Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Main Character in State Fair by Earlene Fowler and Paper-Pieced Cowboy Boot Quilt Block

Paper-Pieced Cowboy Boot Quilt Block
This month, the Quilters' Book Club is reading State Fair: a Benni Harper Mystery by Earlene Fowler.  Do you love to quilt AND love to read?  Then I invite you to join us.  Each month, we read a book, discuss it through comments on my blog posts, and then make a quilt block to represent that book.

If you'd like to make a block to represent the main character in the book - Benni Harper - here are some suggestions to get you started:

Appliqued Cowboy Boot Quilt Block

Appliqued Cowboy Hat Quilt Block

Cowboy's Star Quilt Block

Paper-Pieced Cowboy Boot Quilt Block  - This is the block pictured above.

Benni Harper's Cowboy Cookies
1 cup shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 cups oats, uncooked
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts
 
1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2.  Cream shortening and sugars until fluffy.  Add eggs; beat until very light.
3.  In a separate bowl combine flour, oats, salt, and baking soda.  Add to creamed mixture and stir until combined.
4.  Add chocolate chips and nuts.  Stir to combine.
5.  Drop on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Benni Harper's Cowboy Coffee Cake
2-1/2 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup milk, made sour by adding 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to it
2 eggs, beaten

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2.  Mix flour, sugar, salt, and butter until crumbly.  Reserve ½ cup.
3.  To remaining crumbs, add baking powder, baking soda, and spices.  Mix well. 
4.  Add sour milk and eggs.  Mix well.
5.  Pour into 2 greased 8-inch round cake pans; top with reserved crumbs.
6.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.  Serve warm.

As a heads up, our November book selection is a bit different.  We'll be reading a book that was highly recommended to the Quilters' Book Club by Sandra Dallas, author of The Persian Pickle Club and Alice's Tulips.  It's called Aunt Jane of Kentucky by Eliza Calvert Hall and is available free online right here.  It was written in 1898 and consists of nine short stories. 

Are you a big city gal, a country gal, or a small town gal?  Inquiring minds want to know!  Answer in the comment section below.  If you are reading via email, you must first click on the blog title to be able to comment and read the comments of others.  By commenting, you are entering your name in a giveaway for a $20 gift certificate to Fat Quarter Shop!  The more times you comment throughout the month, the greater your chances of winning!  A big thank you to Fat Quarter Shop for this wonderful giveaway!

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.
 

9 comments:

  1. I'm a small town girl. I love my town of 10,000. Every town I've lived in during my married life has been smaller than the last.

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  2. It would be hard to say I am a country girl, having grown up in the suburbs of Cleveland Ohio and living in Tokyo. BUT, my home was on the very edge of a forest and within walking distance of farmland. Growing up, I always thought I would marry a farmer and be surrounded by gardens and animals. Reality ... now it is flower pots instead of gardens and enough dog hair for a zoo! They say, "you can take a girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl".

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  3. I am both living in the Metro Atlanta, Georgia area. I live in a small historical town that is 2 1/2 square miles. But, I have the big city life and cow pastures all around within a 5 to 15 minute drive.

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  4. Definitely a small-town gal. I have lived in big cities, but am happiest in small towns. I actually am more of a country girl now--I live 10 miles from a town of 3,000. AND that town is over 150 miles from any large town.

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  5. I'm a small town gal. We lived in Denver for 4 yrs when I was a small child but the rest of my life I have lived in a small town or on the farm.

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  6. I am a country farm girl living in the small rural Kansas town of Lebo, pop. 1000, about 4 miles from the farm where my mother, Eleanor, and Susan's father, Doug, grew up. And about 10 miles from Olivet where our grandmother Harriet lived when she wrote her diary. It's as close as I can get to the country as I can get without being able to buy a farm.

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  7. I'm a city girl born, raised and still living in Cleveland OH area suburbs. I think reading and learning about living in more rural areas has been an interesting aspect of our October book!

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  8. I was born in a small country town, raised in the suburbs of Melbourne, now living in another small country town. Population of about 1200. 1 hours drive to the main city, Melbourne, or large Rural town of Bendigo.

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  9. I'm a medium sized town gal. I started all around Dallas, then moved to a smaller, mid-size town. I don't really like big cities.

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