at Margaret's this week.  I wish everyone could have been there as we were joined by Marilyn, who is in town for a couple of weeks while big Mike is making some improvements to their rental property, and Diane Grace, who is visiting from New Orleans.

First, take a look at Marilyn's quilt for her granddaughter!  Not only are the colors wonderful, but it is backed by super soft pink Minkie!   And look at all the different fabrics that she used (remember this is Marilyn, who usually only buys enough fabric for the project she's working on and gets rid of the scraps once she is finished).  The quilt measures about 50" x 60", a great size for a "big" girl.

Since we are posting pictures, here  is our veteran's quilt that is being quilted by Robin. As soon as we have get that back, we'll get another picture up.  There were lots of left-over scraps and pieces so DiAnn went home and made more blocks, enough for a second quilt.  The blocks are currently being passed around for more input.  We should have sashing for the second quilt by next week and maybe another photo in two weeks.  For more info on the Quilts of Valor program, see  http://www.qovf.org/
(Thanks Carole, Betsey and Margaret for the pictures!)

Our "Quilts of Valor" quilt

Next, I have to tell you about the delicious cookies that Margaret made.  It's Diane's recipe that was handed down to her from her grandmother.  These cookies are just sinful!  There are only 3 ingredients - butter, flour and sugar.  Diane is willing to share, so here is the recipe:

Diane Grace's Butter Cookies

2 sticks butter, softened
2/3 c sugar
1-1/2 c flour

Preheat oven at 350.  Cream together the butter and sugar; stir in flour.  Diane says she rolls the dough into balls and Margaret used an ice cream scoop.  Bake cookies 12mins for small balls, 15mins for half scoops and 19mins for full scoops.  Margaret topped her cookies with pecans/chocolate chips before she baked them.  The cookies are thin and crispy and Y-U-M-M-Y.

Last of all, we played Mexican Train for the last hour.  It was SO much fun!  After a practice round and great instructions by Julie and Margaret, it was off to the races to building our trains.  The rules are simple and the game goes fast, so it's great for young and old, and can be played by many (we were 9, I think).  If, that is, when we play again, we have to make sure the neighbors/husbands don't mind our roars of laughter.   By the way, I found the set that Margaret had on Amazon.  It's a travel set, so all the pieces pack nicely into a neat container.
http://www.amazon.com/Travel-Mexican-Train-Double-Domino/dp/B001HBLBL8/ref=pd_sim_t_8

Hope to see everyone next week!